The Marion Public Library was heavily damaged in 2020 after a derecho, or wind storm, tore through Eastern Iowa. The library offered programming in alternative locations while the branch was under repair. Photo: courtesy Marion Public Library

An aerial view of a building shows its roof is patched with tarps of different sized.

A cross-section of a book is photographed up close in black and white

Public libraries are spaces to access books, information, and increasingly, critical community services. Emily Drabinski, president of ALA, shares experiences from libraries across the US.

Portrait of Emily Drabinsky

Associate Professor

Emily Drabinski

America’s Saving Spaces

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Borderlands Cultures

In portrait orientation, an aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 

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