The Enshittification of the Institute of Museum and Library Services Trucks On: Here's What's Happening and What You Can Do.
If you missed it, the IMLS home page got an AI overhaul, among other things.
bookriot.com/the-enshitti...
Responding to ICE at the Library: Real World Approaches. Public Library Association. Free to ALA individual members. On Demand. Register now.
When ICE officers enter a public library, staff need to respond calmly and within the law. Watch this on-demand webinar for real-world guidance from libraries navigating these situations.
Free for ALA members. Open to nonmembers for a registration fee.
elearning.ala.org/local/catalo...
As proud as I’ve ever been to be a member of the @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social!!
afscme31.org/news/america...
From an article last week:
"My wife and I absolutely forbid our children from reading those horrible Judy Blume books," he said. "And because we didn’t clean up our society back then, then we have to deal with absolutely horrific things today."
Yeah, THAT'S it.
www.kjzz.org/politics/202...
Watch now for free on @pbs.org’s YouTube channel!
tinyurl.com/TheLibrarian...
"The full internal affairs report about a police officer who confronted a transgender woman about her bathroom use at the Tucker Library said the incident stemmed from a complaint by a library patron."
Bigots endangering the lives of trans people.
www.decaturish.com/public_safet...
I hope New Yorkers will challenge Mamdani about this. Too often, people feel they need to be absolutely for or against a politician — ignoring their missteps or throwing them out with the bathwater. You can like and/or believe in someone and still challenge them to deliver on their promises.
Photograph of five Black women and five Black men in front of a building that may be the library. They are all wearing suit/ties for the men and dresses with gloves for the women. In the upper left is a very young Jesse Jackson.
Before the Tougaloo Nine, the Greenville Eight. These eight people, including the late Jesse Jackson, demanded their right to use the Greenville SC "whites only" library in 1960. They were arrested and defended by Greenville's first Black lawyer. #BlackHistoryMonth
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenvi...
More IMLS propaganda is here. Remember: the IMLS serves *citizens*, not the administration.
Institute of Museum and Library Services Awards $4.1 Million to Support the Trump AI Action Plan.
This is intended to kill libraries and museums.
www.prnewswire.com/news-release...
For #LoveData26 week, #ICYMI for 2 free data advocacy zines: "DIY Web Archiving" to protect data (& other online things!) you care about 🔗⬇️, & a #datarescue zine documenting the recently removed Nat'l Park exhibit on the people Washington enslaved zinebakery.com/bakeshop/cen...
![clipping from a newspaper saying "Preparing Directory of Library School Graduates. Dateline Washington DC (ANP) In observance of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the first library school the DC Civic Library association is preparing a director [sic] of Negro graduates of accredited library schools. The organization is asking persons who have not received a communication to write to the association at Box 185 Howard University.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tjj7wet2ww7v7rrn7lvcf37p/bafkreieikmcvqqdmafno4kbqy3r5fjgps3udzbt6ontblh2ffk6qc5mfzu)
clipping from a newspaper saying "Preparing Directory of Library School Graduates. Dateline Washington DC (ANP) In observance of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the first library school the DC Civic Library association is preparing a director [sic] of Negro graduates of accredited library schools. The organization is asking persons who have not received a communication to write to the association at Box 185 Howard University.
One reason we know so much about Black librarians in the early days of library professionalism is because the DC Civic Library Association (an association for Black librarians in Washington DC) published A Directory of Negro Graduates of Accredited Library Schools (1900-1936) #BlackHistoryMonth
A vivid example of "mission creep" and "libraries aren't essential services except when they're told to be" that are creating a mental health hellscape for library workers.
bookriot.com/the-state-of...
thank you for everything you did for we here and for the library and information science profession, fobazi. you were an incredible friend, thinker, writer, supporter. you’ll be dearly missed 🤍
I'll be live with Sabrina Baeta of PEN America for a Red, Wine and Blue event 2/19. We're talking the trends in book censorship and where/how you can get involved in pushing back right now.
Register for the free event here --> go.redwine.blue/0219tt-bookr...
We are thrilled to announce that ACLU’s Emerson Skyes (Senior Staff Attorney, ALCU Speech, Privacy, & Technology Project) will be moderating our watch party and discussion, THIS Sat 5pmET Join us for this activating event with frontline changemakers in the US and Canada!
tinyurl.com/TheLibrarian...
On the weaponization of personal data: "If combined with the facial recognition and social media monitoring commonly deployed by the Department of Homeland Security, those reams of data would turbocharge ICE’s terror campaign in the short term and destroy American civil liberties in the long term."
Call for Papers: The Political Librarian invites all levels of information, memory, library, and cultural heritage professionals, administrators, educators, researchers, policy analysts, and stakeholders to contribute to the Spring 2026 issue of The Political Librarian.
Don’t let the government regulate your reading www.bookbanpetition.us
The NC Negro Library Association (est. 1934) was the first black library assoc. chapter in ALA. NCLA was for white librarians. When ALA moved to only allow one library assoc. chapter per state, NCLA admitted black members in 1954
scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/librari...
#BlackHistoryMonth
Gather up a group of friends for the online premiere of @thelibrariansfilm.bsky.social on PBS February 9th! Or check it out on their app and watch it on your own timetable that day! It's a powerful look at the attacks on school boards and the freedom to read. www.pbs.org/independentl...
Labor unions are important, democratic organizations that protect the rights of workers in the country.
action.everylibrary.org/american_lab...
If you're doing something cool with or for your local public library, @librariesftp.bsky.social wants to share it and uplift it in the newsletter. Reach out!
On March 27, 1961, nine [Tougalou] students visited Jackson's library for black residents... and requested books they knew were not there.They then entered the main Jackson Public Library for white residents, and staged a "read in." #BlackHistoryMonth
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tougalo...
While independent bookstores are giving out free whistles, hosting protest sign making events, and donating proceeds to mutual aid, Amazon is *checks notes* providing technology that assists ICE in their terrorizing of communities.
Independent bookstores deserve your support. Amazon does not.
More IMLS propaganda grants. This time, money in alignment with Trump executive orders to "combat anti-semitism" [sic].
It's getting REALLY BAD in the propaganda department at IMLS. This is your money being stolen for Trump-Vance projects.
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief...
Chicago has opened its first food pantry inside a public library. blockclubchi.co/49TjbEH
Arkansas prisons will be implementing the cruelest and strictest total ban on books, magazines, and newspapers being mailed to those on the inside nationwide. The decision came using an excuse that continues to be unfounded.
This is important. It will spread.
bookriot.com/arkansas-pri...
