American Library Association Journals
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Chatting About Partnerships
No full textOne of the many resources provided by ALSC is theopportunity to participate in We Are ALSC Chats. Theseinformal Zoom conversations, led by ALSC committees,cover a variety of topics and give members and nonmembers theopportunity to build community. The chats occur two to threetimes per year.While the chats are not recorded (so participants have the abilityto speak freely), ALSC maintains an archive of resources fromprevious chats, including some PDFs with chat recaps. Past topicsinclud
Failure IS an Option
No full textWe all experience it. Whether you are just starting out or a twenty-year veteran, a library assistant, librarian, or manager, it’s going to happen. Something—a program, a new service—you think will work just doesn’t or a difficult situation occurs and doesn’t go the way you hoped. Program Fails Imagine: You’ve planned a fun, fall-themed cookie decorating program for elementary students. Registration for twenty-five seats fills up quickly
Bibliotherapy: Using Literature to Support Children’s Mental Health
No full textNatural disaster, perfect storm, doomscrolling, coronapocalypse—these are just a few of the phrases that people, mostly adults, in the United States and around the world have been hearing and using with increased frequency, but especially since the COVID-19 pandemic of early 2020. These words carry with them a sense of danger, urgency, dread, and helplessness that can imbue adults with a sense of great anxiety
Editor’s Note: Owl or Ostrich?
No full textFull ostrich. That’s a phrase I heard while recently listening to a podcast. They were discussing the political climate shortly after the presidential inauguration.Sometimes it does, indeed, feel like we want to go “full ostrich,” burying our heads in the sand in the wake of confusion, distress, and uncertainty. It certainly has been a challenging time period for librarians and educators. We as members of the American Library Association remain staunch defenders of intellectual freedom and “to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.” And, as we know all too well, that’s isn’t always easy. Or convenient. Or, sadly, sometimes even safe. But I think we all agree that we wouldn’t have entered this profession had we not believed in those values so strongly
Flag Burning
No full textAn oldie but goodie is back in the news right now.Desecration of the US flag is not illegal in the UnitedStates, but President Donald Trump issued an executiveorder on August 25, 2025, titled “Prosecuting Burning ofthe American Flag.” The order explicitly ignores currentlaw in a somewhat garbled passag
From the President of RUSA: Information Changes Everything
No full textInformation changes everything—especially at the reference desk, where every interaction opens up a world of knowledge, guidance, and support. Here, librarians aren’t just answering questions; they’re empowering patrons complex information landscapes with confidence and clarity. In these moments, we use our skills to make information accessible, relevant, and meaningful to each unique user. In this column I’ll introduce some of the ways our work is changing, and how RUSA is changing with it
Editorial: Showing Our Resolve
No full textNew Year’s resolutions tend to be ephemeral things, conceived in the waking fog of the early morning (or afternoon, no judgment) on January 1 and usually abandoned before the first bloom of spring. Here at Library Resources Technical Services (LRTS), we strive not to be fair weather planners, and so our resolution for 2025 (and beyond) has been years in the making. The editors of LRTS, working alongside Core Journal editors and within the broader family of American Library Association (ALA) publications, resolves to work transparently and in line with best practices for publishing ethics. Beginning in 2022, editors representing journals and magazines throughout ALA’s portfolio worked as the Publishing Sub-Committee—Ethics to draft a policy that would facilitate our membership in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). ALA CD#32.2 was approved as ALA policy at the 2024 Annual Conference and awaits placement into the Policy Manual. It will be included in the revised Policy Manual (located in Chapter 16 ALA Publications in 2025). In other words, LRTS is making great progress on our resolution to work as transparently and ethically as possible
Exploring New York City’s Shelves: The Musings of the Informed Library Patron
No full textThis article documents the experience of using public library resources from the perspective of a patron unfamiliarwith library and information science. I hope to highlight the processes critical to the functioning of the New York PublicLibrary (NYPL) and the impact that library staff have on patrons and communities. Through visiting multiple NYPLbranches, I learned about the unparalleled level of archival materials and other print and digital resources available toany person for free, and the care that library staff put into ensuring that those who want to use these resources feelencouraged and motivated to do so
A Look Back at ALA Annual 2025
No full textLibrary conferences are a great way to discover new resources, further continuing education, network,and develop lasting friendships in the library world. I attended the ALA Annual 2025 Conference andExhibition in Philadelphia this year, and I was continually amazed and invigorated by the excitement andenthusiasm of the attendees, speakers, and presenters. In today’s political environment, it is easy to getbogged down with threats to the library world, including censorship and budget cuts, but being amongfriends and colleagues can reinvigorate professional optimism toward this very noble and importantfield of librarianship in all its forms. As a Readers’ Advisory (RA) librarian, I focused on programs andvendors that promoted RA services, bu
Under Siege
No full textThere isn’t any other way to put it: libraries are being attacked by the current US presidentialadministration. The latest salvo is part of a broader culture war strategy to dismantle institutionssupporting education, research, and knowledge sharing, all of which are core principles of thelibrary’s mission. As we prepare this issue for publication in the spring of 2025, daily executive orders, directives, and announcements have led to unprecedented levels of uncertainty. Given the rapid deluge of attacks, the outlook could be markedly worse by the time you’re reading this in July