"I think taking a design thinking approach offers possibilities for empathy and creativity," says Rachel Ivy Clarke. In her volume of the Library Futures Series, she delves into the design thinking process model and demonstrates how the viewpoint is applicable to all library products and services.
The K-12 Library Services Specialist for Chesterfield County Public Schools in Virginia as well as an active author, Lori E. Donovan was the perfect person to explore the nitty gritty of effective implementation of the Shared Foundation Inquire from the National School Library Standards.
Dealing with finances is stressful! In fact a survey from the American Psychological Association shows that money is a more frequent cause of worry than work, family, or health issues.
Pat R. Scales has made it her mission to ensure that valued books which touch upon important topics are not quarantined from the readers for whom they were written. She is a former chair of ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee and serves on the Board of Advisors of the National Coalition against Censorship. And she's also author of the new second edition of Teaching Banned Books: 32 Guides for Children and Teens.
A school librarian for 30 years, Liz Deskins is an adjunct professor for Kent State University as well as a very active speaker and presenter. She's also written several books, including (with co-author Christina Dorr) 2018's best-selling LGBTQAI+ Books for Children and Teens: Providing a Window for All.
Reference and user services librarians need to be in charge of their own careers. A new book by Jo Bell Whitlatch and Beth S. Woodard aims to help these practitioners do just that, using the RUSA (Reference and User Services Association) Professional Competencies as a framework for reflecting on strengths as well as gaps in expertise.
With its high level of transparency and accuracy, blockchain technology is a concept with far-reaching implications for the future of recordkeeping. In the newest volume of the Library Futures Series, Sandra Hirsh and Susan Alman lay out blockchain's challenges and opportunities. We recently had the chance to speak with them about how they originally got interested in the technology and where they see it leading next.
When it comes to copyright, the most effective way to empower users is to take a practical approach to specific situations. That’s the goal of Coaching Copyright, a new collection from editors Kevin L. Smith and Erin L.
As technology consultant David Weinberger puts it, “A platform provides resources that lets other people build things.” The library is an ideal platform for creativity; a new book from Erinn Batykefer and Laura Damon-Moore, creators of the Library as Incubator Project, proves it.
The first book to be published in the AASL Standards–Based Learning series, Lessons Inspired by Picture Books for Primary Grades is a ready-to-go toolkit that aims to build learner competencies. Included are anchor chart examples that explore collaborative practices, and in fact the writing of the book was a collaboration between a school librarian (Maureen Schlosser) and a curriculum specialist (Rebecca Granatini).
