Luddy student’s quest to discover history of Black librarians leads to Oct. 17 screening of his documentary; Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University, October 6, 2026

Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University; Luddy student’s quest to discover history of Black librarians leads to Oct. 17 screening of his documentary

"Sometimes the person with the questions ends up being the one who must find the answers.

That’s just what librarian, preservationist, and Luddy School graduate Rodney Freeman has done—and the result is his film Are You a Librarian?The Untold Story of Black Librarians. It will be shown Oct. 17 at the Madam Walker Legacy Center in Indianapolis.

The film won Best Short Documentary at the 2026 International Black Film Festival this fall in Nashville, Tennessee.

Freeman relied on the skills he honed at IU’s Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering in Indianapolis to develop his inaugural film project, which explores the compelling history of Black librarianship in the United States.

The Luddy School’s Department of Library and Information Science “gave me the foundation for all of it: research methodology, database searching, evaluating sources, organizing information so it can be discovered,” says Freeman, who is working on his Ph.D. from Luddy Indianapolis, where he earned his master’s degree in library and information science...

His journey into filmmaking began with questions that came to mind and wouldn’t go away, Freeman explains.

“It started at an (American Library Association) conference where I was surrounded by other Black librarians, listening to them talk about serving their communities,” he says.

“I kept thinking, ‘Who is going to tell their story?’ And then a bigger question: ‘What is the full story of Black libraries in this country? Who were the pioneers?’...

“Today I’m the founder of Reminisce Preservation, a legacy creation and preservation organization, where I bring together librarianship, documentary filmmaking, and digital preservation as one public history practice. That includes The Black Male Archives and Powerful Women of Color, digital platforms built to capture and promote positive stories about people of color, and Voices of Colored Libraries in Segregated America, an ArcGIS StoryMaps collection.”"

Guest Editorial: Bunch exit from Smithsonian latest casualty in Trump’s war on Black history; New Pittsburgh Courier, September 25, 2026

Courier Newsroom , New Pittsburgh Courier; Guest Editorial: Bunch exit from Smithsonian latest casualty in Trump’s war on Black history

[Kip Currier: The Pittsburgh Courier has a rich history as one of America's most influential Black newspapers. The paper was started as a simple broadsheet in 1907 by aspiring writer and H.J. Heinz Company security guard, Edwin Nathaniel Harleston. In the 1960's the paper was relaunched as The New Pittsburgh Courier. 

The editorial below addresses the recent retirement announcement by Lonnie Bunch III, the head of the Smithsonian museums. Issues implicated include cultural heritage center curation and leadership, intellectual freedom, access to information, the historical record, memory, preservation, truth, and accuracy of information, among others.]

"Lonnie Bunch, a historian who made history as the Smithsonian Institution’s first African American secretary, became a recurring target as President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on how America tells the story of race, slavery and inequality.

Bunch’s resignation this week should concern anyone who cares about American history, the truth and intellectual freedom.

But what is happening now goes beyond an attempt to erase Black history. It is an effort to cancel Black thought. The phrase “cancel culture” has been weaponized for years by conservatives who argue that dissenting viewpoints are being silenced. Yet, what is happening when Black voices that challenge comforting myths about America are pushed aside? This is not simply a debate about museum exhibits. It is a battle over who gets to define America’s story.

Trump wants to shape how Americans understand their past. The Smithsonian became a battleground in that effort."

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."

Trump administration moving ahead with signs outside Smithsonian museum; The Washington Post; September 16, 2026

Jonathan Edwards

 and 

Elahe Izadi

, The Washington Post; Trump administration moving ahead with signs outside Smithsonian museum

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said about a dozen signs would be installed outside the National Museum of American History warning of curators’ “personal viewpoints.”

"The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to comply with President Donald Trump’s order to install signs outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History that would warn visitors about what the White House has called ideological bias in the institution’s presentation of the nation’s past.

The Interior Department is preparing about a dozen signs, expected to cost roughly $7,000 apiece, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum disclosed in a Sept. 3 letter to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over Smithsonian funding. Burgum said the signs, which he described as temporary, have not yet been finalized...

The planned signs are one piece of a broader campaign by the Trump administration to reshape how the Smithsonian presents American history, an effort that has intensified in recent months through executive orders, reviews of museum exhibits and threats to withhold some forms of federal support from the institution...

Trump ordered the signs after the White House issued a 162-page report on July 4 accusing the American History Museum and its director, Anthea Hartig, of promoting “extreme political activism.” The report, which rattled Smithsonian employees, scrutinized current and former exhibits and drew extensively from public comments by Hartig and other Smithsonian officials."

Lonnie Bunch Protected the Smithsonian From More Than Trump; The Atlantic, September 9, 2026

 Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic; Lonnie Bunch Protected the Smithsonian From More Than Trump

"Since his appointment as the Smithsonian’s top official—its 14th secretary and the first historian and Black man to hold the position—in June 2019, Bunch has been the glue holding the Smithsonian together. Through a combination of principled stances and deft political skills, he has kept the sprawling institution on mission and aligned with its public. Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as the Smithsonian’s chancellor, said in a statementthat Bunch has “pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story” and that the Smithsonian has “benefited greatly from his wisdom, vision, and leadership.”"

Smithsonian’s Secretary to Resign as Trump Tries to Rule the Institution; The New York Times, September 8, 2026

Robin Pogrebin and Graham Bowley , The New York Times; Smithsonian’s Secretary to Resign as Trump Tries to Rule the Institution

"After a seven-year run marked most recently by attacks from the Trump administration, Lonnie G. Bunch III announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

The White House has escalated its criticism of how the Smithsonian presents American history and values, prompting concern from some about what they see as an assault on the institution’s autonomy and commendation from others for reining in an organization they view as overtaken by liberal bias.

In an interview, Mr. Bunch, 73, said it was not the pressure that had led to his departure."

SF Public Library launches massive, historical platform free to public; Bay City News Service via SFGate, August 22, 2026

 Bay City News Service via SFGate; SF Public Library launches massive, historical platform free to public

""The San Francisco Public Library announced this week that it has launched a new platform for its digital archive featuring more than 80,000 pieces of historical items that are free to access for the public.

The archive, called DigitalSF, includes historical photographs dating back to before the city was founded, as well as documents, manuscripts, maps, publications, and oral histories...

DigitalSF makes it easier for anyone -- whether they live in San Francisco or anywhere in (or around) the world -- to explore and share the city's stories," said Christina Moretta, photo curator and manager of the San Francisco History Center, in a statement. The history center is the library's archive at the Main Library that holds physical historical materials related to the city.

Some highlights in the archive include Harvey Milk's handwritten speeches, African American oral histories, photos of the city from the 19th century, and images of the city after the 1868, 1906 and 1989 earthquakes."

Secondhand book sales are booming. Is it because of AI?; BBC, August 15, 2026

 Philippa Wain , BBC; Secondhand book sales are booming. Is it because of AI?

"Destructive scanning

The court documents relating to the Anthropic case revealed the project of ingesting old books was referred to in internal company communications as "Project Panama."

The documents indicated the company's aim was to "destructively scan all the books in the world".

Destructive scanning is the process of shipping books to locations where they can be digitised at an industrial scale. 

It includes removing a book's spine so all the pages can be scanned rapidly - and the remains recycled.

"A lot of mystery surrounds Project Panama," Manley, from Barter Books, says."

Hidden Airtag reveals Amazon is trashing rare books to train AI; Ars Technica, August 17, 2026

 ASHLEY BELANGER , Ars Technica; Hidden Airtag reveals Amazon is trashing rare books to train AI

"For the past year or so, booksellers have suspected that AI firms are buying up huge lots of rare books, then destroying them after scanning them to train AI. But this was hard to prove until now, as 404 Media reports that an Airtag hidden in a rare book shows that at least one tech giant, in the race to advance its frontier models, is behind some of the bulk orders: Amazon.

On Monday, 404 Media revealed that it had connected with a bookseller who agreed to plant an Airtag in a rare book that was part of a bulk order. That Airtag was then tracked to an Amazon AI training facility in Las Vegas that housed a team focused on tearing books from their spines and scanning pages, 404 Media reported. Apparently tone-deaf to the escalating backlash over destructive book scanning, a logo on the door of that team’s warehouse, VGT3, showed a Tyrannosaurus rex preparing to devour a book, 404 Media documented."

Google Just Ruined One of Its Most Important Tools; The Atlantic, July 31, 2026

Matteo Wong, The Atlantic; Google Just Ruined One of Its Most Important Tools

"Before it allowed people to create fake imagery, Google Earth was a unique resource for researchers, journalists, and intelligence officials, particularly those studying armed conflict and natural disasters. Satellite and aerial imagery can be used to monitor crop failure or deforestation, the creation of mass graves, and the results of bombing campaigns. Especially in conflict zones and other areas that are hard for people to reach, satellite imagery is a go-to method for establishing some sort of ground truth. After Google Earth rolled out the AI feature, though, one investigative reporter wrote on LinkedIn that the tool could be used to easily and rapidly create images of drone strikes that look “very close to what we’ve seen in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and other war-torn conflict zones.” And instead of requiring malicious actors to find a screenshot and then get around some AI model’s safeguards, Google rolled everything needed for a misinformation farm into one smooth user interface. It took me all of four seconds to generate a rendering of a Trump Hotel on the Gaza Strip."

Trump Orders Warnings Placed at ‘Inaccurate’ Smithsonian History Museum; The New York Times, July 24, 2026

Robin Pogrebin and Zachary Small, The New York Times ; Trump Orders Warnings Placed at ‘Inaccurate’ Smithsonian History Museum

President Trump said the signage at the National Museum of American History would correct what a disputed White House report described as “extreme political activism.”

"President Trump on Friday ordered warning signs and exhibits installed outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to alert the public that the museum does not, in his view, accurately reflect American history.

The unusual directive, made through an executive order, was a considerable escalation of the president’s dispute with the Smithsonian and its history museum, which was the subject of a recent 162-page report. The report accused the museum’s director, Anthea M. Hartig, of “radical activist ideology” and the museum of undermining “faith in American institutions.”

The order went so far as to suggest that the signage inform potential museum visitors of locations where American history is better presented. The administration did not explain where the public would be redirected.

The Smithsonian declined to comment.

Mr. Trump’s order came just days after Ms. Hartig was grilled by Republican legislators in two congressional hearings, where she was accused of teaching “national self-loathing.”"

Trump administration replaces slavery exhibition at Washington’s Philadelphia home; The Hill, July 15, 2026

TARA SUTER , The Hill; Trump administration replaces slavery exhibition at Washington’s Philadelphia home

"The Trump administration has removed a slavery exhibition at the home of former President George Washington in Philadelphia, according to The Associated Press.

A slavery-focused exhibit at Washington’s home was swapped out Wednesday by the administration with another version, which historians have said isn’t historically accurate, according to the AP."

A Spectacular Theodore Roosevelt Library Deep in the Badlands; The New York Times, July 17, 2026

Michael Kimmelman

Visuals by Will Warasila

 , The New York Times; A Spectacular Theodore Roosevelt Library Deep in the Badlands

"You’d be hard-pressed not to like the new $450 million Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. It’s an easy charmer and a spectacular work of ecologically minded architecture in the drop-dead gorgeous North Dakota Badlands.

The firm Snohetta in New York designed it. The building is 93,000 square feet of mass-timber and rammed-earth — a huge Hobbit house hugging the precipice of a grassy butte overlooking the tiny town of Medora, N.D.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is five minutes away."

HOW THE SMITHSONIAN COULD FALL; The Atlantic, July 16, 2026

Kelsey Ables, Photographs by Caroline Gutman, The Atlantic ; HOW THE SMITHSONIAN COULD FALL

"The Trump administration wants to control the Smithsonian, but it won’t be so easy."

Historians Reject White House’s Criticism of Smithsonian Museum; The New York Times, July 6, 2026

Jennifer Schuessler, The New York Times ; Historians Reject White House’s Criticism of Smithsonian Museum

The nation’s largest group of scholars of U.S. history denounced a White House report attacking the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

"On July 4, the White House posted a lengthy report condemning the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, accusing it of promoting “extreme ideological activism” while denigrating the nation’s founders and its founding.

Historians have started to reply with failing grades of their own.

The Organization of American Historians, the nation’s largest group of scholars of U.S. history, blasted the report in a statement on Monday, accusing the administration of presenting a partisan ideological attack in the guise of historical critique."

Upstate public library one of few to house rare book collection; Spectrum News 1, July 7, 2026

VIKTORIA HALLIKAAR , Spectrum News 1; Upstate public library one of few to house rare book collection

"The resources you can find at public libraries seem to be ever-growing. One collection is keeping an eye on the future by preserving the past.

Deep in the stacks of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is a massive collection of books.

“We're contemporary. We're of the moment,” explained Heather Gring, the rare book curator for Buffalo & Erie County Public Library.

But these books aren’t your standard page-turners.

“The oldest thing in our collection is 4,000 years old, and the most contemporary is local press that has been made this year,” said Gring.

Spectrum News 1 was given a rare look inside the rare book vaults.

“The difference between an old book and a rare book is who wants to buy it,” Gring explained.

Cameras, locks and key codes are trying to not repeat the mistakes of the past.

“This collection is worth, collectively, millions of dollars,” said Gring. "The way the Rare Books department was even started was because of a theft in the 1930s. [...] They worked with the FBI, and they did successfully retrieve almost all of the books that had been stolen.”

Keeping these treasures safe doesn’t mean keeping them hidden. This is one of only about 25 rare book departments in the country to be housed in a public library."