|
“You cannot make rational decisions in your own self-interest about what’s the right democratic choice for you if you don’t know what’s real,” declared MSNOW host Rachel Maddow at the Opening General Session of the 2026 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.
“When you lose access to knowledge, you can’t make decisions as a citizen or voter.” Other featured speakers included former First Lady
Jill Biden, civil rights scholar
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, authors
Lois Lowry and
Min Jin Lee, and comedian
Melissa Villaseñor.
AL: The Scoop, June 26–29
| |
|
|
|
On June 25, ALA and partners in the Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) launched an
advocacy campaign after the Federal Communications Commission voted to
advance a proposal that asks whether the
E-Rate program should be terminated or limited to only rural areas.
The E-Rate program has provided affordable broadband to schools and libraries for nearly 30 years. SHLB and ALA will also host a
free webinar on July 16 at 2 p.m. Eastern to break down the proposal and walk stakeholders through how to make their voices heard.
ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, June 25; AL: The Scoop, June 16
| |
|
The Public Library Association released its
2025 Public Library Services for Strong Communities Survey report on June 23. First conducted in 2022, the survey examines how libraries respond to diverse needs through programs, services, partnerships, and facilities.
The 2025 results highlight how libraries have adapted to changing needs while continuing to build on core community services.
The survey found that public libraries are increasingly offering food security support services, health and wellness programs, and spaces for cooling or warming centers during extreme temperatures.
A free
July 23 webinar will discuss the results.
Public Library Association, June 23
| |
|
Ben Rawlins writes: “Bryn Geffert’s recent Inside Higher Ed
essay argues that the MLS degree is an obstacle to hiring, a barrier to diversity, and an increasingly optional credential in academic libraries.
His survey data from R1 and R2 institutions, and the hiring challenges he documents, are real.
His diagnosis, however, misses the mark.
My concern is not with the idea that library education needs to improve, but with the slide from that legitimate observation to the conclusion that the credential itself is the problem.”...
ACRLog, June 25; Inside Higher Ed, June 16
| |
|
|
|
A man was arrested June 22 after allegedly firing eight rounds at the Chico Branch of Butte County (Calif.) Library. The attack killed two people and injured a third. Police said the suspect did not know the victims and that his “motivation appears to be founded in a desire to commit a Columbine High School massacre type of shooting.” When the shooting began, library staff were able to
move most of the patrons in the library to a locked back room. The California Library Association
issued a statement in solidarity with the library and its community, which
ALA echoed.
KCRA-TV (Sacramento, Calif.), June 24, June 26; California Library Association, June 24; ALA Communications and Media Relations Office, June 25
| |
|
Angela Hursh writes: “For years, conventional wisdom in library marketing has been clear: You need to be on Facebook because that’s where your community is.
But what if that’s no longer true? The staff at Lucius Beebe Memorial Library in Wakefield, Massachusetts, asked themselves that question.
They stopped using Facebook altogether.
Several months later, Library Director Catherine McDonald says the results have been surprisingly uneventful.
Program attendance remained steady, website usage remained strong, the library’s newsletters and blog continued to perform well, and community engagement did not decline.”...
Super Library Marketing, June 29
| |
|
Alex Young writes: “Dua Lipa, who in 2023 launched her Service95 Book Club, has now partnered with the Livraria Lello bookstore in Porto, Portugal, to open a physical library.
Opening June 27, the 100-book Manifesto Library is dedicated to books ‘that challenge power, censorship, exclusion, and dominant narratives.’ Lipa explained in a statement that ‘This library is a shrine to books that have disappeared, to authors whose courage unmasks structures of power and control, and to readers who refuse to be told what book they are allowed to read.’”...
Consequence, June 26
| | |
|
|
|
American Libraries Direct is a free electronic newsletter emailed every Wednesday to personal members of ALA.
Editor, AL Direct: Greg Landgraf
Direct ad inquiries to: Melissa Carr
Send news and feedback: AL Direct
All links outside the ALA website are provided for informational purposes only. Questions about the content of any external site should be addressed to the administrator of that site. AL Direct FAQ.
American Libraries will not sell your email to outside parties, but your email may be shared with advertisers in this newsletter should you express interest in their products by clicking on their ads or content. If advertisers choose to communicate with you by email, they are obligated to provide you with an opportunity to opt-out from future emails in compliance with the CAN-SPAM act of 2003 and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation of 2018. Read the ALA privacy policy.
To manage your American Libraries email preferences, click here.
To unsubscribe from all ALA emails, click here.
American Library Association | 225 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1300 | Chicago, IL 60601
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.jpg){kind=spacer}
