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On September 9, ALA’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office will host a conversation with library professionals and a Capitol Hill insider on techniques to successfully engage elected leaders to get positive results: fruitful conversations in meetings with congressional staff, well-received letters to the editor, energizing in-person library visits, and more.
Register for free online. Pioneer Library System in Oklahoma
demonstrated the value of congressional outreach in a visit from US Rep.
Tom Cole (R-Okla.), during which he spoke frequently about his love of libraries....
ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, Aug.
19; Public Libraries Online, Aug.
19
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Emma Whitford writes: “As fall semester classes get underway, colleges and universities have faced a cascade of so-called swatting calls—false reports of serious crimes intended to trigger a large police response and the deployment of SWAT teams.” The false reports frequently, though not exclusively, focused on library buildings, including at
University of South Carolina in Columbia,
University of Arkansas in Fayetteville,
University of Tennessee at Knoxville,
Kansas State University in Manhattan,
Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff,
University of Colorado Boulder,
University of New Hampshire in Durham,
West Virginia University in Morgantown, and
University of Kentucky in Lexington. The Association of College and Research Libraries and Core have a
LibGuide on safety and security....
Inside Higher Ed, Aug.
26; WIS-TV (Columbia, S.C.), Aug. 24; KHOG-TV (Fayetteville, Ark.), Aug. 26; Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel, Aug. 25; WIBW-TV (Topeka, Kans.), Aug. 25; KTVK-TV (Phoenix), Aug. 25; KMGH-TV (Denver), Aug. 25; WMUR-TV (Manchester, N.H.), Aug. 25; WTAE-TV (Pittsburgh), Aug. 26; WDKY-TV (Lexington, Ky.), Aug. 26; ACRL, June 25, 2024
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ALA is celebrating Library Card Sign-Up Month in September.
This year’s theme, “One Card, Endless Possibilities,” is a reminder that libraries are for everyone and that a library card can help anyone dive into a new hobby, search for the next great read, brush up on tech skills, or help their child succeed in school.
Social media graphics, a sample press release, and a proclamation are available in both English and Spanish on the
ALA website. A poster, bookmarks, and digital poster file are available at the
ALA Store....
ALA Communications, Marketing, and Media Relations Office, Aug.
25
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Your library can now provide cover-to-cover access to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) with the recent June 23 launch of the APA Style Manual.
Learn more about this full-text digital resource for APA Style support.
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Raymond Taddeo writes: “Since 2021, book challenges in US libraries have surged, targeting works with sexual content, characters of color, and LGBTQ+ representation. Conservative pressure groups like Moms for Liberty have spearheaded these challenges, driven in part by the conspiracy-fueled moral panic created by QAnon and President Donald Trump.
Widespread belief in a conspiracy echoes a different moral panic based on unfounded accusations.
Like QAnon, [the Satanic Panic of the early 1980s] was amplified by mainstream media and championed by right-wing organizations, contributing to a surge in book challenges nationwide.”...
LHRT News and Notes, Aug.
20
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Caelin Ross writes: “What happens if we don’t uncover hidden histories? My collection assessment revealed exactly what happens—entire communities disappear from the historical record, not because they weren’t contributing to the field, but because collecting practices privileged certain voices while marginalizing others.
This discovery became a catalyst for change, but not the kind that happens overnight.
I love community-centered collecting and reaching more people.
But a lot of my daily work is less exciting.
Mundane technical work doesn’t generate headlines, but it’s essential infrastructure for everything else.
You can’t build authentic community partnerships when your collections lack organization.”...
ACRLog, Aug. 20
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Sarah Flathman writes: “Taking time to celebrate, even in small ways, can make a meaningful difference.
When staff feel seen and appreciated, morale improves, communication strengthens, and people are more likely to support one another during stressful periods.
These moments don’t need to be elaborate.
Youth services work is highly visible to the public—but much of the behind-the-scenes effort can be exhausting and easily overlooked.
By intentionally pausing to reflect and celebrate, we reinforce the value of that effort and strengthen our teams for whatever comes next.”...
ALSC Blog, Aug. 21
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On August 21, the Special Libraries Association (SLA) and the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) announced that their members have cleared the way for the organizations to merge.
SLA members voted overwhelmingly to accept the dissolution plan proposed by their board of directors.
Separately, ASIS&T members resoundingly approved their board’s proposal to welcome SLA members into their organization along with the association’s remaining assets.
SLA originally announced its plan to dissolve and seek transition options in March....
Association for Information Science and Technology, Aug.
21; Special Libraries Association, Aug.
20, Mar. 26
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Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell write: “In 2023, our book And Tango Makes Three was one of thousands pulled from library shelves around the country, and as we write, an evolving legal strategy being used to defend many such bans threatens to upend decades of precedent preserving the right to read.
The danger this doctrine poses to free speech should worry us all—even those who would rather their children not learn about gay penguins.”...
The Atlantic, Aug. 20
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Mike Olson writes: “The recent layoffs at OCLC offer a stark glimpse into the precarious future of library and information labor.
In July 2025, OCLC confirmed it reduced its central Ohio workforce by about 80 positions, citing ‘shifts in technical skill requirements, growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI), and ongoing changes in higher education and libraries.’ [But] the organization has also announced it is developing AI tools for metadata processing.
Here lies the paradox of our moment: The same technological advances celebrated for their efficiency are erasing the human expertise that creates the high-quality metadata these systems depend on to function.”...
The Scholarly Kitchen, Aug.
26
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Ken Axford and Hope Dunbar write: “When faced with over 2,000 hours of historical radio recordings from the former campus station WBFO, the University at Buffalo (N.Y.) Archives team knew that manually creating descriptive metadata would be prohibitively time-intensive. The solution? Leveraging consumer-level AI tools like ChatGPT Pro and Microsoft 365 Copilot to generate program descriptions from audio transcripts.
Despite some limitations, the AI-assisted metadata creation significantly reduced processing time for the WBFO collection.
A hybrid approach—AI generation followed by human verification—proved both efficient and reliable.”...
Society of American Archivists BloggERS!, Aug. 20
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Benjamin Lee writes: “The number of Americans who read for pleasure has fallen by 40%, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of Florida in Gainesville and University College London have found that between 2003 and 2023, daily reading for reasons other than work and study fell by about 3% each year. While all groups saw a decline, there were bigger drops among certain groups such as Black Americans, people with lower incomes or education levels, and those in rural areas.
More women than men also continue to read for fun.”...
The Guardian, Aug. 20
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Sally Miller comedically creates collective nouns for items and situations that will be familiar to many librarians. For example: “A collection of empty chairs is called an author reading. A cluster of teens reading quietly is called a mystery. A group of people who only remember ‘the cover was blue’ is called a patron. A group of underfunded libraries is called a tragedy.”...
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Aug. 19
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