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Greg Landgraf writes: “On a school morning last September, small groups of 5th-graders crowded around tools connected to scientific research—a microscope, a robotic camera, and even a snake named Morgan Freeman—clipboards and pencils in hand. They were at the Melrose branch of Roanoke (Va.) Public Libraries (RPL), judging graduate students from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on their research. The event was RPL’s second Flip the Fair, introduced in 2022 to help graduate students develop skills to effectively communicate their research while engaging local elementary students with STEM topics and the library.”...
American Libraries Trend, June
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Mel Baldwin writes: “Regardless of why someone comes into a library, every patron should be free to interact with staff, browse materials, and use the internet without fear of harassment or worse. That freedom depends on libraries upholding patron privacy. With nearly 400 active anti-trans bills pending in state legislatures as of April 2024, it is a dangerous time in the US to be gender nonconforming, someone whose gender expression does not align with the traditional male or female binary. And for trans people of color, studies show the risk of discrimination and violence is higher.”...
American Libraries column, June
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Sheila Craft-Morgan writes: “Citations are a key measure of the impact of a researcher’s work. However, research in a variety of disciplines has found that
women
are less likely to be cited than men; citations contain geographic bias; and the
Matthew effect—in which those who begin with advantage continue to gain advantage—leads to more citations for prominent scholars in a specific discipline. These findings contribute to the notion that scholarly knowledge comes from a homogenous group of researchers, thereby overlooking the contributions of other groups.”...
American Libraries column, June
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Explore new skills, refine your current ones, or start your career journey with Skill Forward, a free online education program in partnership with Verizon and edX. With over 250 courses available in areas such as leadership, business, and AI, this initiative is accessible to everyone, regardless of education level or background. Skill Forward equips individuals to excel in today’s digital workforce by offering top-notch skill training and support to prepare for in-demand jobs.
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Summer is in full swing. This means getting outside, soaking up some sunshine, and listening to our favorite tunes—from oldies-but-goodies to today’s hits. In Episode 97, Call Number covers music. This episode includes conversations with librarian and Grammy Award–winning French horn player Joy Worland, as well as librarians who have organized programs for local patrons who love Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and K-Pop. Attendees of ALA’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego also share memories of the first concert they attended....
AL: The Scoop, July 15
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Share innovative strategies and resources with your peers by submitting an education program proposal for the 2025
LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, taking place January 24–27, 2025, in Phoenix. The
submission site is open now through August 12. The programmatic theme of LibLearnX 2025 is Reimagine, Refocus, Reset: Charting a Path for the Future. The LibLearnX Program Submission Guide provides detailed explanations of the learning formats and step-by-step instructions for submitting a proposal. Consult the
Program Proposal Rubric for evaluation criteria and scoring and
view a video on using the submission site to create and submit your proposal....
ALA Conference Services, July 15
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Steph Campbell writes: “From a combination of hype from Stranger Things, captivating performances on Critical Role, acceptance of ‘nerd culture,’ and so many other reasons, tabletop role-playing games have greatly increased in popularity over the past few years, and youth activities are reflecting this. Running games is often seen as the core for facilitating this interest, but you can connect your library’s book collection to this too. By displaying books that focus on themes from your library’s game sessions, you can help players find other stories that they relate to.”...
ALA Games & Gaming Round Table, July 11
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C. Allison Sills writes: “In the dance between safeguarding patron privacy and navigating the law, community colleges confront a pivotal question: How do we fulfill our legal obligations without compromising the ethical and legal bedrock of our profession? In North Carolina, where I work, since the
Parents’ Bill of Rights became state law in December 2023, community colleges have been pressured to compulsorily activate all patron checkout history for the first time in decades. The need to shield individuals’ privacy from potential abuse is paramount.”...
College & Research Libraries News, July
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Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, was
partially
evacuated July 15 after university officials received an email claiming “In the name of Donald Trump I have hidden highly lethal lead azide devices in the library and cafeteria.” Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
evacuated its library and dining halls after receiving bomb threats July 11. Evacuation orders in both cases were lifted after searches found no bombs. Many
public libraries in Illinois, Minnesota, and other states have also experienced threats over the past year, most recently at
River Forest (Ill.) Public Library.”...
WDRB-TV (Louisville, Ky.), July 15; WGAL-TV (Lancaster, PA), July 15; Book Riot, July 16; WLS-TV (Chicago), July 9
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Kyle Pfannenstiel and Mia Maldonado write: “House Bill 710—which passed in April, following years of similar attempts by the Idaho Legislature—requires Idaho public and school libraries to move materials deemed harmful to children, or face lawsuits. Libraries across Idaho are reworking policies to comply with the new law that some call vague. But many are waiting to see if there’d be a formal challenge to books in their collections, which they said community members have rarely filed before the law. Some libraries planned and then canceled new policies limiting access.”...
Idaho Capital Sun (Boise), July 15, Apr. 10
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Brown University’s John Hay Library in Providence, Rhode Island, has acquired the contemporary papers of poet, musician, playwright, author, and activist Joy Harjo, the 23rd US poet laureate. Harjo, who served in that role from 2019–2022, was the first Native American to hold the position. The acquisition primarily includes materials from 2021–2024, and Harjo will continue to send materials to the library throughout her life. Harjo received an honorary degree from Brown in May, and had been mentored by Brown’s late Professor of Literary Arts and English Michael S. Harper....
Brown University, July 11
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Martin Appel writes: “Sometimes small news can reveal big truths. When Microsoft released its annual sustainability report in May, the numbers hid something interesting: the company has increased its emissions by 30% since 2020. Why? One key explanation can be summarized in two letters: AI. Microsoft’s massive investment in artificial intelligence (AI) has led to proportionally massive climate emissions. AI and cloud computing are here to stay and there’s nothing we can do to stop that. In that case, how long can we—the consumers and people of the world—continue to use them without paying?”...
PC World, July 10
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Heather Kelly writes: “Anyone with an internet connection can watch breaking news unfold in real time, or at least some version of it. Across social media, posts can fly up faster than most fact-checkers and moderators can handle, and they are often an unpredictable mix of true, fake, out of context, and straight propaganda. The risk is higher immediately after politically charged incidents such as the Trump rally shooting, which has already flooded social media with incorrect information and spawned a number of conspiracy theories. Here are some basic tools everyone should use when consuming breaking news online.”...
Washington Post, July 15
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