The results from LJ’s Fall 2021 Public Library Fundraising Survey demonstrate how the the COVID-19 pandemic changed the ways libraries conducted their fund­raising. Like so much else in the library field, the pandemic forced library staff, administrators, and Friends groups to reconsider the best ways both to raise funds and utilize them.

In 2021, the Annenberg School’s Library Archives accessioned the collection of Amy Siskind’s Weekly List website; however, the path to get there was complicated, and the final gift looked quite different from how it was conceived in the initial conversation. 

Library Journal’s recent survey on College Student Library Usage, sponsored by ProQuest, looks at how students in American colleges and universities use their institutions’ libraries, and whether those libraries are meeting students' needs. Most are pleased with the quality of resources provided, and more than three quarters feel the library contributes to their academic success. However, the number of visits, whether in-person or virtual, are hit-and-miss—as many students use the library more than 10 times a semester as never use it at all.

Ransomware attacks are on the rise, and several libraries have been hit by opportunistic criminals.

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 the University of Illinois at Chicago: To help commemorate the life of Jane Addams on the 87th anniversary of the Nobel Laureate’s death, the University of Illinois Chicago Library has released digitized yearbooks and annual reports from the settlement house she co-founded. The collection is now available online to students, researchers and the public. […]

The article linked below was recently published by the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. Many thanks to SAGE for opening their paywall to infoDOCKET so we can share the full text article linked below at no charge. The article will be accessible for one month (beginning today) by clicking the link below. Registration is […]

From DPLA: Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is pleased to announce the publication of a free ebook, The Covid Archive: A finding aid to government documents related to the Covid19 Pandemic. The Covid Archive is a digital finding aid for the digital archive of government documents related to the response of U.S. federal and […]

From a Joint News Release: A new report published today by WHO and UNICEF reveals that more than 2.5 billion people need one or more assistive products, such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, or apps that support communication and cognition. Yet nearly one billion of them are denied access, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where […]

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.

Christina Lauren’s Something Wilder leads holds this week. Three LibraryReads selections and four Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub. Entertainment Weekly releases its 2022 Summer Preview. The Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards 2022 are announced. The U.S. Book Show kicks off next week. The Atlantic expands its book section. Plus, Stephen King weighs in on the new Firestarter film.

Kazuo Ishiguro has won the Tähtivaeltaja Award for Klara and the Sun, and Patricia Lockwood wins the 2022 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize with No One Is Talking About This. Interviews with authors feature Kennedy Ryan, Bud Smith, Norman Reedus, Chloe Caldwell, Jokha Alharthi, Jill Gutowitz, Viola Davis, Matt Sienkiewicz, Nick Marx, Lan Samantha Chang, and Omarion. There is adaptation news for Colleen Hoover’s Maybe Someday.

Best sellers in African history, 2021 to date, as identified by GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO.

Celeste Mohammed wins the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for Pleasantview. The 2022 Triangle Award winners are announced. Topping the best sellers lists are Book Lovers by Emily Henry, 22 Seconds by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, Book of Night by Holly Black, Killing the Killers: The Secret War Against Terrorists by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, and This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future by Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns. Author interviews include conversations with Selma Blair, Jim Shepard, and Steve Almond.