Perhaps one of the truest versions of life in America’s small and rural communities can found each day in their public libraries, where residents connect.

A genre perfect for fall, these books feature academic pursuits that take an unexpected and often perilous turn.

Paola Velez is an award-winning chef, entrepreneur, fierce community activist, and author. Her debut cookbook, Bodega Bakes, will be published in October. Growing up between the Bronx and the Dominican Republic, Velez is known for combining the flavors of her childhood and heritage and reinterpreting them through her experience as a professional chef specializing in the pastry arts.

I realize that genealogical research has long been associated with the retiree demographic, something one’s grandparents might do in their free time, and not what today’s students would gravitate toward on their own initiative. But that is where the wonder of the required assignment comes in, and where budding amateur genealogists are made. As the great American novelist William Faulkner once said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” And that’s what I try to instill in the students I teach about the wonders and magic of genealogical research.

COVID shifts drove falling print circ and rising ebooks. But will it last? LJ's 2021 Materials Survey looks at some of the last year's trends.

This is the 13th year of the LJ Index of Public Library Service and Star Library ratings. The 2020 scores and ratings are based on FY18 data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Public Library Survey (PLS). Because of that delay, they don’t reflect the impact of the coronavirus; that won’t be reflected in the data until 2022. The big news in this year’s edition is that successful retrievals of electronic information (e-retrievals)—measuring usage of online content, such as databases, other than by title checkout—joins the six other measures that determine the LJ Index.

Whether librarians are providing services in-person or virtually, reference has changed with the pandemic.

Library Journal’s annual Placements & Salaries survey reports on the experiences of LIS students who graduated and sought their first librarian jobs in the previous year: in this case, 2019. Salaries and full-time employment are up, but so are unemployment and the gender gap; 2019 graduates faced a mixed job market even before the pandemic.

From the State Library of Oregon: Libraries and schools in Oregon reported the highest number of challenges to books and other materials in 2023-24 since the State Library of Oregon began collecting data. Statistics on the past year’s materials challenges and more are available in the latest report of the Oregon Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse. The […]

From The Bookseller: Sage is the latest academic publisher to confirm it is considering licensing its authors’ content for use by Artificial Intelligence companies, saying this is a “preferable route” to having its content illegally “harvested”. A Sage spokesperson told The Bookseller: “We have reason to believe many tech companies have already harvested much of our […]

AI The United Nations Wants to Treat AI With the Same Urgency as Climate Change (via WIRED) See Also: Report Discussed in Article (Full Text) Carnegie Corporation of New York New Support for New York City’s Public Libraries from the Foundation Established by Andrew Carnegie Center for Open Science New Preprint Introduces Major Update to […]

The article linked below was recently just accepted for publication by Quantitative Science Studies (QSS). Title We Need to Rethink the Way We Identify Diamond Open Access Journals in Quantitative Science Studies Authors Marc-André Simard Université de Montréal Leigh-Ann Butler University of Ottawa Juan Pablo Alperin Simon Fraser University Stefanie Haustein University of Ottawa Source […]

When the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccines began to roll out in mid-December 2020, their distribution was immediately complicated by a shortage of doses and widespread uncertainty about who would be given priority. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued suggested guidelines for phased allocation. When it was not yet clear who would be next, many library workers, leaders, and associations began advocating for public facing library workers to be vaccinated as soon as feasible.

In the messy middle of the pandemic, library leaders share how things have changed since March 2020, their takeways, and continuing challenges.

Whether librarians are providing services in-person or virtually, reference has changed with the pandemic.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of books on the subject has been increasing exponentially. This introductory list, which will be updated regularly, is meant to help collection development librarians get started on determining which books work best for their collections.

As readers saw in Alam’s previous novel, Leave the World Behind, there is a palpable sense of dread running through this highly recommended book as well. In this case, it is not an existential threat to humanity; it’s the train wreck that is Brooke’s life. Readers may see it coming, but they won’t be able to look away.

How old is your library? In 2021, the American Library Association reported that the average library building is over 40 years old and that the nation’s 17,000 public libraries would need approximately $32 billion dollars for construction and renovation over the next 25 years.

The shortlist for the Nota Bene Prize, for novels “that have received organic, word-of-mouth recognition and are deserving of a wider readership,” is revealed. Annabel Sowemimo wins the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing for Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need To Decolonise Healthcare. Salman Rushdie wins the Halldór Laxness International Literary Prize. Winners of the V&A Illustration Awards and the shortlist for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year are also announced. Several academic publishers facing an antitrust suit over unpaid peer review processes. Plus, new title bestsellers and an Isabel Allende Barbie doll.

LitHub releases its ultimate fall reading list. Nadia Davids wins the Caine Short Story Prize, and the German Book Prize shortlist is announced. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Richard Osman’s latest novel, We Solve Murders. Memoirs from Connie Chung, Jaleel White, Melania Trump, Wilmer Valderrama, Katherine Moennig, and Leisha Hailey get buzz. Plus, interviews with Srikanth Reddy, Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert, Sharon McMahon, Terry Szuplat, and Francis S. Collins.