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Awards announcements include the Center for Black Literature Octavia E. Butler Awards and the Romantic Novel Awards shortlists. Also, the Romantic Novelists Association names A Christmas Celebration by Heidi Swain as the winner of the 2023 Popular Romantic Fiction Award. Starting at the top of the best-seller lists are Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love by Mike Pompeo and Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens by Richard Haass. There are interviews with authors Natasha Lester, Siddharth Kara, Hafizah Geter, Eleanor Shearer, and Annalee Newitz. Toni Collette stars in the new adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s The Power; meanwhile, the adaptation Kindred, based on the work of Octavia Butler, has been canceled after one season.

The Robert L. Parkinson Library & Research Center at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI, and the Archives at the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL, have extensive circus collections, from posters and programs to performers’ scrapbooks and diaries.

Library budgets continued to rebound in 2022, with the largest upticks in a decade—and a continued focus on pandemic-era community needs.

Sometimes taking the long path fits the work.

The National Book Critics Circle Awards finalists are announced. LJ’s Barbara Hoffert is named the inaugural NBCC Service Award winner. Joy Harjo and City Lights receive lifetime achievement awards. The Rathbones Folio Prize shortlists are announced. Coverage continues for Madeline McIntosh’s resignation from PRH. February’s Read with Jenna Pick is Maame by Jessica George. GMA picks River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer, and B&N selects The Snow Hare by Paula Lichtarowicz. Plus, Penguin Random House Audio acquires Playaway. 

On January 31, in a virtual event produced by Wildbound Live, the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) announced 30 finalists in six categories—autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, general nonfiction, and poetry—for the best books of 2022. In addition, finalists were announced for the John Leonard Prize for Best First Book, nominated by the organization’s regular members, and winners were announced for several annual prizes.

In May 2022, Elizabeth Szkirpan was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker for her advocacy work promoting technical services professionals within libraries. LJ recently reached out to Szkirpan, director of bibliographic services and federal depository coordinator for the McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa, to learn more about why this work is important and needs more institutional support.

ALA’s Youth Media Awards are announced. Longlists for the Dublin Literary Award, International Dylan Thomas Prize, and Plutarch Award are announced. The CEO of Penguin Random House U.S. will step down. HarperCollins will cut 5% of its North American workforce. Donald Trump sues Bob Woodward and Simon & Schuster over The Trump Tapes audiobook. Janice Hallett’s The Twyford Code will be adapted as a TV series. Kindred, based on the novel by Octavia Butler, has been canceled by FX.

Rebuffing a move to ban so-called “socially divisive” material from its collection, the Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library in eastern Kansas got a new lease for its main branch last month. But its longtime director says it was alarming to see the usually routine lease renewal process used as leverage in a months-long battle over censorship.

The 2023 RUSA Book & Media Awards are announced, including the Notable Books List, Reading List, the Listen List, the Sophie Brody Medal, Essential Cookbooks, and the Outstanding References Sources list. Julie Otsuka and Ed Yong are named Andrew Carnegie Medal winners. Colleen Hoover’s Heart Bones tops holds lists. Two LibraryReads selections and two Indie Next picks publish this week. Plus, People’s book of the week is Twelve Months and a Day by Louisa Young.

Carolina De Robertis wins the  John Dos Passos Prize. The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize longlist is out. The Authors Guild is supporting an antitrust action against Google. Interviews feature Hua Hsu, Pamela Anderson, Davon Loeb, Eleanor Shearer, Rebecca Rukeyser, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Vauhini Vara, Angie Cruz, Aubrey Gordon, Margaret Heffernan, and Zachary Shore. There is adaptation news for Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us and Stephen King’s short story “Children of the Corn.”

Punk rock music has lived many lives, but its spirit has always meant the freedom to question everything, and to create or think for yourself. So how does one take the heart of this movement and archive it? That’s a question curator John Davis and Ben Jackson, manager of the University of Maryland’s Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library, had to ask themselves while creating their online exhibit, Persistent Vision: The D.C. Punk Collections at the University of Maryland.

There are awards announcements for the 2023 AJL Jewish Fiction Award, with Omer Friedlander winning for his book, The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land; also honored are Rachel Barenbaum for Atomic Anna and GennaRose Nethercott for Thistlefoot. Beginning their debuts on the best-seller lists are The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, How To Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix, Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes by Stephen A. Smith, and Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo. There are author interviews with George McCalman, Frank Vogl, Jeff Guinn, Sam Lipsyte, and Kevin Maloney.

John Scalzi wins the Robert A. Heinlein Award. The Oregon Book Awards finalists are announced. The Bram Stoker Awards preliminary ballot is released. The International Prize for Arabic Fiction’s longlist is announced, featuring the highest number of women authors in the prize’s history. The Evergreen Award finalists are announced. Ian Williams is named chair of the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize jury. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Kate Clayborne’s Georgie, All Along. Interviews arrive with Ilyon Woo, Kathryn Ma, Rachel M. Harper, N.K. Jemisin, Jean Kyoung Frazier, Ruby Tandoh, and Saket Soni. Plus, more coverage and analysis of this year’s Oscar nominations. 

The 2023 Oscar nominations are announced, including nods for literary adaptions All Quiet on the Western Front, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, and Women Talking. The 2022 Sarton Awards and Gilda Prize shortlists are announced. This Other Eden by Paul Harding gets reviewed. Apple TV+’s Dear Edward, based on the novel by Ann Napolitano, gets a trailer. Plus, a new online exhibit offers a close-up look at L.M. Montgomery’s original Anne of Green Gables manuscript.

To combat the digital divide, reduce barriers to service, and add even more ways to engage with the library outside our walls, Pioneer Library System took action to install solar benches in all the communities we serve.

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn, leads holds this week. The 2023 PEN American Literary longlists are announced. Two LibraryReads and three Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey. New memoirs by Pamela Anderson, Lisa Guerrero, Anne Heche, Mike Pompeo, and Jinger Vuolo get buzz. Arnold Schwarzenegger will write a motivational book for Penguin Press. NYT explores the appeal of the Elin Hilderbrand Bucket List Weekend. Judy Blume Forever debuts at Sundance.  Stephen King’s The Boogeyman will get a theatrical release. Plus, on its 30th anniversary, NPR declares: “The Stinky Cheese Man is aging well.”

The NAACP Image Awards nominees are announced in the Outstanding Literary Works category. Nominees are also out for the Edgar Allan Poe Award. There are interviews with authors including Adriana Herrera, Liz Harmer, Jinger Dugger Vuolo, Kristin Chenoweth, Lauren Fleshman, Jessica Johns, Matthew Connelly, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Monica Heisey, and Matthew Salesses. There is adaptation news for Yomi Adegoke’s Slay In Your Lane and Henry James’s The Beast In The Jungle.

There is news about upcoming book bans in North Dakota, the launch of Parapraxis, a new magazine on the subject of psychoanalysis, and on the proceedings of the HarperCollins Union. Starting at the top of the best-seller lists are Hell Bent, by Leigh Bardugo, The House of Wolves, by James Patterson and Mike Lupica, Spare, by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot To Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill, by Brad Meltzer. There are interviews with authors such as Amina Cain, Heather Radke, and Bruce Wagner. There is adaptation news for Hunter’s Run by George R. R. Martin, Daniel Abraham, and Gardner Dozois.

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) this month received a $750,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to fund a multi-year effort to connect the digital collections of libraries, museums, universities, and other American cultural heritage institutions with Wikipedia.

More summer chills, with titles that  blend genre tropes. 

Library of Congress names Cuban American writer Meg Medina as the new National Ambassador For Young People’s Literature. Ten librarians receive the 2023 I Love My Librarian Award. Mariana Enríquez, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Tiffany Tsao are named judges for the 2023 Desperate Literature Prize. The January and February Loanstars list is out, featuring top pick Spare by Prince Harry. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Canada Reads winner Michelle Good will publish a new essay collection in May. Interviews arrive with John Hendrickson, Stephen A. Smith, Matthew Salesses, Bonnie Bartlett Daniels, Kai Thomas, and Ilyon Woo. BookRiot reflects on the future of libraries. Plus, a new PBS American Experience documentary, Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space, gets buzz.

The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child leads library holds this week. Anthony Joseph wins the T.S. Eliot Prize for his poetry collection Sonnets for Albert. The February LibraryReads list is out, featuring top pick The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz. Three LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Life on Delay: Making Peace with a Stutter by John Hendrickson. Also getting attention is Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo. Plus, Boris Johnson will write a memoir about his time as British prime minister.

As the publishing industry makes greater concerted efforts to represent the rich diversity of the world in which we live, small presses and imprints under larger houses are taking the lead.

Caroline Frost, Shadows of Pecan Hollow, wins the Crook’s Corner Book Prize. The Mystery Writers of America announces the Grand Master, Raven, and Ellery Queen Award winners for 2023. Topping the best-seller lists are The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes, Without a Trace by Danielle Steel, Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor, The Villa by Rachel Hawkins, and Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer. There are interviews with authors such as Deena Mohamed, Kelcey Ervick, Iris Yamashita, and Kashana Cauley.

Poet, memoirist, attorney, and MacArthur Fellow Reginald Dwayne Betts recently partnered with artist and filmmaker Titus Kaphar on Redaction (Norton), an innovative collection of art and poetry confronting the abuses of the criminal justice system, drawing on his experience of incarceration. Retired researcher/librarian Eldon Ray James spoke with Betts about the collaboration and where politics and poetry meet and about Betts’s Freedom Reads project, through which he plans to install Freedom Library book collections in every residential prison unit in the United States.

The 2023 Walter Awards winners & honorees are announced. Colin Channer, Reyna Grande, and Celeste Ng will receive the 2023 Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers. The Golden Globes winners include several book-related films and series. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, as it becomes the “UK’s fastest-selling nonfiction book.” Stephen Markley, Captain Sandy Yawn, V. Ganeshananthan, Jessica Johns, and Lauren Fleshman discuss their new books. Plus, John Maxim’s “Bannerman” spy novels will be adapted for television.

The Story Prize announces finalists Andrea Barrett, Ling Ma, and Morgan Talty. Book previews for 2023 abound, including The Millions’ “Most Anticipated: The Great 2023A Book Preview.” The National Endowment for the Humanities announces grants. Prince Harry’s memoir Spare officially releases today. Interviews arrive with Pico Iyer, Deepti Kapoor, Li Zi Shu, Jim Popkin, and Jonathan Escoffery. And Pulitzer-winning former U.S. Poet Laureate Charles Simic has died at the age of 84.

Despite its science based and mission-driven underpinnings, U.S. healthcare is subject to great racial disparities. With a $10,000 grant from the Northern New York Library Network, faculty at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY, are undertaking a new program called “Reckoning with Race and Racism in Healthcare and Medicine” to help local healthcare practitioners and students better understand the ways that racial biases determine health outcomes.

Prince Harry’s memoir Spare leads library holds lists this week and dominates book news. New books by James Patterson and Mike Lupica, Stacy Willingham, Leigh Bardugo, and Mary Kubica also get attention. Six LibraryReads picks and 15 Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Allegra Goodman’s Sam. February’s Indie Next preview is out, featuring as #1 pick Grady Hendrix’s How To Sell a Haunted House. Remembrances pour in for novelist Russell Banks, who has died at the age of 82.

Missouri Secretary of State John R. (Jay) Ashcroft is receiving pushback from library leaders and staff, including the director of Ashcroft’s hometown library, in response to a rule proposed in October 2022 aiming to protect minors from inappropriate material.

The 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Awards are announced. More leaked details from Prince Harry’s memoir are out. Apple Books is launching a line of audiobooks narrated by AI. Romance writer Susan Meachen returns from the dead. Plus, author interviews abound and feature conversations with Nicole Morse, Amanda Oliver, Laura Zigman, Kashana Cauley, and David Sedaris.

News sources report on the acquisition of Fletcher & Company by United Talent Agency and announcements regarding the 2023 Silvers-Dudley Prize winners. Authors Maia Kobabe, Shahan Mufti, Chris Belcher, and V.V. Ganeshananthan discuss their books in interviews. There is adaptation news for Jessica Simpson’s memoir Open Book and for the essay “How To Murder Your Husband” by indie romance novelist Nancy Crampton Brophy, who was recently convicted of killing her husband.

While this is the second outing for the American Library Association’s Library Learning Experience (LibLearnX), it’s the first time that attendees will convene in person for the re-envisioned conference, which replaces the former Midwinter Meeting.

January book club picks include The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes, Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor, The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff, and Sam by Allegra Goodman. Publicity ramps up for Prince Harry’s memoir, which publishes next week. The 2021 Emeka Walter Dinjos Awards for Disability in Speculative Fiction are announced. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Danielle Steel’s latest buzzy book, Without a Trace. The Guardian reviews Bret Easton Ellis’s forthcoming novel. Plus, Filippo Bernardini will plead guilty to wire fraud in manuscript theft case.  

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.

Without a Trace by Danielle Steel leads library holds this week. Audiofile announces the January 2023 Earphones Award winners. Four LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is The Circus Train by Amita Parikh. #1 Indie Next pick Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor gets reviewed. January’s Costco Connection is out, featuring The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes and new paperback releases: The Maid by Nita Prose and The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. EarlyWord’s GalleyChat migrates to Mastodon. NYT reports on librarians reaching readers on TikTok. Plus, Arthur Conan-Doyle’s last Sherlock Holmes book enters the public domain.

This will be my last editorial for LJ. For me, this news is bittersweet; I’m excited to begin a new role elsewhere in libraryland, as managing editor of CQ Researcher at SAGE Publishing. But I will miss my colleagues, the opportunities I have had here to learn from and collaborate with librarians across the country, and my chance to bend your ear every month.

Virginia Cononie, assistant librarian/coordinator of reference and research at the University of South Carolina Upstate Spartanburg Library, was named one of Library Journal’s 2022 Movers & Shakers for her library advocacy work. LJ recently reached out to Cononie to learn more about her Share Your Story campaign, a collection of success stories from libraries in South Carolina that were compiled into a book and sent to South Carolina lawmakers.

The $1.7 trillion 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill passed on December 23 includes substantial increases in federal funding for libraries and schools.

In “Spanish-speakers Preferred: How Libraries Can Make Their Workforce Better Reflect Their Communities,” Andrew A. Wakeleea (Fresno City College) and Kim M. Thompson (University of South Carolina) study library employment trends and offer suggestions for how to better foster a more inclusive workforce.

BookMarks collates the major award-winning novels and finalists of 2022. B&N issues “Challenge Your Reading With These Books in 2023.” The U.S. Department of Education investigates the removal of LGBTQ+ books from a Texas school district. Donna Tartt answers 11 questions about The Secret History. Robert Caro is still working on the long-awaited fifth installment of his LBJ biography. Variety lists “The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time,” including several iconic adaptations of books. Plus, Anthony Almojera’s memoir Riding The Lightning: A Year in the Life of a New York City Paramedic will be adapted as a series.

Tiya Miles wins Schomburg Center’s 2022 Harriet Tubman Prize for All That She Carried. PW names its 2022 People of the Year, including librarians on the front lines of book-banning resistance. LitHub rounds up the biggest literary stories of the year. Hulu’s docu-series The 1619 Project, adapted from essays in The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, ed. by Nikole Hannah-Jones with the New York Times Magazine, will premiere January 26. The Deep by Nick Cutter will be adapted as a series. Plus, Deadline shares the screenplay for White Noise, based on the novel by Don DeLillo, whom the BBC calls “America’s greatest living writer.”  

Since April, users of the Llano County Library System, TX, have been waging a federal lawsuit against county commissioners, members of the recently reconstituted library board, and the library director. In May, they sought a preliminary injunction that would restore books removed last year from the library collection under pressure from a group of residents who objected to what they viewed as inappropriate content for children.

Queen of Myth and Monsters by Scarlett St. Clair leads library holds this week. It is also a Library Reads pick. People’s book of the week is The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton. LitHub collates “The Ultimate Best Books of 2022 List.” Time looks forward to the most anticipated books of 2023. Alice Oseman tops the The Bookseller 150 list in the author/illustrator category.

This is the 15th year in which Library Journal has scored U.S. public libraries on the LJ Index of Public Library Service and awarded Star Library ratings. The 2022 scores and ratings are based on FY20 data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services Public Library Survey.

2022 Star Library Index scores by spending category.

The 258 Star Libraries for 2022 are located in 36 states and—for the first time since 2018—the District of Columbia.

The 2022 Canopus Awards finalists and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award winners are announced. Looking back, more end-of-the-year book lists abound. Looking forward, more new books arrive. Plus, there is an author interview with Rolf Potts and more author-powered book recommendations.

Awards announcements abound, including the Porchlight Business Book of the Year shortlist, Xingyun Awards, and the Prix Goncourt des détenus. Other winners include Praveen Herat with the Restless Book Prize for New Immigrant Writing for Between This World and the Next and Maria Adolfsson with the 2022 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year for Fatal Isles, tr. by Anges Broomé. Starting their debuts on the best-seller lists are Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy and Tom Clancy: Red Winter by Marc Cameron. Author interviews explore literary and historical topics with Evette Dionne, Harris Faulkner, Sam Lipsyte, Octavia Butler, and Marijane Meaker. Lastly, adaptation news for Tsukasa Hojo’s manga City Hunter, which will be adapted into a live-action film.

The 2022 Premio Italia winners are announced. Esi Edugyan is named chair of the 2023 Booker Prize jury. “Best of the Year” lists continue to arrive. RBmedia will publish Lee & Low audiobooks. NYT reports “A Fast-Growing Network of Conservative Groups Is Fueling a Surge in Book Bans.” LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for buzzy book Into the West by Mercedes Lackey. LA Times touts Jenna Bush Hager’s stature in publishing. The Guardian considers the popularity of romance novels. Plus, Jason Reynolds finishes his term as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

Francesca Stavrakopoulou wins the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2022. The 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize longlist is announced. USA Today’s best-seller list is on hiatus after layoffs. Bookforum announces its closure. There is adaptation news for Kohei Horikoshi’s popular manga series My Hero Academia, and Nicola Dinan’s forthcoming debut LGBTQ+ novel Bellies. Plus, the Golden Globe nominations are out.

Into the West by Mercedes Lackey leads library holds this week. People names its top 10 books of the year, including #1 pick Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. “Best books” lists abound from LJ, NYT, WSJ, the New Yorker, CrimeReads, and NYPL. Finalists are named for the This Is Horror Awards. The National Book Foundation looks ahead in a new strategic plan for 2022–25. One LibraryReads selection publishes this week. Plus, more on Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle’s surprise resignation.

The National Book Critics Circle Barrios Books in Translation Prize longlist is out. The Goodreads Choice Awards winners are announced. The Swedish-English Translators Association wins the Culture Abroad Award. Author interviews feature conversations with Jessica Grose, Jane Smiley, Tegan Nia Swanson, Rachel Kapelke-Dale, Ryan Lee Wong, Andrew Morton, Rachel Kushner, and Ottessa Moshfegh. There is adaptation news for Tom Perrotta’s Tracy Flick Can’t Win and Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” series.

End-of-the-year lists include CrimeReads’s best crime novels, author curations, and also articles about fiction, reading, and writing. New to the best-seller lists are A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny and A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney. There is an interview with Allegra Hyde, author of Eleutheria, and adaptation news for Don Winslow’s “Cartel Trilogy” books.

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.

Noor Naga wins the Center for Fiction’s 2022 First Novel Prize for If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English. The 2023 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award finalists are announced. “Best of the Year” lists arrive from Vulture, Time, and NYT.  Loanstars’s “Best of the Brightest 2022” list features Emily Henry’s Book Lovers at the top. December’s EarlyWord GalleyChat spreadsheet is out now. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy. Daisy Jones & The Six, based on the novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, gets a trailer and release date. 

Year-end booklists arrive, including the top 10 favorites of 2022 from LibraryReads. Reese Witherspoon picks The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell for her book club. GMA picks The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton. The Read with Jenna pick is Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller wins the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award. The Harper Collins strike continues. Interviews with Louise Penny, Sabrina Imbler, Evette Dionne, and Jane Smiley arrive.  

As a cataloging librarian, I decide how a resource is described in its catalog record by assigning subject headings and a call number and determining whether notes or a summary is necessary. All of these decisions impact the findability of a resource and how a catalog user will perceive its content. So I am especially concerned with how a library resource is represented when it contains prejudicial content.

Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy leads holds this week. Waterstones names Katy Hessel’s The Story of Art Without Men Book of the Year, and Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry, Author of the Year. Lots of year-end lists arrive, including those from Amazon, NYT, LA Times, and Audiofile. Ten LibraryReads and ten Indie Next picks publish this week. People's book of the week is A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney. December’s Costco Connection is out featuring buyer’s pick The Hidden Palace by Dinah Jefferies. Beloved Sesame Street actor and author Bob McGrath has died. 

Tiya Miles has won the 2022 Cundill History Prize for All That She Carried. The 2022 Banipal Prize shortlist is announced, and there is a plethora of reading lists for the end of the year. Author interviews feature the voices of Mithu Sanyal, Stephanie LaCava, Allie Rowbottom, Buki Papillon, Alyssa Songsiridej, Heather Radke, and Clint Smith. Adaptation news arrives for H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness and David Baldacci’s “Atlee Pine” series.

Library advocates have become increasingly sophisticated about collecting the emotional outcome stories that bring to life how libraries change lives. We may, sadly, need to start applying that savvy to collecting the outcomes of what happens when libraries are lost or gutted, whether due to pervasive underfunding, as in the UK, or ideologically driven campaigns against books, displays, and programs that represent LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC experiences, as is being attempted in the U.S.

End-of-the-year booklists abound, and there is more reporting on the HarperCollins strike. Debuting at the top of the best-seller lists are The Choice: The Dragon Heart Legacy, Book 3, by Nora Roberts; A Christmas Memory, by Richard Paul Evans; The Whittiers, by Danielle Steel; and The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Book, by Jerry Seinfeld. There are explorations of work by and about Lucy Ives, Patti Smith, Jean Stafford, and Maria Ressa. Lastly, Kevin Wilson’s short story “Grand Stand-In” will receive a television adaptation. 

John Lorinc wins the 2022 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy for his book Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias, and Henry Gee wins the Royal Society Science Book Prize for his book A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy Chapters. The longlist for the 2022/2023 Wingate Prize includes Gabrielle Zevin, Omer Friedlander, and Linda Kinstler. CBC celebrates L.M. Montgomery’s birthday. EW previews Sasha Velour’s forthcoming book, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag, due out from Harper on April 4. Tess Gunty’s National Book Award–winning debut, The Rabbit Hutch, will be adapted for the big screen. Plus, there are remembrances for sci-fi author Greg Bear, who died last week.

Barbara Alvarez is a PhD student in Information Science at the University of Wisconsin (UW)–Madison and adjunct faculty at multiple universities. Her work using information science to study the pandemic’s effect on abortion services in Wisconsin won her a 2022 Movers & Shakers Award. Library Journal recently reached out to learn more about her other work in this area.

In the United States, 2.3 million people are imprisoned inside of jails, prisons, or detention facilities with little to no access to information services of any kind. Some public libraries meet this need through Reference by Mail. 

The New York Times Book Review revealed their top 10 books of the year in a virtual event for subscribers. More best-of-the-year lists arrive. Comedian Rob Delaney’s new memoir, A Heart That Works, gets reviewed and buzz. SFWA Names Robin McKinley the 39th Damon Knight Grand Master. Colm Tóibín will be awarded the Bodley Medal in 2023. Ulrika O’Brien wins 2022 Rotsler Award. Bob Dylan’s autopen flap causes a stir. NYT features Tanya Holland’s California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West. Plus, Merriam-Webster chooses its 2022 word of the year.

A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny leads holds this week. Four Indie Next picks publish this week, including Winterland by Rae Meadows, which gets buzz. People’s book of the week is A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing: A Memoir Across Three Continents by Mary-Alice Daniel. Bren Simmers wins the CBC Poetry Prize. NPR’s Books We Love and NYT’s 100 Notable Books of 2022 are out now. 

U.S. District Court Judge Florence Y. Pan’s decision blocking the $2.2 billion merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has apparently quashed the deal. Initially, PRH and its owner, Bertelsmann, said it planned to appeal. However, on November 21, Reuters reported that Paramount would let the deal expire without participating in an appeal, collecting a $200 million breakup fee from Bertelsmann. In a statement released late that day, PRH acknowledged that Paramount had backed away and said it was dropping the appeal.

The idea of libraries built in parks or community centers is not new. What is less common, however, is the idea of not just collocating but blending facilities together to create more opportunities for collaboration across governmental units. That idea is being put into place in New Jersey, Virginia, and Colorado, among other places, where public librarians have found ways to join community services and parks and recreation departments to create blended facilities.

The 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist is announced. Katherine Rundell has won the 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction for Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne. The Porchlight Business Book Awards longlist is announced. News reports cover banned books, the HarperCollins Union strike, and indictments related to the Z-Library ebook archives. There are interviews delving into conversations with Prince Shakur, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Aliza Kelly, Pauline Dakin, Dan Chaon, Zosia Mamet, and Bono. 

The 2022 National Book Award winners are announced. The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize shortlist is released. Desert Star by Michael Connelly, Stellarlune by Shannon Messenger, and Charm by Tracy Wolff top the best-seller lists. Author interviews are out with Alison Mariella Désir, Lauren Graham, and Pete Hsu.

LJ’s Design Institute in Missoula, MT, tackled new needs, tools, and techniques for library design in inspiring surroundings.

At LJ’s 2022 Design Institute in Missoula, MT held at the Missoula Public Library on September 29, five libraries in Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Oregon, and California enlisted architects and attendees to brainstorm on upcoming library design challenges.

Canada's Governor General’s Literary Awards are announced. Winners of the Polari book prizes are announced, including Joelle Taylor for her collection, C+nto & Othered Poems. Nominations and shortlists for the Andrew Carnegie Medal, Scotland's National Book Awards, the Tasmanian Literary Awards, and the Grammy Awards are also announced. December’s LibraryReads features top pick, The Circus Train by Amita Parikh. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama. 

Time releases “The 100 Must-Read Books of 2022.” The Center for Fiction’s Annual Awards Benefit will take place December 6. The Rhysling Award Long Poem winners are announced. The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama and So Help Me God by Mike Pence get reviews and attention. Vox reads and reviews all of the 2022 National Book Award finalists. Patti Smith discusses her new book of photographs. Plus, Douglas Stuart’s Booker Prize-winning novel, Shuggie Bain will be adapted for TV. 

Furniture echoes architectural elements; places of refuge get playful, and more of the year’s top library design trends.

Across many library spaces and settings, furnishings, finishes, and fixtures are tightly coordinated, both in shape and in style, to create a cohesive, seamless experience between more public and more private areas in the library. 

Shelving design continues to evolve to support the visual narrative and personality of library spaces, from whimsical interactive shelves with cubby holes and twists and turns to shelves that offer integrated seating, display, and collections. 

While peaceful nooks for concentrating, enjoying the scenery, or getting work done are now standards for library design, these libraries feature unique and inspiring spaces within spaces that create a whole new experience within the library for their communities. 

This year’s libraries emphasize entrances by visually drawing community members into and through their doors with light, color, height, and plenty of glass or openings throughout their buildings so people can find where they want to go. 

A listing of the architects whose work is featured in Year in Architecture 2022.

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama leads library holds this week. One LibraryReads and 10 Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger. Andrew Morton’s biography, The Queen: Her Life, is reviewed. University Press Week begins today. Caroline Kepnes teases a new Joe Goldberg novel, due out in April. Plus, the subject of Michael Lewis’s new book appears to be the former head of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried. 

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.

Furniture echoes architectural elements; places of refuge get playful, and more of the year’s top library design trends. It’s all about flow. Rooms within rooms, nooks, delightful retreats for all ages are designed to seamlessly transition spaces from one function to another in this year’s round up of library renovations and new buildings. While we still see the subdued natural color palettes of last year’s trendsetters, color continues to play a meaningful role in these libraries.

The data for new academic library buildings and renovations featured in LJ's Year in Architecture 2022.

The data for new public library buildings and renovations featured in LJ's Year in Architecture 2022.

LJ's Years in Architecture compared: FY17–22 Cost Summaries and Funding Sources.

Hiveclass, a startup company building a “digital encyclopedia of youth sports training,” has been partnering with libraries throughout the United States to offer teens and youth access to its mobile-friendly database of professionally shot, athlete-led instructional videos on soccer, basketball, tennis, dance, self-defense, volleyball, and more.

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.

The Mütter Museum’s less famous upstairs is equally fascinating—and it’s now open to non–medical professionals without an appointment. The library, an independent collection of books and ephemera related to the “history of medicine and medical humanities,” according to its mission statement, recently announced that it is now open to the public on weekends, included in the price of admission for the Mütter.

The World Fantasy Awards winners and Golden Poppy finalists are out. The court decision regarding the proposed merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster is released. Flying to the top of the best-sellers lists are Going Rogue by Janet Evanovich, Triple Cross by James Patterson, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono, and The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan. 

What do accessible spaces/programs/services look like in libraries? Ongoing engagement with disabled patrons and staff is key.

The December Loan Stars list is out, with A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley in the #1 spot. Christian Léourier wins the Prix Joël-Champetier Award. A U.S. judge explains why she blocked the PRH/S. & S. merger. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Desert Star by Michael Connelly. Interviews arrive with the 2022 National Book Award finalists. Interviews with Joanna Gaines, Dani Shapiro, Percival Everett, Joe Meno J. Hope Stein, Tracy Deonn, Andrew Weiss, and Matthew F. Delmont make the news.  

From WOOD-TV: Voters have again rejected a millage that covers the bulk of the budget for the Patmos Library in Jamestown Township, casting its future into serious doubt.

Suzette Mayr wins the $100K Scotiabank Giller Prize for The Sleeping Car Porter. The World Fantasy Award winners are announced. Harper Collins union and management plan to strike on Thursday. USA Today gives Now Is Not the Time To Panic by Kevin Wilson a 4-star review. The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters by Joanna Gaines arrives with buzz. British comic artist and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen co-creator Kevin O’Neill dies at 69. Plus, Nikki Giovanni discusses love and radicalism on Generational Anxiety, which airs on PBS.

Friends, family, lovers, a swamp monster, and the nonnegotiable self.

A life of their own. 

Desert Star by Michael Connelly leads holds this week. Shortlists for the Voss Literary Prize, Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, and the Oddest Book Title of the Year for the Diagram Prize are announced. Four LibraryReads and seven Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is Foster by Claire Keegan. 

There are awards announcements for ​​​​the Southern Book Prize finalists, Writers’ Trust of Canada Awards winners, and the winner of Prix Goncourt. Many interviews plumb the thoughts of authors such as Percival Everett, Zosia Mamet, Shaun Ta, Ralph Macchio, Veronica Roth, Nick Drnaso, Tom Perrotta, and Stephen King. Also, adaptations for film and television will be made from Catherine Lacey’s The Answers, Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal, and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.