National Library Week is celebrated during April, and these multitalented authors have also worked in libraries. Recognize them with a display!

Library entertainment platforms offering movies and TV shows gain on commercial streaming services as consumers balk at subscription costs. With “subscription fatigue” on the rise, libraries are seeing a growing popularity in streaming services—and deciding how best to provide them.

It’s April, which means that in addition to celebrating spring’s arrival, I’ll be joining libraries across the nation in celebrating National Library Week.

This superbly executed open-access database offers an unprecedented gateway to different versions of Shakespeare’s First Folios. AM’s powerful search tools and thoughtfully selected tips and pointers allow for exciting research opportunities.

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 a DPLA Blog Post: In Spring 2024, DPLA’s Metadata Working Group and Rights Statements Working Group produced Practical Approaches to Reparative Description, a workshop series designed for people working with cultural heritage data looking to deepen their understanding and practice of reparative description. Reparative description focuses on remediating or contextualizing potentially outdated or harmful language […]

The journal article (preprint version) linked below is scheduled for publication in the July 2024 issue of College & Research Libraries (C&RL). Title An Analysis of Hybrid/Remote Work Eligibility in Academic Librarian Job Advertisements Authors Ruth S. Connell Valparaiso University Meris Mandernach Longmeier Ohio State University – Main Campus Source College & Research Libraries (Forthcoming, […]

Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) ACRL Sets 2024-25 Legislative Agenda (via ACRL: Association of College & Research Libraries) Association of University Presses (AUPresses) AUPresses Releases 2024 Annual Report Knowledge Unlatched Knowledge Unlatched Announces 2024 Pledging for Libraries Library Publishing The LibPub Blog – Publishing Through the IFLA Global Lens (via IFLA) Wikidata D42023 […]

Safety Safety of Advanced AI Under the Spotlight in First Ever Independent, International Scientific Report (via Government of the UK) ||| Direct to Full Text Report (132 pages; PDF) US Congress Driving U.S. Innovation in Artificial Intelligence: A Roadmap For Artificial Intelligence Policy in the United States Senate (via US Senate) Workshop Proceedings Artificial Intelligence […]

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.

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Kevin Kwan, and Steven Rowley. Yepoka Yeebo’s Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World wins the BIO Plutarch Award. Six LibraryReads and seven Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan. PBS Canvas takes a look at the trending popularity of Japanese animation and comic books in the U.S. Plus, NYT delves into Reese Witherspoon's literary empire ahead of her 100th book club pick.

When Angel City Press (ACP) cofounders Paddy Calistro and Scott McAuley began thinking about retiring a few years ago, they knew they wanted to make sure ACP remained a local operation. Among other local partners, the press has produced several books in collaboration with Los Angeles Public Library, mining the library’s extensive photo archive and the deep knowledge of its librarians, including City Librarian John Szabo. Calistro approached Szabo with a proposition: She and McAuley would give the press to the library as a gift. Several years, a few lawyers, and much due diligence later, the donation has been approved by Los Angeles City Council, and ACP will now be known as Angel City Press at the Los Angeles Public Library.

Caleb Azumah Nelson wins the Dylan Thomas Prize for Small Worlds. Finalists have been selected for the Firecracker Awards, honoring the best independently published fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Abrams buys Taunton Books. Plus, interviews with Hari Kunzru, Coco Mellors, Curtis Sittenfeld, and Carvell Wallace.

Winners of the CrimeFest Awards are announced. Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy, Iman Mersal’s Traces of Enayat, and Ian Penman’s Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors win the James Tait Black Prizes for biography and fiction. The Finnish translation of This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone wins the Helsinki Science Fiction Society’s Tähtivaeltaja Award. Plus new title bestsellers.