Lisa Peet

LibLearnX made space for needed conversation.

At the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in June 2022, much discussion in Council sessions involved the organization’s transformation—specifically, streamlining ALA’s structure and governance through the consolidation of its Constitution and Bylaws. At LibLearnX, the Special Session: ALA Bylaws Convention, convened on Friday, January 27 to consider and finalize the draft general revision of the ALA bylaws, took on the work that remained unfinished.

In January, the American Library Association (ALA) offered its recently reimagined winter event, LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, in person for the first time. The inaugural LibLearnX, held in January 2022, was presented virtually to accommodate COVID restrictions and concerns. This year debuted a hybrid model: The live version, held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans from January 27–30, was attended by 1,712 library workers and supporters and 757 exhibitors, authors, illustrators, press, and ALA staff. The LLX Digital Experience hosted 190 online attendees.

Sometimes taking the long path fits the work.

Brooklyn Public Library's Nick Higgins, Amy Mikel, Karen Keys, Jackson Gomes, and Leigh Hurwitz have been named LJ's 2023 Librarians of the Year for their work on Books Unbanned, providing free ebook access to teens and young adults nationwide to help defy rising book challenges across the country.

With authors ranging from Jonathan Escoffery to Maggie Shipstead, the best short story collections of 2022 loom large.

The 2022 Charleston Conference took a somewhat different form from recent gatherings: not only hybrid, but asynchronous. At both the in-person and virtual conferences, issues of the day largely centered on access: open access and open educational resources, access to data, the need for more equitable access to research and materials, and questions of access—period—in the wake of constrained budgets and renegotiated agreements.

Much like the races for the House, Senate, and state leadership, the 2022 midterm elections were a mixed bag for libraries. Most library ballot questions succeeded: As of November 10, more than 70 percent of the more than 55 tracked by library PAC EveryLibrary passed. There were not, however, as many races to watch. This year saw fewer than 60 measures on the ballot, the lowest number in any midterm election in a generation.

In 2020, partner schools Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and Penn State University in the United States decided that a friendly baking competition involving the two universities would hit all the outreach notes they wanted, spotlighting cookbooks from both schools’ collections and fostering worldwide connections during a stressful time. Now in its third year, the Great Rare Books Bake Off is a hit worldwide.