| ALA Files Amicus Brief in FCC Supreme Court Case By Lisa Peet The American Library Association has filed an amicus brief on the U.S. Supreme Court case, Federal Communications Commission, et al., Petitioners v. Consumers’ Research, et al., which stands to decide the fate of federal programs supporting broadband access for half of the nation’s public libraries. The brief affirms both the constitutionality and the value of the Universal Service Fund (USF) and the programs it administers—particularly the E-Rate program, which helps power broadband-enabled services and access in U.S. public libraries and schools. |
| Winding Down | The Last LibLearnX By Claire Kelley and Hallie Rich Although considerably smaller than ALA’s Midwinter and LibLearnX conferences of the past, there was a palpable sense of community and nostalgia around the last midwinter gathering. |
SPONSORED BY OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Community, Commerce, and Open Access Experimentation You may have wondered why so many publishers are announcing pilot projects on open access (OA) publishing. The theme of Open Access Week (October 21-27), Community over Commercialization, hints at the reason: publishers want to engage with the community’s request for new models but can’t afford to make a loss on OA (and shouldn’t be expected to).
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| The Best Videos of 2024 | Documentaries By Joshua Blevins Peck The best videos released on DVD/Blu-ray in 2024 offer a wide sweep of feature films and documentaries, including one originally made in 1941 and many more just recently created. From an upbeat look at the future to a dramatic consideration of Vatican politics, these films highlight just how illuminating on-screen stories can be. |
SPONSORED BY F1000 Preprints Now Required for All Gates-Funded Research
Preprints, or initial versions of scientific reports that researchers share before the formal peer review and publication process have been completed, have started to become more popular within academic circles—and now the Gates Foundation has changed its Open Access policy to require grant-funded research papers to appear as preprints before publication.
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| Black History Month 2025 | A Reading List By LJ Reviews In 1926, Carter G. Woodson envisioned a weeklong commemoration to increase awareness of Black history and culture. In the 1960s, protests against racial injustice helped make it into a monthlong celebration, but the U.S. didn’t formally recognize Black History Month until 1976. This list spotlights collective and individual aspects of Black history and experience. |
“We pointed out in our brief a number of ways that libraries rely on E-Rate funds to provide critical communications to their communities. And it’s not just that libraries need these discounts—it’s that their communities need this vital access to high-speed internet for school, for work, for telehealth, for emergency response, for civic and basic communication.” —From “ALA Files Amicus Brief in FCC Supreme Court Case” |
| 2025 Selections for NBF’s Science + Literature Program | Book Pulse By Sarah Wolberg The National Book Foundation and the Sloan Foundation announce 2025 selections for the Science + Literature program: The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong, and Meltwater: Poems by Claire Wahmanholm. Chimwemwe Undi is selected as Canada’s parliamentary poet laureate. Wole Soyinka receives the Sharjah Lifetime Achievement in Literature Award. The future of libraries and arts agencies is unclear amid a federal funding freeze (that has been halted for now). |
| Truth, Not Censorship | Editorial By Hallie Rich In contrast to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s characterization of fact-checking as unwanted censorship, most Americans actually agree that the U.S. government and technology companies should each take steps to restrict false information and extremely violent content online. |
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The Wilkinson Public Library is seeking a Library Director. |
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