It's Academic

Do we want AI generated materials in our library collections?

September 30, 2026

Over the last year or so I’ve started to notice eBooks in my EBSCO subscription that are almost certainly AI generated. They come from lesser known publishers, the text has the technical but vacuous AI style, and the authors are as unknown as the publisher. I keep an eye out for these so that I can avoid them when buying new eBooks, but should I really have to do that? Shouldn’t companies like EBSCO be preventing AI generated texts like these from being a part in their offerings? I know AI use is going to be part of creating new material, but there needs to be some kind of quality control.

This problem has started to creep beyond no name publishers in EBSCO. Large companies like Springer and Elsevier have started to include “AI-based” works into their content. You can read more about this in the article “AI Slop Coming to a Library Near You” from Inside Higher Ed.

The article above concludes with a call for librarians to bring this problems up directly with vendors like EBSCO, which I know I’ll be doing. Nothing could do more to undermine trust in libraries than offering the same kind of AI junk that we caution students about.

“Sisyphus, take a seat”: Documenting practices, workflows, and decisions at your library

September 8, 2026

tags: connect and communicate series, professional development

by cre5314

Join CRD’s Connect & Communicate Series for a Webinar on
“Sisyphus, take a seat”: Documenting practices, workflows, and decisions at your library
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Creating and maintaining robust documentation can feel like an arduous, intimidating prospect. However, without good, clear documentation, we often find ourselves contending with cyclical challenges, disconnected from institutional memory or valuable context.

This session will underscore the value of documentation practices, and share:

Strategies to define what sustainable documentation might look like for your library;
Ideas to socialize documentation practices;
And suggestions on how to selectively integrate AI tools to conserve staff time and jump start the initial momentum.

Register at the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/m3KL3XjbRWmDrzZIAfeZoA

Upon submitting your registration, you will receive an email confirmation that includes details about connecting to the webinar. This is the only notification you will receive. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please contact Elliott Rose at elliott.c.rose@gmail.com.

For this program, you will need speakers or headphones to hear the presenter. Participants are encouraged to ask questions via the chatbox; moderators will monitor the chatbox and facilitate question and response at the end of the panel discussion.

Please continue to share your ideas for programming topics, speakers, or formats with us! If you or someone you know is doing something great in Pennsylvania’s academic libraries, tell us about it! The Connect & Communicate Series of online programming offered by the PaLA College & Research Division aims to help foster a community of academic librarians in Pennsylvania. Please contact Elliott Rose at elliott.c.rose@gmail.com with questions.

Connect and Communicate Series Presentation – September 8th

September 1, 2026

by colemanluzerne

The CRD’s next Connect and Communicate presentation is happening on September 8th from 3 – 4pm. If you are interested, please register using the link below!

Let Books Be

August 31, 2026

tags: BannedBooksWeek, programming

by Kelly Safin

Fall semester has its routines of the energetic (some say chaotic) start of term, a settling in leading up to midterms, cooler weather in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, and then an intense (some say stressful) atmosphere around finals. And every fall, around the beginning of October, libraries participate in Banned Books Week.

Banned Books Week is October 4-10, 2026 – which will be here in no time. This celebration of the freedom to read also draws attention to current and historical attempts to censor books. Libraries, educators, authors, booksellers, and readers participate in the effort to raise awareness about challenged and banned titles.

For 2026, the theme is “Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read.” This freedom continues to be contested, with cases documented by PEN America and ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom. Book ban data and other resources are also part of the Banned and Challenged Books section of ALA’s website.

At our library, we typically put together a display and Instagram posts, including graphics from ALA and staff selections from historically challenged titles. We’ve also created decoupage bobcats with a banned books theme, which are placed around campus with other groups’ creations for homecoming events.

Academic libraries around the state have also marked past Banned Books Weeks with displays, posts, and programming. These examples from the past few years show what can be done with a little, or a lot, of effort:

Displays: Duquesne, Susquehanna, Gettysburg
Posts: Carnegie Mellon, Shippensburg, Community College of Allegheny County (LibGuide)
Events/Collaborations: Penn State, Albright, Slippery Rock, Bucknell

Some librarians may be planning for their first Banned Books Week on the job. Others may have lost count of how much caution tape or brown paper wrapping they’ve used over the years. The importance of the freedom to read means that the work continues – for Banned Books Week, and year-round.

Connect & Communicate- Grow Yourself Here: Bibliotherapy for Student Enrollment, Success, and Retention

August 18, 2026

tags: connect and communicate series, professional development

by cre5314

Join CRD’s Connect & Communicate Series for a Webinar on
Grow Yourself Here: Bibliotherapy for Student Enrollment, Success, and Retention
Tuesday, September 8, 2026 from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

When librarians in Wolfgram Library at Widener University built a Student Success Collection to support student well-being and academic success on their campus, they used the methods of bibliotherapy to curate materials and break down barriers that were preventing students from finding and accessing these resources in the main library collection. Librarians have incorporated interaction with the new Student Success Collection into library tours for prospective students and into orientations for first-year students. These interactions encourage students to establish new habits for finding library sources and empowering themselves with knowledge to support their well-being and success. This presentation will share our experience facilitating bibliotherapy through our Student Success Collection and provide resources for those who may wish to create similar collections in their own libraries.

Register at the following link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/nML_68N-Tv2iaCKXjfg0Ww