Library Journal; Movers & Shakers 2025
"A lot has happened in the library world since LJ opened up Movers nominations last fall, and the landscape looks decidedly different. But just as pandemic challenges drove new, creative processes, we think the 50 Movers profiled here demonstrate the strong work and resilience of libraries, now and to come."
[Kip Currier: The Library of Congress (LC) is not a traditional "lending library" and access to its materials is largely limited to research purposes.
The books and materials in LC's collections are not borrowable by children.
Repeat: Not Borrowable by Children.
Karoline Leavitt fundamentally misrepresents what LC does and would be well-advised to do some basic homework on the nation's de facto national library.]
[Excerpt]
"White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had decried the prior library leadership, referring to books that were not appropriate for children, even though the library does not lend books to children. Individuals cannot borrow directly from the Library of Congress, though the research library does lend its books to other libraries.
“There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children,” she said in a press briefing, referring to former librarian Carla Hayden and diversity, equity and inclusion programs...
Controlling the Library would give the administration the ability to shape and inspect millions of records, everything from copyright documents to confidential research requests from lawmakers, said three library employees, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
The list of the library’s domains is long and impressive.
The library runs the Congress.gov website, which aggregates all data and records from the legislative branch. It also maintains the copyrights database and registration portals, which include any idea ever submitted for copyright protection, and houses the Congressional Office for International Leadership, which conducts civic leadership training for politicians in former communist countries, including Ukraine. The library’s Adams Building is home to the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, which handles and stores sexual harassment complaints, among other things."
Robert Mackey, The Guardian ; Trump says he fired National Portrait Gallery chief in latest conflict with arts
"After beginning his second presidency in January, Trump issued an executive order directing the removal of “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” from the institution’s storied museums.
Sajet had said the gallery under her leadership tried “very hard to be even-handed when we talk about people and that’s the key”."
KATHERINE TULLY-MCMANUS, Politico ; Fired copyright chief loses first round in lawsuit over Trump powers
"A judge denied a request for reinstatement Wednesday from the ousted head of the national copyright office, rejecting for now her claims that President Donald Trump had no right to fire her."
Dan Friedman, Mother Jones; Trump Has Dropped the Pretense of Ethics
"Mother Jones reported yesterday on various ways that corporations, foreign governments, and random rich people with agendas are giving money and other benefits to the first family—and noted that the president and his kin have largely dispensed with even their first-term pretense of adherence to ethical norms."
Adam Serwer , The Atlantic; THE NEW DARK AGE: The Trump administration has launched an attack on knowledge itself.
"The Trump administration has launched a comprehensive attack on knowledge itself, a war against culture, history, and science. If this assault is successful, it will undermine Americans’ ability to comprehend the world around us. Like the inquisitors of old, who persecuted Galileo for daring to notice that the sun did not, in fact, revolve around the Earth, they believe that truth-seeking imperils their hold on power.
By destroying knowledge, Trumpists seek to make the country more amenable to their political domination, and to prevent meaningful democratic checks on their behavior. Their victory, though, would do much more than that. It would annihilate some of the most effective systems for aggregating, accumulating, and applying human knowledge that have ever existed. Without those systems, America could find itself plunged into a new Dark Age."
BARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press and CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press via ABC News; The Digital Equity Act tried to close the digital divide. Trump calls it racist and acts to end it
[Kip Currier: Access to information and technology is essential for providing more and better opportunities for every child and adult throughout America and the world. The Digital Equity Act of 2021 was a bi-partisan effort to promote access to information and technology and to bridge ongoing Digital Divides that exist in rural, suburban, and urban parts of America.
How absurd and moronic it is then that the current administration would intentionally mischaracterize the Digital Equity Act as "woke" and "racist".
How tragic and destructive it is that Trump's actions have halted the myriad good things that this law was set to continue to achieve in the near future for so many Americans of all kinds. In Blue States, Purple States, and Red States.]
[Excerpt]
"One program distributes laptops in rural Iowa. Another helped people get back online after Hurricane Helene washed away computers and phones in western North Carolina. Programs in Oregon and rural Alabama teach older people, including some who have never touched a computer, how to navigate in an increasingly digital world.
It all came crashing down this month when President Donald Trump — on his own digital platform, Truth Social — announced his intention to end the Digital Equity Act, a federal grant program meant to help bridge the digital divide. He branded it as “RACIST and ILLEGAL” and said it amounts to “woke handouts based on race.” He said it was an “ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway," though the program was actually funded with $2.75 billion.
The name seemed innocuous enough when the program was approved by Congress in 2021 as part of a $65 billion investment meant to bring internet access to every home and business in the United States. The broadband program itself was a key component of the $1 trillion infrastructure law pushed through by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden."
ANAND GIRIDHARADAS AND KAREN HAO, The Ink; WATCH: Is A.I. the new colonialism?
"We just got off a call with the technology journalist Karen Hao, the keenest chronicler of the technology that’s promising — or threatening — to reshape the world, who has a new book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI.
The book talks not just about artificial intelligence and what it might be, or its most visible spokesperson and what he might believe, but also about the way the tech industry titans resemble more and more the empires of old in their relentless resource extraction and exploitation of labor around the world, their take-no-prisoners competitiveness against supposedly “evil” pretenders, and their religious fervor for progress and even salvation. She also told us about what the future might look like if we get A.I. right, and the people who produce the data, the resources, and control the labor power can reassert their ownership and push back against these new empires to build a more humane and human future."
DAVID BAUDER, AP; NPR sues Trump administration over executive order to cut federal funding to public media
"National Public Radio and three of its local stations sued President Donald Trump on Tuesday, arguing that his executive order cutting funding to the 246-station network violates their free speech and relies on an authority that he does not have.
Earlier this month, Trump instructed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to cease funding for NPR and PBS, either directly or indirectly. The president and his supporters argue their news reporting promotes liberal bias and shouldn’t be supported by taxpayers.
Retaliation is Trump’s plain purpose, the lawsuit argues. It was filed in federal court in Washington by NPR and three Colorado entities — Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KUTE, Inc., chosen to show the system’s diversity in urban and rural areas...
The lawsuit says 11% of Aspen Public Radio’s budget is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It is 6% for the Colorado Public Radio, a network of 19 stations, and 19% of KUTE’s budget. That station was founded in 1976 by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe."
"This debt and this duty should be at the forefront of our minds this Memorial Day. We must honor these men, their bravery, their sacrifice, and especially their purposes. We are being asked not to charge into a hail of Minié balls and artillery fire but only to speak up and to stand up in the face of foundational threats to the principles for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. We have been entrusted with their legacy. Can we trust ourselves to uphold it?"
"The Trump administration fired back Monday against ousted Copyright Office chief Shira Perlmutter’s lawsuit, arguing her emergency request for reinstatement should be denied because the president has sweeping authority to remove her."
Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Guardian; Harvard professor fired following claims she falsified ethics research data
"A Harvard professor known for researching honesty before being accused of extensive data fraud has been fired, the first time the Ivy League institution has dismissed a tenured instructor in about 80 years.
Francesca Gino was initially put on administrative leave by the Harvard Business School (HBS) in 2023 after multiple allegations of falsifying data related to her research, which focused on ethical behavior. On Tuesday, a university spokesperson confirmed that Gino’s tenure had been revoked, terminating her employment."
LOLITA C. BALDOR , AP; Most books pulled from Naval Academy library are back on the shelves in latest DEI turn
"All but a few of the nearly 400 books that the U.S. Naval Academy removed from its library because they dealt with anti-racism and gender issues are back on the shelves after the newest Pentagon-ordered review — the latest turn in a dizzying effort to rid the military of materials related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Based on the new review, about 20 books from the academy’s library are being pulled aside to be checked, but that number includes some that weren’t identified or removed in last month’s initial purge of 381 books, defense officials told The Associated Press.
A few dozen books at the Air Force libraries — including at the Air Force Academy — also have been pulled out for review, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process is still ongoing."
Andrew Limbong , NPR; Librarian of Congress firing is latest move in upheaval of U.S. cultural institutions
"By firing the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday night, President Trump continued his remaking of American cultural institutions."
Hallie Rich, Library Journal; Leadership Limbo at the Library of Congress
"REMAINING NONPARTISAN
According to reporting across major media outlets, staff continue to await guidance from the congressional committees charged with LoC oversight—and questions over the future of the Library as a nonpartisan legislative branch agency hang in the balance. The Congressional Research Service (CRS), the research arm of the Library that works exclusively for members of Congress, provides confidential policy and legal analysis to lawmakers and staff of both chambers, regardless of party affiliation...
WILL CONGRESS ACT?
Politico reported on May 21 that Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) “thinks Congress needs to take charge in naming the heads of major legislative branch agencies, including the Library of Congress and Government Accountability Office.” Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) recommended modifying the process for appointing the Librarian of Congress, citing legislation she wrote that removed presidential involvement in appointing the architect of the Capitol. “Just like we changed the rules with architect the Capitol, we should change them here,” she told reporters.
Legislation that would grant appointment authority for the Librarian of Congress, the leader of a legislative branch agency, exclusively to Congress is one potential path forward.
Library professionals who are concerned about the independence of the Library of Congress should "reach out to your member of Congress,” says one source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, “and do so quickly.” The White House’s effort to install new leadership at the Library was staved off because staff are awaiting direction from Congress.
The Librarian of Congress is not appointed at the sole discretion of the president—an appointment requires Senate confirmation. According to reporting by The New York Times, LoC staff are currently following internal procedures by keeping Newlen in charge, but more permanent answers to questions about the future of the Library as a nonpartisan legislative branch agency appear to lie, at this time, with members of Congress."
David Paulsen, Episcopal News Service (ENS); Presiding bishop defends decision not to resettle Afrikaners, calls church a ‘bulwark against injustice’
"“The problem with any kind of Faustian bargain like that is that the devil always wins,” Rowe said. “We knew that if we did this, we were going to be asked to do something else we couldn’t do. This was the line that we had to draw. And we’ll continue to do that. We’ll continue to tell the truth and be on the side of moral decision-making, and that’s what this is about. Just because the Trump administration and others have lost their way doesn’t mean the church has.
Malavé’s organization is a plaintiff with The Episcopal Church and 25 other groups seeking to restore “sensitive locations” protections that the Department of Homeland Security previously had granted to houses of worship, before Trump took office in January 2025. The plaintiffs have argued that ending those protections from enforcement actions have hindered congregations’ efforts to welcome and minister to immigrant communities.
“We must, as followers of Jesus, be faithful to our call,” Malavé said. Christianity offers “a world view in which every human being is loved, accepted and cared for.”
Rowe agreed, adding that The Episcopal Church and other plaintiffs are “making pretty conservative arguments” based in constitutional principles of religious freedom, freedom of speech and the rule of law.
At the same time, The Episcopal Church has not joined a separate lawsuit contesting the Trump administration’s suspension of the refugee resettlement program. Rowe explained that the church needs to be strategic and “can’t be part of every lawsuit” but will continue to take faith-based stands as a “bulwark against injustice.”
“This is not about party politics. This is about moral decision-making,” Rowe said. “This is not about being a Republican or Democrat. This is not anti-Trump. … This is about our baptismal covenant and respecting the dignity of every human being.”"
Adrienne Matei , The Guardian; Systems are crumbling – but daily life continues. The dissonance is real
"“Hypernormalization” is a heady, $10 word, but it captures the weird, dire atmosphere of the US in 2025.
First articulated in 2005 by scholar Alexei Yurchak to describe the civilian experience in Soviet Russia, hypernormalization describes life in a society where two main things are happening.
The first is people seeing that governing systems and institutions are broken. And the second is that, for reasons including a lack of effective leadership and an inability to imagine how to disrupt the status quo, people carry on with their lives as normal despite systemic dysfunction – give or take a heavy load of fear, dread, denial and dissociation.
“What you are feeling is the disconnect between seeing that systems are failing, that things aren’t working … and yet the institutions and the people in power just are, like, ignoring it and pretending everything is going to go on the way that it has,” Harfoush says in her video."
Will Weissert , Associated Press; The future of history: Trump could leave less documentation behind than any previous US president
[Kip Currier: Every information center (e.g. libraries, archives, museums) and cultural heritage and higher education institution should think hard about the questions raised in this article. Like this glaring one the reporter raises:
"How will experts and their fellow Americans understand what went on during Trump’s term when those charged with setting aside the artifacts documenting history refuse to do so?"]
[Excerpt]
"For generations, official American documents have been meticulously preserved and protected, from the era of quills and parchment to boxes of paper to the cloud, safeguarding snapshots of the government and the nation for posterity.
Now, the Trump administration is scrubbing thousands of government websites of history, legal records and data it finds disagreeable.
It has sought to expand the executive branch’s power to shield from public view the government-slashing efforts of Elon Musk’s team and other key administration initiatives. Officials have used apps such as Signal that can auto-delete messages containing sensitive information rather than retaining them for recordkeeping. And they have shaken up the National Archives leadership and even ordered the rewriting of history on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
To historians and archivists, it points to the possibility that Trump’s presidency will leave less for the nation’s historical record than nearly any before it and that what is authorized for public release will be sanitized and edited to reinforce a carefully sculpted image the president wants projected, even if the facts don’t back that up.
How will experts and their fellow Americans understand what went on during Trump’s term when those charged with setting aside the artifacts documenting history refuse to do so?"
Brady Dale, Axios; Trump defies ethics warnings with private meme coin dinner
"The president hosted a highly anticipated "exclusive" dinner for the largest holders of his meme coin, Official Trump, at his golf club in Virginia on Thursday night.
Why it matters: Fight Fight Fight, LLC — a company linked to President Trump's family — sold a digital token that gave anyone in the world a chance to pay for a night of access to the commander-in-chief.
Blake Brittain, Reuters; US Copyright Office director sues Trump administration over firing
"The U.S. Copyright Office director fired by the Trump administration sued President Donald Trump and other government officials on Thursday, arguing her firing was unconstitutional and should not be allowed to take effect.
Shira Perlmutter said in the lawsuit that her termination by email on May 10 was "blatantly unlawful," and that only the U.S. Congress can remove her from office."
Stacey Moncrieff , National Association of REALTORS®; NAR to Consider Code of Ethics Policy Changes Around Discriminatory Speech
"“The Code of Ethics is part of what distinguishes REALTORS® from mere real estate professionals,” NAR President Kevin Sears said in a letter to key stakeholders Wednesday. “It is the foundation of our ability to earn and maintain consumers’ trust as we fulfill our mission to preserve, protect and advance the right to real property for all.”"
Katelyn Chedraoui , CNET; We're All Copyright Owners. Why You Need to Care About AI and Copyright
"Most of us don't think about copyright very often in our daily lives. But in the age of generative AI, it has quickly become one of the most important issues in the development and outputs of chatbots and image and video generators. It's something that affects all of us because we're all copyright owners and authors...
What does all of this mean for the future?
Copyright owners are in a bit of a holding pattern for now. But beyond the legal and ethical implications, copyright in the age of AI raises important questions about the value of creative work, the cost of innovation and the ways in which we need or ought to have government intervention and protections.
There are two distinct ways to view the US's intellectual property laws, Mammen said. The first is that these laws were enacted to encourage and reward human flourishing. The other is more economically focused; the things that we're creating have value, and we want our economy to be able to recognize that value accordingly."
SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press (AP); Donald Trump’s Library of Congress fight is really about the separation of powers
"It’s not really about the books.
President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of top officials at the Library of Congress and equally sudden attempt to appoint a slate of loyalists as replacements has instead morphed into an enormous fight over the separation of powers, as the White House tries to wrest control of what has for centuries been a legislative institution.
It’s a power struggle with potentially vast consequences. The Library of Congress not only stores the world’s largest collection of books but also an office overseeing reams of copyrighted material of untold value.
There is a research institute that has long been protected from outside influence. Its servers house extremely sensitive information regarding claims of workplace violations on Capitol Hill, as well as payments and other financial data for the legislative branch’s more than 30,000 employees. There’s even speculation that the whole affair is tied to an ongoing debate over whether big tech companies can use copyrighted material for artificial intelligence systems."
