Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Libraries in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, created a program to encourage Native individuals living in the region to consider running for non-Tribal elected offices themselves to help ensure that diverse perspectives are part of community conversations and policy decisions. They used resources provided by the American Library Association’s 2024 Peggy Barber Tribute Grant to facilitate the initiative.
Congratulations to librarian Mychal Threets for being named to the Time100 Creators: Most Influential Digital Voices list for 2025, Time’s inaugural celebration of the digital creators who have emerged to shape our culture. “They are changing what we watch, how we spend our time, what we buy, and how we vote,” says the magazine.
While court cases related to President Trump’s attempt to gut the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Department of Education move forward, we urgently need Congress to ensure that library programs receive full federal funding in the next fiscal year. We need everyone to call and urge Congress to support libraries before the July 21 deadline. It’s vital for the future of our libraries.
Dr. Carla Hayden spoke on Friday at the American Library Association’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia, and librarians, library workers, and book lovers in attendance greeted the former Librarian of Congress with a wave of love, respect, and applause when she took the stage. It was a unforgettable, moving tribute to Dr. Hayden, who was unceremoniously fired from her position leading the Library of Congress by President Trump in May.
Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This report includes news from Florida, Tennessee, and Texas.
Encouraging an appreciation for our natural surroundings is always in season, and it’s no secret that libraries often provide garden areas, flower beds, and other outdoor areas for patron and community enjoyment and use. Wright Memorial Public Library in Oakwood, Ohio, took that a step further—and was rewarded a grant from ALA as a result.
In episode 19 of the “How I Library” podcast, show host and I Love Libraries editor Phil Morehart speaks with Nick Brooks. Brooks is the critically acclaimed author of the award-winning young adult (Y.A.) thriller, “Promise Boys,” a filmmaker, and a musician from Washington, D.C. His new book, “Up In Smoke,” is another page-turning Y.A. thriller that follows the events that spiral after a murder is committed during a Black Lives Matter protest. It’s part murder mystery, part call to revolution.
Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden sat down with Robert Costa on CBS Sunday Morning this weekend to discuss a variety of subjects, most notably her May 8 firing by President Trump.
Looking for your next great read this #PrideMonth? Our friends at Booklist Reader have you covered. From unforgettable queer fiction to timely memoirs and history, this New & Stellar LGBTQ Reads list has it all.
The library world—and Americans in general—received bad news late today when a federal judge declined to block the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The ruling, issued in ALA v. Sonderling, will allow the administration’s cuts at the independent agency while the case proceeds.
The international library community is rallying around its peers and colleagues in the United States as they endure challenging times that have seen the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under attack by President Trump and Dr. Carla Hayden fired as the Librarian of Congress.
Alexis Chanthachack, assistant director of Beals Memorial Library in Winchendon, Massachusetts, knows how difficult it can be to find activities and events—especially in rural areas—that are welcoming to autistic youth. That immediacy led the mother of two sons diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder to become the driving force behind the library’s accessibility work—work that led the library to receive a Libraries Transforming Communities Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant from the American Library Association to enhance accessibility for patrons on the autism spectrum.
Our latest report on book bans happening across the the U.S. and efforts to fight them includes news from Tennessee and Texas, as well as a look at the banning of a picture book by the beloved author of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”
Broadway came to the library when cast members from the musical “Hamilton” paid a visit to Las Vegas-Clark County Library District’s Hip-Hop Storytime.
Author Dave Eggers visited Minnesota earlier this month to join students, parents, and teachers in protest over book bans at St. Francis Area Schools about 40 miles north of Minneapolis.
May is Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, and there are wealth of books for children and teens introducing key people and historical events important to AANHPI communities. Check out these picks from Booklist Reader!
Libraries across the country are having their funding slashed—with more planned in the future. It’s time to let Washington know that we’re fed up with it. The best way for any Congressmember to demonstrate their commitment to library funding is to sign on to “Dear Appropriator” letters in support of libraries. These letters close tomorrow, May 20, so we need to act now and urge them to sign.
In episode 18 of the “How I Library” podcast, show host and I Love Libraries editor Phil Morehart speaks with Marium Zahra and Aruja Misra, two high school students from Texas who are participants in “On Our Minds,” an award-winning podcast series about the teenage experience from PBS News Student Reporting Labs. The new season asks teens, “Who Inspires You?” For Zahra and Misra, it was their school librarian who is beloved on campus for being a proponent of reading banned books. Zahra and Misra join the show to discuss working with PBS News, podcasting, journalism, banned books, and of course, how they library.
This September, Roadtrip Nation is sending three people across the U.S. in a green RV to meet librarians, community leaders, and innovators who’ve built careers helping others access knowledge and opportunity. Along the way, they will gain real-world insights, career inspiration, and invaluable mentorship—all while being filmed the Roadtrip Nation television series on PBS. And you can be part of it.
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Libraries in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, created a program to encourage Native individuals living in the region to consider running for non-Tribal elected offices themselves to help ensure that diverse perspectives are part of community conversations and policy decisions. They used resources provided by the American Library Association’s 2024 Peggy Barber Tribute Grant to facilitate the initiative.
Congratulations to librarian Mychal Threets for being named to the Time100 Creators: Most Influential Digital Voices list for 2025, Time’s inaugural celebration of the digital creators who have emerged to shape our culture. “They are changing what we watch, how we spend our time, what we buy, and how we vote,” says the magazine.
While court cases related to President Trump’s attempt to gut the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Department of Education move forward, we urgently need Congress to ensure that library programs receive full federal funding in the next fiscal year. We need everyone to call and urge Congress to support libraries before the July 21 deadline. It’s vital for the future of our libraries.
Dr. Carla Hayden spoke on Friday at the American Library Association’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia, and librarians, library workers, and book lovers in attendance greeted the former Librarian of Congress with a wave of love, respect, and applause when she took the stage. It was a unforgettable, moving tribute to Dr. Hayden, who was unceremoniously fired from her position leading the Library of Congress by President Trump in May.
Libraries and schools across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of attempts to ban or remove books from their shelves. I Love Libraries will continue to raise awareness by highlighting attempts to censor library materials, as well as efforts by librarians, parents, students, and concerned citizens to push back against them. This report includes news from Florida, Tennessee, and Texas.
Encouraging an appreciation for our natural surroundings is always in season, and it’s no secret that libraries often provide garden areas, flower beds, and other outdoor areas for patron and community enjoyment and use. Wright Memorial Public Library in Oakwood, Ohio, took that a step further—and was rewarded a grant from ALA as a result.
In episode 19 of the “How I Library” podcast, show host and I Love Libraries editor Phil Morehart speaks with Nick Brooks. Brooks is the critically acclaimed author of the award-winning young adult (Y.A.) thriller, “Promise Boys,” a filmmaker, and a musician from Washington, D.C. His new book, “Up In Smoke,” is another page-turning Y.A. thriller that follows the events that spiral after a murder is committed during a Black Lives Matter protest. It’s part murder mystery, part call to revolution.
Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden sat down with Robert Costa on CBS Sunday Morning this weekend to discuss a variety of subjects, most notably her May 8 firing by President Trump.
Looking for your next great read this #PrideMonth? Our friends at Booklist Reader have you covered. From unforgettable queer fiction to timely memoirs and history, this New & Stellar LGBTQ Reads list has it all.
The library world—and Americans in general—received bad news late today when a federal judge declined to block the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The ruling, issued in ALA v. Sonderling, will allow the administration’s cuts at the independent agency while the case proceeds.
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