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Marshall Breeding writes: “In recent years, business acquisitions have brought high-stakes changes to the library technology industry, creating seismic shifts in the balance of power. But other events in 2022—primarily advances in open source software—have even bigger implications for the market. Although proprietary products continue to dominate, open source alternatives are becoming increasingly competitive. Interest in open systems has been growing within the library world for at least 15 years, and recent procurements reflect important breakthroughs.”...
American Libraries feature, May
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ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall writes: “In mid-March, I spoke on a panel at the South by Southwest EDU conference in Texas to discuss the alarming and increasingly weaponized attempts to ban and remove books from public and school libraries. Understanding both the weight of the moment and where the conversation was taking place, I commented on the connection between attempted book banning today and the McCarthy-era attempts at cultural disenfranchisement. I said to the audience, ‘Those of you who would have imagined yourself being on the right side of history 70 or 80 years ago, now is your time. If we are silent and lose the right to read freely, it will be our own fault.’”...
American Libraries column, May
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ALA President Lessa Kanani‘opua Pelayo-Lozada writes: “When other library workers and I attended the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ World Library and Information Congress in Dublin last July, we heard from Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland who now works as a climate activist. Setting the stage for a global conference within the context of climate injustice and its realities emphasized not only the moral imperative we have in tackling climate change but also a practical one. If we don’t change our course and engage in collective action, we will not have a world in which to live freely. It would be a world devoid of libraries and library workers.”...
American Libraries column, May
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ALA and its supporters observed National Library Week (NLW) April 23–29. To close out celebrations, American Libraries Associate Editor Megan Bennett spoke with award-winning middle-grade and YA author Kelly Yang, this year’s honorary chair, about promoting the NLW theme “There’s More to the Story” amid a record number of book challenges. Yang, whose books have been the subject of censorship attempts, discussed the importance of feeling represented in literature and the role libraries have played in her life....
AL Online, Apr. 28
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On April 27, ALA announced that presidential inaugural poet and bestselling author Amanda Gorman and award-winning illustrator Christian Robinson will be the closing speakers at ALA’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago (June 22–27). The two will discuss their forthcoming children’s picture book, Something, Someday.
Registration for Annual is open, and advance rates are available through June 16....
ALA Conference Services, Apr. 27
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On April 25, ALA released an announcement praising the Prison Libraries Act, introduced by US Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), along with US Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) and Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) and 25 cosponsors. The bill would establish a grant program within the Department of Justice to provide library services to incarcerated individuals to advance reintegration efforts, reduce recidivism, and increase educational opportunities. Grants would allow prisons to update materials, hire qualified librarians, and support digital literacy and career readiness training....
ALA, Apr. 25
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Laura Schulte-Cooper writes: “The 2023 ALSC Summer Reading Lists are here! Compiled by the Association for Library Service to Children’s Quicklists Consulting Committee, these lists are full of engaging and award-winning book titles to keep children reading throughout the summer. For young digital media fans, the committee also recommends a range of apps, podcasts, and websites to help kids discover and develop their interests.” Four lists (birth to pre-K, grades K–2 grades, 3–5, and grades 6–8) are
available for free download....
ALSC Blog, Apr. 26
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Gil Press writes: “By the end of the film Desk Set (1957), the head librarian (Katharine Hepburn) proves her point by winning not only the engineer’s (Spencer Tracy) heart but also a contest with the ominous-looking EMERAC, a room-size ‘electronic brain.’ A few years before the first electronic brains started automating work, Wesleyan University librarian Fremont Rider estimated that American university libraries were doubling in size every 16 years. Given this growth rate, Rider speculated that the Yale Library in 2040 will have ‘approximately 200,000,000 volumes, [requiring] a cataloging staff of over 6,000 persons.’ Will electronic brains help librarians or serve to replace them?”...
Forbes, Apr. 30
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Emily Vogels and Risa Gelles-Watnick write: “Today’s teens are navigating a digital landscape unlike the one experienced by their predecessors, particularly when it comes to the pervasive presence of social media. In 2022, Pew Research Center fielded an in-depth survey asking American teens—and their parents—about
their experiences with and views toward social media. Here are key findings from the survey.” Takeaways cover TikTok usage, posting habits, and privacy....
Pew Research Center, Apr. 24; Aug. 10, 2022
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