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Sallyann Price writes: “Birdwatching has exploded in popularity during the pandemic, with The New York Times last year observing record participation in Global Big Day, an annual birdwatching event in early May, and the National Audubon Society reporting a boom in sales of birding supplies. Libraries, too, are flocking to the hobby. With help from their collections and community partners, they’re working to get patrons outside—even if it’s just a backyard or neighborhood park.”...
American Libraries Trend, Sept./Oct.
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Teacher-librarian Julia Torres writes: “A few days before the 2019–2020 school year began, a colleague suggested genrefication, or organizing the fiction collection by genre rather than alphabetically by authors’ last names. The process seemed daunting at first, as our fiction collection includes almost 4,000 physical items. But over the course of five days—with the help of four librarians from the district—we managed to do it. When school opened, the magic began to happen.”...
American Libraries column, Sept./Oct.
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Araceli Méndez Hintermeister writes: “Embarking on a new design or renovation project at your library can be overwhelming. These works, ranging from books on user design to volumes on architectural planning, will help spark ideas.”...
American Libraries column, Sept./Oct.
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Barack and Michelle Obama broke ground on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on September 28, beginning one of the final steps in the long-delayed project. During an event at the center’s construction site on Chicago’s South Side, the former president spoke about his desire to make the center more than just a “static museum,” but for it to strengthen democratic ideas at a time when Americans are “seeing more division and increasingly bitter conflict.”...
CNN, Sept. 28
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According to a new Pew Research Center survey of US adults conducted January 25–February 8, 23% of American adults say they haven’t read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic, or audio form. Adults with a high school diploma or less are far more likely than those with a bachelor’s or advanced degree to report not reading books in any format in the past year (39% vs. 11%). In addition, adults whose annual household income is less than $30,000 are more likely than those living in households earning $75,000 or more a year to be non–book readers (31% vs. 15%). Hispanic adults (38%) are more likely than Black (25%) or white adults (20%) to report not having read a book in the past 12 months....
Pew Research Center, Sept. 21
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The UC Berkeley Library began a project August 15 to archive certain parts of the Afghan internet out of concern that important pieces of cultural information and social documentation would be permanently lost if deleted by the Taliban. Librarian for East European Central Asian studies collections Liladhar Pendse initiated the project when the Taliban first breached the presidential palace in Kabul, according to Pendse and campus South Asia curator and cataloger Adnan Malik....
The Daily Californian, Sept. 29
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Eder Campuzano writes: “Newberg, Oregon, teachers can now be reported for displaying Black Lives Matter or Pride flags in their classrooms. The school board’s conservative majority on Tuesday voted to approve a policy barring educators from displaying symbols considered ‘political, quasi-political, or controversial.’ The 4–3 vote came hours after district educators rallied in opposition to the ordinance, which has drawn fierce criticism—and national attention—since board vice chair Brian Shannon introduced it in July.”...
Oregon Live, Sept. 28, Aug. 4
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The Stafford County (Va.) Board of Supervisors passed a resolution September 21 denouncing the teaching of The 1619 Project and critical race theory in county schools. The board also voted to condemn requiring students to choose their own pronouns. Board members say they could withhold any money the school system spends on doing either....
WSET-TV (Lynchburg, Va.), Sept. 21
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Hannah Good writes: “This year, ALA is using its annual
Banned Books Week to highlight challenges to LGBTQ books and books about racial justice. Ahead of the celebration, which takes place from September 26 to October 2, we spoke to authors who have appeared on ALA’s banned book list about what it’s like to have your book challenged.”...
The Lily, Sept. 25
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Aaron Gerry writes: “Tlaloc is a tempestuous deity: provider and withholder. The god of rain, he looms large in the belief system of the Ñäñho people, who reside in the seasonally parched plateau region of Central Mexico. In recent years, a comic book, Ar Metlaloke (The Tlaloques Hunter), has reimagined Tlaloc’s domain with a twist. The book is the first of its kind written in Hñäñho, the language of the Ñäñho people, as well as in Spanish and English. It represents a larger, ongoing effort to preserve the people’s culture, which is under threat as speakers decline and cultural bonds erode from centuries of colonial policies.”...
Sapiens, Sept. 16
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Richard Byrne writes: “YouTube
will automatically generate captions for almost any video that you find. Likewise, it will automatically generate captions for videos that you upload to your account. That’s great if you want to use YouTube. But if you have a video that isn’t on YouTube and you need to display captions with it, there is a solution built into Chrome.”...
Free Technology for Teachers, Sept. 7; Aug. 11, 2020
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Staffers at Homewood (Ill.) Public Library created three parody videos to get into the spirit of this year’s Banned Books Week:
“The Bad Guy” (based on the Billie Eilish hit),
“This Is How We Read” (from Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll”), and
“Can’t Read This” (based on the MC Hammer classic, “U Can’t Touch This”). The videos are available on
the library’s YouTube channel....
Homewood (Ill.) Public Library YouTube, Sept. 27
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