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Urban Libraries Council Survey Shows Positive Trends, Challenges for Libraries
The survey captured a range of trends in patron engagement from 115 ULC member libraries, "representing nearly 2,300 locations and serving over 87.5 million people” for 2023.
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Three Candidates to Vie for ALA Presidency
Lindsay Cronk, Andrea Jamison, and Maria McCauley have been announced as the candidates for the 2026-27 presidency of the American Library Association. Ballot mailing for the ALA election will begin on March 10, 2025.
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ALA Reopens Search for New Executive Director
The news of the reopened search comes on the one-year anniversary of Leslie Burger taking the helm as interim executive director, on November 15, 2023, and more than a year after executive director Tracie D. Hall abruptly resigned from her position on October 6, 2023.
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How to Help Rebuild Libraries in Conflict Zones
Alison Tweed, CEO of U.K.–based charity Book Aid International, describes the destruction of libraries in Lebanon, Ukraine, and Iraq and advises on how the book business can help to rebuild them.
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EveryLibrary Warns That U.S. Election Results Mean More Uncertainty for Libraries
The last few years have been difficult for libraries and librarians. And following the 2024 presidential election, the future for the profession just got a lot murkier, according to the customary election night wrap-up from nonpartisan library political action committee EveryLibrary.
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The Week in Libraries: October 4, 2024
Among the week's headlines: Penguin Random Houses's new public policy manager talks about book bans and her new role; a fascinating look at the Internet Archive; and a new survey explores people's attitudes toward libraries.
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In Arkansas, Book Banners Dealt Another Legal Setback
A federal judge has ordered the Crawford County Public Library in Arkansas to stop segregating books with LGBTQ themes into special “social sections,” finding that the policy “was motivated in substantial part by a desire to impede users’ access."
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Publishers, Advocates File New Complaint in Iowa Book Banning Case
Following an August 9 ruling by the Eighth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, a coalition of publishers, authors, and advocates has filed a new complaint seeking to strike down the sweeping book ban provision in Iowa’s controversial law, SF 496.
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The Week in Libraries: September 27, 2024
Among the week's headlines: it was a busy Banned Books Week in court with developments in two major book banning cases; an anti–book banning resolution is reintroduced in Congress; Delaware libraries grapple with a ransomware attack; and the Carnegie Corporation gives $4 million to New York City libraries.
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On Appeal, Llano County Seeks Book Ban Ruling That Would Upend Public Libraries
At an appeal hearing this week, lawyers for the rural Texas county told the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that it should strike down a three-decade-old precedent and hand politicians near total authority over what books can go on—or be banned from—public library shelves.
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ALA Finds Book Challenges Are Slowing in 2024
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 414 challenges to censor library materials in the first eight months of the year, down from 695 during the same period in 2023, with ALA reps suggesting that advocacy efforts, including lawsuits in several states, are beginning to yield positive results.
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Penguin Random House Creates New Role to Help Battle Book Bans
Rosalie (Rosie) Stewart, most recently manager of grassroots communications for the ALA's Public Policy and Advocacy Office, will join the publisher as senior manager for public policy, reporting directly to PRH VP Skip Dye, a key move that signals the publisher's intent to expand its battle against book bans beyond the courtroom.
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The Week in Libraries: September 20, 2024
Among the week's headlines, ALA releases a new booklist for young readers on the importance of voting; Penguin Random Houses's Banned Wagon embarks on its second-ever tour; and why the Florida attorney general is wading into a closely watched book banning case from Llano County, Texas.
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The Battle Against Book Bans Rages On: PW Talks with Kelly Jensen
PW checks in with the 'Book Riot' writer, whose weekly Censorship News column tracks efforts to ban books in school and libraries.
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The Resistance: Five People Standing Up to Book Banners
For many, defending the freedom to read has come at a steep cost. We recently talked with five librarians and educators who are standing up to the would-be censors.
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Modern Day McCarthyists: The Fight Against Book Bans in Llano County
The Texas county, with a population about 3,000, has become an epicenter in the fight against book banning. Leila Green Little explains how the echoes of history are playing out in rural Texas—and in communities across the nation.
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The Week in Libraries: September 13, 2024
Among the week's headlines: PEN America reports a surge in school book bans; amicus briefs are filed in a key freedom to read case from Llano County, Texas; and Book Riot reports on the escalating attacks on academic libraries.
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Amicus Briefs Filed Ahead of Key Fifth Circuit Freedom to Read Battle
With a hearing before the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans less than two weeks away, a host of amicus briefs were filed this week in a closely watched case over book banning in Llano County, Tex.
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The Week in Libraries: September 6, 2024
Among the week's headlines: Louisiana librarian and freedom to read advocate Amanda Jones releases her memoir; officials in Garland County, Arkansas, are looking to put a library funding cut up for a vote; and the Internet Archive loses its appeal over the scanning and lending of library books.
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Little Free Library Partners with ALA, PEN America on Banned Books Map
Little Free Library has teamed up with the American Library Association and PEN America to develop an interactive map that indicates areas in which books are banned and pinpoints locations of its book-sharing boxes.
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