EDITOR'S NOTE
Watch for American Libraries’ Daily Scoop e-newsletters June 27–30, featuring coverage of ALA’s Annual Conference. AL Direct’s July 2 issue will recap the event. | | |
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Reid Bramblett writes: “No one was more surprised than Philadelphians when our restaurants and chefs started raking in James Beard Awards over the past half a dozen years.
We knew we had good food, but we figured the rest of the country had long since written us off.
As an Annual Conference attendee, you’re doubly lucky to be stationed at the convention center.
It’s across the street from both Reading Terminal Market, with its three-dozen food stands, and Philly’s Chinatown, home to loads of inexpensive eateries serving great dim sum and other Asian delectables.
Here are the best of Philadelphia’s best.”...
American Libraries feature, June
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Terra Dankowski writes: “It’s Thursday morning, and the fourth floor of Parkway Central Library is alive with bubbling jollof rice, crisping empanadas, and stir-frying japchae. Welcome to Edible Alphabet, the flagship series of Free Library of Philadelphia’s Culinary Literacy Center.
Since 2015, the program has convened those learning English as a second language—many from the Caribbean, Central America, the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia—to practice conversation and cook a recipe under the direction of an ESL teacher and chef instructor.”...
American Libraries feature, June
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Rosie Newmark writes: “At Hewitt (Tex.) Public Library, teens enthusiastically shared slideshows on the history of roads and the comparative merits of doors and wheels.
None of this was schoolwork.
PowerPoint is finding new life among young people as a tool to share humorous, creative, and niche slideshows with friends on TikTok and other social media platforms.
Now libraries across the country are hosting their own PowerPoint Parties, using the events to engage a younger crowd.”...
American Libraries Trend, June
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David Quick and Benjamin Stokes write: “Public art that ‘talks’ to passersby. Scavenger hunts that scamper through community landmarks.
Through the power of play—and mobile media—programs like these can help public libraries connect with patrons and share local stories.
Over the past five years, DC Public Library has partnered with Playful City Lab, a game design initiative from American University in Washington, D.C. Together, we developed a project called Engaging Beyond Our Walls, which has yielded a budget-friendly platform and toolkit that facilitates storytelling through text messages and audio.”...
American Libraries column, June
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Nathan Sonnenschein writes: “During my first year as an undergraduate, my community college’s library handed out folders bearing a catchphrase: ‘Faster than Google. Better than Wikipedia.
Your college library.’ This gave me the impression that academic libraries saw Wikipedia as a usurper on their terrain.
In the decade since, I have been delighted to see many library professionals develop more nuanced approaches to Wikipedia.
Still, the belief that Wikipedia has no place in research or scholarship persists.
There are real issues, but they do not mean Wikipedia has no valid place in the information ecosystem.”...
ACRLog, June 23
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Ann Baillie writes: “Your library going through a building renovation can lead to many different, and often conflicting emotions. Building renovations are complicated, and depending on the size and scope of the work, you may need to close to the public for a while. You want to make sure you maintain a positive relationship with patrons while your physical building is closed. But how can you?”...
ALSC Blog, June 18
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Kimberli Buckley writes: “The modern library is a unique ecosystem.
It's rich with stories, resources, and people of all ages.
Today’s library staff might include members of at least five different generations—all working under one roof.
With such a broad mix of perspectives, experiences, and communication styles, it’s no surprise that misunderstandings might happen, but with mindful communication it doesn't have to. Mindful communication offers us a way to pause, listen, and connect more intentionally so that no matter your generation or role, you feel seen, heard, valued, and understood.”...
Compassionate Librarian, June 22
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Keith Curry Lance and Caitlin Gerrity write: “This study found that students were more likely to meet or exceed English Language Arts and Literacy (ELA) standards when their schools had credentialed teacher librarians (TLs), TLs serving a single school, and school library staff who engaged in certain specific activities, including managing their library collections and supporting literacy teaching.
With rare exceptions, relationships between library staffing levels and staff activities and ELA performance levels persisted regardless of the gender, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status of students.”...
Learning Hub, June 13
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Emma Roth writes: “A federal judge has sided with Anthropic in an artificial intelligence (AI) copyright case,
ruling that training its AI models on legally purchased books without authors’ permission is fair use.
It’s a first-of-its-kind ruling in favor of the AI industry, but it’s importantly limited to physical books Anthropic purchased and digitized.
Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California also said in his decision that the company must face a separate trial for pirating books from the internet, and did not address whether AI model outputs infringe copyrights, which is at issue in related cases.”...
The Verge, June 24
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Amit Agarwal writes: “Angus owns a beautiful apartment near the university campus.
With the new semester around the corner, he wants to create brochures to attract students as tenants.
But here’s the challenge: The university has students from all over the world who speak different languages.
Angus needs to create brochures that speak to everyone—from students from Japan to those from France, and everywhere in between.
While he could create PDF brochures in multiple languages manually, that process would be both time-consuming and error-prone. This guide explains how you can automate it all.”...
Digital Inspiration, June 18
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Oliver Moody writes: “In the €100 million Oodi library, which looms over central Helsinki like a cruise ship from the future, robots called Tatu, Patu, and Veera trundle back and forth between the shelves and the reading rooms.
Against this backdrop, foreign visitors might be surprised to see how many children and teenagers are engaged in an almost unsettlingly archaic activity: reading and borrowing books.
In the age of TikTok, Netflix, and Candy Crush, it is not just Finland’s public libraries that are booming, but also demand for their physical paperbacks and hardbacks.”...
The Times (London), June 20
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