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Marshall Breeding writes: “Although libraries are currently facing a climate of political and financial upheaval, that didn’t stop information professionals from showing up in force to ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition.
With more than 600 vendors and a variety of live stages and pavilions, the Library Marketplace showcased products for libraries facing intense new challenges.
Services and solutions that focused on libraries’ ongoing needs for efficiency and impact were in high demand.”...
American Libraries feature, July/Aug.
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Sam Helmick writes: “As library professionals, we often traffic in the timeless—in books, archives, and community memory.
But this year’s ALA Annual Conference reminded us that timing matters, too.
At a moment when the core tenets of librarianship—intellectual freedom, the right to read, equitable access to information—are under direct attack across the country, gathering in Philadelphia felt as much like a profound act of civic engagement as it did impactful professional development.
There was an unmistakable sense that showing up mattered.”...
American Libraries column, July/Aug.
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Greg Landgraf writes: “Libraries are having a Hollywood moment, as several documentarians have recently turned their lenses towards libraries, librarians, and intellectual freedom issues.
Some of these films made their mark at the recent ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia, on PBS, at the Sundance Film Festival, and even at the Oscars, where
The ABCs of Book Banning was nominated last year for Best Documentary Short Film.
Below you can read about some favorites (and find out how to watch them).”...
American Libraries Online, July 28
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ALA has launched the
ALA Learning Library, a member-exclusive collection of free professional development resources.
Introduced at ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference, the ALA Learning Library will help members easily access a large and growing of eLearning events that are only available to them.
In addition to demonstrating the value of membership to current members, the new library also helps promote membership to nonmembers who want to take advantage of the professional development offerings....
ALA Communications, Marketing, and Media Relations Office, July 23
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Daniel Pfeiffer writes: “It has been a brutal summer for artificial intelligence (AI) news and commentary.
Though I have deep reservations about the trajectory we’re on, I do at least feel good about the work that librarians are undertaking in this field, such as
organizing communities of practice, incorporating AI into
information literacy instruction, and
finding thoughtful uses of it. Such applications underscore that librarians have an important role in shepherding this technology, and we need more AI-literate librarians to enter these conversations and decisionmaking processes.” Pfeiffer recommends new reports and research to help librarians gain that literacy....
Choice 360: LibTech Insights, July 28, July 14, July 7, June 9
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Lucy Podmore writes: “High School Voter Registration Week will be celebrated nationally this year the week of September 23–27, a date close enough to fit with our Freedom to Read Week [an alternative approach to Banned Books Week from October 5–11] activities. Where I live, it is state law that public high schools offer two opportunities for students to register to vote, so this opportunity helps me fulfill this requirement.
We have always hosted voter registration drives on my campus, but this year I am providing an opportunity for my students to lead these drives.”...
Knowledge Quest, July 24
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Violet Fox writes: “I don’t know the right metaphor to make you understand how this much debt physically feels.
Many of those working in academic libraries are working towards paying off their student debt through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Over the past year, the repayment plan I’m on, SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) plan, was blocked by a US appeals court.” Moving to a different repayment plan would nearly triple the monthly payments, Fox writes, and federal developments may threaten PSLF eligibility altogether.”...
ACRLog, July 24
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Jill Replogle writes: “Last year, the virtual book club at the Huntington Beach (Calif.) Public Library voted to discuss the The Guncle during its May 2025 meeting. A month before the book club meeting, library staff were told to remove the book from the club’s discussion calendar, according to several sources.
It’s one of several indications, they say, of what’s sometimes called ‘soft’ or ‘quiet’ censorship. The incident is an indication that the book battles in this conservative beach town are far from over—despite a
special election last month in which voters rebuked the City Council’s conservative agenda for the library.”...
LAist, July 21, June 11
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“The 37th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony was held July 25 during San Diego Comic-Con. Named for the pioneering comics creator and graphic novelist Will Eisner, the awards were given out in 32 categories for works published in 2024. Topping the winners is Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham (First Second/Macmillan), which took home the trophies for Best Graphic Album–New, Best Publication for Teens, and Best Writer for Yang.”...
San Diego Comic-Con, July 25
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Bill Zeeble writes: “Texas’s
Senate Bill 13 says districts can create a school library council that would be responsible for recommending which books can enter a school library and which need to be removed.
Signed into law after the recent regular session, it goes into effect September 1. If a district doesn’t opt to form a council, parents can petition trustees to create one.
It would take 10 percent of a district’s enrolled students—or 50 parents total, whichever is fewer—to force creation of a council.” Districts in Coppell, Grand Prairie, and
Nacogdoches are among those forming school library councils already....
KERA-FM (Dallas), July 28; KUT-FM (Austin, Texas), June 5; KLTV-TV (Tyler, Texas), July 28
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“A June 2025 statewide poll reveals Michigan voters increasingly oppose book bans and strongly support their local public libraries.
The new poll follows a
similar statewide survey on library issues conducted in March 2023, both commissioned by the Michigan Library Association.
Results confirm a growing statewide resistance to censorship efforts targeting library collections and a significant increase in strong support for public libraries since 2023. Key findings show that 79 percent approve of Michigan libraries’ work (up from 71 percent in 2023), and 75 percent trust librarians’ collection decisions.”...
Michigan Library Association, July 18
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Rachel McRady writes: “Dan Pelzer read more than 5,000 books throughout the course of his life, including one classic he called ‘pure torture.’ Pelzer, who died on July 1 at the age of 92, left his friends and family a 109-page handwritten list of all the books he’s read since 1962. Pelzer’s family scanned the list and created a
website sharing his reads, What Dan Read. In a post shared on the
Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library’s Facebook page, Pelzer’s daughter, Marci, wrote, ‘ALL of his books were Columbus Metropolitan Library books.
Nobody loved the library more than Dan.’”...
People, July 22; Columbus Metropolitan Library, July 21
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