safety and security Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Woman at a bank of day-use lockers in a library

Why Day Use Lockers Belong in the Modern Library

September 1, 2026

One often overlooked element of a successful library experience is secure, short-term personal storage. Patrons routinely arrive carrying backpacks, laptops, coats, reusable shopping bags, and other personal belongings. In some cases, visitors may spend hours studying, attending programs, collaborating in makerspaces, or conducting research in special collections areas. Spacesaver’s Day Use Lockers provide a secure … Continue reading Why Day Use Lockers Belong in the Modern Library →

Crowd of people protesting outside Minneapolis Central Library.

Encountering ICE

June 1, 2026

As ICE has raided homes, businesses, and public facilities in communities across the country, public libraries are grappling with how to prepare staff, protect patrons, respond to incidents, and develop resources for in-the-moment de-escalation and long-term recovery. In February, the Public Library Association (PLA) convened a webinar called “Responding to ICE at the Library: Real … Continue reading Encountering ICE →

Sign at Seattle Public Library asking patrons to keep their books while the library was facing a cyberattack.

Road to Recovery

By Cass Balzer | November 3, 2025

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 →

A sign outside Seattle Public Library's Columbia branch alerting users to the effects of a recent cyberattack in 2024.

Road to Recovery

By Cass Balzer | September 15, 2025

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 →

Illustration of an open backpack with stolen library books spilling out

Stolen Pages

By Anne Ford | November 1, 2024

Those great big red books were four double-size, incalculably valuable folios of John James Audubon’s 1838 Birds of America. Fewer than 200 sets exist. Brown realized that one of them was probably being stolen from her library. On the 20th anniversary of what became known as the Transy book heist, American Libraries looks back at … Continue reading Stolen Pages →

Presenter Candice Benjes-Small at a podium gesturing as she speaks

It’s Not Okay

By Sanhita SinhaRoy | July 2, 2024

Benjes-Small addressed dozens of attendees at “‘It’s Not Okay. It’s Not Normal’: Sexual Harassment of Librarians and Implications for the Field,” a July 1 program held at the American Library Association’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego. Spurred by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, Benjes-Small and Jennifer Resor-Whicker, university librarian at Radford (Va.) … Continue reading It’s Not Okay →

Call Number Podcast: Sustainability Strategies

May 13, 2024

First, American Libraries Managing Editor Terra Dankowski pays a visit to the Sulzer Regional branch of Chicago Public Library, which hosts a repair café every month. At these events, participants bring household items in need of mending to the library. Volunteers with toolkits fix the items, sparing them from the landfill. Next, members of ALA’s … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Sustainability Strategies →

Culture of Care

By Brandy Sanchez | May 1, 2024

According to the 2022 Urban Library Trauma Study from Urban Librarians Unite, nearly 70% of respondents shared that they had experienced violent or aggressive behavior from patrons, while 22% indicated that they experienced similar behavior from coworkers. When working with patrons, many libraries employ trauma-informed care, a practice popular in health care and social work. It … Continue reading Culture of Care →

Opioid Outreach

By Jessia Arsenio | May 1, 2023

Opioid overdoses remain a significant health crisis not just in the US but also Canada. An estimated 32,630 Canadians died from an apparent opioid-related overdose between 2016 and 2022, with the number of deaths accelerating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of those fatalities occurred in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. In western … Continue reading Opioid Outreach →

Covering Your Bases

By Kate Hall and Kathy Parker | January 3, 2023

Public liability insurance. This covers the building and grounds, the contents of the building, library vehicles, and any accidents involving patrons on library property. It’s important to have adequate coverage in the event of a major claim. It’s also important that a library not be under- or overinsured. If underinsured, the library will have to … Continue reading Covering Your Bases →

A customer picks up her reserves at the drive-through window at Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library’s New Albany branch.

Reclosing … after Reopening

By Emily Udell | August 4, 2020

Since it first reopened some locations for curbside service on May 18, Shreve Memorial Library (SML) in Shreveport, Louisiana, has had to close branches on 20 occasions because staffers were exhibiting symptoms or had tested positive for COVID-19. The first closure occurred on May 26 when SML was only offering curbside, but SML continued to … Continue reading Reclosing … after Reopening →

On My Mind, by Jarrett Dapier and Emily Knox

When Not to Call the Cops

By Emily Knox and Jarrett Dapier | July 8, 2020

This incident took place at the library where one of us, Jarrett Dapier, worked as a readers’ advisor and program coordinator serving teens. (He was not present but has seen cellphone footage of the incident.) Calling the police when a patron is disruptive may seem like a library’s only course of action. But often, the … Continue reading When Not to Call the Cops →

Latest Library Links

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“Given the increasing threat US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) poses to immigrant and refugee communities across the United States, Toward Inclusive Excellence is returning to the topic of how best to support these communities on college and university campuses. Our September 2 webinar brought together three academic librarians to share the steps and protocols they have employed on their campuses, along with suggestions for how academic librarians can respond to this moment.” The Public Library Association hosted a similar webinar in February, but this webinar specifically focuses on the academic library community.

Choice: Toward Inclusive Excellence, Sept. 2, American Libraries feature, Summer
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ALA’s Nominating Committee is seeking nominees for the positions of ALA president-elect, executive board member, and councilor-at-large in the 2027 spring election. The president-elect will serve a three-year term as president-elect in 2027–2028, president in 2028–2029, and immediate past president in 2029–2030. The committee will select no fewer than 18 candidates for the 12 at-large council seats. Councilors-at-large and executive board members will serve three-year terms beginning in 2027. For more information or to nominate a candidate, visit the ALA Election website. The nomination deadline is October 31.

ALA Governance Office, Sept. 10
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Amy Hardin writes: “Library renovations can feel overwhelming—especially when you’re juggling tight budgets, big community expectations, and a building that’s showing its age. The good news is you don’t have to choose between ‘do nothing’ and ‘tear it down.’ Most successful library upgrades live somewhere in the middle: a smart, phased plan that protects your long-term vision while making meaningful improvements right now. Here are a few practical ways to think about approaching a library renovation.”

American Libraries Online, Sept. 15
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Violet Fox writes: “In March 2025, I wrote about anticipatory obedience at the Library of Congress (LC), describing how LC fast tracked changes to the Library of Congress Subject Headings relating to the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali. When Trump issued an executive order on August 27 directing federal agencies to change Lake Ontario to Lake America, catalogers around the world waited to see how LC would handle the changes. On September 3, LC scheduled a proposal to change the subject heading, and on September 11, the change was approved. The speed with which this happened is astounding.”

ACRLog, Sept. 12; Mar. 28, 2025
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In the 15 years since Fayetteville (N.Y.) Free Library opened the first recognized public library makerspace, similar creative hubs have spread to libraries throughout the country. In our By the Numbers feature, learn more makerspace facts, including details about DC Public Library’s Dance Studio, how University of Utah’s Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library used its makerspace to contribute to pandemic relief, and how Paul Smith Elementary School in Franklin, New Hampshire, taught students to make pillows perfect to lounge on while reading.

American Libraries Trend, Fall
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Ann Medaille writes: “With the advent of new technologies and rapid social and economic shifts, library workers’ jobs are being transformed. Compared with a decade ago, library workers now spend more time consulting on complex research tools, teaching digital literacy classes, supporting virtual learning environments, helping users troubleshoot devices, and codesigning projects with community partners. The pace at which library staffers are called upon to learn new skills is accelerating, and workers may struggle to keep up. While corporations may embrace upskilling to stay competitive, libraries will have to support upskilling to remain relevant.”

American Libraries feature, Fall
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Nicky Martin and Tracee Haupt Fugate write: “Preserving a website is complicated. Even a simple webpage can depend on dozens of images, videos, scripts, style sheets, and other resources scattered across the web. If some of those pieces are missed, the archived version may look or behave differently than the original. That is why quality assurance (QA) is an important part of web archiving.” They report on a project to evaluate an automated QA tool for website archiving.

Library of Congress: The Signal, Sept. 8

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