News from the Field

David Free

PALNI celebrates 30th anniversary

The Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022. Since its first library-to-library collaboration in the 1980s, PALNI has worked to advance the educational missions of its supported institutions by sharing resources and leveraging expertise. The consortium was approved as a nonprofit organization in 1992 and has grown to support 24 private colleges, universities, and seminaries serving more than 47,500 students and faculty throughout the state.

During its first three decades, PALNI has navigated the evolving challenges of higher education to attain notable success. What began as a joint initiative among libraries to make automation more affordable has transformed into a leading example of what it takes for academic libraries to work together and achieve more at scale. All supported institutions appoint a library dean or director to serve on PALNI’s board of directors, providing strategic and financial direction. Learn more about PALNI at https://palni.org/.

ACRL, ARL share community response to White House memorandum on public-access to research

ACRL and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) have submitted a letter to the chairs of the US National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Open Science in response to the recent Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memo, “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research.” The letter reflects the views expressed during a jointly sponsored listening session between the academic and research library community and the Subcommittee on Open Science. The associations strongly support the 2022 OSTP public-access guidance, particularly the removal of the 12-month embargo, the additional focus on research data, and the administration’s goals to expand equitable participation in federally funded scientific research. While listening-session panelists raised concerns about the cost of implementation and compliance, they provided considerations for multiple pathways to achieving the goal of free, immediate, public access. Learn more at https://www.arl.org/news/library-associations-share-community-response-to-white-house-memorandum-on-public-access-to-research/.

IMLS now accepting applications for Native American, Native Hawaiian Library Services grants supporting core library programs

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for Native Hawaiian Library Services and Native American Library Services Enhancement grants. The deadline for submitting applications for either grant is April 3, 2023. Native Hawaiian Library Services grants are available to nonprofit organizations that primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians. These grants, awarded in amounts of up to $150,000 for two years, are designed to improve core library services for their communities. Learn more at https://www.imls.gov/grants/available/native-hawaiian-library-services.

Native American Library Services Enhancement grants advance the programs and services of eligible Indian tribes, including Alaska Native villages, regional corporations, and village corporations. These competitive grants, awarded in amounts of up to $150,000 for two years, are designed to improve core library services for their communities. Learn more at https://www.imls.gov/grants/available/native-american-library-services-enhancement-grants.

Task force recommends digital Federal Depository Library Program

The US Government Publishing Office (GPO) Director Hugh Nathanial Halpern earlier this year appointed a Task Force on a Digital Federal Depository Library Program to determine the feasibility of a digital Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The task force has released its report, which recommends the FDLP move to a digital program. Should Halpern accept the recommendations, GPO will start planning for implementation and continue to engage with stakeholders. “Feasibility of a Digital Federal Depository Library Program: Report of the GPO Director’s Task Force” is available at https://www.fdlp.gov/file-repository-item/feasibility-digital-federal-depository-library-program-report-gpo-directors.

New from ACRL—Teaching Critical Reading Skills: Strategies for Academic Librarians

ACRL announces the publication of Teaching Critical Reading Skills: Strategies for Academic Librarians, edited by Hannah Gascho Rempel and Rachel Hamelers. This two-volume set—“Reading in the Disciplines and for Specific Populations” and “Reading for Evaluation, Beyond Scholarly Texts, and in the World”—provides ready-made activities you can add or adapt to your teaching practice.

This collection explores the experiences, approaches, and roles of librarians who teach reading: using pedagogical theories and techniques in new and interesting ways; making implicit reading knowledge, skills, and techniques explicit to students; presenting reading as a communal activity; partnering with other campus stakeholders; and leading campus conversations about critical reading. The five sections are arranged by theme:

Volume 1

• Part I: Reading in the Disciplines
• Part II: Reading for Specific Populations

Volume 2

• Part III: Reading Beyond Scholarly Texts
• Part IV: Reading to Evaluate
• Part V: Reading in the World

Each of the 45 chapters contains teaching and programmatic strategies, resources, and lesson plans, as well as a section titled “Critical Reading Connection” that highlights each author’s approach for engaging with the purpose of reading critically and advancing the conversation about how librarians can foster this skill.

Academic librarians and archivists have a long history of engaging with different types of literacy and acting as a bridge between faculty and students. We understand the different reading needs of specific student populations and the affective challenges with reading that are often shared across learner audiences. We know what types of sources are read, the histories—and needed changes—of how authority has been granted in various fields, how students may be expected to apply what they read in future professional or civic settings, and frequently look beyond our local institutions to think about the larger structural and social justice implications of what is read, how we read, and who does the reading.

These volumes can help you make the implicit explicit for learners and teach that reading is both a skill that must be practiced and nurtured and a communal act. Teaching Critical Reading Skills demonstrates librarians’ and archivists’ deep connections to our campus communities and how critical reading instruction can be integrated in a variety of contexts within those communities.

Teaching Critical Reading Skills: Strategies for Academic Librarians is available for purchase in print and as an ebook through the ALA Online Store, individually or as a set; in print through Amazon.com; and by telephone order at (866) 746-7252 in the United States or (770) 442-8633 for international customers.

OverDrive releases 2022 digital book circulation data and highlights

In 2022, digital book lending grew significantly due to innovations that high-performing public libraries, schools, and other institutions used to serve their readers. These efforts resulted in record circulation of digital books, with ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and comic books each greatly contributing to year-over-year growth, according to OverDrive. During the year, readers borrowed 555 million ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines, comics, and other digital content, a 10 percent increase over 2021. This record circulation led to another milestone: readers have checked out a total of 3 billion digital books from public libraries, schools, and academic libraries in the OverDrive network since the first ebook checkout in 2003. Learn more at https://company.overdrive.com/2023/01/06/overdrive-releases-2022-digital-book-circulation-data-and-highlights/.

Gale launches new ChiltonLibrary platform

Gale, part of Cengage Group, has migrated ChiltonLibrary, the most trusted digital resource for automotive repair and maintenance information, to a new cloud-based platform along with an array of new features and enhancements to improve user experience and accessibility. With streamlined navigation in a more user-friendly environment, users can more easily access and find the information they need to safely service their vehicle and prepare for the upcoming winter months. ChiltonLibrary is an essential database of trusted automotive information covering vehicle maintenance, service, and repair. Dating back to the 1940s, the database has material covering all car procedures that one might perform at home. The database contains how-to videos and animations, warranty labor data, and remote access outside of libraries. More information is available at https://www.gale.com/c/chilton-library.

New born-digital chapter focusing on Islamic history hosted by Project MUSE

Project MUSE is hosting a new interactive, open access, born-digital chapter, “The Web of History,” from A New Vision for Islamic Pasts and Futures by Shahzad Bashir, published by the MIT Press. The chapter of the publication hosted on MUSE mirrors the content from the born-digital product’s primary site and is intended to provide an additional pathway to discovery, as well as spotlight the MUSE platform’s suitability for hosting robust and innovative digital humanities works.

A New Vision for Islamic Pasts and Futures brings together the MIT Press’s global publishing experience and the Brown University Library’s digital publication expertise. The groundbreaking scholarship decenters Islam from a geographical identification with the Middle East, an articulation through men’s authority alone, and the assumption that premodern expressions are more authentically Islamic than modern ones. Aimed at a wide international audience, the publication consists of engaging stories and audiovisual materials that will enable readers at all levels to appreciate Islam as an aspect of global history for centuries. The book is available at https://islamic-pasts-futures.org/.