The findings of LJ’s Public Library Materials Survey show that librarians are focused on the formats readers want and the process of crafting responsive and representative collections.

John Bracken, Micah May, and Shaneé Yvette Willis discussed DPLA's new partnerships, recent projects, and the new Palace Project ebook platform during the “Digital Public Library of America: A Look Ahead” session at the American Library Association’s 2022 Annual Conference.

Libraries cannot second-guess patron motives or impose barriers based on subject matter. I suggest that the best response is to turn the letter of the law back on attempted saboteurs.

Although soccer’s popularity among the American public does not come close to matching its popularity in the rest of the world, the United States still has a good-sized group of soccer fans. The FIFA World Cup 2022 is scheduled to take place in Qatar from November 21 to December 18 and in anticipation, many libraries should consider building a small collection or updating the collection they currently have. 

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 Boise State Public Radio: Rural libraries in Idaho now have a new way to offer telehealth services to their communities. The collaboration between the Idaho Commission for Libraries and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is using $500,000 in federal COVID relief money to buy telehealth equipment for libraries in remote corners of […]

From the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): Nearly 4,000 Universal Newsreel Release descriptions have been added to the National Archives Catalog, the result of a unique, multi-year collaborative effort by NARA staff of the Moving Image and Sound Branch and Citizen Archivist Phil Stewart. The project’s goal was to systematically transcribe the content of […]

From the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): Nearly 4,000 Universal Newsreel Release descriptions have been added to the National Archives Catalog, the result of a unique, multi-year collaborative effort by NARA staff of the Moving Image and Sound Branch and Citizen Archivist Phil Stewart. The project’s goal was to systematically transcribe the content of […]

The article linked below was published by the Journal of Medical Information Research. Title Misinformation About COVID-19 Vaccines on Social Media: Rapid Review Authors Ingjerd Skafle Anders Nordahl-Hansen Daniel S Quintana Rolf Wynn Elia Gabarron Source J Med Internet Res 2022 (Aug 04); 24(8):e37367 DOI: 10.2196/37367 Abstract Background The development of COVID-19 vaccines has been […]

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.

The attack on Salman Rushdie dominates book news. Overkill by Sandra Brown leads holds this week. Two LibraryReads and four Indie Next picks publish this week. People's book of the week is I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. Interviews arrive with James Patterson, Grace Ellis, and Amanda Jayatissa. Apple TV+ completes casting for the adaptation of by Bonnie Garmus's Lessons in Chemistry. Plus, Vanity Fair explores the uneasy friendship between Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, through a "trove of never-published archival material."

There is more news about book banning. Interviews abound with authors including conversations with Edgar Gomez, James Tynion IV, Jennette McCurdy, Sarah Thankam Mathews, Gabrielle Zevin, K-Ming Chang, Emma Hooper, Nona Willis Aronowitz, and Jesse Green. There will be an adaptation of Dennis Tafoya’s book, Dope Thief.

The August EarlyWord GalleyChat is out. Book apps like ProWritingAid and Serial Reader are featured in the news this week. At the top of the best sellers lists are Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, Long Live the Pumpkin Queen: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas by Shea Ernshaw, and Reckoning by Catherine Coulter. Author interviews highlight the work of Susanna Hoffs, Jennette McCurdy, Keith Corbin, Paul Holes, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and Sabine Hossenfelder. There is adaptation news for Stephen King’s The Regulators, Michael Mann’s Heat 2, and The Awoken by Katelyn Monroe Howes.

Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender by Dr. Kit Heyam tops the September Loanstars list. The 2022 Varuna & Scribe Fellowship recipients are announced. Heat 2 continues to sizzle. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-likes for The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell. The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings gets reviewed. Interviews arrive with Belinda Huijuan Tang, Iman Hariri-Kia, Nona Willis Aronowitz, Dana Milbank, Jennette McCurdy, Tess Gunty, and Mohsin Hamid. Plus, Monte Burke's 2012 sports biography, 4th and Goal: One Man's Quest to Recapture His Dream, will get a feature adaptation.