Presidents of both parties defended libraries as allies of democracy for a century – until Trump; The Conversation, October 30, 2026

 Alex H. Poole , The Conversation; Presidents of both parties defended libraries as allies of democracy for a century – until Trump

"On March 31, 2026, President Donald Trump was asked about plans for his presidential library, the archive that presidents build to house their administration’s records. 

His was most likely going to be a hotel, he said, with “a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby.”

“I don’t believe in building libraries or museums,” he told reporters. 

Trump’s comments reflect how he has diverged from the customary and expected presidential attitude toward libraries of all types. As an information science professor, I have analyzed statements by 17 presidents, beginning with Calvin Coolidge. 

Combing their speeches, proclamations, messages and letters in the Public Papers of the Presidents, the American Presidency Project, the Federal Register and the American Library Association’s archives and publications, I have found that Trump has broken with a century-old tradition. Nearly all presidents of both parties since 1923 have described libraries, whether public, academic or presidential, as a prerequisite to a healthy democracy and as crucial to sustaining an informed citizenry. 

Trump, however, has rarely spoken of libraries at all. When he has, he has dismissed them."

If British Library reading rooms become ‘co-working spaces’, what, exactly, is a national library for?; The Guardian, October 29, 2026

Andy Beckett , The Guardian; If British Library reading rooms become ‘co-working spaces’, what, exactly, is a national library for?

"In a crowded country that is short of public money, any expansive public building that seems underused in any way is vulnerable. Professional critics of state spending can claim taxpayers’ money is being wasted. Managers of the building who are under financial pressure can argue it needs to be used more intensely, perhaps that some spaces should be commercialised and offered for rent. The original open, uncommodified, egalitarian quality of the building can be steadily sliced away.

The British Library in London is in danger of that fate. A huge brick battleship moored on the Euston Road since 1997, it claims to be the largest public building constructed in the UK in the 20th century. Its both forbidding and exhilarating exterior conceals 11 unusually elegant and comfortable reading rooms and one of the world’s most extensive print and digital collections, free to use for anyone who is over 18. Last week, these readers received an email with the subject line, “Transforming your Library”. Next summer, the library would “begin work on repurposing our [three] Science and Social Sciences Reading Rooms to become a flexible workspace … available for hire by workers and businesses for co-working, collaboration and meetings”. The reason given for removing more than a quarter of the library’s much-loved research space was “ensuring we generate the necessary revenue to keep our core services free”.

The library has a current annual budget of about £170m – a third the size of my local London hospital’s – 84% of which comes from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The rest is from donations, investments and “charitable and other trading activities”, such as the private parties and ticketed exhibitions already frequently held in the sweeping interior connecting its reading rooms. Even with these multiple income streams, the library’s financial reserves are perilously low – according to its latest accounts – thanks to inflation and austerity, which mean its state funding has in real terms declined to two-thirds of what it was in 2010, and also a devastating cyber-attack in 2023, from which the library has still not fully recovered.

Despite this troubled context, and in some ways because of it, the library’s drastic reading room reduction plan has provoked “outrage” from staff, say the Prospect and Public and Commercial Services (PCS) unions that represent them. Reading room staff understandably fear for their jobs, but also for the building’s fundamental purpose, which was set out by law in 1972 – an indication of how hard the complex was to conceive and build – as “the establishment for the United Kingdom of a national library”. Staff are now “the most furious I’ve ever seen them about anything”, says a union source. A strike over the reading room plan, following one last year over low pay, could begin as soon as December.

Behind this potentially explosive dispute – not least because many well-connected authors, academics and journalists use the library – lurks a big question. In a digital age of decentralised study and dispersed online resources, what is a national library for?"

Episode 54 Bonus (Oct 2026): From the Care of Bodies to the Care of Minds; Library Journal, October 27, 2026

Dave Lankes, Library Journal ; Episode 54 Bonus (Oct 2026): From the Care of Bodies to the Care of Minds

"This special bonus episode is from a keynote address delivered at the opening of the new ESSECI Public Library in Cuneo, Italy, at the end of September 2026. “From the Care of Bodies to the Care of Minds” explores what libraries can and must become in an age of generative AI, declining trust, and profound changes in how people create knowledge. Dave argues that libraries offer something machines cannot: accountable human relationships grounded in community. He calls on libraries to move beyond repositories of information and become platforms for conversation, cultural heritage, creativity, and collective action."

Madewell Has Teamed Up With The New York Public Library; The Cut, October 20, 2026

Bianca Nieves, The Cut; Madewell Has Teamed Up With The New York Public Library

"Madewell has teamed up with The New York Public Library for their first installment of a larger yearlong partnership. Working closely with the library’s team, Madewell’s creative director, Steven Cateron, drew inspiration from its archives to bring the collaboration to life...

The collection launched with a campaign featuring a range of emerging authors, including Anika Jade Levy, Michael Bible, Danielle Prescod, and Kayla Maiuri.

I got the insider scoop by touring the NYPL archives alongside Jessica Cline, supervising librarian for the NYPL Picture Collection, to see firsthand what the library and the denim brand call “a love letter to the city.” And of course, I also got to try a few pieces of the collection. More on that below."

 Wendy Hurrell, BBC; Globe opens Shakespeare library and archive

"Shakespeare's Globe has opened a new research centre on its Bankside site, which it says is London's only dedicated Shakespeare library and archive open to the public.

The Research and Collections Centre holds more than 6,000 books on Shakespeare as well as early modern literature and drama, alongside the theatre's own archive of past productions...

'Crisis of library provision'

Dr Will Tosh, who leads higher education and research at the Globe, said: "We want anyone with an interest to come and enjoy this space.

"In a time when libraries tend not to open, they tend to close, and we're in a real crisis of library provision and also a crisis of reading, I'm extremely proud at the Globe that we are putting our name and our energy into the importance of books and libraries."

The theatre has had a library for years, but Dr Tosh said it "wasn't housed in facilities that were appropriate" and was "harder to access". It now sits at the heart of the building, where he said it would "be quite hard to miss"."

My Tiny Hometown Library Put on a ‘Bye Bye AI’ Event and the Internet Went Nuts; Inc., October 4, 2026

 JESSICA STILLMAN, Inc.; My Tiny Hometown Library Put on a ‘Bye Bye AI’ Event and the Internet Went Nuts: When a tiny small town library tech workshop can go viral, you know the AI backlash is really gathering steam.

"The internet goes wild for ‘Bye Bye AI’ 

If Chatham is sleepy, the nearby hamlet of North Chatham is downright comatose. It basically consists of a single street lined with tidy homes and a white clapboard church. There is neither a stoplight nor a store. But there is a quaint little public library (also white clapboard) that usually puts on worthy but less-than-headline-catching events like quilt raffles and pottery workshops. 

That is until librarian Shea Wert noticed multiple library goers were asking her how to disable all the various new AI features on their devices. 

“There’s just been enough patrons asking about certain things that bothered them, specifically Gmail auto replies and auto completes really frustrate people,” Wert explained to Business Insider. 

“I went to a presentation that another librarian was doing about this topic, and they had had success with it. And I was like, ‘Okay, well… I might as well try to do one,’” Wert continued. 

So she went ahead and posted a flyer for the upcoming ‘Bye Bye AI’ event on Facebook to alert locals who might be interested in attending. The internet went nuts. The post quickly racked up 8,000 likes...

If North Chatham can go viral we’re in a whole new world 

The above is only a small sampling of polls showing that people have an increasingly terrible view of AI. And that’s not even getting into the massive backlash against data center construction. (Which you can read about here, here, and here.) Americans recently told pollsters they’d prefer to live next to a nuclear power plant than one of the massive installations powering AI.  

All of this data paints a pretty grim picture of people’s feelings. But for me personally, no number can paint quite such a vivid picture of anti-AI sentiment as the fact it can make even bucolic, boring North Chatham — which I used to speed through driving between my boyfriend’s house and my high school waitressing job — go viral. 

As much as I admire heroic keepers of the public sphere like Wert, I would have rated ‘small town library tech workshop’ as about the least sexy event possible. The fact that the internet went nuts for cranky villagers clamoring to evict the bots from their phones really says something about Americans’ feelings about being involuntarily enrolled in the AI revolution."

LIBRARIANS on LIBRARIES; The New York Times, October 1, 2026

Elisabeth Egan and John Maher,Photographs by Lyndon French, The New York Times; LIBRARIANS ON LIBRARIES

"This year, Americans are marking the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. The nation’s librarians are celebrating a milestone too: the 150th birthday of the modern American library.

A lot has changed since the American Library Association was established in 1876 — even just over the past decade. The library has gone from a building full of books to arguably the most versatile civic center in any community lucky enough to have one.

We spoke with dozens of librarians at the A.L.A. conference this summer in Chicago. They came from rural towns and major cities, elementary schools and universities, local branches and big government agencies.

These librarians want you to know that they don’t sit around reading all day. They want you to know about book bans and budget cuts, but also about career counseling and crafting groups and pop-up medical clinics.

They want you to worry, the way they worry, about artificial intelligence, looming legislation and harassment of their staff. But most of all, they want you to know what the library really is: a safe place for people to gather around books, ideas and one another.

Here’s what librarians had to say, in their own words."

This small town librarian offers a 'Bye, Bye AI' class to take AI off your phone. Now everyone wants in.; Business Insider, September 27, 2026

 Katie Notopoulos, Business Insider; This small town librarian offers a 'Bye, Bye AI' class to take AI off your phone. Now everyone wants in.

"North Chatham, a hamlet in upstate New York halfway between Hudson and Albany, doesn't have much going on. You have to go to the next hamlet over for a store or restaurant. There's a church, a post office, and a small public library with only about 800 cardholders.

The North Chatham Free Library has gotten a lot of attention lately, however, after a flyer for an upcoming "Bye Bye AI" event offering to remove the AI features from your phone or laptop went viral on Facebook, getting over 200 comments and 8,000 likes.

The poster was made by the library's sole full-time librarian, Shea Wert. Wert told Business Insider that she had made this event in response to community demand — and was surprised by the reaction from far-flung places."

No more book bans: how Florida students are pushing rightwingers out of school boards; The Guardian, September 18, 2026

  Anna North, The Guardian; No more book bans: how Florida students are pushing rightwingers out of school boards

Local communities are fighting back against the influence of conservative groups like Moms for Liberty in education

"By channeling anger against mask mandates in schools, the rightwing group Moms for Liberty, founded in Florida, built an outsized influence on school boards across the country in 2022. Soon, members began pressuring schools to remake their curricula along conservative ideological lines, erasing mentions of LGBTQ+ Americans, slavery, racism and more.

As a Black dad living in a historically Black part of Sarasota, Glover said he was especially disturbed by governor Ron DeSantis’s announcement that Florida schools would begin teaching students that some Black people benefited from slavery. “Now my children and the students in my community weren’t going to be learning about the true history of this country,” Glover said.

So the father of four decided to run for Sarasota’s school board this year. He is part of a larger movement of students, parents, teachers and concerned community members pushing back against the influence of groups like Moms for Liberty in Florida public education. They wanted schools that were safe and welcoming for all students, and that focused on learning rather than scoring points on the national political scene.

And last month, they won."

Documentary Review: “The Librarians” puts the human cost of book banning on screen; The Cascadia Advocate, September 13, 2026

 Alex Fiedler, The Cascadia Advocate; Documentary Review: “The Librarians” puts the human cost of book banning on screen

The ninety-two minute film directed and produced by Kim A. Snyder, which is free to stream, is most compelling when it focuses on the librarians, parents, and students caught in the struggle over censorship.

"The Librarians covers a big flash point of today’s “culture wars”: the school library...

The Librarians makes a compelling case, typically through implication or through the voices of librarians, concerned parents, and students, that their actual motives lie in hiding ideas and perspectives they oppose from their children...

The Librarians makes its impassioned case with the aid of interview footage, video recordings of school board meetings, and clips from conservative media. Occasionally interspersed are excerpts from films and historical footage, making an emotional appeal for the enduring power of literature and the dangers of censorship...

The Librarians is available to stream for free on Kanopy and pbs.org."

Exercising Agency with AI; American Libraries, June 29, 2026

 Terra Dankowski  , American Libraries; Exercising Agency with AI

Tips for navigating products and policies, whether or not you choose to adopt the technology

"Michael Hanegan, founder of the Center for the Future of Learning and Work, described a scenario that might be frustratingly familiar to information professionals: His mom often falls for deep fakes. She came of age in a time when people were told to believe their eyes and video was considered an unimpeachable medium, and she’s unaware of what generative artificial intelligence (AI) is capable of.

Knowing that some librarians are thinking about ignoring AI completely, Hanegan had a thought: “What institution is going to help [my mom] and all of her friends navigate this?”

“Disengagement from AI guarantees your vulnerability,” he said. “The people that you serve will be harmed without your trusted guidance.”

Hanegan was one of four panelists who spoke at “Ethical AI in Libraries: A Critical Look at the Potential and Promise” at the American Library Association’s 2026 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago on June 28. The panel, moderated by Micah May, director of business development at Lyrasis, offered suggestions for how libraries can navigate the ethical implications of generative AI, even if they choose not to use it in their workflow.

“Regardless of whether you adopt AI or not, [you should] have guidelines,” said Brandy McNeil, deputy director of branch programming and services for New York Public Library (NYPL) and Public Library Association president.

McNeil said libraries should carefully weigh whether AI tools are inclusive, accountable, human-centered, transparent, and protect privacy.

“When [vendors say they use] industry standard practices, which standards? When they say they anonymize data, how? Which fields are removed?” McNeil asked. “Those are some of the things you want to be concerned about.”

The spread of AI is “inevitable,” said Marshall Breeding, editor of Library Technology Guides, as vendors are increasingly integrating AI technology into their products. But, he said, “we have to push back and make sure [AI] continues to be optional.”"

Non-traditional little free libraries popping up across Pittsburgh area; CBS News, July 24, 2026

 Ricky Sayer , CBS News; Non-traditional little free libraries popping up across Pittsburgh area

"A woman in Dormont is making it her mission to map all of the little free libraries in her community. 

Little free libraries are often placed by neighbors along sidewalks, allowing people to leave books they no longer need as well as encouraging them to take ones that interest them.

Two years ago, Amy Constantine says she and her husband built a little free library for their ever-growing collection of vinyl records, CDs and cassettes. Constantine says they inherited records or were gifted them, and it was a good way for them to get rid of any duplicates.

"Our music that we originally shared is long gone. This is all community music," says Constantine. "The neighborhood's been really generous about turning it over for us, right? We have new inventory all the time."

Constantine says her little free library inspired her to create a map of as many as she could find in her neighborhood. She says she was stunned to learn there were multiple within blocks of her home."

We asked Stephen King about Utah banning his books. Here’s what the bestselling author said.; The Salt Lake Tribune, July 23, 2026

 Palak Jayswal, The Salt Lake Tribune ; We asked Stephen King about Utah banning his books. Here’s what the bestselling author said.

"Earlier this month, bestselling horror author Stephen King had his second title, “Different Seasons,” added to an ever-growing list of books banned in all Utah public schools. 

And while King said he doesn’t usually “respond to queries about book banning,” he believes “this case is a little different.”

In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune, King wrote:..."

What comes after book bans? One school district questions traditional libraries; WUSF, July 16, 2026

  Douglas Soule, WUSF; What comes after book bans? One school district questions traditional libraries

"After removing hundreds of books, Clay County is debating the purpose of high school libraries. School officials called it modernization. Critics see it as the next phase of the book debate targeting fiction books."

Come for the Books, Stay for the Power Tools; The New York Times, June 27, 2026

 

Sarah Diamond

Illustrations by Gabrielle Lamontagne, 

 The New York Times; Come for the Books, Stay for the Power Tools

"As of 2024, there were more than 2,000 examples of places around the world where patrons have access to objects that might otherwise sit unused in a closet, garage or on a store shelf.

The idea has roots stretching back to World War II-era tool-lending libraries. But researchers say the movement gained momentum after the Great Recession in 2008, when many Americans began questioning whether they needed to own items they used only occasionally. “It’s a reclamation of the commons,” said Shannon Mattern, an author and former professor who studies libraries and public infrastructure."