American Libraries Magazine

08/07/2025

“I wanted to play characters who were in charge of their own fate," Academy Award–winning actor Geena Davis told the crowd at the final session of last week.

Academy Award–winning actor Geena Davis wrote and illustrated The Girl Who Was Too Big for the Page because she was “a tall baby.”

03/07/2025

Does the original aim that ALA was founded on in 1876 still resonate? Those words and other topics were hashed out at Annual in Philadelphia, as ALA's 150th anniversary approaches.

As the American Library Association's 150th anniversary approaches, library leaders looked ahead to the future of the Association.

03/07/2025

When Community Book Gardens started to talk with people about writing their own books, they learned that a lot of them "had all these stories stuck inside them, that they wanted to share, but didn’t think they could."

The collaborative Community Book Gardens initiative helps communities in "book deserts" create their own books.

02/07/2025

ALA experts discussed current cases and the legal arguments underlying them at ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia.

Against a backdrop of increasing book challenges and bans, library attorneys break down current censorship litigation.

01/07/2025

Stuck in the hospital as a child, videogames were often Steve Spohn’s only way to connect with others. He talked with Vicki Karlovsky, Deerfield Public Library's inclusion coordinator, during “Adaptive Arcade at the Library: Video Games are for Everyone."

Spohn, the former COO of AbleGamers and current director of the Mount Sinai Back to Life Center, and Vicki Karlovsky, inclusion coordinator at Deerfield (Ill.) Public Library (DPL), discussed how libraries can bring that experience to a wider audience in “Adaptive Arcade at the Library: Video Game...

30/06/2025

At : Actor and activist George Takei, whose new memoir is "It Rhymes with Takei," discussed his life as a closeted actor and why he "came out roaring" at age 68.

At ALA's 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition, George Takei discussed his life as a closeted actor and why he came out at age 68.

29/06/2025

Debriefing tools can help break a cycle of “a small incident, and maybe the same day you have another small incident…and then all of a sudden you’re fed up with everybody and you don’t want to do this anymore."

Learn how Calgary Public Library implemented debriefing tools to help staff cope with stressful situations.

29/06/2025

The inside story of Lizzo, James Madison's crystal flute, and the Library of Congress—and how to meaningfully connect celebrities to library collections and programs.

From Lizzo to Barack Obama, libraries leverage star power and community networks to articulate impact.

29/06/2025

After being abruptly dismissed by the White House, former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden assured her staff, "‘We’re trying to make sure that the library is protected.' You have to separate this position...from the institution," she said at .

The former Librarian of Congress talked with author Kwame Alexander at ALA's Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia on June 28.

28/06/2025

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer opened ALA's 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia with advice for young adults from her memoir, "True Gretch," from handling bullies to admitting when you're wrong.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer opens ALA's 2025 Annual Conference in Philadelphia with a discussion of her young adult memoir, True Gretch.

27/06/2025

ALA announces Daniel J. Montgomery will be its next executive director. He will take the helm November 10.

Montgomery will start his new role as executive director on November 10. He is currently president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

27/06/2025

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer talked to us ahead of her appearance at about her memoir, the role libraries have played in her life, and her advice for young people seeking elected office.