Kate McDowell on Storytelling

 As I wrote in Critical Data Storytelling for Libraries : " There is no greater indication that libraries have a role to play in a free society than the degree to which they are attacked by authoritarian leaders and pro-censorship groups." Among the indications that the ideas in the book are timely have been the number of invited talks during fall 2025, and the number that I'm having to turn down. I was able to accept thirteen (13) invitations from August to November. The largest attended one was the AISLE keynote for Illinois school librarians. The one that most fueled my own creative thoughts was United for Libraries, the ALA-based group focusing on how trustees and friends of the library can help, because I have great interest in how data storytelling for libraries can have real local influence through those best positioned to retell the stories. The furthest away one was in Denmark, where I was so fortunate to spend my sabbatical and was already traveling there for my...

After several years of writing, with help from many colleagues along the way, my new book is  coming out this month!  I wrote this book because library workers who collect data are often siloed from those who tell stories. This book speaks to both audiences—data and story experts—to tackle common obstacles mindfully, with awareness of power and who has been historically excluded. I’ve based it on my 30 years of library work as well as my workshops and consulting, through which I frequently working struggling librarians to tell better data stories. T his book brings together current, critical insights for using data ethically for library advocacy, social justice, and inclusivity.   Sadly, rising pro-censorship movements and shrinking budgets threaten institutions like libraries, where anyone can walk in the door without having to believe or buy anything. We are seeing active defunding of libraries at every political level in our society today, federal to local. Trag...

  When Mr. Rogers was just a boy named Fred, his mother advised him, in times of trouble, that he should "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." He repeated that wisdom often. Our research team has been very fortunate to have seen some remarkable helpers over the past four years. This post is dedicated to all of the students who have helped to build the  The Data Storytelling Toolkit for Libraries (DSTL). The DSTL will continue, despite funding uncertainties (see below), but the work will necessarily have to take new forms. So it's a perfect time to pause and say thank you to the helpers , specifically the student workers and practicum participants from 2021-2025. On behalf of co-PIs Matt Turk and Jill Naiman, collaborators Sara Goek from the Public Library Association and Martha Kyrillidou of Quality Metrics LLC , and myself, we wish to give our heartfelt thanks to all of the following students: Research Assistants:   Xinhui Hu (2021-25)...