New Justice Gap Study Confirms Problem Persists
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) released a far-reaching new report on the crisis in civil legal aid, The Justice Gap: The Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-income Americans, in April 2022. This is LSC’s fourth Justice Gap study that documents the volume of civil legal needs faced by low-income Americans, assesses the extent to which they seek and receive help, and measures the shortfall between their civil legal needs and the resources available to address these needs.
Sign Your Library Up for National Voter Registration Day
National Voter Registration Day is September 20, 2022, and your library can sign up to become a participating partner. This is a nonpartisan, unofficial holiday celebrated on the fourth Tuesday of September. Across the country, libraries provide voter registration forms and information about voting, as well as offer computers, which citizens can use to register to vote, update their voter registration, or research information about voting.
2022 ALSC Summer Reading Lists Updated
The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) Quicklists Consulting Committee has updated our Summer Reading Lists with new and exciting titles for 2022! The lists are full of book titles to keep children engaged in reading throughout the summer. Four Summer Reading lists are available for birth-preschool and grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. Each list is available here to download for free. ALSC reading lists are created as a resource for children’s librarians to share with patrons. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to explore these titles to find resources that may match or spark their child’s interest.
No Kid Hungry Center for Best Practices – Nutrition Program Resources for Libraries
No Kid Hungry Center for Best Practices has created a space just for libraries. This webpage houses information for libraries on both the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP or Summer Meals) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program At-Risk Afterschool Meal Program (CACFP At-Risk or Afterschool Meals). Learn more about each program and how libraries can share their strengths to increase access to healthy food in their communities. Planning and implementation resources are also available, along with training opportunities.
Understanding Perspective in Primary Sources
Help your students better understand source perspective with a new document analysis tool from the National Archives Education Team: Understanding Perspective in Primary Sources. This latest worksheet helps students identify perspective in primary sources and understand how backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences shape point of view.
Idina and Cara Mentzel are Honorary Chairs of Library Card Sign-up Month 2022
Tony Award-winning performer, actress, singer-songwriter, and philanthropist Idina Menzel and her sister, author and educator Cara Mentzel, have been named honorary chairs of Library Card Sign-Up Month. This September, Idina and Cara will join the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries nationwide to sing the praises of a library card. Also in September, the sisters’ debut picture book, Loud Mouse, about a little mouse named Dee who loves to sing very loudly, will be released by Disney Hyperion.
2022 YALSA Teens’ Top Ten Nominees Announced
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association, has officially announced the 2022 Teens’ Top Ten Nominees. This year’s list of nominees features 25 titles that were published between January 1 and December 31, 2021. Teens are encouraged to read the nominees throughout the summer to prepare for the national Teens’ Top Ten vote, which will take place August 15 through October 12. The ten nominees that receive the most votes will be named the official 2022 Teens’ Top Ten.
Resources on Book Challenges and Intellectual Freedom from WebJunction
Across the United States, there are increased reports of book challenges from community members, which have led to very public and heated discussions. In conjunction with the WebJunction webinar, Book Challenges and Intellectual Freedom: Proactive Planning for Public Libraries, this list of resources can be used to support your library’s efforts in being prepared for book challenges, and in upholding the principles of intellectual freedom in your library’s services and collections.
Library of Congress Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature
Listen to audio-recorded readings of former Consultants in Poetry Elizabeth Bishop, Gwendolyn Brooks and Robert Frost; Nobel Laureates Mario Vargas Llosa and Czeslaw Milosz, and renowned writers such as Ray Bradbury, Margaret Atwood, and Kurt Vonnegut. The Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature at the Library of Congress dates back to 1943 and contains nearly two thousand recordings of poets and prose writers participating in literary events at the library’s Capitol Hill campus as well as sessions at the library’s recording laboratory.
The State of Grantseeking Survey and Reports Released
The 2022 State of Grantseeking™ Survey from Grantstation spotlights recent developments in funding so that organizations can be more strategic in their grantseeking. These free reports serves as valuable analytic tools for organizations to review their grantseeking efforts, report on performance, and plan for the future. These reports feature data by organizational budget size, mission focus, and government vs. non-government funding.
Introducing the Library Privacy Field Guides
The American Library Association and the Institute for Museum & Library Services have collaborated on a long awaited project called the Privacy Field Guides. The concept of privacy is nothing new to information science, however its importance has steadily increased over the years as much of our society has migrated online. Each of seven topics has its own 9-13 page guide, free to access online.
Signed Ink Offers D/deaf/HoH Resources for Librarians
Signed Ink is an author collective with the mission to spread D/deaf/HoH voices across the globe so that D/deaf children can see themselves in the pages of books. Explore the Signed Ink website to learn more about resources for educators, librarians, KidLit Creatives, and parents (i.e deaf culture and history, accessibility tutorials, language first, and signed language resources), books and websites from Signed Ink authors/creatives, and more about the term “D/deaf/HoH”.