I attended the Read Romance, Fight Patriarchy program on Friday, April 5th, 2024 at the Columbus Convention Center as part of the PLA 2024 conference. This session was led by Teacher Librarian, Lori Lieberman of Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon. This session highlighted the different facets of the romance genre as a whole, the importance of reading romance, and how Lieberman successfully implemented a romance-specific book club for teens at her high school (and yes, they read adult romance too!). To begin, Lieberman explained the difference between a love story and a romance. Romances h ..read more

In this episode, Kathleen Hughes, PLA, talks with Amy Mikel, Director of Customer Experience at the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL). Amy shares the catalyst for the BPL’s Cardholder Signup Practices study—the Books Unbanned initiative—and how it spurred BPL’s curiosity to examine library access. She also share’s the study’s objectives and key findings, shedding light on the challenges of ensuring equitable access, particularly for marginalized communities. In addition, we discuss actionable recommendations for libraries based on the research, offering valuable insights for enhancing inclusivity ..read more

The 2024 Public Library Conference was the experience of a lifetime. Along with the opportunity to network with peers, I met my library hero, Mychal Threets. I also attended several informative sessions ranging from employee resource groups to sessions on increasing accessibility and outreach efforts. As the Gwinnett County Public Library Ambassador for the Georgia Library for the Blind and Print Disabled, I found it highly valuable to learn more about the efforts public library systems nationwide have made to increase accessibility to their systems. Accessibility, however, comes in many forms ..read more

According to Gardenpals.com, “Houseplants are having their moment now. Much of it is thanks to millennials, plantfluencers, the plant-based movement, and work from home culture forced by the pandemic.” In early 2020 when the world shut down for COVID, many people got interested in houseplants. The Crofton Library in Crofton, Maryland embraced this trend and then some!  The current branch opened in 2002, transformed from a small location in a shopping center near a big box store, to a 25,000 square foot free standing location with high ceilings and lots of windows and light. The branch, pa ..read more

A storytime refresh. That’s what I hoped to gain from attending “Babytime Boredom” at the PLA 2024 Conference. I was expecting to pick up a few ideas on how to improve my storytimes, but I left with much more. Not only did I learn ways to make storytimes and other programs for littles more fun, inclusive and impactful, I felt more inspired (than I had in years!) to kick-start my work with youth in libraries again. The presenters of, “Babytime Boredom: Building Culturally-Responsive Programming for Ages 0-3,” began their session with humility. Annamarie Carlson of Westerville Public Library and ..read more

Earth Day, celebrated on April 22, began in 1970 as a way of honoring the Earth and the need to protect it. Earth Day celebrations bring renewed urgency to the topic of climate change, especially in recent years, which have been marked by extreme weather events. Authors have increasingly grappled with climate change in their fiction, often in the genre known as climate fiction, or “cli-fi.” A notable region impacted by climate change is Asia. According to a 2022 report published by the World Meteorological Organization, Asia has been “warming faster than the global average,” with “more than 50 ..read more

I applied for the PLA Scholarship for the experience of attending the conference for the first time; I left the conference with so much more. I began my conference experience by attending the pre-conference workshop, “Media Training: When Your Library is the Headline”. I looked for a lifeboat to save myself and my library from the unchartered waters of censorship and the consequent never-ending media campaign. More than the fantastic tips, tricks, and knowledge offered by Tamera and Anika, I was embraced by the fears and frustrations of my fellow public librarians in this workshop, which turne ..read more

The NNLM actively supports public libraries in addressing health disparities and disseminating maternal health information to their communities. For the third year in a row, NNLM will host events in support of Black Maternal Health Week. In this post, we will share events and health information resources for information professionals and provide examples of how libraries support health information access and build awareness of the health inequities faced by Black birthing people. What is Black Maternal Health Week? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hundreds of ..read more

The digital age is rapidly changing, and public libraries are continuously evolving in response. As your partner, we are also continuously evolving our services, features, and products to help you continue to meet the changing needs of your community. Here are some of the highlights we shared at PLA in our effort to assist our library partners achieve their goals of reaching more readers. Updates to help you serve more readers for less Designed to make managing your metered access content easier and more efficient, our new Metered Access Manager allows you to create customized plans based on s ..read more

It’s almost that time for the Public Library Association (PLA) conference, when public librarians from all over the country gather to learn about what trends, best practices, challenges, and successes are happening in public libraries. While there are many other local and national conferences for librarians, the biennial PLA conference brings focused attention to public libraries and provides opportunities for staff at all levels to network with and support each other. This year’s PLA Conference, in Columbus, Ohio, from April 3 – 5, boasts over 100 in- person programs across a wide spectrum of ..read more