Machine learning (ML) tools can potentially help patrons discover relevant content and services as they search a library’s catalog. However, ML tools need to be trained with a lot of good data to generate good recommendations, and initially, contextual recommendations generated with high-quality library metadata may be more effective at achieving the same goal. In addition, some patrons may express privacy concerns regarding ML projects that leverage catalog search data. These were a few of the topics discussed during the “Personalization in the Catalog with Machine Learning and Linked Data” online session at the American Library Association’s LibLearnX virtual conference.

The first iteration of the American Library Association’s new LibLearnX conference more than met its attendance goals despite having to debut virtually rather than, as originally intended, in person. Just shy of 2,183 people attended, 109 percent of the goal of 2,000. 

The 2022 PEN American Literary Award finalists are announced. The best seller lists feature Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover, One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner, Enough Already by Valerie Bertinelli, and The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan. Interviews explore conversations from Daphne Palasi Andreades of Brown Girls, Imani Perry of South to America, David Sanchez of All Day Is a Long Time, and Dolly Parton co-author of Run, Rose, Run. Adaptation news abounds for Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, Moses McKenzie’s An Olive Grove in Ends, Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray’s The Personal Librarian, and a graphic novel of The Man Who Fell to Earth.

The official biography of Terry Pratchett, A Life in Footnotes, is due to publish in September. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) announces the 2022 PROSE Award finalists and category winners. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for buzzy book of the week, The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis. Violeta by Isabel Allende and Devil House by John Darnielle continue to buzz. Interviews arrive with Isabel Allende, Ben Raines, Sequoia Nagamatsu, Imani Perry, Rachel Lindsay, and Lan Samantha Chang. Disney+ picks up the 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' series. Marisa Meyer's 'Lunar Chronicles' series and Joan Bauer's Hope Was Here get film adaptations. Plus, popular authors share book recommendations. 

Several sessions at the American Library Association's inaugural LibLearnX conference, which ran virtually January 21–24, offered practical, actionable approaches to complex situations. Two notables tackled issues of how to improve libraries’ internal culture to benefit their staff.

From the American Library Association: On Jan. 23, 2022, the REFORMA National Membership virtual meeting was infiltrated by a group of people shouting racial slurs and hate speech seeking to create trauma  for participants. The ALA Executive Board stands with REFORMA in strongly condemning the attack.

The 2022 ALA Youth Media Awards were announced Monday, including the Newbery and Caldecott winners. UK’s Sunday Times Young Writer Award Names its 2021 shortlist. Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk's The Books of Jacob gets reviewed. Wajahat Ali's memoir Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American and John Darnielle's Devil House garner reviews and coverage. More buzz for Andrew Carnegie Medal winners Hanif Abdurraqib and Tom Lin. Colleen Hoover trends on TikTok. Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin gets adapted at Hulu. Plus, EW has a sneak peek at Stephen King’s forthcoming supernatural thriller, Fairy Tale.

Tom Lin and Hanif Abdurraqib are named Andrew Carnegie Medal winners. The 2022 RUSA Book & Media Awards are announced including the Notable Books List, Reading List, The Listen List, The Sophie Brody Medal, Essential Cookbooks: The CODES List, and the Outstanding References Sources List. The 2021 Nation­al Jew­ish Book Awards are also announced and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award names four 2022 category longlists. The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis leads holds this week. Six LibraryReads selections and seven Indie Next picks publish this week. People's book of the week is Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski. Plus, the February issue of Entertainment Weekly arrives with a Winter Thriller Guide and more.

The Furious Flower Poetry Center at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, is the nation’s first academic center devoted to Black poetry. With the help of a recent $2 million, four-and-a-half-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Center’s collection of spoken word and performance videos—as well as an ongoing conference series, scholarly publications, fellowships, and programs—will receive the necessary support to continue its mission of supporting Black poets in American letters and cultivating poetry appreciation among students of all levels.