We celebrate the wondrous activity of reading with this list of 144 titles, books that delighted LJ reviewers, columnists, and editors.

This database includes intuitive tools that help students learn how to approach literary works, make assessments, and formulate arguments. 

Philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York on December 9 announced a new $5 million pool of grant funding available for public libraries nationwide. The new initiative—Libraries as Pillars of Education and Democracy—“will help public libraries deliver critical services that promote socioeconomic mobility, civic participation, and social belonging,” according to an announcement. The $5 million will be awarded to 10 to 15 library systems in regions serving 500,000 people or more, with each system receiving up to $500,000 in funding over 24 months.

The preprint linked below was recently shared on arXiv. Title Towards Best Practices for Open Datasets for LLM Training Authors Stefan Baack, Stella Biderman, Kasia Odrozek, et al. Source via arXiv DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2501.08365 Abstract Many AI companies are training their large language models (LLMs) on data without the permission of the copyright owners. The permissibility of doing […]

From an EFGAMP (European Federation of Video Game Archives, Museums and Preservation) Post: Our new member GOG has produced first time a video showcasing key milestones and efforts to preserve games in 2024. It includes insights from some of the most respected voices in the industry: • Frank Cifaldi (The Video Game History Foundation) • Andrew Borman […]

The article linked below was recently published by Scientific Data. Title On the Readiness of Scientific Data Papers for a Fair and Transparent Use in Machine Learning Authors Joan Giner-Miguelez Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) Barcelona Supercomputing Center Abel Gómez Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) Jordi Cabot Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology University of […]

DataCite Celebrating the Second Cohort of DataCite Global Access Fund Awardees! DPLA (Digital Public Library of America) Recommitting to DPLA’s Mission in a Year of Transition eLife eLife appoints Timothy Behrens as Editor-in-Chief Library of Congress How to Browse All Digitized Titles in Chronicling America Make Data Count Advancing Data Metrics in 2025! MIT Press […]

ENSHITTIFICATION. It’s a real thing—the purposeful degradation of the quality in systems in order to maximize profits. And we saw ICT as a boon to society, liberating not oppressing. Sigh. Listen in as we explore enshittification and the implications of all this profit-seeking across all types of information systems.

Dave explores NotebookLM’s podcasting feature. NotebookLM is an AI system from Google that lets you create a workspace around documents that summarizes, creates study guides, and much more. One of the features is creating an “Audio Overview” that transforms your notes and documents into a two person podcast. Dave was impressed, see what you think.

The election is over, and the reactions are emotional and raw. America is still as divided politically and socially as the day before. What’s in store for us as individuals, families and communities? What might the next few years look like for libraries and librarians and those who use and rely on library resources and service?

Kirkus publishes its spring 2025 preview. Mystery Writers of America names Laura Lippman and John Sandford as its Grand Masters for 2025. Matt Bomer will narrate a new audiobook of Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. Melville House plans to publish a paperback version of the Jack Smith report shortly after Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Fantasy Magazine will be relaunched this spring. Plus new title bestsellers and interviews with Mike Mignola, Scott Turow, and Pico Iyer.

Brighten winter by poring over a shelf with books full of green and growing things.

Trying Veganuary or resolving to eat less meat? Here are dozens of new cookbooks to check out.

The winter edition of Life+Style showcases wonderful reads across cooking, crafts, gardening, self-help, travel, and more.