From the American Library Association: The Policy and Standards Division of the Library of Congress, which maintains Library of Congress Subject Headings, announced the decision to replace the cataloging subject headings “Aliens” and “Illegal aliens” with new subject headings “Noncitizens” and “Illegal immigration” at its regularly scheduled meeting on November 12.

The 2021 Charleston Conference, held as a hybrid of in-person and virtual events, reflected many of the concerns of academic librarianship in the COVID-19 era. Sessions were lively and engaging, with a focus on practical information and an eye on ways to ensure that services and programs would remain sustainable in uncertain times.

Growing up, Rebecca Cline adored the film Mary Poppins, but as a budding Disney fan, she had no idea that one day she would have an up-close view of the carousel horses that the titular nanny and her charges ride, or the snow globe that Mary holds as she sings “Feed the Birds.” The director of the Walt Disney Archives, Cline now has access to these props and many others.

Over the past 16 months, COVID-19 has forced public libraries to consider how to contribute to their patrons’ health and well-being. Anythink Libraries in Adams County, CO, has developed Renew, a new initiative designed to offer its participants both helpful programs and an online method of tracking their progress developing a lifestyle that is healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally.

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 MIT Press: The Direct to Open model reaches the 50% participation threshold against its three-year target, with over 160 libraries committing to making knowledge more open and equitable. The MIT Press today announced that it has reached the fifty percent threshold for participation in the Direct to Open (D2O) initiative, an innovative sustainable framework […]

From the American Library Association: Due to a dramatic uptick in book challenges and outright removal of books from libraries, ALA’s Executive Board and the Boards of Directors for all of ALA’s eight divisions have released the following joint statement regarding attempts to remove materials that focus on LGBTQIA+ issues and books by Black authors […]

From the Library of Congress: Library of Congress innovation specialists examining the role of human expertise and experience in developing machine-powered research tools today released a report detailing their findings. The “Humans in the Loop” recommendation report from LC Labs details the potential and responsibility of the Library of Congress in its ongoing work to […]

From Digital Science: Figshare, Digital Science, and Springer Nature’s annual State of Open Data report finds increasing concern among researchers about misuse of data as well as a lack of credit and acknowledgement for those who do openly share their data. The State of Open Data report is in its sixth year, and more than […]

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 New York Times Book Review revealed their top 10 books of the year in a virtual event for subscribers. Dava Shastri's Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti is the December GMA Book Club pick. More Best of the Year lists arrive. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan gets reviewed. LJ posts the May 2022 Prepub Alert complete list. Bernardine Evaristo will preside over the Royal Society of Literature. Interviews arrive with Faith Jones, Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, Mel Brooks, and Mario Vargas Llosa. Stephen Graham Jones’ forthcoming novel, Don't Fear the Reaper is due out in August 2022. Plus, authors Anne Helen Petersen and Charlie Warzel reconsider the future of work. 

All the May 2022 Prepub Alerts in one place, plus a downloadable spreadsheet of all titles from every post.

LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult.

The data for new public library buildings and renovations featured in LJ's Year in Architecture 2021.