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Book Review: Curating Community Collections: A Holistic Approach to Diverse Collection Development
No full textIn today’s libraries, the focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is more than a goal; it is an essential practice for building collections that truly reflect the communities they serve. Curating Community Collections: A Holistic Approach to Diverse Collection Development provides a timely and comprehensive guide for librarians and staff, regardless of their experience level. This book reinforces the idea that libraries and their collections can drive significant social justice initiatives while also offering practical tools and insights for librarians ready to embrace this important role. If you do not already see your library as a force for social change or as DEI advocates, this book will certainly make you reconsider. As Schreiber and Bartlett assert, “We believe libraries are uniquely positioned to effect real change in contemporary society” (18)
Jump into Reading: An Initiative Supporting Children Learning to Read
No full textIf you’ve spent any time providing reference at a public library, you’ve probably experienced a parent asking, “My child is learning to read; what do you recommend?” There are so many factors to consider when helping new or struggling readers!Public libraries are great at helping young children before they start learning to read and then engaging school-aged children after they can read. But what about supporting them in between, when they are learning to read
Magnificent Manga: The Joy of Reading Studio Ghibli
No full textEnter any Barnes Noble bookstore and chances are that you will see Japanese comic books (manga) prominently displayed, many of which have all the outward trappings of a fairy tale. It is not uncommon to see customers of various ages wearing clothing and carrying smartphone cases decorated with manga-related products, as even the most casual visitor to the bookstore can attest. Read from right to left, manga graphic novels encompass a wide range of genres. Even though they originate from Japan, many of them draw inspiration from a variety of sources that transcend geographic boundaries—such as the Studio Ghibli film comic The Secret World of Arriety, which is based on Mary Norton’s 1952 children’s novel The Borrowers
Children Are Not Rational (Thank Goodness!)
No full textFor more than a decade, I worked mostly with adults in my system’s large, urban Central Library. It was steady and interesting work, and I got very good at identifying and answering intellectually rich reference questions. I knew my sources, and, being an adult myself, I could easily relate to my customers.Adults were rational. Adults could generally, with guidance, articulate what they were looking for. In the context of our professional relationship of librarian and knowledge-seeker, adults were, more or less, how do you say—sensible
Knowledge in Peril: Censorship and Bibliocide
No full textCensorship can be a positive device used to guard national security secrets to block access of young people to pornography, prevent a person from inciting others to commit a hate crime, or undermine the legitimacy of a free and fair election. However, most of the time, censorship is counterproductive and violates tenets of constitutional democracies which protect freedom of the press and guards us against “the retrogradation of reason and information” (Thomas Jefferson). In this treatise, we explore the banning and confiscation of books as two forms of counterproductive censorship–the suppression of the free exchange of ideas found in the written word. The discussion then moves to the outright burning of books as an extreme, dramatic form of that prohibition. Censorship is usually exerted by those whose ambitions are thwarted by books and the ideas contained in them, including concepts that might challenge the legitimacy of a dominant religious group and the social and political dominance that it must preserve and defend
Promoting Libraries Through Inclusive and Impactful Environments
No full textIn the movie Field of Dreams (1989), Kevin Costner’s character hears the phrase “If you build it, he will come” whispered to him in a cornfield in Iowa. The phrase refers to the character Shoeless Joe Jackson and other baseball greats from the early 20th century coming back from the dead to play all. In much the same way, if libraries “build it,” the people will come. The academic library of today is not the academic library of the past. These differences hinge on population, staffing, community, and shifts in vision
The Schneider Family Book Award: Twenty Years (and Counting!) of Celebrating Books about Disabilities
No full textFor twenty-one years, the American Library Association has recognized the best children’s and young adult books about the disability experience with the Schneider Family Book Award. At the ALA Annual Conference in San Diego in June, 2024, a group of creators who had received the Schneider Award over the years came together to reflect on the advances made in writing and publishing books about disabilities for child and adolescent audiences, as well as to examine current and future advancements in accessibility through discussion and dialogue across authors, publishers, and committee members
DttP From the Chair
No full textThe current school year across various levels of educationalinstitutions from primary to universities and colleges isstarting to wind down, and dreams of summer breaks and vacationsthat may bring relaxation and end of chaotic and stressfulschedules are drawing ever closer. The anticipation of graduationand commencement ceremonies are lighting the festive mood asplanning is in full swing to celebrate reaching the long-awaitedconclusion of one journey that will lead to brand new roads todiscove
Librarians as Full Participants in Participatory Action Research
No full textThis case study of a participatory archiving event and its resulting collaborative digital archive is used to illustrate the powerful impact librarians have within participatory action research projects. It outlines the essential roles played by the three research, metadata, and archive librarians who worked alongside university faculty, community members, and a classroom teacher to preserve the languages, literacy practices, and histories of Southern Appalachia. This results in recommendations for viewing libraries as research sites and librarians as research partners across the entire research process to better connect public institutions to the communities they serve
Charting an Open Future
No full textHere at LRTS, we are excited to mark the conclusion of our third year as a fully open access (OA)journal. The editors feel honored to be able to showcase top-tier research and new developmentsin best practice within the field of library technical services, brought directly to our readers withoutpaywalls or embargoes and without article fees for our authors. Nonetheless, making content OA is onematter; sustainability for open publishing is another matter altogethe