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Alison Marcotte writes: “Looking for clever and thoughtful gift ideas for the book lover in your life? Bookmark this article: American Libraries has gathered an eclectic list of literary-themed gifts—covering all price points and ranging from apparel to tech to kitchen accessories.”...
American Libraries Online, Nov. 16
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Anne Ford writes: “Kathryn Heaviside, librarian and gallery coordinator at Northport–East Northport (N.Y.) Public Library, doesn’t do anything by halves.
So when she got obsessed with tracking down different library card designs, she ignored her supervisor’s suggestion to limit her search to her home county.
A couple of years and many, many emailed requests later, Heaviside has collected hundreds of public library cards from every US state and several foreign locales, including the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Scotland, and South Africa.”...
American Libraries Online, Nov.
24
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On November 21, the US District Court for the District of Rhode Island struck down the Trump administration’s attempts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
The decision was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of 21 states. The court ruling directed IMLS to carry out programs, including funding for libraries and museums across the nation.
The ruling has immediate nationwide effect.
ALA’s parallel lawsuit to preserve IMLS, which won a
temporary restraining order in May that prevented the mass layoff of nearly all IMLS employees, is
scheduled to continue into 2026....
ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, Nov.
21; AL: The Scoop, May 2; Words and Money, Nov.
19
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ALA will host
Recharging in Challenging Times: An ALA Virtual Event on February 10, 2026. The virtual event is an opportunity to pause, connect, and find renewed energy for the work ahead.
The event will include two inspiring keynotes and nine sessions in three content tracks—Strengthening Leadership, Sustaining Well-Being, and Preserving Intellectual Freedom—designed to help library workers strengthen skills and restore their sense of purpose.
The event will provide practical insights, fresh ideas, and supportive community to help library workers thrive in challenging times....
ALA Conference Services, Nov.
25
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Elizabeth Szkirpan writes: “Artificial intelligence (AI) literacy feels like a natural extension of information literacy.
Like information, AI is now everywhere; it can be hard to discern fact from fiction, and we cannot always protect our users from poor-quality versions of it.
It is challenging to directly compare most AI tools apples-to-apples because the underlying corpus, training process, and intended uses can vary widely.
However, practical benchmarking questions can help librarians compare models to one another or be used to guide users through the reference interview in order to select the best model for the task at hand.”...
Choice 360: LibTech Insights, Nov.
24
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Mary Voors writes: “Kids have returned to school and summer reading programs are far in the rear-view mirror. It’s time to get ready for a mock Youth Media Awards election program at your library! The announcement of these major children’s literature awards is just two months away.
Your program could be a small discussion group involving interested children’s room staff at your library, or a giant affair involving an entire school of students along with their teachers and parents.
A variety of resources are available to help you host your own mock election program.”...
ALSC Blog, Nov. 25
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Chad Kamen writes: “Of what value is print to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM)? Though the monograph and physical periodical once towered as formats of choice for scientific communication, STEMM research and publishing are now almost exclusively digitally mediated phenomena.
This paper argues that rare book collections are valuable tools for supporting STEMM curriculum.
Three instructional frames are proposed: questioning canonization, challenging materiality, and tracing loss.
Together, these themes reveal how focusing on source analysis and the limits of neutrality connect librarians with the broader goal of preparing students to be leaders of justice-driven research and practice.”...
RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage, Vol.
26, No. 2, Fall 2025
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Annelise Hanshaw writes: “A Jackson County (Mo.) Circuit Court judge struck down a state law criminalizing school employees for supplying ‘sexually explicit material’ to students, ruling it unconstitutionally vague and overbroad in a
five-page decision November 17. The now-void law, passed by Missouri lawmakers in 2022, expanded the state’s regulations on pornography to create the offense of providing explicit sexual material to a student.
It applied only to those ‘affiliated with a public or private elementary or secondary school in an official capacity.’ The
Missouri Association of School Librarians and
Missouri Library Association challenged the law in 2023.”...
Missouri Independent, Nov.
18; Missouri Association of School Librarians, Nov.
19; Missouri Library Association, Nov.
17
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Debra Bernstein writes: “This study looks at how academic libraries in the New York City metropolitan area are using TikTok to engage with their communities, particularly students.
It analyzes the most popular videos from five active library accounts, categorizing content types and measuring engagement through TikTok’s built-in metrics. Results indicate that humorous and lighthearted content consistently receives the highest engagement, while instructional or “how-to” videos tend to underperform.
These findings suggest that while TikTok may not be the most effective platform for instructional outreach, it holds potential as a tool for visibility, community engagement, and humanizing the library’s presence.”...
Urban Library Journal, Vol.
31, No. 1, Nov.
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Kelly Jensen writes: “Over the last year, several states have implemented tax reforms, presenting them as significant relief to state residents amid an era of increasing financial burdens.
The reality is that these new reforms are part of a larger effort to dismantle public goods.
Wyoming passed a 25% property tax cut this year with zero plans for how local governments would make up the (significant) loss in revenue. With Wyoming’s property tax cut, communities suddenly lost a quarter of their budgets.
Libraries are feeling it.”...
Well Sourced, Nov. 22
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On November 24, NPR published its annual
Books We Love guide, a list of more than 380 book recommendations published during the year.
Each book includes a mini-review by the journalist who recommended it, and the list includes books from a variety of publishers, genres, viewpoints, and literary styles.
The list is organized by both functional categories (such as “Kids’ books” or “Biography and memoir”) and lighthearted ones (like “It’s all Geek to Me”), and these categories can be combined for customized recommendations....
NPR, Nov. 24
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Dominic Bayley writes: “AI tools can be of great help, but they can also pose unique privacy risks, such as the potential for data misuse. Being informed about these risks can help you make better decisions about which AI tools to use and how to interact with them. Here we give you tips to better protect your privacy before you go ahead and use them.”...
PC World, Nov. 25
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