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Araceli Méndez Hintermeister writes: “Libraries are so much more than four walls. Serving everyone in a community often requires meeting people where they’re at, in a way that’s most accessible to them. Outreach services do just that. The following titles provide strategies and real-life examples so library workers of all types can leverage outreach to expand their local footprint.”...
American Libraries column, Sept./Oct.
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American Libraries collects statistics about music-related holdings, from classical to hip-hop. Discover the number of items of stagewear held by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Frist Library and Archive in Nashville, the number of player piano rolls in the Music and Performing Arts Library at University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and the size of the research collection related to the late Tejana singer Selena at Texas State University in San Marcos....
American Libraries Trend, Sept./Oct.
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Jennifer Slagus writes: “People interact with and experience the world in many different ways; this natural variation in brains, bodies, and ways of being is called neurodiversity. In the past decade, the focus on neurodiversity in the media and in libraries has increased exponentially, but this attention does not indicate that neurodiversity is simply a fad or trending topic. Rather, attempts to better appreciate, support, and earnestly include individuals of all neurotypes has facilitated the change. Librarians can continue to support the needs and preferences of all patrons through a neurodiversity-informed approach.”...
Association of College and Research Libraries: Keeping Up with..., Oct.
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Forty-six books (23 fiction, 23 nonfiction) have been selected for the
longlist for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, cosponsored by Booklist and the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) and funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. A six-title shortlist, with three fiction and three nonfiction titles, will be announced November 12, and the fiction and nonfiction medal winners will be announced at RUSA’s Book and Media Awards livestreaming event, to be held January 26 during ALA’s 2024 LibLearnX Conference in Phoenix....
Booklist, Oct. 22
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Kelley Taksier writes: “I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember. But I can remember only one book fair experience as a child: pacing a fluorescently lit room and asking the cashier, ‘How much is this with tax?’ to see what I could afford with my lunch money. Later, as a classroom teacher at a Title I school, I would witness many of my students experiencing much the same thing. Even libraries that can afford book fairs are reimagining them to better align their practices with the
Association for Library Service to Children’s core values, especially inclusiveness and innovation.”...
ALSC Blog, Oct. 19
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The Carnegie-Whitney Grant, administered by ALA’s Publishing Committee, provides up to $5,000 for the preparation of print or electronic reading lists, indexes, or other guides to library resources that promote reading or the use of library resources at any type of library.
Applications and instructions are available on the grant website and must be received by November 1. Examples of
previously funded
projects include “A Resource Guide about Disabilities, Disability Theory, and Assistive
Technologies,” “A Bibliography for Queer Teens,”
“Graphic Novels & the Humanity of Mental Illness,” and “Web Accessibility Resources for Libraries.”...
ALA Publishing, Oct. 15
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Faith Bugenhagen writes: “Conroe (Tex.) Independent School District’s self-described ‘mama bear’ trustees’ attempt to block books they deem inappropriate from returning to library and classroom shelves proved unsuccessful October 15. Revisions [to the district’s book policies], which passed on a 4–2 vote, now clearly define that removed titles that bypassed the formal reconsideration process can undergo a formal review process if their removals are challenged. ‘If we trust parents to review books that are being pulled, then we trust parents to review books that are being asked to go into the schools,’ Skeeter Hubert, Conroe ISD board president, said.”...
Chron (Houston), Oct. 16
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Kelly Jensen writes: “I’ve written about how book bans weren’t about the books specifically. They’re about the ways those books can be used as a tool to do a lot more damage and they’re one arm of a many-tentacled approach in the march toward authoritarianism. The argument is straightforward: if you would not have purchased the ‘inappropriate’ material in the first place, then you would not need to spend all of this money on the process of reviewing the material. Taxpayer money is at stake and poorly stewarded from start to finish. It’s a circular argument.”...
Book Riot, Oct. 18
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Sarah Wendell writes: “It seems there is some artificial intelligence (AI) weirdness with audiobook narration on OverDrive, and the narrator is only part of the story. On October 14, librarian Robin Bradford posted on Bluesky that she’d purchased an
AI audiobook for her library system and she was really upset about it. Over 100 titles by AI ‘narrators’ were in their catalog, and Robin was having trouble finding indications that the authors themselves are real? Interesting.”...
Smart Bitches Trashy Books, Oct. 21
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Chance Townsend writes: “The Internet Archive can't catch a break. Just a day after the Internet Archive posted the restoration of its Wayback Machine and other services on its blog, the site has gone dark again. It’s another frustrating setback for users who rely on the digital library’s vast resources, though details on who is causing this new disruption are still unclear. At this point, it looks like this is the fourth cyberattack on the Internet Archive since the beginning of October.”...
Mashable, Oct. 22
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Melissa Brachfeld writes: “Imagine the frustration of a scholar who, after traveling thousands of miles to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, must wait hours to access a single cardboard box that may or may not contain the specific materials they might be seeking. The 43 National Archives and Records Administration facilities contain over 10 billion pages, most of which have not been digitized. It can feel like searching for a historical needle in a very large haystack. Researchers at the University of Maryland, with assistance from information experts from Japan, are working to offer digital solutions to this dilemma.”...
University of Maryland: Maryland Today, Oct. 17
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