On March 5, Clarivate issued an update  to its February 18 announcement of a new subscription-based content access strategy for ebooks and digital collections, acknowledging the need for community consultation and a new transition timeline. Because customers expressed that “the original communicated dates for the last orders would pose a considerable challenge,” the open letter stated, Clarivate will extend the ability to make perpetual purchases of print and ebooks on all platforms—including Ebook Central, OASIS, Rialto, and GOBI—through June 30, 2026.

We cannot be caught flat-footed when library funding is called into question. Doing the work of capturing stories today will help ensure we’re prepared to deal with threats that we may face tomorrow.

Strong mutual support among community partners, and a conscious shift over the past decade to investigate what each of its neighborhoods needs most, and then step up to those needs, has earned St. Louis County Library the 2024–25 Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize.

Jennie Pu, director of Hoboken Public Library (HPL), NJ, has announced her run for New Jersey’s 32nd Legislative District Assembly. Pu, who has led HPL since 2021, would be the first librarian to run for state office in New Jersey (joining librarians Kathy Zappitello, who ran for Ohio state representative in 2022, and Rebekah Cummings, who ran for Lieutenant Governor of Utah in 2024). If elected, Pu will be the first Chinese American lawmaker in the state’s history and the first Asian American woman to represent Hudson County.

From a News Release: openRxiv has officially launched as an independent nonprofit to oversee bioRxiv and medRxiv, the world’s leading preprint servers for life and health sciences. openRxiv ensures that researchers worldwide can continue to share discoveries rapidly and openly. With a researcher-led governance model, openRxiv strengthens the foundation of preprint sharing, empowering scientists to […]

From The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Following the lead of his predecessor, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins Monday entered the ongoing conservative culture war skirmish against so-called inappropriate reading material being made available to minors. While former Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft put a target on printed material in libraries during his tenure, Hoskins […]

From a Law Library of Congress Post: We are pleased to announce the new Congressional Research Service (CRS) products collection that is searchable within Congress.gov. CRS products include coveted CRS reports, testimony by CRS analysts, infographics, and more. Find descriptions for each CRS product type on our About Congressional Research Service (CRS) Products page. Public access to CRS […]

From NPR: Before the internet made book reviews widely accessible, where would curious minds go to find information about a new novel’s subject matter or a plot? If you lived in the Los Angeles area, you could reference the Los Angeles Public Library’s index of fiction book review cards. The reviews, a collection of thousands […]

Find out what's it like to look at the world from an information perspective, to put on your"information colored glasses!

From the Libraries Lead Podcast - February 2025, AI Watch Segment. Dave Lankes explains and demonstrates DeepSeek - the Chinese-based AI system. Go "under the hood" on DeepSeek and see how it performed better than any other current AI on Beth's query about integration in Alabama schools.

Maybe it’s time to move on from a piecemeal “customer” focus, and consider to a more complete “whole people in communities” approach.

Libraries remained mostly strong at the ballot in 2024, but a decline in construction initiatives and tightening budgets speak to the need for increasingly strategic advocacy.

The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards finalists, the Golden Poppy Book Award winners, and the British Book Awards Book of the Year shortlists are announced. Zando acquires Tin House. HarperCollins will publish Lucy Foley’s new Miss Marple novel in September 2026. In May, Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle will release the new book We Can Do Hard Things, based on their podcast. Martin Scorsese will adapt, direct, and produce Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead novels for the big screen. Louise Penny cancels U.S. tour dates. Plus, Terry Brooks passes the baton on his Shannara series.

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Chris Bohjalian, Karen Russell, Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles, and Colleen Oakley. People’s book of the week is Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall. April's Indie Next Preview features #1 pick Tilt by Emma Pattee. Plus, Hoda Kotb announces a new book, Jump and Find Joy, due out September 23.

Most research articles in journals have a standard structure with sections entitled “Introduction,” “Methods,” “Results,” and “Discussion.” Each has a clear remit except for the Discussion, which, if you’re a less experienced writer, may seem a hopelessly vague description. The occasional alternative of “Conclusion” or “General Discussion” isn’t much better.