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Megan Bennett writes: “Artist and activist Kathleen Hanna is most known as the lead singer of punk bands Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and the Julie Ruin. Hanna’s new memoir Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk (Ecco, May) chronicles the challenges and triumphs of her life before, during, and after navigating the male-dominated genre during the 1990s, spurring the Riot Grrrl movement and paving the way for other women artists. American Libraries caught up with Hanna ahead of the book’s release to discuss her behind-the-scenes stories, return to touring, and love of libraries.”...
American Libraries Trend, May 10
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Brandy Sanchez writes: “Public librarianship often resides at the intersection of public service, education, and social work. It allows us to support the unique needs of community members through innovative services, enriching programs, and responsive collections. Yet it is this very contact with the public that puts library workers at risk of experiencing primary or vicarious trauma. Many libraries employ trauma-informed care, but it shouldn’t stop there. Library directors and managers can better support staffers by practicing trauma-informed supervision, when leaders nurture a healthy workplace culture and connect staffers with needed support and resources after a distressing incident with patrons or coworkers.”...
American Libraries column, May
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In Episode 95, Call Number highlights ways libraries are practicing and promoting sustainability. Segments in this episode include a visit to a monthly repair café at Chicago Public Library’s Sulzer Regional branch, a discussion of disaster plans with Dan Wilson, deputy director of Claude Moore Health Sciences Library at University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and sustainability tips from members of ALA’s Sustainability Round Table....
AL: The Scoop, May 13
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Jacob Holmes writes: “A coalition including Read Freely Alabama, the Alabama Library Association and multiple adult and minor patrons of the Autauga-Prattville (Ala.) Public Library
filed a motion in federal court May 9 to block
policies recently enacted by the new board. The complaint filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama asks the court to enjoin the policy on the basis that its provisions are overbroad, vague and implement unconstitutional content-based discrimination.”...
Alabama Political Reporter, May 9; Democracy Forward, May 9; Alabama Reflector, Feb. 27
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Rachel Hendrick writes: “The limitations of generative artificial intelligence (AI) are myriad: They don’t provide citations, they are prone to hallucinations, there is no way to reproduce results, and there are major issues with copyright and user privacy. While retrieval augmented generation (RAG), a framework that creates an application for generative AI large language models, doesn’t solve all these problems, it begins to address the concerns of the academic community. At its core, RAG is the difference between generative AI for fun and generative AI as a legitimate research tool.”...
Choice 360 LibTech Insights, May 8
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Karin Greenberg writes: “There’s something about reciting a memorized poem that induces calm and shuts out the rest of the world for a few seconds. During National Poetry Month in April, I focused on this often-forgotten activity. After putting together a display of poems by various poets, I posted them in a Canvas announcement titled ‘April Poetry Challenge.’ Most students who come into the library during lunch or free periods want to relax or do work. With the lure of a gift card, though, I got dozens of participants.”...
Knowledge Quest, May 13
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Jennifer Matthews and Ane Turner Johnson write: “A focus on digital resources requires careful consideration of library policies by policymakers to ensure that they reflect the university’s public mission and ensure the success of all students. At Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, one such endeavor was to embark on this study to determine if our policies actually reflected the ways in which the student body used the library collection. Through a mixed-methods study, our team discovered that both continuing-generation and first-generation students primarily prefer print books for course materials.”...
College & Research Libraries News, May
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Tess Vrbin writes: “The Arkansas State Library Board on Friday voted down two motions to withhold state funding from public libraries that board member Jason Rapert put forth in his ongoing opposition to the presence of certain books on library shelves. Rapert reintroduced a motion he proposed at February’s board meeting to suspend funding for libraries suing the state [over the state’s 2023 obscenity law]. He also moved to withhold funds for ‘any library that allows unrestricted access to books or materials that contain sexually explicit, obscene or pornographic materials to minors,’” Both motions failed 6–1....
Arkansas Advocate, May 10, Feb. 9
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Kara Arundel writes: “A newly issued federal rule to ensure web content and mobile apps are accessible for people with disabilities will require public K–12 and higher education institutions to do a thorough inventory of their digital materials to make sure they are in compliance, accessibility experts said. The update to
regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities
Act, published April 24 by the US Department of Justice, calls for all state and local governments to verify that their web content—including mobile apps and social media postings—is accessible for those with vision, hearing, cognitive and manual dexterity disabilities.”...
K–12 Dive, May 6
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Becky Spratford writes: “We are less than two weeks away from Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer. Summer Reading lists will start coming fast and furious, so best to get ready now. We know that some lists [such as those from Publishers Weekly] are meant to generate excitement about books that are coming soon, but the average reader does not understand that they are not out yet. If they see a book on a list, they expect you to have it. We need to be ready in a couple of key ways.”...
RA For All, May 14
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Andrew Albanese writes: “Amid a three-year nationwide surge in book bans, 2024 began on a hopeful note for freedom-to-read advocates, with legal victories in book-banning lawsuits in Iowa, Florida, and Texas. But after some early successes, several cases are poised to enter a critical next phase. As the wheels of justice grind on, Publishers Weekly rounded up the status of some of the more closely watched book-banning suits.”...
Publishers Weekly, May 10
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Lisa Zhuang writes: “As a second-generation daughter of immigrants, I am often saddened by the stories that will be forever lost between my mother and me. Yet, as I grow as a reader and writer, I see the potential between the cracks: a chance to insert myself into my culture’s history. It is inevitable that myth will mutate with time. The right author will make the best of it. Below are eight works of fiction based on Asian folklore.”...
Electric Lit, May 8
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