Virtual Displays: National Library Week April 2023

Equitable access to information for all, including underserved populations, is a core value of librarianship. The growing awareness of where this inequality persists has led many professionals to take steps to advance social justice within their institutions, from creating book displays about the Black Lives Matter movement or LGBT History Month to hosting programs by potentially controversial speakers. But while libraries are often well-versed in protecting the right to read books, many lack policies and experience in addressing censorship of resources and services.

In a world that often questions the value of libraries and librarianship, this collection of reflective essays and future-focused research emphasizes the ways in which being an information professional continues to be a rewarding and vital profession. Including sixteen chapters written by library practitioners, researchers, and educators, this book covers topics, among others, such as the impact of K-12 school librarians on media literacy, the community power of public libraries, the transformative power of community-focused library collaborations, and strategies for implementing effective outreach for underserved populations. It is by sharing their thoughtful, vibrant, and at times painfully honest perspectives on the varied and essential roles that librarians and libraries play in our world that the authors display their passion for librarianship and demonstrate why continued support for libraries is essential.

Intellectual freedom is a complex concept that democracies and free societies around the world define in different ways but always strive to uphold. And ALA has long recognized the crucial role that libraries play in protecting this right. But what does it mean in practice? How do library workers handle the ethical conundrums that often accompany the commitment to defending it?

Intersections of Open Educational Resources and Information Literacy captures current open education and information literacy theory and practice and provides inspiration for the future. Chapters include practical applications, theoretical musings, literature reviews, and case studies and discuss social justice issues, collaboration, open pedagogy, training, and advocacy.

In September 2011, Occupy Wall Street activists took over New York's Zuccotti Park. Within a matter of weeks, the encampment had become a tiny model of a robust city, with its own kitchen, first aid station, childcare services--and a library of several thousand physical books. Since that time, social movements around the world, from Nuit Debout in Paris to Gezi Park in Istanbul, have built temporary libraries alongside their protests. While these libraries typically last only a few weeks at a time and all have ultimately been dismantled or destroyed, each has managed to collect, catalog, and circulate books, serving a need not being met elsewhere. .

Libraries are community connectors, places where people come together, think together, and learn together. Libraries support and nurture strong, resilient communities. Day in and day out, the library workers at these institutions are doing much more than ensuring equal and equitable access to information; and their impact stretches far beyond the books, programs, and services they facilitate.

Made Free and Thrown Open to the Public charts the history of public libraries and librarianship in Pennsylvania. Based on archival research at more than fifty libraries and historical societies, it describes a long progression from private, subscription-based associations to publicly funded institutions, highlighting the dramatic period during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when libraries were "thrown open" to women, children, and the poor. Made Free explains how Pennsylvania's physical and cultural geography, legal codes, and other unique features influenced the spread and development of libraries across the state. It also highlights Pennsylvania libraries' many contributions to the social fabric, especially during World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. Most importantly of all, Made Free convincingly argues that Pennsylvania libraries have made their greatest strides when community activists and librarians, supported with state and local resources, have worked collaboratively.

Globally, libraries are the backbones of the institutions in which they exist, irrespective of whether they are in a developed country or a developing country. Ideally, no school should operate without one. Different types of libraries provide various kinds of information to a range of people. This collection of articles will attract the attention of education authorities, education policy makers, subject teachers, teacher librarians, academics, students, and parents. Young adults can also obtain information here concerning career or vocational guidance.

Videogames, Libraries, and the Feedback Loop: Learning Beyond the Stacksoffers fresh perspectives of youth videogaming in public libraries. Abrams and Gerber delve into research-based accounts to explore feedback mechanisms that support important reflective and iterative practices. Highlighting how videogame library programs can evolve to meet contemporary needs of youth patrons, the authors equip readers to re-envision library programming that specifically features youth videogame play.