Among the technological inventions found, there were the following: digital library management device, artificial intelligence-basedkiosk, automated book sorting system, RFID library inventory system, multilingual semantic search device, and digital access platform. The findings indicate that technology design patents have contributed immensely in making smart library systems possible through automation, artificial intelligence, and digital technology.
From ASIS&T Information Brief: TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN PATENTS ENABLING SMART LIBRARIES: A STUDY OF INNOVATIONS FOR LIBRARY MANAGEMENT AND USER SERVICES
Do you want freedom to read erased from our Freedom of Speech?
“Parents, not politicians, should guide their children’s reading. In our school, campus, and public libraries, materials are selected by trained literacy professionals who understand child development and community needs. Their work is grounded in one clear purpose: helping young people become lifelong readers.
“H.R. 7661 isn’t fundamentally about protecting kids. It’s about giving politicians broad authority to restrict whose stories are allowed on our shelves. That should concern anyone who believes in the freedom to read and the right of families to make decisions for themselves.
“Rather than targeting librarians and teachers, Congress should invest in them. The Right to Read Act offers a better path, supporting well-staffed and well-resourced school libraries, strengthening evidence-based literacy instruction, and protecting the dedicated professionals who help young people discover books that open doors and expand horizons. When we trust families, support educators, and protect the freedom to read, our young people thrive.”
H.R. 7661, also known as the “Stop the Sexualization of Children Act,” would modify the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by prohibiting use of funds under the act “to develop, implement, facilitate, host, or promote any program or activity for, or to provide or promote literature or other materials to, children under the age of 18 that includes sexually oriented material, and for other purposes.”
When most people think of bookstores, they think of Barnes and Noble, or even perhaps the long-forgotten and well-missed Borders bookstores. However, there are also those small local bookstores that seem so iconic in someone’s hometown, but they never really get the attention they deserve.
Thus, Independent Bookstore Day was born. For those who are a fan of the written word, the bound liturgy, the totality of textbooks, the valor of vellum, and the preponderance of parchment, now is the time to sound that battle cry for Independent Bookstore Day:
Watch a Film about a Bookstore
Some fun and interesting movies have been made featuring bookstores and their owners. Invite some friends over and watch one of these films in celebration of Independent Bookstore Day:
You’ve Got Mail (1998). In this rom com, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan play two characters who fall in love but need to overcome the fact that they each run very different types of bookstores.
Notting Hill (1999). The owner of a travel bookshop in Notting Hill, played by Hugh Grant, falls in love with a movie star portrayed by Julia Roberts in this romantic comedy.
The Bookshop (2017). Emily Mortimer plays a bookshop owner who tries to open a bookstore in a small coastal town in England in the late 1950s.
The Booksellers (2019). This documentary is a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the rare book world in New York City.
A few years ago, I tried desperately to find The Secret Lives of Bookseller and Librarians: True Stories of Magic of Reading by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. It was published in April 2024 and did not come out in paper back until 2025. I must have missed the release date and could not find it in any used or new bookstore. I did find it in Barnes and Noble on sale and recommended it to some fellow Librarians during a local Library Week dinner. S
History of Independent Bookstore Day
While the history of bookselling hails back to ancient times, bookstores themselves are a bit newer. Perhaps it isn’t recorded exactly which bookstore was the first to be opened and where. However, what is known is that the oldest bookstore in the world that is still in operation is located in Lisbon, Portugal, known as Livraria Bertrand. This iconic bookstore was opened in 1732.
Now, it’s time to fast forward almost two centuries to find the first national Independent Bookstore Day being established. This day was started in 2015 by Samantha Schoech, a writer, copywriter and editor and the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.
Over 400 independent bookstores participated in the first event, which was rather successful. The day is aimed to help independent bookstores have higher sales in their merchandise and help bring into the spotlight the potential of these indie bookstores.
Independent Bookstores Day even has their own merchandise produced, and thus stores all over the country can take the time out to sell this merchandise as part of the celebration.
Much of the aim of these indie bookstores is to keep to their roots in traditional print as modern society moves into a digital age. These stores also help advertise new and budding authors who are working and making efforts to sell their novels or works of literature.
In just one year, International Bookstore Day produced an 85 percent increase in profits for the 420 stores that participated in the event. Not only that, but in the media, there were over 201 stories produced online about this important day.
The passion behind this day comes from the idea that bookstores aren’t just a place to buy books, but a place where communities gather together and express their love for stories. They become good places for kids to learn about literature and for adults to come in the midst of the day and relax with a good book.
Bookstores are places of connection and community, and this is the perfect day to celebrate Independent Bookstores!\
ndependent Bookstore Day Timeline
1886Barnes & Noble opens in New York City Originally an independent, this started as Arthur Hinds & Co. It was originally independent but was sold in the 1960s, eventually growing into America’s largest bookstore chain–and no longer independent.[1]
1919Shakespeare and Company opens in Paris An American in Paris, Sylvia Beach is a bookseller and publisher in whose shop the likes of James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway will hang out.[1]
1927Strand opens in New York City For years this was the largest used bookstore in the world with 18 miles of books.[1]
1998You’ve Got Mail is released in theaters This movie starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks is a rom-com following an independent bookstore owner as she falls in love with the head of a giant bookstore who is putting her out of business.[1]
2002Atlantis Books opens in Santorini This famous bookstore was started when two students visited the island, quickly ran out of reading material, and realized the island needed a bookstore.[1]
Independent Bookstore Day FAQs
This is a ‘one-day national party’ that takes place in independent bookstores across the country to recognize and celebrate their uniqueness and importance.[1]
Independent Bookstore Day falls annually on the last Saturday in April.[1]
Independent Bookstore Day reminds people that these businesses are good for the local economy, contribute to a city’s uniqueness and bring local readers together.[1]
This day is best celebrated by going to a locally owned bookstore, checking out the shelves, making a purchase, and telling them how much they are appreciated.[1]
Yes! Many independent bookstores have made a comeback, especially when they are in communities that recognize their benefits and support their efforts.[1]
The Jefferson Library at Monticello put together this article on about Jefferson and his books.
Books, “His Chosen Companions”
Thomas Jefferson’s granddaughter Ellen Wayles Randolph recalled: “Books were at all times his chosen companions.” Jefferson himself described his appetite for reading as “canine,” and he surrounded himself with books, storing them in various rooms so that at any moment — such as when waiting for guests to arrive for dinner — he could read.
Title page of Jefferson’s copy of the Iliad)
Jefferson’s Reading Interests and Habits
The wide variety of Jefferson’s interests is revealed in his book collections, covering the “visions of antiquity,” “everything which related to America,” and “whatever was rare and valuable in every science.” Jefferson read in French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon, and collected books in their original languages. He organized these books according to Francis Bacon’s divisions of knowledge, a system that was later adopted by the Library of Congress.
Monticello’s Tabitha Corradi and Endrina Tay discuss how Jefferson organized his monumental collection and our recent efforts to restore book boxes and install the books on display in the Private Suite in the same order as Jefferson would have had them. (3.5 minutes)
Jefferson’s Libraries
Jefferson collected several libraries in his lifetime. He started the first in his youth, but it was destroyed when his mother’s home, Shadwell, burned in 1770. The second, and largest, of his collections was comprised of some 6,500 books, and in 1814 he sold it to the United States government. This set of books formed the nucleus of the Library of Congress, replacing the collection that was burned by the British during the War of 1812. After the sale, Jefferson began amassing a third library for the amusement of his retirement years. By the time of his death, the book room held some 1,600 of his favorite books.
The shelves on which Jefferson stored his books were likely made at the Monticello joinery, and the units could be stacked on top of one another to form floor-to-ceiling shelves. If Jefferson wanted to move the books, however, the open side of each unit could be boarded-over to create a portable book-box.
Monticello’s Tabitha Corradi and Endrina Tay discuss how Jefferson organized his monumental collection and our recent efforts to restore book boxes and install the books on display in the Private Suite in the same order as Jefferson would have had them. (3.5 minutes)
How Jefferson Organized His Books
Jefferson’s reading focused on the “delights of classical reading and of mathematical truths.” He dismissed most novels as a “mass of trash,” and read newspapers less frequently as he aged, writing to James Monroe that “Indeed my scepticism as to every thing I see in a newspaper makes me indifferent whether I ever see one.”
Jefferson’s Libraries
Jefferson collected several libraries in his lifetime. He started the first in his youth, but it was destroyed when his mother’s home, Shadwell, burned in 1770. The second, and largest, of his collections was comprised of some 6,500 books, and in 1814 he sold it to the United States government. This set of books formed the nucleus of the Library of Congress, replacing the collection that was burned by the British during the War of 1812. After the sale, Jefferson began amassing a third library for the amusement of his retirement years. By the time of his death, the book room held some 1,600 of his favorite books.
The shelves on which Jefferson stored his books were likely made at the Monticello joinery, and the units could be stacked on top of one another to form floor-to-ceiling shelves. If Jefferson wanted to move the books, however, the open side of each unit could be boarded-over to create a portable book-box.
Jefferson’s Writings
Jefferson wrote only one full-length book, Notes on the State of Virginia, first published in 1787, which was a collection of his observations about the natural, animal, and human characteristics of his native land. Jefferson also wrote a brief autobiography, which begins: “At the age of 77, I begin to make some memoranda, and state some recollections of dates and facts concerning myself, for my own more ready reference, and for the information of my family.” In addition, he compiled a collection of extracts from the Gospels which he believed to be the true sayings of Jesus. The text, now published as Jefferson’s Extracts from the Gospels: “The Philosophy of Jesus” and “The Life and Morals of Jesus,” consists of translations of the gospels in Latin, Greek, French, and English, and was an effort on behalf of Jefferson to separate the true precepts of Jesus from their “corruptions.”
The American Library Association does define Outreach Librarianship on their website, but this is as close to a formal definition of Outreach as our profession seems to get. Traditionally, in our profession, Outreach has often been an afterthought. We tend to focus on our brick and mortar buildings: we build collections for our buildings; we hire staff for the buildings; we create programs for within our buildings; and we design our policies and procedures for our buildings.
These big-ticket items need to be reworked a little—or a lot—to translate well in Outreach. We often treat Outreach the way that art, music, and libraries are treated in public schools . . . we do them with leftover funds and leftover resources. This does not provide stability, and it lends itself to a certain disassociation with the rest of the profession. The lack of resources often presents itself in understaffing which creates a whole new set of issues including the lack of historical data for Outreach services in libraries.
Outreach as an afterthought? To further drive this point home, think about your MLIS program. How many of those programs offered solid instruction in Outreach? Did you take a class about Outreach that was truly about reaching patrons outside of buildings or was it something closer to marketing? While marketing is a form of Outreach, it is only one, small part of what Outreach services look like. Outreach is different enough from what happens in traditional libraries to warrant at least a one-semester, three-credit class in every program to learn about the different ways we reach those in our communities facing barriers to service.
Special Groups that may require outreach:
Youth
Seniors
People with special needs
People that can not get to the library normally
Geographically remote from a library
In order to move forward with Outreach Librarianship, we need to remedy these problems by focusing on what Outreach is and how it is done. Here are a few areas where work needs to be done:
Define Outreach
Create best practices
Create norms and standards
Reevaluate library policies and practices to better support Outreach
Better educate library staff, administration, and students about Outreach
Create templates to help new departments get off the ground
Teach advocacy for better Outreach resources
Collect and analyze data pertaining to Outreach services
Create tools to gather data and assess Outreach services
Right to Read Day, Monday, April 20 – organized through ALA’s Unite Against Book Bans initiative, this day calls on advocates to celebrate wins against censorship efforts and take action to defend the freedom to read. On Right to Read Day, ALA will release the State of America’s Libraries Report, including the Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2025
400 Approximate number of libraries in the National Park Service (NPS)
3.5 million materials housedin the Harper Ferry (W. VA) center for Media Services. (Collection inludes art, documents, photos, sound recording, uniforms, and other objects).
25 the number of Park respresented in the Open Parks Network, a collaboration between Clemend (SC) University and the Naional Park Service (and is funded the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
1923 – Year that Yosemite Research Library (YRL) began to acquiring its collection.
3,100 – Number of preserved plants in the herbarium at that Zion National Park in Utah.
8 – Number of items packed in the Teton County (WYO) LIbrary’s wild life kits. Each kit is available for checkout and includes a backpack, binoculars, and a field guide to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
Light breezes blew through the corridors of crosses Flanking both sides of Point Loma Rustling the long palm fronds And carrying the faint sounds of Navy planes Landing or taking off from nearby North Island The slow rhythm of The Navy Hymn captured The gentle ebb and flow of waves along the Coronado Shores Home is the sailor home from the sea Being laid to rest on the hill overlooking San Diego Bay Where 90 something Hal Simmons Had served his country and it's citizens for decades Including a final tour of duty as a volunteer on the USS Midway Museum
Wine Library combining two of my favorites in one delightful combination No surprise the books are both a tree and presents under the tree
Wine Library Book Tree Decorated for ChristmasWine Library Decorated for ChristmasKissing Balls in the Wine LibrarySee the real wine books under the Christmas tree in the Wine Library at Barboursville
Jefferson died at Monticello on July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. His friend and political rival, John Adams died later that same day.
His mistress, Sally Hemings, was the half sister of his wife Martha and was alleged to look like her.
Jefferson sent some small pox vaccination on the Lewis and Clark expedition to give to the Indians they might run into (but the vaccination spoiled before it could be used).
Jefferson once requested that a moose be slaughtered, preserved by a taxidemist, and sent to France so that he could prove a bet that everything was bigger in America. Unfortunately the moos was not well preserved and arrived in an appalling state of decay.
Ft Jefferson, on the Dry Tortugas, off the coast of Key West, housed Confederate POWs during the Civil War. Dr. Mudd was found guilty as a Lincoln conspirator, because he set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth and was sentenced to imprisonment in the Fort. He was set free after his selfless service in helping the prison staff fight the Yellow Fever outbreak in 1867, after the prison doctor succumbed to the disease.
Congress did not overpay Jefferson (nor did he demand a set price) for his personal library after he sold it restart the Library of Congress, following the burning of the library during the British invasion of Washington, DC in 1814.
James Monroe, was a neighbor of Jefferson, and died on July 4, 1831 in New York City.
James Madison, who lived in neighboring Orange County. He and his wife Dolly were frequent guests of Jefferson at Monticello.
Jefferson’s favorite architectural shape was an 8 sided Octagon because supposedly it let in more light, with less shade, than the more traditional square room. In addition to at least two octagon shaped rooms at Monticello, he created an Octagon shaped house at his get-away plantation, Poplar Forest in Bedford, Virginia. He also built an Octagon shaped room in the house he designed for Governor Barbour in Barboursville, VA. The house burned on Christmas Day, 1884. The site is now the home of Barboursville Winery and Octagon is the name of the award winning red wine.
Deck the halls with boughs of books Falalalalala A Christmas tree with different looks Falalalalala Face the books with binding showing Falalalalalala Don't look the same both coming and going Falalalala
Each branch of the military have recreational or Morale, Welfare, Recreation Libraries that are like public libraries on military bases. Sometimes they are combined with other type of libraries like academic or technical libraries.
Even though the Government has been shut down for over two weeks, including the National Archives, the day can still be celebrated.
The video includes some friends and shipmates from the USS Midway (CV-41) Museum ship’s Curatorial and Library Division.
There is no “National Archivist Day,” but the archival community has a dedicated day called #AskAnArchivist Day, celebrated on October 16 as part of American Archives Month. Additionally, International Archives Day is on June 9 and is a separate event focused on archives worldwide
PEN America has documented nearly 16,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021, a number not seen since the Red Scare McCarthy era of the 1950s. This censorship is being mobilized by conservative groups— and has spread to nearly every state— and predominantly targets books about race and racism or individuals of color and also books on LGBTQ+ topics as well those for older readers that have sexual references or discuss sexual violence.
In the 2023-2024 school year, PEN America found more than 10,000 book bans affecting more than 4,000 unique titles, with about 45% of the bans occurring in Florida and 36% in Iowa. The most banned books in the 2023-2024 school year, according to the PEN America Index of School Book Bans, include bestselling novelist Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes, about the moments leading up to a school shooting, and John Green’s Looking for Alaska. The list also includes The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
The American Library Association documented another year in an unabating deluge of efforts to censor library materials in 2024, continuing an extremist campaign to suppress access to books that began in 2021. Last year, 2,452 unique titles were challenged, the third highest number ever documented by ALA and significantly exceeding the annual average of 273 unique titles over the period from 2001–2020.
How many banned books have you read? Did you know that even the Bible was banned at one time?
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