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Sallyann Price writes: “Conversations about censorship and book bans tend to exclude the voices of the very population they claim to protect: young people. Now a rising generation is bristling at these restrictions, seeking a more active role in advocating for their own freedom to read.
This summer, the National Coalition Against Censorship and Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library collaborated to host their first-ever
Teen Advocacy Institute: Power to the Readers, an eight-session virtual workshop for teens looking to become intellectual freedom advocates in their communities.”...
American Libraries Online, Oct.
9
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Melanie LaFleche and Winona McMorrow write: “In 2017, only about a third of autistic Canadians ages 20–64 reported being employed.
In addition, most library services for autistic people are aimed at children, leaving adults with autism spectrum disorder underserved.
A library-driven, neurodivergence-friendly employment event was a clear way to help address both issues.
Toronto Public Library brought that vision to life as Inclusive Futures: Autism Employment Expo, an event designed to connect autistic adults to employers and job resources in a sensory-friendly setting.”...
American Libraries, Sept./Oct.
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“While the drumbeat of news stories of libraries and schools relocating or removing books continues, it’s important to remember that librarians have allies in the fight against book-banning. Here’s how a few notable figures American Libraries spoke to or covered over the past year reflected on advocacy, diverse stories, and censorship-free libraries.”...
American Libraries Online, Oct. 9
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Get ready for the next Dog Man adventure! Preorder Dog Man: Big Jim Believes from Follett Content for as low as $10.99, now through November 10. This limited-time offer is too good to miss and makes it easy to stock up on a must-have title your readers will love.
Order today and be among the first to enjoy Big Jim’s inspiring journey!
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Gavin Damore writes: “Ever wanted to run a Pokémon Club at your library but weren’t sure where to start? The Pokémon Club program has you covered.
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and American Association of School Librarians (AASL) have partnered with The Pokémon Company International to bring the Pokémon Club program to AASL and ALSC members.
Clubs are a friendly, inclusive space where young players can learn and develop strategic thinking, math, reading comprehension, and creativity skills through the Pokémon Trading Card Game.”
Learn more about the program and
apply to receive a Pokémon Club kit....
ALSC Blog, Oct. 13
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Lucy Podmore writes: “I am seeing an increase in distressing posts from librarians about the effects of harmful laws and policies passed by state legislatures and school districts.
Promoted as protecting children’s safety or parental rights, the only impacts so far have been a decrease in access to books, library funding, and parental rights, and the fear of possible criminal charges among librarians for simply encouraging students to read.
But there is a positive to these developments: I have also seen recordings of school board meetings in which board members are pushing back.”...
Knowledge Quest, Oct.
9
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Cara Bertram writes: “In 1926, during ALA’s 50th anniversary, Boston Public Library presented ALA with a scrapbook of letters, postcards, and documents tracing the origins of the Librarians’ Conference of 1876, the start of the Association.
This piece of ALA history has largely been inaccessible due to the deteriorating condition of the object, with pages becoming detached from its binding and past repairs failing.
In 2023, the ALA Archives and the Conservation Unit at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library initiated discussions about a conservation plan.”...
American Library Association Archives, Oct.
13
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Jonathan Gallardo writes: “A little more than two years after Terri Lesley, former director of Campbell County (Wyo.) Public Library, filed a complaint against the Campbell County Commission and the Campbell County Public Library Board for workplace discrimination, the commission and the library board settled with Lesley for $700,000. Lesley was fired from her position as library director on July 28, 2023, a little more than two years after she and library staff were criticized by some residents and elected officials for allowing sexual education and LGBTQ+ books in the children’s and teen sections.”...
Gillette (Wyo.) News Record, Oct. 10
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Isabelle Taft writes: “The immigration detention center near Buffalo, New York, has banned book deliveries, reversing a longstanding policy that allowed detainees to obtain fantasy and romance novels, Sudoku puzzles, word searches, Spanish-language Bibles, and English textbooks.
The Buffalo Federal Detention Facility stopped accepting personal book shipments for detainees in July, said Jason Koontz, a spokesperson for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which runs the facility.
On October 8, Justice for Migrant Families, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and four other organizations
sent a letter demanding the facility reinstate book deliveries and arguing that the prohibition violates detainees’ First Amendment rights.”...
New York Focus, Oct. 8
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Phill Jones writes: “ChatGPT has changed the way we think about generative artificial intelligence, both as a sector and as a society.
It took the progress that computer scientists have been making for decades and made it directly visible to the public.
In a
post I wrote about two years ago, I wondered when the crash in the hype would come.
While I’m still not sure when all this AI excitement will turn in on itself, I find myself wondering whether we know any more about what this technology will eventually do for us.”...
The Scholarly Kitchen, Oct.
13; Oct. 4, 2023
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Frederick O’Brien writes: “Last year, a
study found that cars are steadily getting less colorful. In the US, around 80% of cars are now black, white, gray, or silver, up from 60% in 2004. The digital world faces its own grayscale problem.
Processes like market research and A/B testing have their value, but they don’t lend themselves to particularly stimulating design choices.
The spirit of free expression that made the formative years of the internet so exciting is on the slide.
There are plenty of ways, big and small, of keeping this place colorful.”...
Smashing Magazine, Oct.
13; Forbes, July 16, 2024
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Daneen Khan writes: “The University of North Carolina School of Data Science and Society (SDSS) and the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) will be consolidating into a new school in Chapel Hill focused on artificial intelligence.
SILS and SDSS faculty were informed of the decision on Wednesday at two independent school meetings before it was
announced publicly on October 9. A formal timeline for the consolidation is still to be determined, but the administration does not expect any changes before the end of the 2025–2026 academic year.”...
The Daily Tar Heel, Oct.
9; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Oct.
9
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Jack Mitchell writes: “For a long time, Google Drive was just a place where I dumped files when my primary storage was getting too full, or a graveyard where memory cards were purged of never-to-be-viewed photos. However, more recently, it has evolved into something far more versatile.
I have found that Google Drive can be used to host almost any digital workspace I need, whether that's a personal archive, a creative lab, a knowledge vault, or a collaborative studio.”...
MakeUseOf, Oct. 13
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