In episode 37 of the “How I Library” podcast, show host and I Love Libraries editor Phil Morehart speaks with author Molly Guptill Manning about her new book, “A Librarian’s War: The Man Who Fought World War II with Books and Brought the Joy of Reading to Millions,” which tells the incredible story of Ray Trautman, the Chief Librarian of the U.S. Army during WWII.
It’s National Friends of Libraries Week! Organized by United for Libraries, a division of ALA, this weeklong celebration recognizes all the incredible things that Friends groups do for their local libraries. Become a library Friend and make a lasting difference for your library and community.
For this installment of our weekly book reviews from Booklist, the American Library Association’s book and media review publication, we have Emily Graham’s review of “The Book of Disappearing Plants” by Štěpánka Sekaninová, illustrated by Eliška Podešvová, and translated by Mark Worthington.
Attending a campaign event can feel overwhelming. There may be a request for a donation or an expectation to identify yourself right away with a particular candidate, but you still want to know who you’re voting for and make a well-informed decision at the polls. Springfield City (Mass.) Library (SCL) offers a simple way to bypass awkward or intense situations: Just walk in! Through its “Meet & Greet Candidates for Mayor and City Council” program, SCL creates a space where residents can meet candidates, ask questions and learn about the people seeking to represent them without the pressure that can accompany a traditional campaign event.
Welcome home … where horror awaits. Get ready to shake, shiver, maybe even scream! Audio makes these evil houses all the more visceral, and with horror fiction on the rise, you’ll find plenty of options in this list from ALA’s Booklist to keep you up at night.
This Banned Books Week, we revisit some past “How I Library” guests and their thoughts on book bans and censorship that they shared on the podcast. Not surprisingly, they all have strong opinions about this heinous occurrence. From actors Ethan Hawke and David Duchovny to writers Min Jin Lee and Jason Reynolds and more, they are all allies in the fight for the freedom to read.
For this installment of our weekly book reviews from Booklist, the American Library Association’s book and media review publication, we have Leah von Essen’s review of the haunting novel, “The Girl with a Thousand Faces” by Sunyi Dean.
On October 6, 1876, 103 librarians gathered in Philadelphia to create a new association for librarians: the American Library Association (ALA). For 150 years later, ALA has endured to help shape the library profession and American history—and the country is celebrating today, from proclamations to podcasts.
It’s Banned Books Week! The observation also coincides with the American Library Association’s (ALA) 150th anniversary on October 6. To mark the occasion, ALA has released a list of the 150 most challenged books documented from 1990 through 2025. The list spans contemporary titles such as “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe and literary classics such as “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck.
For this installment of our weekly book reviews from Booklist, the American Library Association’s (ALA) book and media review publication, we’re kicking off the Halloween season with Becky Spratford’s review of “Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former ALA staffer Daniel Kraus.
