People

Three weeks after the fire was contained, Jessica Gleason, bookmobile librarian at the Wailuku Public Library, bookmobile driver Michael Tinker, and Lāhainā branch manager Chadde Holbron, hit the road to support Maui’s West Side community.

To help coordinate and support the work of saving government data, ensure that individual efforts didn’t duplicate one another, and provide a secure, accessible repository for archived material, a group of concerned librarians created the Data Rescue Project (DRP). A “clearinghouse” for data preservation efforts, DRP builds on efforts that began during Trump’s first term. LJ spoke with DRP organizer Lynda Kellam about the project and to learn more about how to get involved.

Capturing and preserving information has long been part of the library mission. As the world grapples with the wide range of threats climate change presents to the environment, ecosystems, and society, we can make a difference by keeping people informed.

Scott Summers, assistant director of the Media and Education Technology Resource Center (METRC) at North Carolina State University, was named a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker for his work developing a program to help new teachers understand the growing problem of book censorship in school libraries, and how to work with librarians against it. We recently spoke with Summers about why he developed the program and what it teaches.

Jennie Pu, director of Hoboken Public Library (HPL), NJ, has announced her run for New Jersey’s 32nd Legislative District Assembly. Pu, who has led HPL since 2021, would be the first librarian to run for state office in New Jersey (joining librarians Kathy Zappitello, who ran for Ohio state representative in 2022, and Rebekah Cummings, who ran for Lieutenant Governor of Utah in 2024). If elected, Pu will be the first Chinese American lawmaker in the state’s history and the first Asian American woman to represent Hudson County.

Voting for the American Library Association (ALA) 2026–27 presidential campaign opens March 10, and ALA members in good standing can cast their ballots through April 2. LJ invited candidates Lindsay Cronk, dean of libraries at Tulane University, New Orleans; Andrea Jamison, assistant professor of school librarianship, Illinois State University; and Maria McCauley, director of libraries, Cambridge Public Library, MA, to weigh in on some key issues.

One painful part of living through the pandemic for me was the sense that Americans were failing one another. Recent catastrophic weather events have brought back that same sense of unease. When deadly Hurricanes Helene and Milton made landfall last month, conspiracy theorists suggested they were manufactured for political benefit. Federal relief efforts were stymied by online misinformation, and a man was arrested for threatening FEMA workers. America, we’re not okay.

Library Journal is proud to announce a new partnership with the “Libraries Lead” podcast. Hosted by Mike Eisenberg (Professor and Dean Emeritus, U. of Washington iSchool), David Lankes (Virginia & Charles Bowden Professor of Librarianship, University of Texas at Austin), and Beth Patin (Assistant Professor, Syracuse University's School of Information Studies), the show explores the various social, cultural, and technological issues shaping (and being shaped by) libraries and librarians. New episodes drop monthly, and past episodes are now available at librarieslead.libraryjournal.com.

Nicollette Davis, assistant librarian for kinesiology, social work, and health sciences at the Louisiana State University library system, was named a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker for her work advocating for BIPOC people, both in the library system and in the community. We recently spoke with Davis to learn more about her projects.