In case we don't have enough to worry about, in May 2025, a Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals judge dismissed free speech claims in a public library book removal case in Texas. The Court ruled that library collection decisions are “government speech” and therefore not protected by the First Amendment. 

 This is a very very serious ruling. If it stands, there are far-reaching control issues and effects on all types of libraries, education institutions, and communities. The library plaintiffs supported by library administrations, publishers, literary groups, and intellectual freedom advocates have petitioned the Supreme Court of the US to hear the case and hopefully overrule it. 

 In this episode, we explain the issue in-depth, discuss the implications of the case and ruling, and sound the alarm as to why this is so important for libraries and librarians to ensure freedom of information protections in our country. 

Saskia Scheltjens is the model of the curious information guru. She has worked in the university and museum world in Belgium and the Netherlands, and is currently Head of Research Services at the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands. Her work at the Rijksmuseum has set the standard for accessibility, data management, and creating truly hybrid cultural heritage institutions. In this episode she talks to David about how AI is another tool to manage information, and how a dedication to open access might need to be rethought in an era of generative AI.

From natural disasters to social unrest to ongoing political and cultural attacks, libraries have consistently stepped up as safe havens, hubs for reliable information, and anchors of resilience. 
 
 Yes, communities turn to libraries in moments of crisis. But, libraries too face crises – especially right now when our very mission is threatened. There’s a rising tide of book bans, ideological attacks on intellectual freedom, and the politicization of education. Libraries need community advocacy, trust, and sustained support.

 It's past time for action – for both libraries and communities! 

 In this live podcast episode at the Library Journal 2025 Directors’ Summit we focus on the relationship between libraries and the communities they serve, especially during troubling times. How can libraries step up even more to provide essential information services and infrastructure - particularly in times of crisis - and to play essential roles in strengthening communities? In turn, how can communities in all settings ensure that the people who lead and sustain these institutions are supported and protected to carry the work forward?

Erik Boekesteijn, Senior Advisor National Library of the Netherlands, is a self-described Global Library motivator and Library Pirate. In this bonus episode, Dave and Erik talk about story telling and future thinking.

Recorded at the AI in Cultural Heritage Institutions September 9, 2025 Meeting.

Today, we’re diving into a topic that’s near and dear to us: the pathways into librarianship and the broader information professions—the credentials, the professional development, and, honestly, the things we didn’t learn in library school. 

Right now, higher education is being squeezed from every direction. Financial pressures are mounting with cuts to research and development funding, and uncertainty around international student enrollment is making things even more complicated. This has ripple effects for library and information science degree programs, continuing education, and the critical training we need for support staff who are the backbone of library and information services.

We all bring perspectives from both sides of the desk. We’ve been librarians, taught in highly ranked LIS programs, and worked directly with librarians, library staff, and information workers on the ground every day.

 In this episode, we explore what’s happening on campuses and in libraries, how professional pathways are shifting, and where the future of librarianship and the information field might be headed. Stick around as we unpack the challenges, opportunities, and maybe a few surprises about what it really takes to build and sustain a career in the library and information world.

This semester (Autumn 2025), Dave is teaching a course off AI in Cultural Heritage Institutions. For that he is talking with global experts in libraries and museums about AI and its impact. 

We offer some of these conversations as bonus episodes, and here’s the first: 

 Aaron Chaote is Director of Research & Strategy at the University of Texas Libraries. He focuses, “on research and innovation in libraries, archives, and museums - working with and studying the impact technology innovations have on systems and services and the people that rely on them.” 

Aaron and Dave talk about creating AI catalog records with “confidence scores.” The result is (perhaps) better access, but without human validation or sign off. Hmmm...we wonder, will libraries and librarians now have to to accept more randomness and less authority in our work.

There has been an assault on knowledge institutions in the past 8 months. Added to attacks on libraries are attempts to shape and control universities, museums, and federal agencies like the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the National Institutes of Health. Besides executive actions, there have been important judicial decisions that have massive implications for libraries, such as defining libraries as government speech and challenging book banning laws.

The goal of these attacks on our knowledge institutions is "enDumbification." "Dumbification" refers to the act or process of making something less informative or someone less intelligent, often to the point of decline in critical thinking skills. The prefix "en-" generally means "in," "into," or "cause to be" indicating a state of being or transformation. 

In this episode, we dig into this ongoing enDumbification, aka epistemicide, playing out across our cultural and educational institutions. From the Smithsonian framing history through a sanitized, white-centered lens, to school curricula that erase Indigenous, Black, and marginalized perspectives, we’re seeing a dangerous pattern of knowledge destruction. It’s showing up in the surge of book bans targeting authors of color and LGBTQ+ voices, and in political moves from the Department of Education that suppress critical inquiry. We’re also living in a media landscape where celebrity fitness trainers like Jillian Michaels are bizarrely asked by major news outlets to comment on the legacy of slavery, while PragerU’s agenda-driven videos are floated as replacements for trusted information sources like PBS. It's time for us to talk about how we respond when truth itself is under siege.

 Aughhhh!!! We knew this was coming, but it still hurts – even more. As part of the chain-saw destruction of much of the US federal government, the Institute for Museum and Library Services has been eliminated to the maximum extend of the law and ordered to reduce services and personnel to the minimum required by law. All budget requests from IMLS are rejected except those to shut down the agencies. And yes, the Executive Order usurps the intent of Congress.   

 According to ALA, “[l]ibrary funding draws less than 0.003% of the annual federal budget yet has enormous impact in communities nationwide.” The Libraries Lead team knows this firsthand having received R&D funding from IMLS and through working with libraries of all kinds across the US. It’s a tsunami and the effects are massive. 

In this episode, we share our disgust and anger at the devastating actions by the Tump administration. This is a gut punch and we need to catch our collective breaths, celebrate this outstanding agency, and then figure out what we can do individually and together to fight back.

With Dave on vacation, Beth & Mike also take a break from the challenges and issues facing the library & information field. Since both are both avid sports fans and since it’s “March Madness” (college basketball’s post-season extravaganza) time, they build on last month’s “information perspective” by taking a look at the entire phenomenon while wearing their library & information-colored glasses. So, fill out your brackets, grab a beverage and snacks, root for your favorite teams, and join Beth & Mike as they share and challenge each other’s perceptions and predictions.

 All three of us are hopelessly biased. We look at the world through “information-colored glasses.” This means that when we engage in any and all aspects of human life – work, play, learning – we can’t help but consider what’s going on from an information perspective. In any situation or in relation to any “person, place, or thing,” we almost unconsciously begin to identify and ponder the nature and influence of all things information including (but not limited to ) information systems, processes, artifacts, resources, management, behaviors, and ethics. 

 We find this information perspective to be incredibly valuable and interesting as we try to make sense of “life, the universe, and everything else.” We’ve studied, taught, presented, and applied an information perspective in many many settings. 

 Therefore, in this episode of the Libraries Lead podcast, we share the information perspective in terms of what, why, and how it may be useful for you too to put on “information-colored glasses.”