News and Updates

It’s finally September, which means summer is waning and fall is approaching. It also means only a few weeks remain to submit your nomination for the 2024 I Love My Librarian Award! While ten librarians will be awarded, more than 1,000 nominations are received for the award every year, so submitting a strong nomination is key to making your librarian stand out among the crowd.

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 Georgia, North Carolina, New York, and Florida.

It’s Library Card Sign-Up Month (LCSUM)! Held each September, LCSUM is an annual reminder that library cards empower individuals and communities by providing free access to technology, multimedia content, educational programming, and much more. A library card opens a world of learning for everyone and is one of the most cost-effective back-to-school supplies available.

We love the Biblioteca Gabriel García Márquez in Barcelona. Designed by SUMA Arquitectura, the library—named after Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel García Márquez—is a geometric wonder. Inspired by Ildefonso Cerdá’s design of the city’s Exiample district, the five-story, octagon-shaped building resembles a stack of open books with folded pages. The library also serves as a central community hub, offering workshops on creativity, languages, and digital literacy. And it was recently named the best new library of the year.

This summer’s hottest item can be found in public libraries in Brooklyn—a limited-edition Jay-Z library card. And it’s bringing people into the library. The cards have increased membership by 14,000 accounts this month, Brooklyn Public Library said.

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 Iowa, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Vermont.

Neil Gaiman wears many hats: novelist, journalist, comic book writer, screenwriter, television producer, musician. And he’s a fierce supporter of libraries. The author of American Gods, Neverwhere, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, The Sandman, Coraline, and so many more has had a lifelong love affair with reading. (He’s even featured in a brand-new Celebrity READ poster from ALA Graphics!) And he credits librarians for fostering his curiosity about books and learning at a young age. Gaiman spoke with I Love Libraries recently about libraries, his literary influences, book banning in the U.S., movies, and more.

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 New York, Texas, and Virginia, as well as a report on a beloved children's book that is facing a ban in Florida.