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Illustration: Tom Deja Librarian Sondra Eklund spends her time stocking books for the public library system she works for in Virginia. One of her patrons recently asked the library to acquire a children’s book about pets other than cats or dogs, so she went looking. When she came across a book titled Rabbits: Children’s Animal […]
Clockwise from top left: Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; actor George Takei Photos: EPNAC Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech,” wrote Benjamin Franklin in 1722. As Philadelphia’s most famous son, Franklin—and his belief in personal expression as the cornerstone of […]
Author Alex Segura signs copies of Dick Tracy at the Hoopla booth. Rebecca Lomax/American Libraries Although libraries are currently facing a climate of political and financial upheaval, that didn’t stop information professionals from showing up in force to the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition (June 26–30). The conference brought 14,292 registrants […]
Today’s post is from Abbey Potter and Isabel Brador of the Digital Strategy Directorate and Kate Murray of the Digital Collections Management & Services Division here at the Library of Congress. Since January 2025, a new Library of Congress working group has been exploring ways to bring responsible AI together with digital preservation through an […]
Since our last report, libraries have continued to experience significant upheaval from President Trump’s actions. In May, the Trump administration fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter. We also saw legal cases challenging the administration’s defunding of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) continue to make their way […]
Illustration: ©Timurock/Adobe Stock The library technology industry showed its maturity in 2024. Businesses have become increasingly stable and robust products delivered rich functionality. But decades of consolidation have created a narrower slate of competitors, resulting in a smaller number of products available for each type and size of library. The marketplace is seeing more specialized […]
Photo: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection With the acceleration of human-driven climate change, libraries are playing an increased role in helping their communities navigate environmental calamities. The downtown public library in Asheville, North Carolina, for instance, was a beacon of connectivity after flooding from Hurricane Helene disrupted the area’s Wi-Fi service in September […]
New mobile apps from the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek have remained among the top three “free” downloads for Apple and Google devices since their debut on Jan. 25, 2025. But experts caution that many of DeepSeek’s design choices — such as using hard-coded encryption keys, and sending unencrypted user and device data to […]
Illustration: © Rana Zeeshan/Adobe Stock New values for challenging times On January 21, ALA Council approved five new Core Values • access• equity• intellectual freedom and privacy• the public good• sustainability Council cochairs Erin Berman and Sara Dallas explained the reasons for the changes: “This is a crucial moment for our profession, as our library […]
In 2018, the Library launched the very popular Free To Use and Reuse Sets, where staff curate thematic sets of items from our digital collections that are either in the public domain, have no known copyright restrictions or have been cleared by the copyright owner for public use. The public is not only free to […]
Catalog records are key to storing and finding digital library materials. As the volume of digital materials continues to grow rapidly, the Library of Congress is exploring whether AI can help catalogers by automating the generation of metadata. AI could provide an opportunity to speed up description workflows. Yet there are numerous machine learning (ML) […]
Illustration: Drew Bardana What is artificial intelligence (AI)? What do library workers think of it? How are they using it? And what ethical concerns or issues of privacy have developed as AI becomes increasingly commonplace? According to a May 2023 survey of academic librarians by Leo S. Lo, professor and dean of the College of […]
Last October, President Joe Biden released an executive order detailing guidelines for various aspects of artificial intelligence (AI), with the aim of driving inquiry, regulations, and policy around current and emerging tools. A hot topic in many industries, generative artificial intelligence (generative AI) has increasingly occupied our cultural consciousness since the large language model ChatGPT debuted […]
Santa Ana (Calif.) Public Library’s AStounD program, part of its Robots in Residence initiative, provides youth with autism access to robots like Moxie (pictured), “the world’s first AI robot for kids.”Photo: Embodied Inc. Around the world, organizations are learning how to assess the benefits and challenges of swiftly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) tools, while simultaneously […]
Grammarly’s text generator. Text generators Tools that generate text based on user prompts. Examples: copy.ai, Anyword, Peppertype, Grammarly Uses: Automate drafting of routine documents like overdue notices or new cardholder welcome messages, draft marketing copy or web page text Controversies: » Sports Illustrated was recently criticized for publishing AI-generated product reviews on its website, which […]
Washington Post columnist Michele Norris (right) speaks with ALA President Emily Drabinski at the opening session of the 2024 LibLearnX conference in Baltimore on January 20. Photo: Rebecca Lomax/American Libraries Freezing temperatures in Baltimore could not stop librarians from exchanging hot ideas at the American Library Association’s (ALA) second in-person LibLearnX conference. Held January 19–22, […]
Another record year for book challenges Photo: OntheRun Photo/Adobe Stock Preliminary data from the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) through August 31 showed a 20% increase in reported book challenges for 2023—surpassing the record set in 2022. The data also showed an increase in challenges that targeted multiple titles, with libraries in 11 states receiving challenges […]
The Library Marketplace at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition, held June 22–27 in Chicago. Photo: Rebecca Lomax/American Libraries With 15,851 total registrants and nearly 600 vendors represented, the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition (June 22–27) in Chicago continued to make progress toward prepandemic attendance numbers. The Library […]
A few months ago, I was asked to fill in and present at the virtual Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian conference on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. The description for the presentation was already written and published, and I was asked whether I wanted to step in and create a presentation based around it. […]
Teen participants in Boston Public Library’s “Drag vs. AI” program test their makeup and props against facial recognition software. Photo: Kathy Pham/American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts In November 2019, Boston Public Library’s (BPL) Teen Central hosted a digital privacy instruction workshop for teens that centered on facial recognition technology. Titled “Drag vs. AI,” the […]
