ThriveLib 2026 Call for Proposals This was shared on the ThriveLib blog and social media earlier this week and I cross posting here. I'm caught up in the new day job, finishing the new book, and working with some great clients in my consulting work and working with a great team on ThriveLib 2026.…

The Citation for Wellness in the Workplace is given to libraries who meet the needs of their staff in the areas of continuing education, wellness, positive work environment, unions, salaries, gender equity, pay equity initiatives, and other activities. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We espouse a lot of grand ideals about the need for an informed citizenry, the importance of education, the value of free speech & expression & the promise of equality. And public libraries in more than 500 Iowa towns, big and small, are fulfilling them all. www.thegazette.com/staff-column...

Iowa libraries are facing budget challenges as the Trump administration appeals the decision to reinstate federally mandated funding. dailyiowan.com/2026/02/24/f...

yes! Fund libraries!

::stares at my dissertation:: ::whispers “it’s because of the patriarchy” and fades into the distance::

call for chapter proposals - Decoding Slow Librarianship: Inquiries into Conceptual Challenges and Concerns from Bloomsbury Publishers docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

... hired a librarian for his research group to help organize citations and support literature searches. The collaboration was hugely helpful. So helpful, in fact, that his colleagues started asking to ‘borrow’ the information specialist for their own projects. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A bill (HF 2324) moving through the Iowa Legislature could prohibit public schools from collaborating with public libraries — a partnership that already works and saves taxpayers money. www.3newsnow.com/southwest-io...

Nominations are open ALA Medal of Excellence Nomination - recent creative leadership of high order, particularly in the fields of library management, library training, cataloging and classification, and the tools and techniques of librarianship. www.ala.org/tools/ala-me...

House passes 5-year tuition freeze at University of Iowa, Iowa State, UNI www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/e...

JJ Pionke interviews @drsamischalk.bsky.social about her book Black Disability Politics, her creative process, her teaching, and her current research on pleasure activism. [audio interview and written transcript]

Oh I love this conference.

Private colleges would be barred from receiving Iowa Tuition Grant dollars if they maintain diversity, equity and inclusion offices under a bill passed by House lawmakers. The latest effort by Republicans to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion programs www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/p...

What would it take to make library work culturally sustainable, not just survivable? That question is at the heart of ThriveLib 2026. We’re seeking proposals on boundaries, balance, joy, and collective care. Lived experience welcome. Perfection not required. www.thrivelib.com/2026-cfp

And now the library director has been fired without explanation. www.postandcourier.com/greenville/n...

“knowledge produced from nowhere,” via @laurenpressley.bsky.social 📜📚

#skybrarians #medlibs #publibs 📚

While the profession is predominantly women. Men dominate the leadership positions.

check this out -> This choose-your-own-adventure experience supports librarians facing intellectual freedom challenges through scenario-based gameplay. P www.libraryfutures.net/post/library...

The thing about the women’s hockey team declining the SOTU invitation is in part that sometimes, if you do not need certain kinds of power, you get to retain others.

You are correct. It is also the gateway for them to destroy state associations.

The end result of states keeping librarians from belonging to ALA is the head of your local Moms for Liberty Group in charge of the library. Regardless of how you personally feel about ALA, they are the licensing body for our profession. The end result of losing that will not be your friendly 1/2

Who's up early? In the 10th year of a GOP trifecta, #Iowa Republicans have suddenly decided the legislature should limit the governor's powers. My review of pending bills that could hamstring the next governor—including one that's gotten little attention. www.bleedingheartland.com/2026/02/22/i...

Fact: Thousands of Iowan parents manage their child’s library accounts today. Fact: Minors have 4th Amendment Rights that librarians are responsible to honor by both Iowa Code & professional ethics. Fact: Compelling the government to monitor & report (regardless of the Iowan’s age) is not legal.

A lot of people, including me, were wondering how an IRB could ever approve this study. The answer is that no IRB did. The person who “signed off” on approval from the only ethics board that reviewed it had resigned three years earlier. His signature was used without his knowledge.

Whewww www.publicbooks.org/the-misuses-...

Nonprofit Public Libraries Ordered to Shut Down Passport Services www.libraryjournal.com/story/nonpro...

Finding joy in - Lunar New Year dogs, Ramadan cats, Alyssa Liu, and Eileen Gu.

The problem isn’t that we’re monetising our hobbies. The problem is that our jobs are taking so much of our time + energy that monetising joy feels like the only way to have any joy.

Iowa Republicans voted for a bill that makes it harder for women to vote iowastartingline.com/2026/02/18/i...

A Wave of State Legislation Promotes Book Bans for Kids and Teens. What Parents Need to Know www.sheknows.com/parenting/ar...

My fellow library consultants, are you interested in a quarter chat? I'm thinking discussions around best practices, trends, how to handle wild clients, etc. I know there are several orgs that do stuff that have dues. I'm thinking just an informal Google Meet or something.

The ThriveLib 2026 Theme is Reimagining Library Culture Together. Our 2026 theme is grounded in the belief that joy and sustainability cannot exist without safety, dignity, community, and care. CFP opens February 27th.

Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously rules librarian’s defamation lawsuit against Citizens for New Louisiana may proceed. Amanda Jones, a librarian, wins the right to proceed with her defamation lawsuit against Michael Lunsford & Citizens for a New Louisiana. www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/new...

The disappearance of YA book collections in public libraries–and the parallel winnowing of YA librarianship. Where are young people supposed to BE young people? That, plus an extremely long roundup of censorship news: bookriot.com/the-disappea...

Before you ask strangers on the internet for advise. Especially professional advise remember some people: just want to see the world burn are trolls are assholes don't know WTF they're talking about don't know and will try to answer you anyway Also, bots and Bean Soup Theory.

This Iowa bill conditions state funding on restricting minors’ access to materials labeled “age-appropriate,” exposes minors’ reading records to parental review, and strips authority from library boards in favor of city councils. www.weareiowa.com/article/news...

Tote bag bling!

Libby really needs a "all books in this series are published" filter

Des Moines (IA) is talking about cutting the library budget for FY 2027 by a quarter of a million dollars: archive.ph/qu4nS

the overseer of project 2025 is telling you out loud that every inch you cede on trans rights is part of the plan to create a white christian fascist state

People talk about this stuff in terms of how much it'll suck for gaming and I hate to inform you how many MRI machines, X-Rays, all sorts of other vital machinery are just a Windows IoT Edition PC in a beige plastic box with a big magnet/accelerator/whatever attached.

A nudge that this conference is open for contributions! (Though still plenty of time to get your thinking caps on). #Neurodiversity #LIS

"Coralville residents have made it clear we do not want Flock’s AI powered surveillance cameras in our community. As soon as the Flock contract, signed last May without city council’s approval, was made public in July, residents have been pleading with city council to cancel it."

We are thrilled to introduce the 2026 Advisory Board. An amazing group providing strategic guidance, honest feedback, evaluation, & offering real-world insight to ensure we remain grounded, inclusive, & actionable. #thrivelib #skybrarians #publibs #medlibs 📚 www.thrivelib.com/news/introdu...

"The Senate funding level doesn't keep up with inflation, which has become an almost annual tradition since Republicans took over the statehouse." Read more from the Gazette here: bit.ly/4tK6HZk

Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.

Just because I keep seeing those "I checked this piece and it's written by AI" - this is an old article of mine, before AI was available. So could we not?