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 Urban Libraries Council:  The Urban Libraries Council released a new Leadership Brief addressing the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and its contribution to the spread of misinformation and disinformation. With social isolation on the rise, this brief examines how public libraries are uniquely positioned to combat these issues through the promotion of digital […]

From a Plan S News Post: A new online tool designed to assess the equity of scholarly communication models is launched today at the OASPA 2024 conference. The “How Equitable Is It” tool, developed by a multi-stakeholder Working Group, comprising librarians, library consortia representatives, funders and publishers, and convened by cOAlition S, Jisc and PLOS, aims to provide a framework for […]

AI Nature Index 2024: Artificial Intelligence (Seven Articles + Ten Data Tables) “The Data Says Otherwise” – Towards Automated Fact-checking and Communication of Data Claims (preprint via arXiv) The Dawn of the AI Era: Teens, Parents, and the Adoption of Generative AI at Home and School (via Common Sense Media) There Are More Than 120 […]

From the BBC:  A typical paperback book accounts for around 1kg of carbon dioxide, according to sustainability expert Mike Berners-Lee. Perhaps that does not sound like much. But in the US alone, where 767 million paperback books were sold in 2023, this is equivalent to the electricity use of more than 150,000 homes for a year. […]

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.

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.

Kerry Rea and Tiana Smith take readers on action-packed adventures, filled with romance and intrigue.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.

An incandescent, nail-biting adventure set at a flooded American Museum of Natural History and an epic journey through a near-future, ravaged landscape that blends extreme suspense with serene meditation.