I Love Libraries: Real-Life Stories of Library Impact
I Love Libraries, a website of the American Library Association, is the home base for library advocacy news for both library workers and library supporters.
Today, libraries are facing unprecedented challenges from every direction: the loss of federal funding, record levels of attempted book bans, threats of violence and harassment simply for doing their jobs. Take action on the I Love Libraries website and read through the following articles to inspire you to keep advocating for our communities and libraries.
Share this article with friends and family, both inside and outside the library world, and encourage them to become supporters today and stay connected to the important work of libraries of all types and sizes.
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What Does It Mean to Be Human?
A touring exhibit that looks deep into the past to explain how humankind evolved over millennia has found welcome homes in libraries and seminaries across the United States.
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Shelter from the Storm
In Nevada, Iowa, the weather can be unpredictable. That was the case in 2020, when a damaging widespread windstorm—meteorologically known as a “derecho” storm—brought devastation to the region.
Fortunately, residents were able to utilize Nevada Public Library’s basement as a storm shelter.
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Opening Doors
In Goldthwaite, a small, but vibrant town of approximately 1,700 people in central Texas, Jennie Trent Dew Library fills many voids in a community that is missing essential nonprofit and civic organizations like a local community center and a parks and recreation department.
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Kentucky School Program Grows Readers, Leaders, and Community
In Louisville, an elementary school’s path to become a Spanish-immersion magnet school helped create an award-winning program that fostered the cultural competence and unity of all students by asking: What unites us?
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Making Memories at the Library
Residents of Redding, Connecticut, can now connect with loved ones experiencing memory loss thanks to a program implemented at the Mark Twain Library. And it all began with one simple patron request.
With support from ALA's Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities, the library has compiled nine memory kits that it began circulating last May.
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Texas Libraries Provide a Lifeline to Mental Health
Libraries play a critical and often overlooked role in helping their patrons and communities address mental health challenges. Libraries in Texas are taking this responsibility to heart, and one did so with help from the ALA's LTC: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries initiative.
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Freedom Walk: School Library Creates Interactive Program to Teach About Censorship
Lucy Podmore, librarian at Tom C. Clark High School in San Antonio, Texas, created a “freedom to read” event—one that could educate students and their families about what goes into decisions affecting library bookshelves.
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