Librarian feels Alabamians ‘betrayed’ by recommendation to leave American Library Association; Al.com, October 28, 2023

Williesha Morris, Al.com; Librarian feels Alabamians ‘betrayed’ by recommendation to leave American Library Association

"Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) executive director Nancy Pack said in a memo they should “discontinue our institutional membership to the American Library Association (ALA).”...

Matthew Layne, president of the Alabama Library Association, an ALA chapter, said in an email that by disaffiliating from the ALA, the APLS “will lose access to a professional organization with over 50,000 members of professional librarians and library workers from around the world. They will lose access to workshops and training from brilliant librarian leaders, thinkers, and the important collegiality that one experiences in such organizations.”

Pack said in the memo “limiting a child’s access to potentially harmful content or relocating controversial reading materials should not be misconstrued as censorship in any form. APLS recommends that libraries exercise their best judgment when it comes to shelving sexually explicit or otherwise inappropriate materials, regardless of the intended age group, to support a parent’s right to protect their children.”...

In response to Pack’s recommendations, librarian Marylyn Eubank said in a letter sent to the Alabama Library Association, “it is hard to compose a professional response to fear-based, unfounded, reactionary actions. One shakes with anger and the righteous indignation born from years of professional study and development. But shaking with anger doesn’t make the situation better for the millions of Alabama residents (mostly children) who have been betrayed by the very professionals meant to protect their rights.

Eubank said “Alabama kept books used by her black residents separate from books used by white residents” until the 1960s, and today, “funding for libraries is being held hostage by the governor and the state legislature.”

“Pack is simply providing the state what it wants - censorship in exchange for funding,” Eubank said."

The Maryland library where you can get your blood pressure read; WTOP, October 16, 2023

John Domen, WTOP; The Maryland library where you can get your blood pressure read

"These days, libraries offer a much wider range of services than just free books and tables to do research at. However, at one Maryland library, you can read a book — and then get a health screening, which is a bit like researching your own health.

The screenings happen every Monday at the Greenbelt Library in Prince George’s County, and are conducted by nursing students.

The library has a blood pressure clinic, connects patrons to community resources like vaccine clinics and hosts health education discussions, according to Sara Chapman, a clinical instructor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing...

This program will run on Mondays through Nov. 13 in Greenbelt, from 11 a.m. until about 3:30 p.m. It then pauses until the spring semester begins. The nurses there are students, after all, and they’re getting credit for their community and public health nursing class.

And while you wouldn’t think that sitting at a hallway table and getting your blood pressure checked is a typical library activity, the hope is that this can be expanded beyond the Greenbelt branch to other libraries around the county.

Quemar Rhoden, the central area director with the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, said his team is “always trying to be more dynamic with our program offerings” while keeping the community’s needs in mind.

“The library is much more than books. It’s a place where people gather,” Rhoden said. “The community really trusts us. They trust us with some very personal matters, and it’s always our goal to offer more services that meet their needs.”