I realize that genealogical research has long been associated with the retiree demographic, something one’s grandparents might do in their free time, and not what today’s students would gravitate toward on their own initiative. But that is where the wonder of the required assignment comes in, and where budding amateur genealogists are made. As the great American novelist William Faulkner once said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” And that’s what I try to instill in the students I teach about the wonders and magic of genealogical research.

Dr. Colleen Shogan took the oath of office as the 11th Archivist of the United States—the chief administrator of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)—in May 2023, succeeding former Archivist David Ferriero. She is the first woman to permanently hold the role. LJ caught up with Shogan to hear about her national tour of presidential libraries, NARA’s stepped-up digitization efforts, and preserving the record of presidential cat Socks.

A pair of memoirs celebrate the achievements and talents of women in Hollywood. 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Public Library (CPL) on August 15 announced the launch of “Chicago Book-Wrapped,” a new popup initiative offering instant access to a curated collection of ebooks and e-audiobooks with no hold times or library card requirements during special events in Chicago. The initial collection was curated to celebrate the Democratic National Convention.

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.

Ed. Note: We will be updating this post with additional coverage, statements, and filings as they become available. Please check back. From Reuters: University of California Los Angeles neuroscience professor has sued six major academic journal publishers, claiming in a proposed class action that they violated antitrust law by barring simultaneous submissions to multiple journals […]

From LC: This year’s National Book Festival on August 24 still has a lot of us glowing, and we have even more of a reason to glow brighter: sessions are now available on demand! So whether you didn’t attend the Festival, missed a session or want to revisit an amazing moment you saw onstage, you […]

From an SSP Announcement: We are pleased to announce our partnership with Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery (SUPRR). SUPRR is a bottom-up initiative designed to help strengthen the Ukrainian publishing sector in order to meet the educational, academic, and cultural needs of Ukrainians. Through creating global connections, SUPRR aims to showcase Ukraine to international readers. […]

The conference paper linked below was recently published online on September 10, 2024. Title Use of Hashtags by Two Canadian Public Libraries: A Comparative Review Author Dinesh Rathi University of Alberta Source Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS (Canadian Association for Information Science) DOI: 10.29173/cais1851 Abstract This research presents a comparative review of hashtags […]

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.

Longlists for the National Book Award for nonfiction and poetry are revealed. Daniel Mason’s North Woods, Heather Cox Richardson’s Democracy Awakening, and James Crews’s The Wonder of Small Things win New England Book Awards. The longlist for the CBC Nonfiction Prize and the shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award are announced. A study by Pearson and Penguin Books shows how diversifying reading lists and teaching texts by writers of color impacts students. Plus, Page to Screen and an NYT Magazine profile of Tony Tulathimutte, author of Rejection.

Originally self-published and now receiving a special edition with additional content from a big publisher, this debut novel and Book Tok sensation is highly recommended for romantasy lovers, especially fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

Three titles offer sensitive portraits of sisters navigating tensions wrought by childhood trauma, mental illness, and grief, and the engaging, exasperating dynamics of family drama.

Alien adventures, lush underwater worlds, and cli-fi spy drama make for spectacular listens.