The American Library Association responds to the Department of Education's dismissal of complaints about censorship and discrimination: the "effort to terminate protections... advances the demonstrably false claim that book bans are not real."

A Sarah Jessica Parker-produced documentary on the brave librarians fighting a wave of rightwing book bans has sparked conversation at Sundance

Libraries are now reporting more aggressive, targeted, and organized First Amendment audits than in years past.

Challenges to nonbook materials -- such as displays, social media posts, reading lists, and programs -- are on the rise. What should libraries do in the face of these attacks?

They are "the original sharing economy," "early warning systems for broad cultural phenomena," offering tai chi lessons, advice, social services, and, yes, books, a whole lot of books.

America is facing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, with troubling effects on our mental and physical health. We live in one of the most divisive times in our history, one in which we tend to work, play, and associate only with people who think as we do. How do we create spaces for people to come together--to open our minds, understand our differences, and exchange ideas? Shamichael Hallman argues that the public library may be our best hope for bridging these divides and creating strong, inclusive communities. While public libraries have long been thought of as a place for a select few, increasingly they are playing an essential role in building social cohesion, promoting civic renewal, and advancing the ideals of a healthy democracy. Many are reimagining themselves in new and innovative ways, actively reaching out to the communities they serve. Today, libraries are becoming essential institutions for repairing society. Libraries have a unique opportunity to bridge socioeconomic divides and rebuild trust. But in order to do so, they must be truly welcoming to all. They and their communities must work collaboratively to bridge socioeconomic divides through innovative and productive partnerships. Drawing from his experience at the Memphis Public Library and his extensive research and interviews across the country, Hallman presents a rich argument for seeing libraries as one of the nation's greatest assets. He includes examples from libraries large and small--such as the Iowa's North Liberty Library's Lighthouse in the Library program to bring people together to discuss important topics in a safe and supportive space, to Cambridge Cooks, an initiative of the Cambridge MA Public Library that fosters social connection by bringing people together over shared interest in food. As an institution that is increasingly under attack for creating a place where diverse audiences can see themselves, public libraries are under more scrutiny than ever. Meet Me at the Library offers us a revealing look at one of our most important civic institutions and the social and civic impact they must play if we are to heal our divided nation. --

A federal judge has struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing so-called “harmful” materials to minors.

Podcast · Notes Between Us · About: We’re a group of law library professionals talking story with our diverse colleagues and friends to uplift one another in our pursuit of excellence and professional and personal fulfillment. This is a spin off of our Notes Between Us blog, where we come together to share notes about life, the universe, and everything. All are welcome! Host: Jenny Silbiger, Hawai‘i State Law Librarian Producers: Marcelo Rodriguez and Syd Stephenson *Note: Opinions and commentaries expressed represent the speakers’ perspectives and not the institutions within which they work.

This guide provides curated manuscript resources at the Library of Congress for researching Native American history and cultures, including personal papers and organizational records in addition to related resources and discovery tools.

U-M Libraries Territorial Acknowledgment Working Group hosted an event centered on the Maawn Doobiigeng System.

This guide is intended to help academic libraries create policies for responding to challenges to library materials.

South Carolina considering a law that withholds public library funds if "inappropriate" materials are available and more censorship news.

Every library — academic, public, and school (public, private, charter, independent, and international) — should have a comprehensive written policy that guides the selection, deselection or weeding, and reconsideration of library resources. The most valuable selection policy is current; it is reviewed and revised on a regular basis; and it is familiar to all members of a library’s staff. The policy should be approved by the library’s governing board or other policy-making body and disseminated widely for understanding by all stakeholders.

Democrat Rhode Island lawmakers on Wednesday promoted a suite of bills motivated by the Freedom to Read movement — an assertion of libraries’ right to hold controversial books, amid an ongoing culture clash over the written word.

Both the Indiana and Iowa State Legislatures have introduced legislation regarding criminally charging libraries and librarians over “inappropriate” material. These bills are closely related to widespread book challenges occurring at schools and public libraries across the nation, with people trying to remove books that address certain topics relating to gender, sexuality, and race from library collections. In many cases there is already a clear process for reconsidering materials in a collection, so how do legal defenses play a role in this and what do the bills change?

This paper introduces a subfield of management studies, "critical management studies" (CMS) in order to rethink mainstream management practices in academic libraries, with strategic planning as an illustrative example. Mainstream management models from the corporate sector prioritize efficiency, productivity, and numerical measures for assessing impact. Academic libraries have generally borrowed uncritically from this mainstream management praxis, but how well does this serve our needs, especially when it comes to the most complex issues we face? CMS draws on critical theory to interrogate the methods and goals of mainstream management, with an emphasis on denaturalizing "taken for granted" practices and prioritizing ethics and worker equity. After providing a brief overview of the history and adoption of mainstream management in academic libraries, this paper focuses on strategic planning as an illustrative exploration of CMS principles in an academic library context. Strategic planning is a common managerial practice that has been embraced by academic libraries and generally modeled after mainstream approaches. Yet, CMS scholars contend that traditional strategic planning reproduces workplace inequities and universalizes managerial interests. In this article, I employ ideas from CMS to rethink library strategic planning by opening participation, reframing problems, and embracing our ethical agency.

The CALM Land Acknowledgement statement and ongoing work.

Editor’s Note: This guest post has been authored by Alejandro Marquez (Science and Engineering Librarian at the University of Denver Libraries) and Brady Niemitalo Woods (Patron Training Specialist at Jefferson County Public Library, Colorado). The fall semester started recently, marking the begi

Creating an inclusive library : approaches for increasing engagement and use with students of color-book

List of books by Native authors that have been challenged or banned

One of the things small town librarian Amanda Jones values most about books is how they can affirm a young person's sense of self. So in 2022, when she caught wind of a local public hearing that would discuss "book content," she knew what was at stake. Schools and libraries nationwide have been bombarded by demands for books with LGTBQ+ references, discussions of racism, and more to be purged from the shelves. Amanda would be damned if her community were to ban stories representing minority groups. She spoke out that night at the meeting. Days later, she woke up to a nightmare that is still ongoing. Amanda Jones has been called a groomer, a pedo, and a porn-pusher; she has faced death threats and attacks from strangers and friends alike. Her decision to support a collection of books with diverse perspectives made her a target for extremists using book banning campaigns--funded by dark money organizations and advanced by hard right politicians--in a crusade to make America more white, straight, and "Christian." But Amanda Jones wouldn't give up without a fight: she sued her harassers for defamation and urged others to join her in the resistance. Mapping the book banning crisis occurring all across the nation, That Librarian draws the battle lines in the war against equity and inclusion, calling book lovers everywhere to rise in defense of our readers.

The School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is pleased to announce the publication of Library Trends 72 (1). This issue, "Indigenous Librarianship," examines the current state of Indigenous librarianship. Ulia Gosart and Rachel Fu served as guest editors. Library Trends, in partnership with the guest editors and select authors, will host a virtual webinar featuring lightning talks based on articles from the upcoming issue.

The American Library Association and the Sustainable Libraries Initiative have announced the new National Climate Action Strategy for Libraries and created an implementation guide to help libraries incorporate climate action locally into strategic and facility plans.

Expert Contributes to First Update in American Library Association Standards Since 1992

"The health of the nation’s libraries is a national security issue," writes Elyse Graham.

Index of Library of Congress Research Guides Research guides to the Library's collections, as well as subject guides prepared by Library of Congress staff, are listed below. More online guides covering other Library of Congress collections are available via the

Two new reports provide a mixed but compelling outlook on the wave of book removals and challenges as the annual Banned Books Week begins for schools, stores and libraries nationwide.