“The only way to reach out to the world was through this very cool gaming setup that the hospital would bring into the room,” he recalled. An in-game friend “became my solace in a place where every day they were hurting me and I was scared.” Spohn, director of the Mount Sinai Back to Life … Continue reading Adaptive Arcade
Within an hour, library leaders had been alerted to the suspicious activity, and the IT director had disconnected the servers, halting a ransomware attack mid-strike. “We caught them in the act,” says OTPL Director Chase McMunn. Worldwide, more than 15 million cyberattacks have been reported every year since 2020. At public institutions like libraries, these … Continue reading Road to Recovery
Advancing a Culture of Creativity in Libraries: Programming and Engagement By Megan Lotts As Lotts puts it, library workers must engage their communities and plan innovative spaces and services for the future “all the while assuming that the future will almost certainly come with a 10%–20% budget cut.” This volume helps employees develop and maintain … Continue reading Ready for a Refresh
B&T is in the process of closing following financial difficulties experienced over the last two years, according to Publishers Weekly; Shaw Local, a media group in northern Illinois; and a handful of individuals who reported being laid off on Reddit and other social media. While B&T has not yet issued a public statement and did … Continue reading Baker & Taylor to Cease Operations
Within an hour, library leaders had been alerted to the suspicious activity, and the IT director had disconnected the servers, halting a ransomware attack mid-strike. “We caught them in the act,” says OTPL Director Chase McMunn. Ransomware attacks and cybersecurity incidents are no longer rare, with more than 15 million cyberattacks worldwide annually since 2020, … Continue reading Road to Recovery
Welcome to the 2025 Library Design Showcase, American Libraries’ annual celebration of new and renovated libraries throughout North America. Today’s libraries are places where people from diverse communities can connect, learn, and grow. The institutions featured in this year’s showcase embody the library’s role as a true third space while honoring local histories and cultures … Continue reading 2025 Library Design Showcase
“If you have anxiety, you can build your worst-case [driving] scenario and then play through it as many times as you need to realize that you have power over that scenario,” says Gabriella Norton, a librarian at MEBAL who helped bring the technology to the library. “What could you do if, God forbid, an actual … Continue reading License to Learn
In 2022, as part of the City Librarian’s Innovation Challenge, Toronto Public Library (TPL) asked staff to submit ideas for workforce development initiatives. Recognizing Canada’s high unemployment rate among autistic adults, TPL librarians Tim Feller and Melanie LaFleche suggested an event at which neurodivergent job seekers could connect with employers and employment resources in a … Continue reading An Accessible Expo
We looked to Search Institute, a nonprofit focused on positive youth development. Its Developmental Assets Framework lists supports and strengths that can help young people succeed. On that list is involving teens in decision making, a practice that already guides our programming. Why not involve them in our space planning too? We next turned to … Continue reading The Teen Scene
That Librarian: The Fight against Book Banning in America By Amanda Jones Jones found herself the target of an online hate campaign after speaking out against censorship at her small Louisiana public library. A school librarian and former president of the Louisiana Association of School Librarians, she writes about the emotional, psychological, and physical toll … Continue reading Our Own Stories
The Librarians (2025) Director: Kim A. Snyder thelibrariansfilm.com Running time: 92 minutes About: The Librarians follows librarians in Florida and Texas as they work to protect children’s rights to access books from challenges like Texas’s Krause List, which targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQ+ stories and has triggered book bans across the … Continue reading The Stacks on Screen
The collaborative, grassroots Community Book Gardens (CBG) initiative aims to transform deserts into landscapes where local storytelling flourishes by helping communities to create their own books. A panel of librarians and literacy advocates talked about the CBG model at “Community Book Gardens: Helping the Underrepresented Write and Publish Their Own Stories,” a June 29 session … Continue reading A Garden in the Desert
