The Library of Congress opened its reading room for the blind in 1897. Photo: Library of Congress This year marks the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ...

Cultivating a space in the library that teens can activate and own sends teens a strong signal they are valued and welcome. Teens (defined here as those ages 13–18) are usually scrutinized closely ...

Sci-Hub is a website that makes more than 48 million scholarly research articles available online to anyone for free. However, many if not most of these articles are still under copyright and are ...

Getting started with web accessibility improvements can feel overwhelming. The ultimate goal should be a website that maximizes accessibility and considers inclusive access in all decisions. But even ...

July 28, 2026 150 × 100 2,000 years of The Odyssey at the Library of Congress 400-year-old map showing the journey of Odysseus View more Latest Library Links ...

Libraries loaning “stuff” isn’t a new concept. Framed paintings were available for checkout at the Newark (N.J.) Public Library back in 1904. “Libraries were sharing before sharing was cool,” says ...

When Jessie Carney Smith arrived at Fisk University in Nashville in 1965, she says many people there did not know about black literature. Smith, the dean of the library, says, “Many scholars were told ...

Welcome to the 2025 Library Design Showcase, American Libraries’ annual celebration of new and renovated libraries throughout North America. Today’s libraries are places where people from diverse ...

In the decade since the Supreme Court upheld the implementation of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), internet filtering has become a frequent practice in public libraries. It has also ...

Very few people who work in libraries—or who have seen a public library bookshelf—will be unfamiliar with the name of bestselling author James Patterson, whose books have sold more than 425 million ...

In his eulogy to the American volunteers fallen for France during World War I, the poet Alan Seeger wrote: “They brought fresh hearts … to that high mission. Yet sought they neither recompense nor ...

As the American Library Association (ALA) celebrates 150 years, we’re drawing inspiration from key events since its 1876 founding: from the first conventions and library schools, through wartime and ...