This year, we cast both a look back to see what can be learned from the past, and a look forward to consider what might be heading our way in the coming years.

For more than 20 years, Gale’s Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)—the largest collection ever assembled of English-language books, pamphlets, and periodicals published in the 18th century—has served as an invaluable resource for students and scholars worldwide. Now, this resource is being further enhanced with 1.7 million new pages of content.

As the needs of employers are constantly changing, job seekers and current professionals need upskilling resources that can keep pace with these rapid changes. With Gale Presents: Udemy, libraries can provide access to thousands of high-quality, on-demand online  courses for in cutting-edge skills related to business, technology, leadership, and personal development.

Allison Jennings-Roche was named a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker for her work at the University of Maryland helping educate students, faculty, and librarians who work with information systems. LJ recently spoke with Jennings-Roche, who is now the associate director of digital initiatives and collections (and a PhD candidate) at the University of Baltimore’s RLB Library, about why it’s vital to understand information, where it comes from, and how it affects everyone.

To help coordinate and support the work of saving government data, ensure that individual efforts didn’t duplicate one another, and provide a secure, accessible repository for archived material, a group of concerned librarians created the Data Rescue Project (DRP). A “clearinghouse” for data preservation efforts, DRP builds on efforts that began during Trump’s first term. LJ spoke with DRP organizer Lynda Kellam about the project and to learn more about how to get involved.

Looking to improve engagement and provide historical context in her Literature 155 course last fall, Professor Alisa Allkins of Harold Washington College used Gale Literature Resource Center to introduce her students to diverse primary sources connected to the book Passing by Nella Larsen. And she discovered a powerful strategy to counter AI-generated work. 

In January, the HBCU Library Alliance announced the award of a $1,000,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to support its multipart program “Empowering HBCU Libraries with Civil Rights Preservation, Digital Innovation, and Transformative Professional Development.”

Last year, John Wilkin shared his essay Lyrasis in a Landscape of Radical Interdependence where he discussed the interdependence of libraries, archives and museums, and how Lyrasis is uniquely positioned to provide the connective tissue between them.

Scott Summers, assistant director of the Media and Education Technology Resource Center (METRC) at North Carolina State University, was named a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker for his work developing a program to help new teachers understand the growing problem of book censorship in school libraries, and how to work with librarians against it. We recently spoke with Summers about why he developed the program and what it teaches.