Axios: “…Zoom out: At the same time, libraries are grappling with everything from the high cost of e-books to the need to provide free outdoor Wi-Fi so people without broadband can have off-hours access.

• Many libraries are trying to ease food insecurity by adding gardens, nutrition classes, food pantries and cooking lessons.
• “During the pandemic, we distributed 350,000 COVID kits,” Losinski said. “You say: ‘Well, is that the library’s business?’ It is for us.”

Zoom in: On the plus side, there’s a boom in new or refurbished children’s rooms — in communities including Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Paramus, New Jersey.

• Libraries in Nashville; St. Cloud, Minnesota; and Yonkers, N.Y., have built “sensory” or “calming” rooms for children with autism and other neurodivergent conditions. A branch of the Indianapolis Public Library recently became the state’s first Certified Autism Center.
• A group called LibraryReady.AI is training librarians to teach kids to use AI…”