Allison

Our ability to comprehend daily events has been corrupted by a toxic info environment where political & attentional dynamics distort & manipulate our “collective sensemaking” processes. Our “official” sources are now products of that same environment. Reality fractures, along with the social fabric.

NEW ISSUE OUT NOW Library Trends Volume 73, Number 3, February 2025 
Special Issue: Generative AI and Libraries: Applications and Ethics, Part I 
#S2O #OpenAccess via @ProjectMUSE

NEW ISSUE OUT NOW
Library Trends
Volume 73, Number 3, February 2025

Special Issue: Generative AI and Libraries: Applications and Ethics, Part I

#S2O #OpenAccess via @ProjectMUSE
tinyurl.com/8pza2k4c

No country has ever increased freedom and liberty by banning books - www.bookbanpetition.us

Trump naming his former defense attorney as acting Librarian of Congress Todd Blanche already holds the number two position at the Justice Department.

Call me crazy but I think the Librarian of Congress should be an actual librarian. And Carla Hayden was the best, she should still have the job.

www.axios.com/2025/05/12/t...

Pentagon directs military to pull library books that address diversity, anti-racism, gender issues The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues by May 21.

"The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues by May 21, according to a memo issued to the force on Friday."

WHERE ARE THE PLANES YOU LOST, SCUMBAGS?

apnews.com/article/pent...

The American Library Association praises servic of Dr. Carla Hayden, decries 'unjust dismissal' of Librarian of Congress. [Image of Dr. Carla Hayden standing in the stacks in a library]

NEW: ALA salutes Dr Carla Hayden for her exceptional service to the nation as the Librarian of Congress. We are deeply disappointed in Dr Hayden's abrupt & unjust dismissal last night, an insult to the scope & breadth of her work.

Read ALA Pres. Cindy Hohl's statement: www.ala.org/news/2025/05...

Hands off books and libraries #saveIMLS

Hands off books and libraries #saveimls

Better yet, here's your reminder that libraries are political. They are not non-political. They are political because they have to be pro-library.

BE POLITICAL.

You are political effing institutions.

What you aren't is PARTISAN. You are politically pro whatever is pro-library.

Call Congress for our libraries. Show up for our libraries. American library association.

ALA is deeply concerned by reports that IMLS is sending notices to libraries claiming to cancel grants that are required by law. This harmful action will disrupt libraries' ability to serve their communities.
Tell Congress to protect library funding: bit.ly/CallCongressForLibraries
#ForOurLibraries

Trump is threatening Federal Funding for Libraries; learn more and take action at saveimls.org.

Trump is threatening Federal Funding for Libraries; learn more and take action at saveimls.org.

A scan of a linocut print, which has the text “Free people read freely” in block capitals above a person in a dress reaching to take a book from a large bookshelf

The library and the post office are the only two systems we have that circulate things widely and to everyone, no matter who they are or what they believe. The library is the only one that, for now, is not forced to pay for itself at point of sale. Attacks on IMLS are attacks on every one of us.

Show Up For Our Libraries - Tell Your Story Please share a story about how libraries have a positive impact in YOUR community. This might be a story about you or your family, or about other library users who have benefitted from the library&...

🚨NEW🚨Last night the President signed an order to gut IMLS. Call your members of Congress. Call your state and local officials. Tell them exactly what's at stake if the President's order stands: the future of America's libraries. It's time to Show Up #ForOurLibraries: bit.ly/ALA-LibraryStoryIMLS

How to Identify Credible Sources—A Skill More Crucial Than Ever: Book Censorship News, March 7, 2025 It's not just the content of news or press releases we need to care about. We need to understand its origins matter, too. That, plus this week's book censorship news.

It's not just the content of news or government press releases we need to pay attention to. We need to pay attention to the sources of information before sharing it, too.

The importance of citing and verifying sources + this week's book censorship news: bookriot.com/how-to-ident...

What Would It Look Like If Librarians Ran the Government Instead of These Fools? Librarians are growing sick of censoring and defunding — so they’re running for office.

Librarians are growing sick of censoring and defunding — so they’re running for office.

A poster supporting libraries and the economic boycott on February 28th that highlights books and the freedom of speech and the freedom to read freely.

Because I am a librarian, I also made this poster highlighting another reason I am doing an economic boycott: Our 1st Amendment rights and public libraries are under assault. You can find free & fun things to do today during your $ boycott at your local public library. Free people read freely!

"Support the Freedom to Read." Dark image of an open book on a black background.

The freedom to read is under attack. South Carolina House Bill 4059 would uphold our students' rights and protect school librarians from harassment and intimidation. You can use our message action page to let your lawmakers know you support this bill: action.aclu.org/send-message...

What do these South Carolina students think about books being pulled from schools? The state Board of Education recently removed four books from school libraries. The board says it's to protect kids from explicit content. The kids say they're not being protected at all.

www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/sc-news/2025...

If you work in higher education in the US, now is the time to join the AAUP. Your campus doesn’t even need to have a chapter, you can join the National org. @aaup.bsky.social

ALA to U. S. Department of Education: Book bans are real The American Library Association responds to the Department of Education's dismissal of complaints about censorship and discrimination: the "effort to terminate protections... advances the demonstrabl...

www.ala.org/news/2025/01...

I will keep reading! I’m always looking for good ways to use AI to show to my students. Thank you for all the posts!

I thought that StoryGraph was the only social media I still enjoyed using, but Bluesky does seem cool so far! Excited to give it a try (also StoryGraph is really awesome if you love reading books, check it out).

If libraries don’t care about books and reading, how do we expect our communities to?

We need to rethink phrases like “more than just books” and what kind of message that sends. When we say “just books”, are we inadvertently sending negative messaging about the value of books?