Zorrah

See it. Act upon what you learn.
“Of the people, by the people and for the people.”

The State of Voting Rights 2026 marks America's semi-quincentennial, and the LBJ Future Forum is marking the occasion by reflecting on the state of democracy after 250 years. Perhaps no piece of legislation reflects our politic...

If you are in the Austin area next month I’ll be around talking about voting rights at the LBJ Library! Put it on your calendars!

Srsly.

How Autocrats Meddle With Elections The Trump administration has its eyes on the midterms and beyond.

"Voter suppression is one of the core tools of authoritarianism. It is how you shift from democracy to autocracy. And for millions of Americans, it’s about to become the norm"

www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...

Graphic Novels and Comics Round table announces the 2025 Outstanding comics awards for Adults, Young Adults, Children for Fiction, Non-fiction, and series. Book covers of the winners in the background.

Exciting news! 🎉

The inaugural Outstanding Comics Awards was announced today

Each award has three categories: fiction, non-fiction, and series!

🧵 for press releases
Browse the Awards winners and honorees on our site
www.ala.org/gncrt/awards...

#LibComix

boss’d with pearl

And transforming!

Adding my voice of outrage. Yet again I will be calling my senators, reps and, and and…

Pictured, from left: ALA's Kevin Maher, ALA's Lisa Varga, ALA Executive Director Dan Montgomery, Rep. Adelita Grijalva, ALA's Megan Janicki, ALA's Emily Durkin, and ALA's Shawnda Hines, posing together in Rep. Grijalva's office with a framed picture of the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva posing in a Read poster.

Libraries had a big day on Capitol Hill.

First, thank you Rep Adelita Grijalva for meeting with ALA!

We were proud to present her with a vintage Read poster featuring her father, library champion Rep Raúl Grijalva, pictured with her daughter. We couldn't think of a better way to welcome her to DC!

Photo of a card with calligraphy writing. Text on card reads "LIBRARIANS' CONVENTION. The Librarians of the City of Philadelphia request the pleasure of your company, on Friday Evening, Oct. 6, 1876, between the hours of 8 and 11, at the rooms of the Historical Society, No. 820 Spruce St. Please present this card at the door." Text in graphic reads "Present at the Creation: 'For the purpose of promoting the library interests of the country, and of increasing reciprocity of intelligence and goodwill among librarians and all interested in library economy and bibliographic studies, the undersigned form themselves in a body to be known as the AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.'" ALA150. American Library Association

Library historian Wayne A. Wiegand writes about the first "Congress of Librarians" and the beginning of the American Library Association: https://bit.ly/4bvULDy.

Originally published in @amlibraries.bsky.social.

#ALA150 #ForOurLibraries

Tomorrow!! Saturday!

Schedule for Coretta Scott King Book Awards Literature Week: Thursday, January 15: MLK Jr. Sunrise Celebration (on-demand after January 15. Monday, January 19" Community Commemorative Service hosted by The King Center, 10:00 am, ET. Tuesday, January 20: The Life of Coretta Scott King with Dr. Queen Zabriskie, 12:00 pm ET. Wednesday, January, 21: Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffrey Boston Weatherford, 12:00 pm ET. THursday, January 22: James Ransome, 12:00 pm Et. Friday, January 23: Lesa Cline Ransome, 12:00 pm Et.

Join us for Coretta Scott King Book Award Literature Week
🗓️ Jan 19–23, 2026

Celebrate Black voices, stories, and literary excellence.
🔗 Register at bit.ly/csk-lit-week-26

#CSKLiteratureWeek #CSKBART #CorettaScottKing #BlackAuthors

It wasn’t to you, no.

It is my experience that making sure strong community leaders know about the data and trends helps make the case with the people who do make the decisions. Your Friends, Library Foundation, Chamber, Rotary, local philanthropists. If data won’t convince them, what will? It’s a campaign.

If I wrote it, I meant it.
Take it as you will.

How so? Our library staff is fabulous. How is support for eliminating fines insulting to them? As a patron, I find them nothing but helpful. As a former librarian, I respect their work and recognize some of the challenges they face.The commissioner tries to give staff tools make our system better.

Librarians DO have power over this. So do their boards. Our director came to the commission with data from other libraries that had eliminated fines and presented figures from our own system. She addressed the reality that fines are a barrier to the underserved. We voted unanimously to end fines.

Its not a fine. It’s a replacement fee; there’s a huge difference in the tone there.

Fires have roared through my county way too often in recent years. We are certainly not going to fine or charge someone who has lost their home/possessions for a few books.

I’m a library commissioner and a librarian. I’ve also been president of my state library association. My library system did away with fines about 7 years ago. Works just fine.

All policies should be on your library’s webpage. Or call the director/manager’s office and ask for it.

Every library system has its own policies.

People will bring them back. Libraries have been looking at this for a long time. Bringing them back is part of the charm and makes sense. Not everyone wants books they’ve already read taking up space in their living quarters.

You sound like YOU have some overdue books from some library.

[Flourish and shout.]

Rejoice! Carmakers Are Embracing Physical Buttons Again Amazingly, reaction times using screens while driving are worse than being drunk or high—no wonder 90 percent of drivers hate using touchscreens in cars. Finally the auto industry is coming to its…

Amazingly, reaction times using screens while driving are worse than being drunk or high—no wonder 90 percent of drivers hate using touchscreens in cars. Finally the auto industry is coming to its senses.

Let’s talk about something not many people are chatting about and what’s actually happening right now.

You might wonder why Imran Ahmed and the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) suddenly became targets of the U.S. government. The honest answer is that their research hit where it hurt.

Good luck! Happy Christmas. (Hope someone gives you a stong eggnog!)

He doesn’t care. He doesn’t remember it as reality. It was nothing to him.

Photo of a "sunbrella" - a bare-spoked umbrella festooned with ribbons and bells - above a sign for the Storytelling Resource Place in Jonesborough, TN

“Much like libraries safeguard written knowledge, we safeguard the living traditions of oral storytelling.” - Tama Lunceford, interim president of the Storytelling Resource Place, a repository of books and materials related to storytelling performance.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4p2QieF

I think god wants us to pull up our socks, feed the hungry, help the poor, whip the money-changers out of our places of worship and remember to love our neighbors wherever they are from, whatever age, nationality, color or gender they are.

Opinion | In Appalachia, Children Inherited the Opioid Crisis (Gift Article) The pain of drug addiction continues to course through towns like Clarksburg, W.Va., where many babies are born withdrawing and have to be taken from their parents.

The Opioid Crisis Never Ended. It Was Inherited by the Children. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Judge restores federal funding for museums and libraries, including in Alaska At least some libraries in Alaska that lost federal funding last spring have received notice that it’s been reinstated.

Libraries in Alaska - and across the country - have had their federal funding reinstated by the Administration. We can't tell you how important this is: www.kyuk.org/alaska-state...

Take action, tell Congress to #FundLibraries in next year's budget: app.oneclickpolitics.com/campaign-pag...