There are many ways to get into the Halloween spirit and still be safe and socially distant. We have rounded up some ideas to help you and your friends and family enjoy Halloween this year.

The Central Arkansas Library System, Georgia's Gwinnett County Library System, and South Carolina's Union County Library System demonstrate the focus on equity, social justice, and the health of their communities that has earned them Honorable Mention for the 2020  Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize.

The Georgia Public Library Service helps states tell their stories of impact with targeted tools and training, plus a dash of cash—winning it LJ's 2020 Marketer of the Year Award.

John Nichols Berry III, Library Journal editor for more than half a century, died on October 10, 2020, at the age of 87, of an apparent heart attack.

During the week of March 19–23 MIT Libraries convened experts from across disciplines and domains to identify and address grand challenges in the scholarly communication and information science landscape.

Suppose a librarian receives an email from a man named Greg Walsh, wanting to become a cardholder or simply inquiring about the open hours. Would the librarian reply? And, if so, would the reply be polite, including for instance some form of salutation, such as “Hello” or “Good morning”? Does your answer change if the guy is called Tyrone Washington? Is a librarian treating Jake Mueller differently from DeShawn Jackson?

A detailed look at pain management implementing the use of medical cannabis rather than opioids; A complex look at the issue of opioid abuse backed up with research and first hand stories; A valuable addition to the conversation about addiction filled with case studies illustrating the complexities of the disease

Editor Sarah Janssen discusses editing The World Almanac in an age where being attuned to "fake news" is especially vital.

From the Cornell University Library: When companies go toe to toe with labor unions, they call people like Leonard C. Scott, a former human resource and labor relations executive who also served as a consultant specializing in fighting unions and preventing them from forming in the first place. Cornell University Library’s Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation […]

The following preprint was posted today (October 30, 2020) on bioRxiv. Title Assessment of Transparency Indicators Across the Biomedical Literature: How Open is Open? Authors Stylianos Serghiou Google Despina G Contopoulos-Ioannidis Stanford University Kevin W Boyack Sci-Tech Strategies Nico Riede Berlin Insitute of Health Joshua David Wallach Yale School of Public Health John P. A. […]

Democratizing Data Reports Released by EDGI’s Environmental Enforcement Watch (via Environmental Data & Governance Initiative) How Wikipedia is Preparing For The 2020 U.S. Election (via Down the Rabbit Hole) Wiley’s International Journal of Quantum Chemistry is First Scholarly Publication to Feature Atypon’s Interactive Figures Technology

From SPARC Europe: We see a diverse, interconnected, open, professional and viable, OS infrastructure ecosystem in Europe on solid ground; one that is worth investing in. At the same time, this ecosystem — still developing — faces a range of issues that challenge its path to a more open and sustainable future.” This is a […]

On July 2, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) introduced the bipartisan Library Stabilization Fund Act in both chambers (S.4181 and H.R.7486, respectively). The legislation, introduced with 13 cosponsors on both sides of the aisle in the Senate and 27 in the House, would establish a dedicated $2 billion fund to be administered by IMLS that would address the financial losses incurred in the pandemic shutdown and bolster library services going forward, with priority given to the hardest-hit communities.

How do you reopen a library with no guidelines or best practices to work from? That’s the question public leaders and staff are considering as library buildings gradually open across the country.

Most public libraries stopped distributing materials during the pandemic to stop the spread of the coronavirus. But that doesn’t mean they stopped distributing anything. Some leveraged their expertise at getting resources into the hands of patrons to help those suddenly struggling with the bare essentials of life: food, diapers, the means to clean up, or a place to sleep.

As they anticipate hits from lowered enrollment and decreased endowments, as well as declines in state funding for public universities and community colleges, and potential rollbacks of money that has already been authorized, academic institutions have begun hiring freezes and reductions, including furloughs, layoffs, and reduced hours for non-tenured faculty and staff. Many campus libraries are seeing reductions in workforce that threaten to affect their ability to serve students, faculty, and researchers.

Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life by Christie Tate is Reese Witherspoon's November book club pick. The second book in the Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy, Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good by Timothy Zahn will be released on Star Wars Day, May 4, 2021. Hachette's new imprint, Legacy Lit, will focus on social justice. Renée Paquette announced her new cookbook, Messy In The Kitchen. Plus, details on the feature adaptation of White Bird: A Wonder Story by R.J. Palacio.

Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey tops both the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list and the USA Today Best-Selling Books list. The Silence by Don DeLillo takes No. 1 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list. The anonymous author of A Warning reveals himself. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner will be adapted for HBO Max, with Mindy Kaling starring and producing.

There are many ways that public libraries have helped during the West coast’s wildfire seasons: providing Wi-Fi and charging stations, helping residents file insurance and FEMA claims, offering parking lots as food and supply drop-offs, and even opening their doors as cooling centers. In a more dramatic turn, the University of California–Merced Libraries stepped up to safeguard the archives and records of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in a last-minute evacuation.

In Maryland, public libraries across the state have developed models for maximizing the impact of social justice–focused virtual programs by copresenting and cross-promoting selected events. Maryland libraries were able to rely on high quality programs from neighboring systems to provide a more robust lineup of virtual events.