Kara Shelton Watson

Shaping Digital Citizens

September 4, 2018

I tell them that I believe that digital citizenship falls naturally under the domain of librarians, as we place high value on using and creating information ethically. In schools, we have a curriculum that teaches students the concepts of citizenship, community, and social justice through varied disciplines. And in the school library, these ideals come together. … Continue reading Shaping Digital Citizens


Muy Cheng Peich, director of education, contents, and training for Libraries Without Borders, describes the Ideas Box at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Safe Spaces and Social Media

August 27, 2018

Leonee Ariel Derr, team leader at Stonnington Library and Information Service in Melbourne, Australia, came down squarely against the safe-space idea, explaining through examples drawn from her many years working in several Melbourne-area public libraries that safety for patrons and staff—whether physical or emotional—cannot be guaranteed. The risks of working in an all-welcoming public space … Continue reading Safe Spaces and Social Media


Screenshot from University of Minnesota, Morris's "Welcome to Briggs Library," featuring the school's cougar mascot, Pounce.

Pounce into the Spotlight with a Library Introduction Video

August 10, 2018

There was only one problem: We had never created a library video before. The process was as much an introduction to video making for us as the finished product was an introduction to the library for our students. Assembling the cast and crew As with any Hollywood blockbuster, a team had to be assembled to … Continue reading Pounce into the Spotlight with a Library Introduction Video


Alison Head, founder and executive director of Project Information Literacy, explains how research data creates a more complete understanding of the information-seeking behaviors of high school and college students.

Memes as News Sources?

June 23, 2018

The mixed-methods study considered the significant shift towards a preference for online news resources and looked at how students consider authority and currency when seeking information. Head experienced an epiphany when she observed, based on focus groups, that the students “are really different from me and and how I find news.” As a result, Head … Continue reading Memes as News Sources?


Dispatches, by Joanna M. Burkhardt

Social Media Bots

March 1, 2018

In social media, bots collect information that might be of interest to users by crawling the internet for specific information and sharing it on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Bots use keywords and hashtags in their searches. Some social bots were developed to behave like a human—using emojis in their posts, only posting at reasonable … Continue reading Social Media Bots


Roxane Gay

Newsmaker: Roxane Gay

May 1, 2017

You have published work in so many formats: novels, books of essays and short stories, a comic book (Marvel’s Black Panther: World of Wakanda, with Ta-Nehisi Coates and Yona Harvey), plus an upcoming memoir and a screenplay. What are the different challenges and rewards of working in each medium? Storytelling is storytelling, I have learned, … Continue reading Newsmaker: Roxane Gay




Some of the entries in Nashville (Tenn.) Public Library's Geofilter design contest for teens.

Snapchat in the Library

November 1, 2016

The ability to chat with your friends, use filters, toss in an emoji, and showcase your lighthearted side are some of the many reasons millennials have flocked to this platform. This mass migration of millennials to Snapchat has made librarians sit up and take notice. Library Snapchat accounts have begun popping up over the past … Continue reading Snapchat in the Library


Meme Librarian Amanda Brennan has a none-pizza-with-left-beef party with some of her favorite memes (from left): LOL Wut Pear, The Signs as Fat Chefs in My Mom’s Kitchen, Little Grey Cat, and Pepe the Frog. Photo: Todd Boebel; Illustrations: Ursula Vernon (pear); Shutterstock (chef, cat); Matt Furie (frog)

Bookend: I Can Has Meme Job?

September 1, 2016

“I knew that I didn’t want to work in a traditional library,” says Brennan, who previously interned at Know Your Meme and MTV Networks’ tape library while earning her MLIS. Of her career path, she says, “It just kind of clicked—­I was up at 2 a.m. researching some weird internet thing [on Know Your Meme] and … Continue reading Bookend: I Can Has Meme Job?


New Routes to Library Success

New Routes to Library Success

March 1, 2016

I’m director of Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine. As the result of being a worrywart and wanting to make sure that the library makes a successful transition to a technology-driven, digitally dominated future, I spend a great deal of time identifying and evaluating new library programs, processes, and management methods. After years of struggling … Continue reading New Routes to Library Success


Los Angeles Public Library patron Dennis Levin returned The Story of Scotch, a book he checked out in 1950, during the library's recent fine amnesty campaign.

Fine Amnesty Campaigns Bring Rewards in Chicago, L.A.

February 23, 2016

CPL’s “Welcome Home” program ran from February 4–18, while LAPL’s campaign, “LAPL Misses You,” was held February 1–14. The libraries waived late fees on all materials during the campaigns. CPL’s 80 branches received at least 20,000 items, worth about $500,000. This was CPL’s third time holding a fine amnesty program—the first was in 1985 just for … Continue reading Fine Amnesty Campaigns Bring Rewards in Chicago, L.A.