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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?

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

On Saturdays in late ’90s, my father, a taxi driver, would pool his tips for the week and take me, a child too precocious for his own good, to a local bookstore in search of my next read. Together,…

By Allan Cho (Follow us on LinkedIn) As part of the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada Network (ViMLoC), I’ve participated in its mentorship program and have met many talented and eager ear…

Invisible illness and disability; Latino USA story, The Archivists; Toolkit for Program Challenges; Kellogg Canada's EDI efforts threated by boycott

By Ezekiel Amari McGee (Follow us on LinkedIn) For the past year, watching the news often feels like watching a Hitchcock film—you know something awful’s coming, it’s just a matter of when. Wh…

Although much of my work involves navigating digital information, I try not to forget that libraries are also physical spaces. Indeed, my lifelong love of libraries as places and structures is a bi…

Guest Post by Mari Cheney, Associate Director of Research and InstructionBoley Law Library, Lewis & Clark Law School I had the immense honor of attending this year’s annual meeting in Boston us…

By Marlena Okechukwu (Follow us on LinkedIn) Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash Conferences are big business. In fact, globally, the Meetings industry generates trillions of dollars annually – …

By Charles Bjork This year’s annual meeting of the American Society of International Law in Washington, D.C., concluded with a special panel discussion on Protecting Cultural Heritage in Conflict Z…

This is text of the closing keynote I gave for the CORE Forum on November 20, 2020.

In a stunning show of support for libraries, late yesterday afternoon the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support a resolution backing the Internet Archive and the digital rights of all libraries. Supervisor Connie Chan, whose district includes the Internet Archive, authored the legislation and brought the resolution before the Board. “At a […]

Learn more about this WorldCat Discovery feature, the research and community input informing this work, and building toward a community of practice.

How racially diverse is the librarian profession, and how can we begin to assess that diversity? Those are the two key questions at the heart of two

By Mikayla Redden (Follow us on LinkedIn) If you read my last post, you might remember the trampoline full of tennis balls metaphor I provided as an example of how living with a neurodivergent…

Guest Post by Anonymous In the last year, there has been much talk of de-credentialing (dropping degree requirements from) academic law librarian positions. While possibly driven by the shortage of…

Guest Post by Trezlen Drake, Head of Digital Resources, and Foreign & International Law Research Librarian at Yale Lillian Goldman Law Library As a woman of color from a financially disadvantag…

Getting along with others is about more than just having things in common.

The following text was written by Baharak Yousefi, Ebony Magnus, Yoonhee Lee, and me. It was originally sent as a response to a list-serv discussion…

Written by Amy Bintliff

Recent years have seen a resurgence in widespread activism throughout the country. Librarian's Library columnist Allison Escoto suggests helpful resources for librarians seeking to understand—in both theory and practice—the role of libraries in a time of increased social activism.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are fundamental values of the association and its members, and diversity is listed as one of ALA's Key Action Areas. The Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services uses a social justice framework to ensure the inclusion of diverse perspectives within our profession and association to best position ALA as a trusted, leading advocate for equitable access to library services for all.

Home | Proactive Preparation | Responding to an Incident | Meeting Community Needs | Special Considerations & Resources What prompted the need for this document? | Assistance and Consultation | Definitions What prompted the need for this document? After the 2016 elections, there was a spike in reported hate crimes in American libraries. Consequently, questions about hate speech, the First Amendment, and patron behavior in the library are escalating.Hateful Conduct in Libraries: Supporting Library Workers and Patrons

The university announced courses would resume “immediately online and asynchronously,” but questions about academic freedom, transparency, and more, remain.