Reference and User Services Association Archives

ALA Unveils 2023 Carnegie Medals Shortlist

November 15, 2022

The 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist titles include: Fiction Greenland, by David Santos Donaldson (Amistad). While working on a historical novel about British author E. M. Forster’s Egyptian lover, Mohammed el Adl, writer Kip confronts his own trauma and alienation. Donaldson delivers a psychologically acute portrayal of a queer Black … Continue reading ALA Unveils 2023 Carnegie Medals Shortlist →

ALA Unveils 2022 Carnegie Medals Shortlist

November 8, 2021

The 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist titles include the following: Fiction The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade (W. W. Norton & Company). Amadeo Padilla filled the role of Jesus during the re-creation of the Crucifixion as part of Holy Week. He also has heavy burdens to bear in his real … Continue reading ALA Unveils 2022 Carnegie Medals Shortlist →

Text graphic showing possible changes to Library of Congress Subject Headings, such as "undocumented immigrant" for "illegal alien."

Decolonizing the Catalog

November 1, 2021

The panelists included Elizabeth Hobart, special collections cataloging librarian at Penn State University; Staci Ross, cataloging and metadata librarian at University of Pittsburgh; Michelle Cronquist, special collections cataloger at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Kelly Farrell, program officer for the Triangle Research Libraries Network, a consortium of academic libraries in North Carolina. … Continue reading Decolonizing the Catalog →

2021 Carnegie Medal Winners for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced

February 4, 2021

The selections were announced February 4 at the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Book and Media Awards virtual event, sponsored by NoveList. McBride’s novel takes place in a vibrant, multicultural 1969 Brooklyn neighborhood, and introduces readers to Cuffy “Sportcoat” Lambkin, the titular deacon and least likely of heroes. When Sportcoat shoots Deems Clemens, the … Continue reading 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced →

Longlist for 2021 Carnegie Medals Announced

October 26, 2020

“This was unquestionably a challenging year for all the obvious reasons,” said 2021 Selection Committee Chair Bill Kelly in an October 26 statement. “And yet, in the end, reading proved to be just the balm one needs to sustain us, to give hope and strength and resilience in the face of an oppressively uncertain future. … Continue reading Longlist for 2021 Carnegie Medals Announced →

Covers for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

ALA Unveils 2020 Carnegie Medals Shortlist

November 4, 2019

The 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist titles include: Nonfiction Figuring, by Maria Popova (Pantheon). Popova brings her zest for facts and passion for biography to this inquiry into the lives of geniuses who “bridged the scientific and poetic,” spinning a fine web connecting such barrier-breakers as Rachel Carson, Frederick Douglass, … Continue reading ALA Unveils 2020 Carnegie Medals Shortlist →

Toward Empowerment

By Carrie Smith | June 23, 2019

Service decisions’ effect on marginalized communities was the focus of Brown’s president’s program, “Inequity and the Disappearance of Reference and User Services,” on June 22 at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Teresa Morris, reference and instruction librarian at the College of San Mateo, moderated a discussion between Nicole Cooke, program director … Continue reading Toward Empowerment →

2019 Carnegie Medal winners, The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai and Heavy by Kiese Laymon

2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced

January 27, 2019

The selections were announced January 27 at the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Book and Media Awards, sponsored by NoveList, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Makkai’s novel explores the complexities of friendship, family, art, fear, and love in WWI-era and present-day Paris and 1980s Chicago while … Continue reading 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced →

Covers for the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction: Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America, by Beth Macy (Little, Brown); Heavy: An American Memoir, by Kiese Laymon (Scribner); The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border, by Francisco Cantú (Riverhead); The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai (Viking); There There, by Tommy Orange (Knopf); and Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan (Knopf).

ALA Unveils 2019 Carnegie Medals Shortlist

October 24, 2018

2019 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist titles include: Nonfiction Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America, by Beth Macy (Little, Brown and Company). Macy’s years of reporting on the still-unfolding US opioid crisis earned her remarkable access to people whose lives have been upended. Dopesick is a timely … Continue reading ALA Unveils 2019 Carnegie Medals Shortlist →

Ron Charles is wearing a full suit sitting on an inflatable dragon pool toy.

Newsmaker: Ron Charles

By Jordan Sarti | July 5, 2018

What do you do to make literary criticism approachable? I try to pick books that I think people would enjoy reading, so that’s a start. I try to write about them with enthusiasm and clarity, and I do a few odd things to try and bring in people who are sick and tired of book … Continue reading Newsmaker: Ron Charles →

11 Questions with Jessica Hughes

October 13, 2017

Hughes answered our “11 Questions” to introduce herself to ALA members. Coffee, tea, other? To steal a line that’s often misattributed to Benjamin Franklin: “Caffeine is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” What’s the first website or app you check in the morning? I usually check Instagram to see if there … Continue reading 11 Questions with Jessica Hughes →

Be Our Guest: Create Your Own Pixie Dust at the Library

By Meredith Myers | June 25, 2016

Room W110B was packed tighter than Disney’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique on the first day of summer vacation. Instead of magical pixie dust, RUSA chose Dave Cobb to turn everyday librarians into user experience designers, all with the click of his mouse.

Latest Library Links

5h

The American Library Association and Unite Against Book Bans will host a Rally for the Right to Read: Uniting for Libraries & Intellectual Freedom at the Chicago Hilton on Thursday, June 22, 2023. Part of the 2023 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition, the program will feature anti-censorship activists from around the nation, the 2023 recipients of ALA intellectual freedom awards and internationally renowned author and scholar Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. A conference badge or a receipt for conference registration must be presented for entry. Admission is free, and donations to the Unite Against Book Bans campaign are encouraged.

ALA, June 5
1d

Want to get away from the hustle of conference and into the bustle of American Libraries’ home city? Here you’ll find staff members’ favorite jaunts—from neighborhoods gems to tourist attractions—just a bus, train, or bike ride away. Chicago’s grid system makes it an easy place to explore in between sessions, signings, and celebrations. Options to enjoy art, architecture, sports, history, and even nature are readily available.

American Libraries feature, June
1d

Ross Johnson writes: “Thirty days hath Pride month, and even in a year that’s been particularly fraught from the perspective of LGBTQ+ rights, that means you should have plenty of time to watch a few movies when you’re not tossing bricks, getting harassed at a Target, or disassociating to the new Kylie Minogue single. Though queer onscreen representation has definitely increased in recent years, the movies remind us that queer people (and queer films) didn’t just arrive on the scene—they’ve been here since the beginning.”

Lifehacker, June 1
2d

Sammy Ekaran writes: “Getting the perfect 3D print is challenging, especially if the design is detailed. It is important to carefully adjust the 3D printer and the slicer settings to achieve the desired results. Making these adjustments manually is difficult until you use a test print like a 3D Benchy. This unique design can help you assess the capabilities of your machine, optimize the settings for your specific designs, and use the results to tweak your settings until you achieve the perfect results.”

MakeUseOf, June 4
2d

Monica Westin writes: “While the popular history of the internet valorizes Silicon Valley coders, many of the original concepts for search emerged from library scientists focused on the accessibility of documents in time and space. Their advances can be seen everywhere in the current online information landscape, from general approaches to ingesting and indexing full-text documents, to free-text searching and a sophisticated algorithm utilizing previous saved searches of others. These and many other approaches developed by campus pioneers are still used by the multibillion-dollar businesses of web search and commercial library databases today.”

Aeon, June 5
2d

The Freedom to Read Foundation filed an amicus curiae brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Leila Green Little, et al. v. Llano County, et al., a lawsuit challenging the Llano County government’s decision to remove a large number of books from the Llano County Library shelves because certain library users, county residents, and county officials complained that the books’ contents were objectionable. The plaintiffs argue that the removal of books from the library’s collection violates the plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to access those books in the library.

ALA, June 2
2d

Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada writes: “As I look back on our year together, I remain inspired and encouraged by our brave communities. Despite the obstacles we face, libraries remain valued, trusted institutions. I know this because libraries are constantly evolving places, and our workers stand up to the test of constant change, ensuring our communities have access to information, the freedom to read, and a love of lifelong learning, now and for years to come.”

American Libraries column, June

View more Latest Library Links