We already recognize the profound impact of pandemic learning loss: student performance in math and reading has hit its lowest levels in decades. What’s more, students demonstrated slower than average growth in the last school year, meaning learning gaps aren’t closing—in some cases, they’re growing. That’s where libraries can step in.

Faced with a major post-lockdown attendance drop, the marketing team at Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library is re-engaging patrons with creative, data-driven campaigns. Patchogue Medford Library, NY, received honorable mention.

Banned Books Week gets underway. Wildfire by Hannah Grace leads holds this week. Audiofile announces the October 2023 Earphones Award winners. Seven LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is The Museum of Failures by Thrity Umrigar.

Safiya Sinclair’s How To Say Babylon: A Memoir is the latest Read with Jenna book club pick. Shortlists are announced for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Cundill History Prize. Plus, interviews with Mary Beard, Jill Duggar, and Melissa Lozada-Oliva.

New York Public Library's new "Books for All" campaign launches during Banned Books Week 2023 and seeks to engage teens and young adults.

Zain Khalid wins the Bard Fiction Prize for his debut novel, Brother Alive. Target picks The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray as the 2023 Book of the Year. Shortlists are announced for the Polari First Book Prize and the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. Finalists are announced for the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize. A California state law will fine schools for implementing book bans. Plus new title best sellers.

KKR's potential acquisition of Simon & Schuster will undergo scrutiny from the Department of Justice before proceeding and could raise questions about how Simon & Schuster will do business with OverDrive in the future.

Students learn invaluable skills they can apply in a variety of settings and applications. Across the nation, there has been renewed debate over the value of humanities degree programs as campus leaders look to overcome steep budget challenges.

The FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power. Jorie Graham wins the Laurel Prize. Naomi Wood wins the 2023 BBC National Short Story Award. Finalists are named for the 2023 Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Hollywood Reporter goes behind the scenes during the final negotiations that ended the WGA strike. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith. Plus, CrimeReads celebrates 50 years of Spenser, Robert B. Parker’s iconic character