Category: Libraries in the News

Libraries in the News is the MBLC’s monthly news roundup of library news across the Commonwealth and the Nation

September 2025 Libraries in the News

📰 Library News from Across the Commonwealth and the Nation*

Have a news story you’d like to share? Please email the link to June Thammasnong, thank you!

PDF Libraries in the News -September 2025Download

🗞️ Local News

📄Andrea Bono-Bunker Winner of Prestigious Governor’s Award – MBLC Press Release (10/1/2025)

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) is pleased to announce that Andrea Bono-Bunker, Library Building Consultant in the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP), is the winner of the prestigious Manuel Carballo Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Service.

Link to full MBLC Press Release about the Governor’s Award

📄Reading the Revolution MA250 Booklists: Our Ongoing Journey to a Free and Equal Nation – MBLC Press Release (10/1/2025)

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) is delighted to announce the launch of Careers in Libraries, a new collection of video stories featuring diverse library staff from across the Commonwealth. These brief videos highlight the different career possibilities in libraries, the passionate people working in libraries, and the many ways libraries serve as vital community spaces. The videos can be viewed online at: libraries.state.ma.us/careers-in-libraries

Link to full MBLC Press Release about Reading the Revolution

📄Careers in Libraries: Massachusetts Library Staff Share their Stories – MBLC Press Release (9/29/2025)

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) is delighted to announce the launch of Careers in Libraries, a new collection of video stories featuring diverse library staff from across the Commonwealth. These brief videos highlight the different career possibilities in libraries, the passionate people working in libraries, and the many ways libraries serve as vital community spaces. The videos can be viewed online at: libraries.state.ma.us/careers-in-libraries.

Link to full MBLC Press Release about Careers in Libraries

📄Big Turnout for Gloucester’s New Library – MBLC Press Release (9/12/2025)

Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) members Joyce Linehan and Jessica Vilas Novas joined Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, State Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante, and local and state officials to congratulate the Gloucester community on the opening of the new Sawyer Free Library.  The MBLC supported the project with a grant for over $9 million from its Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program. 

Link to full MBLC Press Release about the new Sawyer Free Library

More articles on Gloucester’s new library:

📄I’m a Librarian, Therapist, Personal Assistant and First Responder.  Moments Like This Make It All Worth It – Katie Walsh, Slate (9/15/2025)
It’s one of the most controversial jobs in the country, but I’m so glad it’s mine.

It was a quiet evening at the library, which isn’t always a given. I work at a busy city library in the Boston area, located directly across from a high school, so we spend a lot of time helping people print and scan documents, apply for jobs, and look for housing, and in between all that, we try valiantly to get the teens to please, please stop vaping.

Link to full article from Slate

📄Banner survey: School library access varies across Massachusetts – Peter C. Roby, The Bay State Banner (9/29/2025)

As the Massachusetts School Library Association marked its 50th anniversary in March, the Bay State Banner conducted a survey to assess the state of school libraries. The survey covered 302 of Massachusetts’ 319 public school districts, 52 of 73 charter districts and 221 private schools.

Link to full article at The Bay State Banner

📄Norwood MA library will offer virtual access to Massachusetts court services – Beth McDermott, Wicked Local (9/29/2025)

The Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood is relaunching a program that provides public access to state court services.  The Massachusetts Trial Court Law Library’s so-called Public Library Initiative offers visitors access to computer terminals and the internet to search for court resources, such as interpreter services, legal aid and case information,

Link to full article at Wicked Local

📄Springfield library fundraising campaign reaches goal – Ryan Feyre, The Reminder (9/30/2025)

SPRINGFIELD — An eight-year fundraising initiative reached its official conclusion on Sept. 16 when the Springfield Library Foundation presented the final $137,500 of the East Forest Park Library’s Promised Realized Campaign.

Link to full article at The Reminder

📄Around Amherst: Jones Library Capital Campaign delivers another $2 million – Scott Merzbach, Amherst Bulletin (9/16/2025)

AMHERST — A $2.06 million payment recently delivered to Town Hall by the co-chairs of the Jones Library Capital Campaign maintains a commitment to transfer money toward the building’s $46.1 million expansion and renovation project on a regular basis.

Link to full article at Amherst Bulletin

📄Fitchburg library announces community giving campaign – Danielle Ray, Sentinel & Enterprise (9/17/2025)

FITCHBURG — The library recently launched a community giving campaign.

According to a press release the Fitchburg Public Library, currently in the midst of a $40 million renovation and expansion project, is inviting members of the community to write their names into the history of this transformative effort. The Legacy of Learning community giving program will provide donors at all levels with the opportunity to be enshrined in the expanded facility when it opens its doors in 2026.

Link to full article at Sentinel & Enterprise

📝The History of the MBLC: Henry Stedman Nourse – Jessica Branco Colati, MBLC Blog (9/22/2025)

The Honorable Henry Stedman Nourse (April 9, 1831 – November 14, 1903), of South Lancaster, Lancaster, served as a founding commissioner of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts from 1890 until his death in November 1903, soon after his appointment to a third term on the Commission. 

Link to full post on the MBLC Blog

📝Do Funding and Staffing Change with Increased Usage? – Al Hayden, MBLC Blog (9/25/2025)

In this edition, we will examine what’s happened in the past for library funding from municipalities and staffing and try to answer to question “Do funding and staffing change with increased usage?”

Link to full post on the MBLC Blog

📝The History of the MBLC: Anna Eliot Ticknor – Jessica Branco Colati, MBLC Blog (9/5/2025)

Anna Eliot Ticknor (June 1, 1823–October 5, 1896),of Boston, served as a founding commissioner of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts from 1890 until her death in 1896. Ticknor was considered a “Boston Brahmin”, growing up in a prominent, well-traveled, highly educated, and literary-minded family. She was an author and early proponent of distance learning, especially for women to continue their education while carrying out their wifely and motherly duties at home. She also gave voice to the role libraries could play in educating the public.

Link to full post on the MBLC Blog

🗞️ National News

📄 The Normalization of Book Banning– Banned in the USA (2024-2025) PEN America Report (10/1/2025)
The book bans that have accumulated in the past four years are unprecedented and undeniable. This report looks back at the 2024-2025 school year – the fourth school year in the contemporary campaign to ban books – and illustrates the continued attacks on books, stories, identities, and histories.   

Link to the full report from PEN America

📄 ALA disappointed by FCC takebacks, lack of due process in decision to end library hotspots, school bus Wi-Fi – American Library Association Press Release (9/30/2025)
Washington, D.C.– The American Library Association (ALA) and partners in the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, expressed disappointment with today’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote to end E-Rate support for library and school hotspot lending programs and school bus Wi-Fi.

Link to full press release from ALA

Related:

📄 Appeals court, weighing Trump’s Library of Congress takeover, reinstates copyright chief– Josh Gerstein, Politico (9/10/2025)
A federal appeals court ruled the nation’s top copyright official can continue serving in her post following President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire her.

A divided three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Shira Perlmutter is entitled to continue to serve as the register of copyrights at the Library of Congress, despite the White House’s claim that Trump fired her from the post in May.

Link to full news article from Politico

📄Rebuilding a Historic Jewish Library, Book by Book– Catherine Hickey, The New York Times (9/8/2025)
The Nazis seized tens of thousands of books from the Jewish Theological Seminary in Budapest, but the works are making their way back, including one being returned in New York this week.

Link to full article from The New York Times

📄 Library groups praise enactment of Freedom to Read Act – Coastal Point (9/30/2025)
The Delaware Library Association and Friends of Delaware Libraries this week praised the enactment of House Bill 119, the Freedom to Read Act of 2025.

Link to full article from Coastal Point

📄 Arthur Sze is appointed U.S. poet laureate as Library of Congress faces challenges – Hillel Italie, Los Angeles Times (9/15/2025)
At a time when its leadership is in question and its mission challenged, the Library of Congress has named a new U.S. poet laureate, the much-honored author and translator Arthur Sze.The library announced Monday that the 74-year-old Sze had been appointed to a one-year term, starting this fall.

Link to full article from Los Angeles Times

📄 American Libraries recognizes 15 libraries in the 2025 Library Design Showcase – American Library Association Press Release (9/2/2025)
CHICAGO – Fifteen new and renovated libraries feature in American Libraries’ 2025 Library Design Showcase. The 37th annual showcase highlights innovative constructions and remodels across the US and Canada that address patrons’ evolving needs. This year’s selections were completed between May 1, 2024, and April 30, 2025.

Link to full press release from American Library Association

📄 It’s ‘Absolutely Vital’ I Pursue My MLIS Now | Opinion – Erica Sikma, School Library Journal (9/23/2025)
When I tell people that I’m working on my Master’s in Library and Information Science (MLIS), the responses range from, “Wow, that’s great” to “You won’t have a job.” So why did I, an Oregon Trail Millennial, decide to spend what little money I have to go back to school in this current climate? Let me back up a little.

Link to full article from School Library Journal

📄 Why Teens Love to Hang Out at the Library – Ki Sung, KQED (9/23/2025)
Public libraries have made significant transformations over the past decade to better serve community needs in the wake of technological and social change. Now, as public school funding faces an uncertain future, how will libraries step in? We’ll talk to some library kids who go to teen-only spaces after school and hear about how librarians are working hard to meet their needs.

Link to full article and podcast from KQED

📄 Road to Recovery – Cass Balzer, American Libraries (9/15/2025)
Preparing for a ransomware attack and building a support network can improve library response.  On a morning in October 2023, an accountant at Orion Township (Mich.) Public Library (OTPL) saw something in her accounting software that alarmed her: file names written in Cyrillic.

Link to full article from American Libraries

📄 Broadway Comes to the Library, and the Library Goes to Broadway – Sahar Kazmi, Library of Congress Blogs (9/29/2025)
In a page among the Library’s Jonathan Larson Papers, the visionary composer and playwright mused: “… if I want to try to cultivate a new audience for musicals I must write shows with a score that MTV ears will accept.” Larson’s collection is not the largest in the Library’s Music Division, but among the roughly 15,000 items included within it are scripts, personal writings, programs, correspondence, recordings, lyric sheets and even floppy disks that provide an intimate look into the mind of a generational artist.

Link to full press release from Library of Congress Blogs

📺New York Public Library announces major exhibition for America’s 250th anniversary – ABC News (9/13/2025)

Brent Reidy from the New York Public Library joins ABC News Live to discuss its rich history and announce a new major library exhibition to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.

Link to full video from ABC News

*Links provided to external (non-MBLC) news stories are done so as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the MBLC. MBLC bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

📰August 2025 Libraries in the News

Have a news story you’d like to share? Please email the link to MBLC Communications Specialist June Thammasnong (june.thammasnong@mass.gov), thank you! 

[PDF] Libraries in the News – August 2025Download

🗞️Local News 

📄MBLC Funds Statewide eContent – MBLC Press Release (8/7/2025)

At its August board meeting, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) approved $500,000 in grants to Automated Networks to purchase eContent for the Library eBook and Audiobook (LEA) program. LEA gives Massachusetts residents access to eBooks, audiobooks, and more from 400 participating libraries from across the Commonwealth. This statewide system allows eContent to be shared in a similar way to physical materials, opening up access that was previously unavailable for eBooks and audiobooks. The LEA collection has grown 37% over the past three years and totals almost 1.5 million eBooks and Audiobooks.

Link to full MBLC Press Release

📄New library at 38 Avenue A in Turner Falls preferred over Carnegie Renovation – by Erin-Leigh Hoffman, Greenfield Recorder (8/15/2025) – This project is part of the MBLC’s Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program-

TURNERS FALLS — The property that once housed a Cumberland Farms and was later eyed for a mixed-use development may be starting a new chapter, this time as a library.

Link to full article from Greenfield Recorder

📄 Masters of their craft: Elizabeth Taber Library launches new makerspace – by Grace Ann Natanawan, Sippican Week (8/19/2025) – Elizabeth Tabor Library in Marion received an LSTA Creative Communities grant in 2024 to help support this project –

LUNENBURG — The Boston Bruins have teamed up with libraries across the state to encourage children and teens to keep reading over the summer.

The Lunenburg Public Library and the Thayer Memorial Library are two of just 12 public libraries selected to receive a special summer reading visit from Bruins’ mascot Blades.

Link to full article from Sippican Week

📄Where will Yarmouth build a new, modern library?  Here are 5 possible sites. – by Susan Vaughn, Cape Cod Times (8/21/2025) – This project is part of the MBLC’s Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program –

South Yarmouth and West Yarmouth libraries are too small to serve the town, library officials say. Now, a new building is planned for both.

Link to full article from Cape Cod Times

📝 The Future is Unknowable, but the Past Can Help Us Prepare – by Al Hayden, MBLC Blog (8/25/2025)

Welcome back to another edition of Fortifying Your Library! While I remain committed to being a policy nerd and will continue to offer policy-based content that hopefully helps your libraries, there are other ways to fortify your library. I wanted to spend some time addressing a question that has been on my mind: what happens to public libraries during an economic recession? As you may suspect, what prompted this inquiry was the large quantity of media speculation as to whether or not the US is heading towards a recession.

Link to full post on the MBLC Blog

📄Letter to the Editor: Funding Cuts and the Revere Public Library – by The Revere Public Library Board of Trustees, Revere Journal (8/21/2025)

Many of you may not realize that your public library is funded in several ways: through the City of Revere budget, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC), and the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).  IMLS was recently defunded by Presidential Executive Order #14238 and this letter is about the impact on your public library of the loss of this agency and the funding it administered.

Link to full article from The Revere Journal

📄 Bruins Mascot to Celebrate Summer Reading at Local Libraries – by Cheryl A. Cuddahy, Sentinel & Enterprise (8/3/2025)

LUNENBURG — The Boston Bruins have teamed up with libraries across the state to encourage children and teens to keep reading over the summer.

The Lunenburg Public Library and the Thayer Memorial Library are two of just 12 public libraries selected to receive a special summer reading visit from Bruins’ mascot Blades.

Link to full article from Sentinel & Enterprise

📺 Bruins Mascot visits Wilks Library– by New Bedford Government Access (8/19/2025)

NEW BEDFORD — Boston Bruins mascot Blades visited the Wilks Library in New Bedford! New Bedford Cable Network captured all the fun here:

Link to full video from New Bedford Government Access

🗞️ National News

📄 How Libraries Became ‘First Responders’ for America’s Opportunity Gap – by Wilfred Chan, Carnegie Corporation of New York (8/25/2025)
Last year, the New York Public Library’s English classes were attended 200,000 times — and it still can’t keep up with demand. 

Link to full article from Carnegie Corporation of New York

📄 Attorneys General Beseech R.I. Judge to Protect IMLS – by Nathalie op de Beek, Publishers Weekly (8/25/2025)
As the calendar ticks toward September 30 and the end of fiscal 2025, at which time U.S. legislators will determine FY 2026 appropriations for public institutions, 21 states’ attorneys general have asked the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island to enter a summary judgment in State of Rhode Island v. Trump. They seek a permanent injunction to keep the Institute of Museum and Library Services, along with the Minority Business Development Agency and Federal Conciliation and Remediation Service, fully staffed and operational.

Link to full article from Publisher’s Weekly

📄 More Details Emerge About IMLS Dismantling; Plaintiffs in RHODE ISLAND Lawsuit Seek Permanent Injunction – by Kelly Jensen, Book Riot (8/26/2025)
More details emerge in what happened during the IMLS takeover by DOGE and what might happen in the federal lawsuits against the agency’s dismantling.

Link to full article from Book Riot

📄 New ULC Analysis Shows Downtown Libraries Are the Anchors Cities Need – Urban Libraries Council (ULC) (8/27/2025)
Office attendance has yet to rebound, but central libraries are bringing people and energy back to city centers, as our new data shows–
Public libraries have long been at the heart of American cities, and the large central libraries that serve as the flagship of most systems are among our most vibrant public spaces. Whether historic architectural landmarks or modern works of art, they collectively represent over 215 million square feet and serve nearly a third of the U.S. population – the indoor public space of America, where all offerings are free of charge.

View ULC’s new data and visualization based on analysis above

Link to full intro blog on ULC Analysis

📄 Braille libraries offer community.  What happens when funding cuts close them? – by Hannah Goeke, Christian Science Monitor (7/31/2025) – Includes an interview with Perkins Library Executive Director Kim Charlson-

Marci Carpenter reconnected with her love of reading through her fingertips. When her vision became more limited, learning braille gave her a new way to experience the world. She still remembers how the words of Robert Frost’s poems came alive again through soft bumps embossed on thick paper.

But it was the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library in Seattle that gave her a place to connect.

Link to the full article from Christian Science Monitor

📄More and more books are being banned.  SoCal libraries find a solution – by Annie Goodykoontz, Los Angeles Times (8/14/2025)

To combat book censorship, some Southern California public libraries, including Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego, are joining libraries nationwide to provide access to online library cards. Children as young as 13 can get a free e-card to access the libraries’ catalog of e-books and audiobooks, without parental permission and without any challenges they may face to get a book in their local library.

Link to full article from Los Angeles Times

📄 PLA celebrates Project Outcome success; transitions resources for free ongoing use – by American Library Association (ALA) Press Release (8/19/2025)

CHICAGO—The Public Library Association (PLA) today launched a suite of outcome measurement resources developed as part of the Project Outcome toolkit. The new webpages culminate a decade of work dedicated to sharing the impact of public library services and programs via simple surveys and an easy process to measure and analyze patron outcomes. The “Utilizing Outcome Measurement to Improve Library Services” webinar on August 28 will guide participants through the templates and tools.

Link to full press release from ALA

📄 At airport libraries, books fly off the shelves – by Hannah Simpson, The Washington Post (8/18/2025)

Airports all over the country have introduced book exchanges, to the delight of literary travelers.

Link to full article from The Washington Post

📄 Library of Congress acquires only known lyrics sketch of ‘Over the Rainbow’ – Chloe Veltman, NPR (8/25/2025)
The Library of Congress has acquired rare artifacts related to the beloved 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

The treasures include 35 musical manuscripts from composer Harold Arlen and lyricist E. Y. “Yip” Harburg’s creative output, including the first handwritten drafts of music and lyrics from some of the most well-known The Wizard of Oz songs, draft song lists and correspondence from the director of the film, Mervyn LeRoy.

Among the artifacts is the only lyric sketch for “Over the Rainbow” known to exist.

Link to full article from NPR

Related: 📄Want to See the Original Lyrics for ‘Over the Rainbow’?  All You Need is a Library Card – Ella Feldman, Smithsonian Magazine (8/27/2025). Link to full article from Smithsonian Magazine

📄 How Portlanders have expanded Little Free Library’s ‘take a back, leave a book’ – by Crystal Ligori, NPR (8/23/2025)
In Portland, Ore., people have gone beyond the trend of Little Free Libraries, creating all kinds of sidewalk installations to spark joy.

Link to listen and full transcript from NPR

o*Links provided to external (non-MBLC) news stories are done so as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the MBLC. MBLC bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

📰 July 2025 Libraries in the News

Library News from Across the Commonwealth and the Nation*

Have a news story you’d like to share? Please email the link to MBLC Communications Specialist June Thammasnong, thank you!

PDF Libraries in the News – July 2025Download

🗞️ Local News

📄 State and Regional Sector Leaders Testify on $2.8M in Terminated NEA, NEH, and IMLS Grants – by Emily Ruddock, New England Foundation for the Arts (7/21/2025)
BOSTON (7/16/25) – On Tuesday, July 15, 2025, the House Committee on Federal Funding, Policy and Accountability held an oversight hearing by invitation to learn how recent federal funding cuts and the proposed elimination of federal arts agencies is impacting the creative sector in Massachusetts and communities that cultural organizations serve. MASSCreative, Mass Cultural Council, Mass Humanities, New England Foundation for the Arts, New England Museum Association, and other local, state, and regional cultural organizations were invited to testify before the House Committee and their guests from the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development. 

Link to full article from the New England Foundation for the Arts

Link to hearing details and to view full testimonies, including testimonies from MBLC Director Maureen Amyot, American Library Association President Maria McCauley and Boston Public Library President David Leonard

📄 FY2026 State Budget and Library Legislation – MBLC News Release (7/10/2025)
Governor Maura Healey recently signed the $60 billion FY2026 state budget which includes $52,411,000 for libraries. The budget level funds all but two Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) budget lines: the Board of Library Commissioners Support and Outreach Services line (7000-9101) which was reduced by $21,341 and Technology and Resource Sharing line (7000-9506) which received a $3,210 increase. The full budget chart is available on the MBLC website.
Link to full article from the MBLC

📄 Library cuts threaten the “bridge across the digital divide”– by Sam Drysdale, State House News Service (7/16/2025)
BOSTON (SHNS) – Summer reading programs, English language classes, online research databases used in public schools across the state, free newspaper archives, e-book access, and GRE and career prep resources are on the chopping block as a cut to federal funding is poised to hit Massachusetts libraries.

Link to full article from State House News Service posted on 22 NEWS WWLP

📄 Federal cuts to library services could impact research tools used mostly by students – by Phillip Bishop, New England Public Media (7/21/2025)
Federal cuts to library service funding could disrupt key resources that could lead to struggles for students in the next school year.

Link to full article from New England Public Media

📄 E-books rise, budgets fall: Berkshire libraries navigate a shifting landscape – by Dylan Thompson, The Berkshire Eagle (7/28/2025)

LANESBOROUGH — Even as public libraries face federal funding cuts, staff shortages and rising demand for digital media, Lanesborough Public Library Director Sheila Parks believes libraries are “more important than ever.”

Link to full article from The Berkshire Eagle

📄 FY2026 MBLC Officers Elected – MBLC News Release (7/10/2025)
The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) elected new officers to serve for FY2026 at its Board Meeting on July 10, 2025.
Link to full article from the MBLC

📄 MassArt at the Library Returns – MBLC News Release(7/10/2025)
MassArt at the Library is returning for another summer of connecting people to art through workshops at public libraries. The program, sponsored by The Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC), places MassArt faculty and student ambassadors in public libraries so that children and teens can experience the benefits of art creation, learn about the creative process, connect with MassArt faculty and students, and explore art as a possible career path.
Link to full article from the MBLC

📄 Chapters in chairs: ‘Lounging for Literacy II’ draws 240 to Westhampton Library – but no new world record – by Samuel Gelinas, Daily Hampshire Gazette (7/10/2025)
WESTHAMPTON — Exactly 240 people came out with their lawn chairs on Saturday at the town’s library in hopes of being a part of a world record for the largest gathering of people reading in lawn chairs.
Link to full article from the Daily Hampshire Gazette

📄 Boston Bruins helping boost literacy through summer reading program – by Matt Price and Ryan Trowbridge, Western Mass News (7/22/2025)

RUSSELL, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – While school is out, kids are still being advised to do a little summer reading and, in Russell on Tuesday, some of those young ones got a little sports surprise from Boston to get them motivated.

Link to full article from Western Mass News

More articles on the Blades visit to Russell Public Library:

📄 Boston Bruins mascot, Blades, takes center ice at Hadley Library – by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette (7/23/2025)

HADLEY — Posing for pictures, signing autographs and participating in crafts and other activities, Blades, the mascot for the Boston Bruins, and more than 20 University of Massachusetts hockey players, thrilled hockey fans of all ages at the Hadley Public Library Tuesday afternoon.

Link to full article from Daily Hampshire Gazette

🗞️ National News

📄 Early Closure of House Leaves IMLS Future Hanging; What This Means & What You Can Do – by Kelly Jensen, Book Riot (7/29/2025)
On March 14, the Trump administration announced via an Executive Order that the only federal agency dedicated to public libraries and museums, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) would be dismantled. Since that time, employees have been laid off and federal funding has been revoked and reinstated nationwide. The Trump-appointed acting director of the agency, Keith Sonderling, made clear that the purpose of the agency going forward would be state propaganda.

Link to full article from Book Riot

📄 Senators—Including Republicans—Reject All of Trump’s Proposed Education Cuts – by Mark Leiberman, Education Week (7/31/2025)
Key U.S. senators from both parties on Thursday decisively rejected virtually all the Trump administration’s proposals to slash K-12 education investments—and pushed back against its efforts to shrink the Department of Education and move its functions to other agencies.

Link to full article from Education Week

📄 The Trump Administration is Threatening Libraries, Museums, and Other Nonprofits That Support the Arts, Humanities and Learning – by Cristin Dorgelo, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (7/7/2025)
The Trump Administration is attacking federal support for thousands of community libraries, museums, and other nonprofits that support the arts, humanities, and learning, diminishing programs and services provided daily to families across every U.S. state and territory.

Link to full article from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

📄 The Trump Administration is Threatening Libraries, Museums, and Other Nonprofits That Support the Arts, Humanities and Learning – by Cristin Dorgelo, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (7/7/2025)
The Trump Administration is attacking federal support for thousands of community libraries, museums, and other nonprofits that support the arts, humanities, and learning, diminishing programs and services provided daily to families across every U.S. state and territory.

Link to full article from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

📄 Large Public Libraries Give Young Adults Across U.S. Access to Banned Books– by Claire Woodcock, EdSurge (7/3/2025)
Young adults are finding it harder to borrow books reflective of their lived experiences in their schools and public libraries. It isn’t because these stories don’t exist — they do — but because they’ve been challenged and removed, restricted, or were never purchased at all.

Link to full article from EdSurge

📄 Libraries Pay More for E-Books.  Some States Want to Change That. – by Erik Ofgang, The New York Times (7/16/2025)
It’s hard to imagine a library that doesn’t carry “Fahrenheit 451.” But making Ray Bradbury’s classic novel about book burning available to libraries in an e-book format can be its own little dystopian nightmare, according to Carmi Parker, a librarian with the Whatcom County Library System in northwest Washington.

That’s because library access to digital books and digital audiobooks — often collectively referred to as e-books — generally costs much more than the print version of these books.

Link to full article from The New York Times

📄 More than 90 Authors to Join the 25th Library of Congress National Book Festival – Library of Congress Press Release (7/8/2025)
Uniting book lovers for 25 years, the Library of Congress National Book Festival will return on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Throughout the day, attendees will hear conversations with more than 90 authors whose literary genres range from fiction to nonfiction, picture book to biography, poetry to young adult, and more.

Link to full article from the Library of Congress Newsroom

📄 Trump has fired the head of the Library of Congress, but the 225-year-old institution remains a ‘library for all’ – so far – by Alex H. Poole, The Conversation (7/23/2025)

Carla Hayden, the 14th librarian of Congress, who has held the position since 2016, received an unexpected email on May 8, 2025.

“Carla, on behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” wrote Trent Morse, deputy director of presidential personnel at the White House.

Link to full article from The Conversation

📄 The Internet Archive just became an official U.S. federal library – by Chase DiBenedetto, Mashable (7/25/2025)
Internet Archive — the no-cost, nonprofit digital library that has become embroiled in the nationwide battle over copyrights and free speech — is now an official source for government documents. According to a new designation announced by California Senator Alex Padilla, the website will join a network of more than 1,000 libraries around the country tasked with archiving government documents for public view. Unlike other designated federal depository libraries, as they are known, the Archive is entirely online. 

Link to full article from Mashable

📄 School Librarians Share Concerns, Hopes in the New School Year – by Kara Yorio, School Library Journal (7/30/2025)

At a Title I district in New Jersey, a high school librarian was already concerned about her students heading into the 2025–26 school year. The loss of Institute of Museum and Library Services funding meant limited or possibly no databases for research. Frozen federal funding threatened after school programs that keep kids safe, fed, and on-track academically. Then, on July 14, the Supreme Court issued a shadowdocket ruling with no explanation that allows the Trump administration to proceed with its dismantling of the Department of Education. And the librarian’s worries escalated.

Link to full article from School Library Journal

📄 The 10 most beautiful libraries in the world – by Kaela Ling, CNBC (7/31/2025)

Some libraries aren’t just places to borrow books — they’re destinations with deep history and architecture that tell stories beyond the pages.

The 1000 Libraries Awards 2025 highlights some of the most beautiful libraries and bookstores globally, according to200,000 online voters.

Link to the full article from CNBC

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