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One painful part of living through the pandemic for me was the sense that Americans were failing one another. Recent catastrophic weather events have brought back that same sense of unease. When deadly Hurricanes Helene and Milton made landfall last month, conspiracy theorists suggested they were manufactured for political benefit. Federal relief efforts were stymied by online misinformation, and a man was arrested for threatening FEMA workers. America, we’re not okay.

Library Journal is proud to announce a new partnership with the “Libraries Lead” podcast. Hosted by Mike Eisenberg (Professor and Dean Emeritus, U. of Washington iSchool), David Lankes (Virginia & Charles Bowden Professor of Librarianship, University of Texas at Austin), and Beth Patin (Assistant Professor, Syracuse University's School of Information Studies), the show explores the various social, cultural, and technological issues shaping (and being shaped by) libraries and librarians. New episodes drop monthly, and past episodes are now available at librarieslead.libraryjournal.com.

Nicollette Davis, assistant librarian for kinesiology, social work, and health sciences at the Louisiana State University library system, was named a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker for her work advocating for BIPOC people, both in the library system and in the community. We recently spoke with Davis to learn more about her projects.

Perhaps one of the truest versions of life in America’s small and rural communities can found each day in their public libraries, where residents connect.

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.

Representing approximately 80 percent of the trade book market, the Big Five publishing houses—Hachette, Harper­Collins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster—are key stakeholders in the library value chain. In Five Questions with the Big Five, LJ interviews publishing’s top brass to better understand the issues they’re facing, the trends that have their attention, reading culture, and where they see library and publishing interests aligned. We kick off this series with Jonathan Karp, President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster, as he reflects on the state of publishing and his company's 100th anniversary.

Artificial intelligence—a creative’s job killer or a game changer?

Keynoters and other speakers at American Library Association (ALA) conferences over the years have come to the conference from a wide range of disciplines, but their speeches all incorporate at least a few minutes attesting to the value of libraries in their lives—some landing more powerfully than others. At this year’s ALA Annual, held June 27–July 2 in San Diego, CA, a few speakers went beyond tales of being avid library users as children to tell stories that painted vivid pictures of what libraries, literacy, and unfettered access can mean to a kid who is looking to understand their world a little better.

In their shared hometown of Columbus, OH, at an event where readers celebrated their writing, Hanif Abdurraqib and Jacqueline Woodson sat with Library Journal for a conversation about libraries, book bans, and censorship.