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Alison Marcotte writes: “The City of Brotherly Love is also a city of firsts: The Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731, is considered the country’s first public library.
Philadelphia was the original capital of the United States.
And ALA held its inaugural Convention of Librarians there during the Centennial Exposition in 1876. ALA returns to this historic and vibrant city for its 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition, to be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center June 26–30. This preview offers a small sample of what to expect.
Visit
alaannual.org for registration information and a complete list of events.”...
American Libraries feature, June
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Cindy Hohl writes: “Wopida Tanka! (Many thanks!) As I reflect on my story wheel coming full circle, I am blessed to be surrounded by humble leaders who are the true helpers of society.
In my final column as ALA president, I am taking this opportunity to recognize them, as it is always right to celebrate the human spirit by honoring good people.
Over the past year, I hope that I have brought encouragement to colleagues across this field as we work together for a bright future.
I am not sure what’s next, but I am grateful for this experience.”...
American Libraries column, June
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Lisa Varga writes: “Spring may be over, but library lovers have sprung forward to support federal funding for libraries—and members of Congress are responding positively.
Amid headline-grabbing chaos in the federal government, including President Trump’s efforts to wipe out federal funding for libraries, behind-the-scenes work is progressing in Congress to secure funding for libraries in fiscal year 2026. Here’s how the budget process works, how library supporters pitched in during April and May to help ALA achieve its goals, and what to do next to help the Association support libraries across the country.”...
AL: The Scoop, June 3
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Library visitors seek spaces that are adaptable, sustainable, and purposefully designed to promote learning.
They also require space to store personal belongings.
Spacesaver’s Day Use Lockers, made from heavy-duty steel, provide visitors with a secure and easily accessible place to put coats, computers, and mobile devices.
Libraries benefit from the lockers sleek design, customizable colors, and modular configurations to create a warm, inviting space to learn.
Engineered for repeated use, Day Use Lockers from Spacesaver represent a life-long purchase and indispensable investment in a library’s future.
Unlock your library’s potential with Spacesaver’s Day Use Lockers.
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Anne Ford writes: “Since founding the Internet Archive in 1996, Brewster Kahle has helped preserve nearly three decades of digital history—along with millions of books, audio recordings, videos, images, and software programs.
But in 2023, four major publishers successfully sued the Archive, forcing it to remove their copyrighted books from its digital lending library.
Now the Archive is under attack again, as a music industry copyright infringement lawsuit against it seeks nearly $700 million in damages related to the Archive’s Great 78 preservation initiative.
We discuss with Kahle the lawsuit, the Archive’s future, and the developments making him feel ‘very encouraged.’”...
AL Online, June 4
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On June 3, ALA announced 16
Building Library Capacity Grants of $10,000 each to libraries across the country that are serving new Americans.
Funding is supported through a three-year grant from the Mellon Foundation.
The program is intended to bolster library operations and services including literacy and other skill development, developing collections, staffing, expanding outreach, and maintaining and amplifying existing service strategies or adding new ones to make an impact....
ALA Chapter Relations Office, June 3
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Jenni Diaz Garcia writes: “For weeks as a new library worker, I smiled through the fear of feeling constantly a few paces behind.
Around the two-month mark, something shifted.
I finally had enough context to stop feeling lost and enough confidence to start asking the important questions: Where is this position going? Can it evolve into something else? What does growth look like here, for me? Feeling steady didn’t mean I had all the answers, but it meant I had space to start shaping them.” After a year on the job, Diaz Garcia shares the top lessons she’s learned....
NMRT Notes, June 2
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Brett Oppegaard, Talea Anderson, and Suzanne James-Bacon write: “A recent Department of Justice final ruling established that government agencies will be required to go beyond simple alt-text descriptions in the suddenly near future and to provide instead what the spirit of the law always has recommended, which was equivalent or comparable access to information.
To proactively respond to this upcoming reckoning, we have documented one library’s process for incorporating audio description [the preferred remediation process] into a sample image collection.”...
College and Research Libraries News, Vol 86, No. 6 (June)
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Catherine Hollerbach writes: “In addition to being the state’s capital, Annapolis is a college town bustling with activities.
Community members are very involved and committed to supporting the US Naval Academy (USNA) and its students, faculty, and staff.
When something happens on ‘the Yard,’ it impacts the community as well.
The members of the community surrounding USNA took the
removal of nearly 400 books from USNA’s Nimitz Library personally, reacting with surprise and concern.” The Associated Press
reported May 21 that all but 20 books have been returned to the library....
Public Libraries Online, June 2; Associated Press, Apr.
4, May 21
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Tommaso Bardelli, Sindy Lopez, Tammy Ortiz, and Laura Brown write: “America’s prisons and jails are information deserts.
Restrictions on internet access, combined with limited library services and widespread censorship of both print and digital materials, severely restrict incarcerated individuals’ connection to the outside world.
Legal information is no exception.
Although access to legal information is a constitutionally mandated right, incarcerated people face significant—and often insurmountable—barriers to exercising that right.
In this project that was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, we examine the national landscape of legal information access in prisons.”...
Ithaka S+R, May 29
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Tony Phillips writes: “Microsoft Excel has hundreds of tools and functions, meaning it's quite easy to overlook some of the most useful ones.
In this guide, I'll share four lesser-known, hidden tricks that could transform how you use the popular spreadsheet software.” The explainer covers Goal Seek for long-term planning, the Camera tool for taking data snapshots, data groups for managing large datasets, and custom number formats for quick data visualization....
How-To Geek, May 28
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Cobb County (Ga.) Public Library writes: “June is Pride Month! These books celebrate diversity, community, inclusivity, and understanding.” This list includes children’s picture books, children’s nonfiction books, chapter books, teen and young adult fiction and nonfiction, and adult fiction and nonfiction....
Cobb County (Ga.) Public Library, June 1
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