Magazine of the American Library Association
Chicago
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Our Summer issue, previewing ALA's Annual Conference, is now live— with a look at questions to ask AI vendors, fairy house workshops, and an interview with @MeghaMaj. Read the full issue at bit.ly/AL-Summer26issue or by article at bit.ly/AL-Summer26stories.
ALT Cover of the Summer 2026 issue of American Libraries featuring an image of downtown Chicago and the cover text Annual Conference Preview.
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Best of 2017: Newsmaker Daliyah Marie Arana: Four-year-old super-reader becomes “Librarian for the Day” at Library of Congress bit.ly/2iDr7hO
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“I challenge us to rethink what type of documentation should be required to apply for a library card. I challenge us to rethink the purpose of overdue fine policies. And I challenge us to get cops out of libraries.” — @Kaepernick7 at #LibLearnX
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Happy #BookLoversDay! Are you reading something great today?
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“What bothers me about book banning the most is the message it sends. It tells young people, ‘Your life makes me uncomfortable. Nobody should hear about it. You should be silent.’”— @angiecthomas #BannedBooksWeek americanlibrariesmagazine.or…
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"Do I really need to use this microphone?" Kate Deibel opened her #alamw19 session to make a point: “Always use the microphone.” It helps people with auditory and attention issues, and is the first step needed for live captioning. bit.ly/2FTMmfh
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Best of 2017: Desegregating Libraries in the American South: Forgotten heroes in civil rights history bit.ly/2rwC8cc
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Librarians in every school. #nra First things first.
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"I wish that libraries would finally have a reckoning and know that [staffs that are] 88% white means 5000% agony for people of color. ... It's agony no matter how liberal and enlightened you think. ... We have to decolonize [libraries]." - Junot Díaz, #alamw18
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Best of 2017: The Library of Things: More than ever, libraries are offering nontraditional items for checkout bit.ly/2sxmIoZ
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"I remember my first experience going to the library. I was four. It was the first big-girl thing I could do, getting my library card." @MichelleObama #alaac18
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Congratulations to Newbery Medal winner "The Eyes and the Impossible" by Dave Eggers, Caldecott Medal winner "Big" illustrated and written by @VashtiHarrison, and all of the Youth Media Award winners! #ALAyma #LibLearnX24 americanlibrariesmagazine.or…
ALT Covers of Big by Vashti Harrison and The Eyes & The Impossible by Dave Eggers
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Meet the 2021 I Love My Librarian Award Winners: @ALALibrary honors 10 librarians for outstanding service bit.ly/39CHzeP
ALT I Love My Librarian Award logo surrounded by headshots of 10 winners
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Sisters @idinamenzel & @CaraMentzel spoke with American Libraries about their children's books, Loud Mouse & the forthcoming sequel Proud Mouse, at #ALAAC23
ALT Idina Menzel (left) and Cara Mentzel pose with a copy of the June issue of American Libraries following an interview about their series of children's books, Loud Mouse and Proud Mouse.
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From the archive (2017): Ten Reasons Libraries Are Still Better Than the Internet (...and internet-based retailers 😉 ) bit.ly/2B11Vvp
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This morning @DollyParton's literacy charity, Imagination Library, donates its 100 millionth book to @librarycongress. Read our recent interview with the music legend: bit.ly/2CMymyS
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Stacey Abrams on voting rights and the 2020 Census at #PLA2020: Latest Library Links bit.ly/3ae2zqT
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Award-winning musician, author, and Opening General Session performer @Tromboneshorty with our #alaac18 preview cover model @Tromboneshorty in the exhibit hall
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Newsmaker Debbie Harry: "I was a library kid.... I just think libraries are the most incredible thing." bit.ly/37pVDX0
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#tbt: We pity the fool who doesn't love #NationalLibraryWeek!
Mr. T visits Chicago’s Cook County Department of Corrections’ Clarence Darrow Library, 1983.
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ALA News: K.C Boyd receives 2021 EMIERT Distinguished Librarian Award bit.ly/3emBs0e
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A United Effort: Thousands join ALA’s new #LibrariesTransform public awareness campaign bit.ly/1Xcs2Xd
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Carla Hayden nominated by President Obama to be next Librarian of Congress: on.fb.me/1WIWYvv
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The line to see Closing Session speaker @HillaryClinton started forming at 5:15 a.m. this morning! #alaac17
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David Bowie (1947-2016), remembered as a great reader: With Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. @ALA_Graphics
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#BannedBooksWeek By the Numbers: Stats to celebrate the most frequently challenged and banned books bit.ly/2wgLwAU
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Nick Offerman at #alaac15: I adore librarians...b/c you're better than a weed dealer. You're the best of dispensaries.
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2019 Best Apps and Websites for Teaching and Learning: @aasl lists honor tools for enhanced curriculum development #alaac19 bit.ly/2J209j1
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Jill Biden to Close ALA Midwinter Virtual bit.ly/3rIJ03c
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Rest in Peace... or Recipe in Peace? Learn about the librarian who's documenting recipes found on gravestones. americanlibrariesmagazine.or…
ALT Rosie Grant with one of the gravestone recipes she created for her @ghostlyarchive account
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"The silent majority of people absolutely want kids to read books. What we’re seeing is an extremely loud subset of people who are very afraid of a diverse future."—@kellyyanghk #BannedBooksWeek americanlibrariesmagazine.or…
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Read our extended interview with YA author @rainbowrowell: "My school librarian let me check out more than one book at a time, which was a very special privilege. She could see I was hard up for books and gave me so much access." bit.ly/al-Rowell
ALT Author Rainbow Rowell (Photo: Augusten Burroughs)
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We caught up with Nic Stone and @DrIbram — authors of “How to Be a (Young) Antiracist” — after their Opening Session talk at #LibLearnX23
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One more from The Laugh's on Us: @jamieloftusHELP, author of a book on hot dogs, poses with AL's Chicago Dog cover. #ALAAC23
ALT Jamie Loftus with American Libraries' conference issue.
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"Libraries do not need to be the victims of change. They can drive the change." IFLA prez @GPSalmeron during her #wlic2018 program
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Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus performs at ALA President @edrabinski’s inaugural luncheon at #alaac23
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2023 Youth Media Award Winners:
Top books, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults announced at ALA’s LibLearnX conference in New Orleans | bit.ly/3JpQqUk #LibLearnX23
ALT Book covers for Hot Dog and Freewater, Caldecott and Newbery winners.
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"I have no takeaways except for this thought: Every time you encourage someone to read, you're engaging in an act of love. You are offering someone a difficult gift, you are also planting a seed." @AcevedoWrites #alamw18
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"We are readers, the Obamas. I was one of those kids who would set up the stuffed animals and read to them and show them the pictures," @MichelleObama #alaac18
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Happy 72nd birthday to singer, actor, and literacy champion @DollyParton. Read our Newsmaker interview with her in the Jan/Feb issue of @amlibraries bit.ly/2CMymyS
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Our March/April issue is now live—with a package of stories on #ArtificialIntelligence and a sharp trend on library swordcraft programs. Read the full issue at bit.ly/AL-MA-24issue or by article at bit.ly/AL-MA-24stories.
ALT Cover of the March/April 2024 issue of American Libraries, with coverline The World of AI and an illustration of a librarian drawn with the type of errors typical of artificial intelligence image generators.
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The results are in: @Lessa4Libraries has been elected 2022-23 ALA president. bit.ly/ALAelection22
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"Comic books should be in every library." Read our 2014 interview with comics legend Stan Lee, who passed away this morning. #excelsior bit.ly/2Ch2lBT
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Stop Sexual Harassment in Your Library: Protecting librarians from inappropriate patrons bit.ly/2zgJuWd
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"I'm only standing here today because librarians saw something in me that I didn't see in myself" @reshmasaujani #alaac17
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After 45 years on Sesame Street, @SoniaMManzano will no longer appear on the next season. #alaac15
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Michelle Obama Draws Thousands: Former First Lady speaks about finding her voice and self-worth #alaac18 bit.ly/2Ikiiq1
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Are libraries neutral spaces? Have they ever been? You're not going to want to miss the debate at the #alamw18 President's Program. Follow along with us!
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Top stories of 2018: Blazing Trails -- Pioneering African-American librarians share their stories bit.ly/2CW3ewM
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Junot Díaz Gets Real: Pulitzer Prize–winner discusses his love—and tough love—for libraries #alamw18 bit.ly/2soBrEi
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Jill Biden Closes ALA Midwinter Virtual 2021: First Lady extols the value of reading and learning #alamw21 bit.ly/2MpDkuQ
ALT First Lady Jill Biden (with inset photo of youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman)
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Pres. Todaro took a moment to ask Mayor Emanuel to keep school librarians in Chicago schools #alaac17
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"A so-called neutral choice is almost always a choice for the status quo. ... Neutrality is a form of fence-sitting, a form of silence." @ejmknox #alamw18
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"Dr. Carla Hayden is highly motivated to make this library, and all libraries, a favorite object of the people." ow.ly/St2K309aDub
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Top stories of 2018: Newsmaker Andrew Luck, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, shares his love of literacy with rookie and veteran readers in the @ALBookClub bit.ly/2yYZKcL
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ALA strenuously opposes FCC proposed order on net neutrality bit.ly/2jL7URo
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Not all libraries have official ballot drop boxes. Please check with your library first, and do not put your ballot in a library book drop.
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ICYMI: Carla Hayden to Moderate Conversation with Michelle Obama at ALA Annual Conference #alaac18 bit.ly/2JuDv4V
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"Everywhere I go, I see library workers pinpointing problems and striving to fix them, identifying gaps in services and filling them." ALA President @edrabinski shares some of these library stories in her January/February column. americanlibrariesmagazine.or…
ALT From the President by Emily Drabinski
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How to Sanitize Collections in a Pandemic: Conservators weigh in on the mysteries of materials handling during COVID-19 bit.ly/3dCMJZs
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Finding Your Own Voice: @idinamenzel & @CaraMentzel
discuss their children’s books & their lessons for young readers #ALAAC23 bit.ly/3JwrI4d
ALT Idina Menzel and Cara Mentzel discuss their children's books at a June 24 session of the American Library Association's 2023 Annual Conference in Chicago.
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Good morning, #alamw18! Grab a seat for Junot Díaz. We'll be tweeting his talk in just a few minutes.
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In 2001 Prince donated $12K to the @LFPL to support its Western branch library, bit.ly/1Soi0wE
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State of America’s Libraries 2018: New report affirms the invaluable role of libraries and library workers, includes #Top10 Most Challenged Books of 2017 bit.ly/2qj0NPD
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"The main thing that we’ve been sharing is the fact that this is not an issue around parents’ rights. We’re trying to emphasize that one parent doesn’t get to be the parent of all."—@IamGMJohnson #BannedBooksWeek americanlibrariesmagazine.or…
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Our September/October issue is live! Read our 2018 Library Design Showcase, plus stories covering renovation, graphic design, ALA Award Winners, food literacy, data collection, and more. Get the full issue here: bit.ly/2CiXUaQ or by article here: bit.ly/2M1JgEM
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"The rest of the country was telling me that I didn't belong and nothing belonged to me, and here was this smiling librarian telling me this place of books was mine." - Junot Díaz, #alamw18
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Clinton Delivers Powerful Talk: Former Secretary of State describes librarians & libraries as invaluable #alaac17 bit.ly/2sOhJA9
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2021 Youth Media Award Winners: Top books, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults revealed at ALA Midwinter Virtual bit.ly/3c9wEft
ALT Covers of When You Trap a Tiger and We Are Water Protectors
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Millennials are the most likely generation of Americans to use public libraries pewrsr.ch/2tOt8gQ
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Newsmaker Rick Steves: In an online exclusive, we talk with the travel expert and #alamw19 speaker about our culture of fear, the world’s most beautiful libraries, and his own bucket-list destination bit.ly/2Hk7mNO
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Remembering the legendary Cicely Tyson, who spoke last Sunday at #alamw21. “You have to hold on to what you believe in. You cannot let matters contrary to what you believe in discourage you from moving forward.” bit.ly/2Y7xCk9
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“Librarians are more important than ever. So thank you for everything.” —@rickriordan #alaac23
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The Activist Life of E. J. Josey: Josey scholar Renate L. Chancellor discusses the trailblazer's impact on the library world @rchancell @BC_ALA bit.ly/32cmLHW
ALT Portrait of E. J. Josey
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US postage stamp to honor librarian Anne Spencer: Latest Library Links bit.ly/2MPzLfz
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"Considered one of the most popular First Ladies..." @jamesneal introduces @MichelleObama to wild applause #alaac18
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"We must disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline that disproportionately affects men of color, and I believe that libraries have an important role to play as safe spaces for these individuals." - ALA President Wanda Kay Brown at #alamw20
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In our new interview with the #BannedBooksWeek honorary chair, @levarburton reflects on his career and advocacy for young readers, the ongoing threat to intellectual freedom, and what gives him hope amid adversity. americanlibrariesmagazine.or…
ALT Banned Books Week 2023: Let Freedom Read featuring LeVar Burton
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