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In the latest installment of our online column on legal issues in public libraries, lawyer-librarian Mary Minow and guest author Kyle K. Courtney look at the library ebooks landscape and state-level efforts to institutionalize fair licensing terms....
American Libraries column, May 17
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In Episode 71 of Call Number with American Libraries, “Setting Up for Self-Care,” we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, observed each May. The importance of self-care has become clearer than ever in recent years, especially in the age of the pandemic. In this episode, AL editors speak with Randa Lopez Morgan about Louisiana State University Library’s
Relaxation Room, Rebecca Tolley about her book
A Trauma-Informed Approach to Library Services, and Michelle Schaub, who implemented
yoga classes in the Monona (Wis.) Grove High School library....
AL: The Scoop, May 16
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Lindsey Kimery writes: “If you visit Nashville, Tennessee, chances are you’ll venture downtown, where country music spills out of honky-tonks and into the streets. Across town, the Tennessee State Capitol sits on a hill overlooking it all. Earlier this year, country music and legislation crossed paths with House Bill 1944 and Senate Bill 1944, also known as the ‘obscenity and pornography’ bill.”...
American Libraries column, May 11
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Author, short story writer, television producer, and screenwriter
R. L. Stine will present at the
2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., June 23–28. Stine is the creator of the Fear Street and Goosebumps series and has sold more than 400 million books, making him one of the bestselling authors in history. At ALA Annual, Stine will discuss his new graphic novel, Stinetinglers, a book of 10 new stories laced with his signature humor and a hefty dose of nightmarish fun....
ALA Conference Services, May 13
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Victoria Rahbar writes: “Unfortunately, manga censorship remains an ongoing concern for libraries with manga collections, particularly school libraries. Content sanitization has not ceased nor has manga been exempt from the recent increase in challenges to all forms of literature. As
summarized by Book Riot, Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son was on Texas Rep. Matt Krause’s (R-Fort Worth) fall 2021
list of 850 books identified for possible removal from Texan school libraries. Like many recent bans and challenges, Wandering Son is LGBTQIA+ literature. As manga publishers continue to publish more LGBTQIA+ works, more challenges against these series should be expected.”...
OIF Blog, May 12; Book Riot, Nov. 5, 2021; NPR, Oct. 28, 2021
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Hannah Natanson writes: “Republican lawmakers across the country are proposing legislation that would target online library databases and library management technology—tools built by a half-dozen large companies that catalog millions of books, journals, and articles that students peruse for assignments. These bills—already enacted in
Utah and
Tennessee, on the verge of becoming law in
Oklahoma, and proposed in at least six other states—are broadly similar. They require databases to remove and block student access to material that is obscene, pornographic, sexually exploitative of children, or ‘harmful to minors’—designations that opponents say could encompass a wide range of texts.”...
Washington Post, May 10
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Ashley Hawkins writes: “When I came to my school library in 2018, it was a dump. I mean that literally. Old books filled the school library. Posters were still up from the last time students or school librarians had occupied the space. That was 2006, when the original high school was broken into smaller high schools during New York City’s restructuring of its high school system. It’s a reasonably typical story in New York City, where most schools do not have a library” despite
regulations that every school in the state have one....
Knowledge Quest, May 12
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Peter Armenti writes: “The Library of Congress, as most movie fans know, plays a prominent role in the National Treasure film franchise. As luck would have it, another of my stellar colleagues in the library’s Researcher and Reference Services Division, Abby Yochelson, appeared on the season four finale of the National Treasure Hunt podcast—a biweekly podcast dedicated to the National Treasure franchise—to chat with cohosts Aubrey Paris and Emily Black about the filming of the National Treasure movies at the library.”...
From the Catbird Seat blog, May 13
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David Rothman writes: “One of the most fearsome antitrusters was Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican president who jousted with the oil companies. We know who today’s oil companies are: Big Tech, in so many cases. As an ebook reader, writer, or publisher, what targets would be on your antitrust list if you ruled the world or at least the Federal Trade Commission and equivalents in the EU and elsewhere?”...
Teleread, May 9
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Julie Kim writes: “Watching an adorable kid lovingly curl up with their favorite stuffed animal can be achingly cute … until you think about where that stuffie has been. The sandbox, the car trunk, the dog’s mouth—oh, my! And then, ugh, what’s been on that stuffie (I have observed a kid burying boogers into the fur of their favorite stuffed lion). Officially grossed out? Fortunately, many stuffed animals and plush dolls are machine-washable. Vinyl dolls should never be submerged in water. But with some supplies and techniques, you can remove grime and even undo a doll’s marker makeover.”...
New York Times, May 12
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livius writes: “Librarians at the Leeds (UK) Central Library took advantage of the lockdowns to thoroughly survey and catalog the rare book and special collections. In the process, they documented more than 3,000 items that had fallen through the cracks, including
a Bible so small that you need a magnifying glass to read it.” The survey also found a copy of Oliver Twiss, a low-cost contemporary that lifts heavily from Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist....
The History Blog, May 9; The Independent (UK), May 5
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