Across the United States, there are increased reports of book challenges from community members, which have led to very public and heated discussions. As public library leaders and staff consider how to prepare for similar local challenges, being proactive about developing and sharing policies and procedures can help to create clarity and establish expectations around responses to book challenges. In conjunction with the WebJunction webinar, Book Challenges and Intellectual Freedom: Proactive Planning for Public Libraries, the list of resources below can be used to support your library's efforts in being prepared for book challenges, and in upholding the principles of... Read more

At the Public Library Association’s 2022 conference, Dr. Audrey Barbakoff gave a talk on "Digital equity through community partnerships," in which she discussed how community partnerships can be building blocks for sustainable digital inclusion programs. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated already-existing inequities for many communities, amplifying the need for short-term, pandemic-responsive programming. Now, over two years into the pandemic, libraries are shifting focus away from pandemic-responsive programming and toward sustainable, long-term equity work. And the key ingredient for accomplishing this shift: cultivating rich, diverse community partnerships.

So where to begin? Libraries cannot be everything to everyone. Nor should... Read more

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. The deficit between resources and need is called the “justice gap.” This data on the justice gap prompted the Improving Access to Civil Legal... Read more

OCLC's WebJunction, in partnership with Washington State University’s Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation, has launched the first two in a series of free online courses developed for staff at small public libraries and tribal archives, libraries, museums on digital stewardship and community-centered curation of digital collections. These on-demand courses, adapted from the Tribal Digital Stewardship Cohort Program developed at Washington State University, are rolling out this month.

Creating and sharing digital collections is an important way that libraries can share and preserve unique local history, culture, stories, and artifacts. Digital collections offer an opportunity to represent a diversity of... Read more