LIS 5100 : State of America’s Libraries

Each year, I am interested in reading the State of America’s Libraries, an annual report that is produced by the American Library Association. As described by American Libraries (official magazine of the ALA), “[t]he report summarizes library trends and outlines statistics and issues affecting libraries during the previous calendar year. It comes out annually during National Library Week, this year April 3–9” (ALA, 2022).

The 2022 report was released on April 4, just in time for reading and reflection for LIS 5100. Two things especially struck my interest when reading the latest report.

eBooks and reading on electronic devices
One thing that struck my interest was the growing prevalence of reading on electronic devices, combined with efforts by libraries to secure digital content for their patrons under terms that are equitable. According to the report, “When Americans sat down to read a book in 2021, one in three elected to look at an electronic device rather than a print book” (Zalusky, 2022, p. 24).

The report goes on to state that e-book rights have a “limited shelf life” in libraries (Zalusky, 2022, p. 25), and that for a popular trade eBook, a library might pay $55 for a copy that expires after two years, while a consumer in comparison might pay $15 for perpetual use (ibid).

The report cites Michael Blackwell, a member of the ALA Joint Digital Content Working Group, stating that “The most important thing to know is that libraries do not own most or nearly any of the digital content. Instead, we license it. Unlike with a print book, which we buy, own, and circulate, digital content circulation is still owned by the publishers, who can set limits on the length of time we have the rights to share it or even say we cannot even have a license at all” (ibid).

Upsurge in book challenges
Another issue that spoke to me was a growing number of challenges to “materials that address racism, gender, politics, and sexual identity” (Zalusky, 2022, p. 2). The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom “tracked 729 challenges to library, school, and university materials and services, representing challenges to 1,597 individual book titles” (Zalusky, 2022, p. 27).

The ALA wasn’t the only organization tracking an upsurge in book censorship. PEN America released a report that documented “an astonishing 1,586 book bans and restrictions in 86 school districts across 26 states, targeting some 1,145 unique book titles” (Albanese, A., 2022). And a U.S. Congressional Hearing took place in early April “to discuss the recent spike in book bans in school classrooms and libraries across the country” (Kirch, 2022).

With a full-page display (Zalusky, 2022, p. 27), the ALA announced formation of a “national call to action,” uniteagainstbookbans.org. The website includes a downloadable Toolkit for responding to book challenges, as well as a chance to sign up for the campaign’s email list.

References:
Albanese, A. (2022, April 8). PEN America report documents massive spike in book bans. Publishers Weekly. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/88972-pen-america-report-documents-massive-spike-in-book-bans.html

American Library Association. (2022, April 4). Book bans a focus of State of America’s Libraries 2022 report. American Libraries. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/book-bans-a-focus-of-state-of-americas-libraries-2022-report/

Kirch, C. (2022, April 8). Congress investigates book banning in schools. Publishers Weekly. https://admin.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/88966-congress-investigates-book-bannings-in-schools.html

Zalusky, S. (2022). State of America’s libraries. American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/news/sites/ala.org.news/files/content/state-of-americas-libraries-special-report-pandemic-year-two.pdf