American Library Association

On June 29, 2015, the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee approved a new document, “Library Privacy Guidelines for Ebook Lending and Digital Content Vendors.”  The document, which outlines best practices for vendors to follow to protect the privacy of library users,  is intended to encourage vendors and libraries to work together to develop effective…

(Chicago, IL: February 1, 2015) The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and the American Library Association (ALA) announced a partnership today to produce a major survey of public library patrons' use of digital content. This is the first time both organizations have engaged in a joint research survey.

The day after the Oakland Public Library reopens after a long weekend, branch manager Nick Raymond doesn't have time to talk. "I could give you maybe five seconds," he says good-naturedly before returning to the flocking patrons.

It's a scene more typical of a blockbuster opening at a movie theater than Wednesday afternoon at a library. But Raymond manages a different kind of collection: Oakland is among a growing number of libraries across the U.S. that lend tools--as in awls, sledgehammers, and hacksaws--as well as other unexpected items like bakeware,

On the first day of its 2014 Annual Conference in Las Vegas, the American Library Association (ALA) welcomes news from Simon & Schuster that it will convert its pilot library ebook lending program to serve all U.S. libraries. ALA President Barbara Stripling released the following statement:

This year's theme for Banned Books Week, the annual celebration of the freedom to read, will concentrate on graphic novels and comic books. The campaign runs from Sept. 21 to Sept. 27.

"This year we spotlight graphic novels because, despite their serious literary merit and popularity as a genre, they are often subject to censorship," Judith Platt, the chairwoman of the Banned Books Week National Committee, said in a statement.

Washington, D.C.-Leading library visionaries and experts discuss trends in digital content technology and the current state of library ebook lending in "Digital Discoveries," a new digital supplement from American Libraries magazine.

"There is some reason for optimism," said Alan S. Inouye, guest editor of the digital supplement and director of the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP). "However, there remain many formidable challenges and exciting opportunities for libraries within the digital content realm in the coming years."

Cuyahoga County Public Library Executive Director Sari Feldman will become president of the American Library Association, the world's oldest library association.

Feldman will be the leading public voice for libraries in the nation during her term, which begins with a year as president-elect, then a year as president and finally a year as immediate past president of the organization.

"Throughout my campaign I challenged our association to engage, innovate and inspire - and I sincerely appreciate the support for that call to action," she said.

In recent months, the double-digit sales growth of e-books in English has begun to plateau, but since the Spanish-language book market tends to be around three to five years behind the English-language market, e-book sales of Spanish books in the U.S. are just beginning to gain traction. Publishers of Spanish books based both in the U.S. and abroad are positioning themselves to benefit from the hoped-for uptick in sales.

WASHINGTON -- The new public library on San Antonio’s south side is missing something that once seemed unthinkable: books.

The south central Texas city’s completely digital library, known as the BiblioTech, lets Bexar County readers check out up to five books at a time on their devices from home or wherever they are. Military personnel can even download the latest bestseller from Afghanistan.

No device? No problem.

Locals can check out tablets or e-readers for free. Or they can use the library’s 48 iMAC desktop computers.

Academics: prepare your computers for text-mining. Publishing giant Elsevier says that it has now made it easy for scientists to extract facts and data computationally from its more than 11 million online research papers. Other publishers are likely to follow suit this year, lowering barriers to the computer-based research technique. But some scientists object that even as publishers roll out improved technical infrastructure and allow greater access, they are exerting tight legal controls over the way text-mining is done.