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The second Independent Publisher and Librarian Forum—IndieLib for short—was held on April 16 in downtown Manhattan, at New York University’s Engelberg Center on Innovation Law and Policy. The event brought together public and academic librarians, representatives from indie publishers and their distributors, and others across the field to learn more about one another’s work and concerns and imagine new ways to move forward.

While those in favor of book bans believe children should be protected from content perceived as inappropriate or abusive, those opposed worry about the societal consequences of censoring information and ideas, the infringement of First Amendment rights, and the negative impacts on authors and publishers. Researchers Uttara M. Ananthakrishnan, Naveen Basavaraj, Sabari Rajan Karmegam, Ananya Sen, and Michael D. Smith set out to examine how bans at the district level affect consumption at the national level.

Shortlists for the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Jhalak Prize, and the Donner Prize are announced. The U.S. Supreme Court seems likely to rule that parents can opt out of LGBTQIA+ stories in their children’s classrooms. The state of Iowa has appealed a U.S. District Court judge’s injunction against the 2023 law that has removed hundreds of books from school libraries. Attorneys for IMLS acting director Keith Sonderling have responded to the lawsuit filed earlier this month by the ALA. Plus, new title bestsellers and an interview with sisters and coauthors Anne and Claire Berest.

Winners of the Minnesota Book Awards are announced; Kao Kalia Yang makes history by winning three awards for three different books. Poet and University of Iowa writing program director Christopher Merrill wins the Ottaway Award for the Promotion of International Literature. The shortlist for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize is announced. Oprah selects Matriarch by Tina Knowles for her book club. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title and Reese Witherspoon book club pick Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. Cynthia Erivo will narrate a new audiobook edition of Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked. James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski’s forthcoming thriller, Billion-Dollar Ransom, heads to the big screen. Plus, Jeff Kinney will donate 20,000 books a month ahead of the publication of his 20th Diary of a Wimpy Kid book in October.

The British Science Fiction Association Awards winners are announced. Dorian McNamara wins the CBC Short Story Prize. Publishing Perspectives recaps Circana’s Q1 US Print Report, with romance and romantasy leading adult genres. Joan Didion’s Notes to John gets reviewed. Netflix’s Ransom Canyon, based on the novels by Jodi Thomas, gets buzz. Plus, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor today, concerning LGBTQIA+ books in Maryland's largest school district.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by James Patterson and Candice Fox, Marie Bostwick, Nancy Thayer, and Sarah Damoff. People’s book of the week is Atavists: Stories by Lydia Millet. Brenda Peynado wins the Philip K. Dick Award for her novel Time’s Agent; a special citation was given to Adrian Tchaikovsky for his novel Alien Clay. Infodocket shares details on OCLC’s lawsuit against Baker & Taylor. Isaac Marion is adapting his forthcoming novel The Overnoise as a feature film. Remembrances pour in for Pope Francis, who has died at the age of 88.

Winners of the Publishing Triangle Awards for LGBTQIA+ books are revealed. NYPL announces the finalists for the Young Lions Fiction Award. A lawsuit filed against the Rutherford County Board of Education by the ACLU of Tennessee aims to stop book bans in the county’s school libraries. Mystery writer Peter Lovesey has died at age 88. Plus, Page to Screen and new books from Dolly Parton and Scorsese collaborator Robbie Robertson.

Nominees for the Aurora Awards, for SFF and horror works by Canadian authors, are revealed. A number of authors are named to Time’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2025. The Libertarian Futurist Society announces the finalists for the Best Novel category of the Prometheus Awards. The 2025 Writers’ Trust of Canada Rising Stars are announced. Publishers Weekly talks to IMLS staffers who are worried about the cuts to the agency. Book subscription services are moving into publishing their own titles as well. Plus new title bestsellers and forthcoming books from Priscilla Presley and Zosia Mamet.

Los Angeles is a sprawling city with a range of geographic, economic, and social variables, and the wildfires that affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area in January were a demonstration of that diversity, with the area’s three main library systems—Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), LA County Library, and Altadena Library District—impacted by the fires to very different degrees.

“The Great Spring Preview” arrives from The Millions. May’s LibraryReads list is out, featuring top pick The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers, with Alex Kiester. The Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellows are announced. The Aurealis Awards shortlist and finalists for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards are announced. U.S. Army libraries are ordered to remove books with a focus on DEI. Seven Stories Press has acquired Two Dollar Radio. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for this week’s top holds title, Strangers in Time by David Baldacci. Plus, adaptations are in the works for Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan books, Will Leitch’s Lloyd McNeil’s Last Ride, and Josh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House.

The Walter Scott Prize shortlist is announced. The Association of American Publishers has filed an amicus brief in Meta AI copyright case. Interviews arrive with Melinda French Gates, Marie Bostwick, and Kevin Nguyen. Tennis legend Serena Williams will executive-produce a Netflix series adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Carrie Soto Is Back. Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach will also be adapted for television.

Strangers in Time by David Baldacci leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Jeneva Rose, Lyla Sage, and Melinda French Gates. Two LibraryReads and three Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is The Seven O’Clock Club by Amelia Ireland. Finalists for the PEN America Literary Awards are announced. Earlyword’s April GalleyChat spreadsheet is out now. Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Emma Grey’s Pictures of You, and Emma Rosenblum’s Bad Summer People will get adaptations. Nobel-winning Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa has died at the age of 89.

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.

Winners are announced for the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards for works that deepen understanding of race and diversity. Finalists are selected for the Independent Book Publishers Association Awards and the Stella Prize. The Great Gatsby turns 100. Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams, author of Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, testifies in front of Congress. Andrews McMeel launches a religious book imprint, Amen Editions. Plus, Page to Screen and interviews with Katie Kitamura, Eric Rickstad, and Don Winslow.

Winners of the Whiting Awards for emerging talents are announced. The Horror Writers Association has announced David Cronenberg, Dame Susan Elizabeth Hill, and Del and Sue Howison as recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Thomas Pynchon will publish his first novel since 2013, and Patti Smith has written a new memoir. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Edna Bonhomme, Peter Godwin, and Belinda Bauer.

Three weeks after the fire was contained, Jessica Gleason, bookmobile librarian at the Wailuku Public Library, bookmobile driver Michael Tinker, and Lāhainā branch manager Chadde Holbron, hit the road to support Maui’s West Side community.

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.

Shortlists for the International Booker Prize, Dinesh Allirajah Prize, and Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards for British food writing are announced. Samantha Mills wins the Compton Crook Award for her debut novel, The Wings Upon Her Back. The Sheikh Zayed Book Awards are announced. ALA files suit over the gutting of IMLS. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner. Plus, the Library of Congress announced its 2025 selections for the National Recording Registry.

A new documentary, Banned Together—available to stream April 10—shines a spotlight on three young freedom to read advocates, and how, together and individually, they are standing up to make a difference.

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.

Garth Greenwell wins the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his novel Small Rain. Dawn Porter wins the BIO Award. The Romantic Novel of the Year Awards shortlist is announced. A new NPR/Ipsos poll finds that while American adults enjoy reading, it is not a top priority. A new adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is coming to AMC. Kerry Greenwood, author of the Miss Phryne Fisher mysteries, has died at the age of 70.

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner leads holds as National Library Week kicks off with Right To Read Day. Also in demand are titles by Nita Prose, Jasmine Guillory and Katie Kitamura. People’s book of the week is Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. ALA reveals the top 10 most challenged books and issues the “State of America’s Libraries Report.” Finalists for the Hugo Awards and Canada’s Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing are announced.

Libraries offer a key to action now and hope for the future.

Shortlists for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and the Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards are announced, as are winners of the Association of American Publishers PROSE Awards and the Christopher Awards. Publishers ask Congress to defend libraries as federal library grant funding ends. Picador will reissue more than 100 novels by Georges Simenon. Books are forthcoming from former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Plus, Page to Screen and Anthony Horowitz’s favorite books.

A multi-state coalition files lawsuit following week of rapid changes at IMLS.

Generative AI services use a lot of electricity and water, and create a lot of e-waste. The ecological impact of the technology is just beginning to be studied and discussed.

The National Book Foundation announces its 5 Under 35 honorees: Stacie Shannon Denetsosie, Megan Howell, Maggie Millner, Alexander Sammartino, and Jemimah Wei. Nicola Griffith wins the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association’s Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. The finalists are revealed for the Al & Eurithe Purdy Poetry Prize for established Canadian poets. Reese Witherspoon’s April book club pick is All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Mark Hoppus, Maria Shriver, and Reginald Dwayne Betts.

The shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction is announced, including Aria Aber, Miranda July, Sanam Mahloudji, Elizabeth Strout, Yael van der Wouden, and Nussaibah Younis. Bullaun Press wins the Republic of Consciousness prize for small presses. James by Percival Everett wins this year’s Tournament of Books in a championship matchup against Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez. NaNoWriMo is shutting down. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, based on the novel by Suzanne Collins, gets a release date of November 2026. And remembrances arrive for Irish crime writer Ken Bruen, translator Tim Mohrhas, and actor Val Kilmer.

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. 

The vital role libraries play in their communities has been well documented, yet many libraries are overlooked, and certainly underfunded, for their significant involvement in disaster preparedness and recovery. Each new disaster brings focus to the urgency around recognizing libraries as key climate resiliency partners. To that end, academics, practitioners, educators, and other leaders have created a body of work to help share stories that raise awareness.

In our Climate Crisis series, rolling out over the next two weeks, LJ writers examine climate chaos from multiple perspectives and offer their thoughts on ways to address climate impact.

Capturing and preserving information has long been part of the library mission. As the world grapples with the wide range of threats climate change presents to the environment, ecosystems, and society, we can make a difference by keeping people informed.

ALA releases a statement after IMLS staff are placed on administrative leave. Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh is April’s B&N book club pick. The Sirens by Emilia Hart is GMA’s pick. Niko Pfund has been named director of Yale University Press. Atria Books has acquires Matthew Aldrich’s debut novel, The Natural Order, for publication in fall 2026, in a preemptive deal. Interviews arrive with Elaine Sciolino, Colum McCann, Liz Moore, Natalie Keller Reinert, Lawrence Wright, Vicky Nguyen, and Jennifer Haigh. Plus, the best books publishing in April.

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Jesse Q. Sutanto, J.A. Jance, Robert Jackson Bennett, and Katee Robert. People’s book of the week is Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly by Hannah Selinger. Kirkus introduces its list of the best books of the century, and The Atlantic shares the best American poetry of the 21st century. Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman will take the helm at The Rumpus on May 1. NBA star Stephen Curry signs a three-book deal with One World. Plus, James Patterson and YouTube star MrBeast will team up to write a forthcoming thriller, after an eight-figure bidding war for the novel and film and TV rights.

From Federal News Network: The largest source of federal funding for libraries and museums is putting all its employees on paid administrative leave, as the agency prepares for major cuts to its operations. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) put all of its approximately 75-employee workforce on paid administrative leave Monday, according to several IMLS employees.

The shortlist is announced for the EBRD Literature Prize for European literary fiction translated to English. After an Alabama board voted to defund the Fairhope Public Library over teen books, Read Freely Alabama raised over $40,000 to keep the library open. French Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal has been sentenced to prison in Algeria, allegedly for criticizing the country. Salman Rushdie will publish a new collection of stories, The Eleventh Hour, due out in November. Plus, Page to Screen and interviews with John Green, Sigrid Nunez, and Cynthia Ozick.

The Dublin Literary Award shortlist is announced. An Iowa law that would ban books including 1984 and Ulysses has been blocked by a federal judge. Simon & Schuster’s new publisher aims to make it the A24 of books. Taylor & Francis announces it will use AI to translate books from some languages into English. Penguin Random House and the National Coalition Against Censorship have both announced fundraising initiatives to counter censorship. Plus, interviews with Bob the Drag Queen, Amanda Knox, and Chris Offutt.

Fiona McFarlane wins the Story Prize for Highway Thirteen: Stories. Ann Regan wins the Kay Sexton Award, and Gustavo Bondoni wins the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award. The shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction and recipients of the Writing Freedom Fellowship are announced. April’s Read with Jenna pick is Heartwood by Amity Gaige. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title Lethal Prey by John Sandford. Interviews arrive with Tess Gerritsen, Abby Jimenez, Gregory Maguire, John Green, Graydon Carter, and Brian Goldstone. Plus, NYPL opens the Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne archive today.

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.”

The winners of the Windham-Campbell Prize and longlists for the PEN America Literary Awards are announced. NYT reports how library advocates are rallying to the defense of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Jonas Brothers update fans on their previously announced forthcoming memoir. Interviews arrive with Krysten Ritter, James Whitfield Thomson, and Elie Mystal. Plus, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels will be adapted as a TV series.

The National Museum and Library Services Board, which serves in an advisory capacity to the director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), pens a letter to new Acting Director Keith Sonderling outlining which functions it considers essential obligations of the organization.

Alan Inouye has led advocacy and public policy for the American Library Association (ALA) since 2007, where he’s touched everything from E-Rate to copyright to ebook access, securing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for libraries. His retirement from ALA this month marks a crucial moment for the association, which has weathered significant challenges in recent years and cannot afford to lose ground with relationships in Washington, DC, and across the broader library landscape.

Lethal Prey by John Sandford leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Harlan Coben, John Scalzi, Ashley Winstead, Alex Aster, and Emma Pattee. People’s book of the week is Firstborn: A Memoir by Lauren Christensen. The West Passage by Jared Pechacek wins the Crawford Award. Plus, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s forthcoming book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution, will publish September 9.

The winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards and the shortlists for the British Science Fiction Association Awards are announced. The 2025 Canada Reads winner is A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, written with Mary Louisa Plummer. The Guardian reports how Sarah Wynn-Williams’s Facebook exposé, Careless People, came to top the NYT bestsellers list this week, despite Meta’s attempt to stifle its author. Rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot will publish a memoir in Jan. 2026. President Trump has appointed Keith E. Sonderling as the new acting director of the IMLS. Plus, Page to Screen and booklists from V.E. Schwab and David Szalay.

In the evolving world of libraries, creating programs that support your community and secure essential funding is both an art and a science. Before her retirement in late 2024, after 30 years of service, Karen Beach, deputy director of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation, NC, and an expert grant writer, shared invaluable insights with members of the Library Support Network on how development professionals can serve as thought partners to library staff. Her guidance emphasized creating more compelling and competitive grant applications to improve funding success rates.

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.

Sergey Radchenko’s To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power wins the Lionel Gelber Prize for books about international affairs. Harriet Baker’s Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann wins the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer of the Year Award. The shortlist for the Dylan Thomas Prize is revealed. LJ announces the keynote speakers for this year’s Day of Dialog, taking place on Apr. 17: R.F. Kuang, Susan Orlean, and Cory Doctorow. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Phil Hanley, Elon Green, Colum McCann, and Torrey Peters.

The inaugural Climate Fiction Prize shortlist and the Jhalak Prize longlists are announced. The Virginia Festival of the Book kicks off tomorrow. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Plus, interviews with Karin Slaughter, Connie Briscoe, Jason De León, and Emma Donoghue and title suggestions for Women’s History Month.

Finalists for the Publishing Triangle Awards and the shortlist for the Kurd Laßwitz Preis are announced. PEN America’s World Voices Festival and Literary Awards events will return this year after being cancelled in 2024. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer postpones his book tour. Reviews arrive for Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. April’s LibraryReads list features top pick The Sirens by Emilia Hart. Eoin Colfer’s best-selling novel Artemis Fowl will be adapted as a stage musical, while Julie Satow’s When Women Ran Fifth Avenue is making its way to TV. Norwegian novelist Dag Solstad has died at the age of 83.

Some AI tools are making newsrooms more efficient; others are generating incorrect headlines and news summaries, presenting new information literacy challenges.

On Friday night, March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order that called for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and six other agencies. In FY24, the IMLS budget was $294.8 million, of which more than $211 million was dedicated to library services through the Library Services Technology Act (LSTA), the leading source of federal funding for America’s libraries. According to a statement from the American Library Association (ALA), “Libraries translate .003 percent of the federal budget into programs and services used by more than 1.2 billion people each year.”

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins leads holds this week, with appeal across age levels. Also in demand are titles by John Green, Susan Mallery, Laurie Gilmore, James Patterson and J.D. Barker, and Tess Gerritsen. ALA releases a statement on a Trump administration executive order which calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. A Place Called Yellowstone: The Epic History of the World’s First National Park by Randall K. Wilson wins the New York Historical’s Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize. Plus, Canada Reads kicks off today.

The shortlist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the finalists for the Nebula Awards are announced. After a complaint brought by Meta, an arbiter has blocked former Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams from promoting Careless People, her recently published tell-all about the company. UK bookseller Waterstones expands its Books of the Month program with YA and additional nonfiction offerings. Plus, Page to Screen, a profile of Cynthia Ozick, and interviews with Silvia Park, Kelly Link, and Athol Fugard.

The demand for audiobooks continues to grow year-over-year. Publishers are responding to consumers’ ever-increasing audiobooks appetite by looking beyond the latest front-list titles to expand catalogs and production in creative ways.

Rodrigo Fresán’s Melvill wins the Republic of Consciousness Prize, United States and Canada. NYT releases its spring books preview. The nonprofit We Need Diverse Books announces its inaugural reading day, April 3. A behind-the-scenes book about the 1984 movie Spinal Tap is in the works. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Curtis Sittenfeld, Karen Russell, Carvell Wallace, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

The Joyce Carol Oates Prize finalists are announced. Manya Wilkinson wins the Wingate Literary Prize for Lublin. Oprah selects The Tell by Amy Griffin for her book club. Rebecca Yarros’s bestselling “Empyrean” series will be released as graphic novels. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman. Bloomsbury’s new imprint Bloomsbury Archer will publish Samantha Shannon’s Among the Burning Flowers in September. Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns will release The American Revolution: An Intimate History on November 11, ahead of its companion six-part PBS documentary series. Stephen King’s Cujo is headed to Netflix.

The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards finalists, the Golden Poppy Book Award winners, and the British Book Awards Book of the Year shortlists are announced. Zando acquires Tin House. HarperCollins will publish Lucy Foley’s new Miss Marple novel in September 2026. In May, Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle will release the new book We Can Do Hard Things, based on their podcast. Martin Scorsese will adapt, direct, and produce Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead novels for the big screen. Louise Penny cancels U.S. tour dates. Plus, Terry Brooks passes the baton on his Shannara series.

Libraries remained mostly strong at the ballot in 2024, but a decline in construction initiatives and tightening budgets speak to the need for increasingly strategic advocacy.

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Chris Bohjalian, Karen Russell, Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles, and Colleen Oakley. People’s book of the week is Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall. April's Indie Next Preview features #1 pick Tilt by Emma Pattee. Plus, Hoda Kotb announces a new book, Jump and Find Joy, due out September 23.

The longlist for the Biographers International Organization’s Plutarch Award, the longlist for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction by women and nonbinary writers, the finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and the shortlist for the Lionel Gelber Prize for books about international affairs are announced. Jenni Fagan’s memoir Ootlin wins the Gordon Burn Prize. The Help author Kathryn Stockett will publish her second novel in April 2026. Plus, Page to Screen and interviews with Abdulrazak Gurnah, Agustina Bazterrica, Zadie Smith, and Dennis Lehane.

Providing opportunities for high-quality adult education aligns with the mission of libraries to serve their communities’ educational, personal enrichment, and career development needs. Now, a new service from Gale helps libraries do this in a highly effective way. 

James Tejani’s A Machine To Move Ocean and Earth: The Making of the Port of Los Angeles and America and Kathleen DuVal’s Native Nations: A Millennium in North America win the Bancroft Prize for books about U.S. history. Sophie Elmhirst’s Maurice and Maralyn: An Extraordinary True Story of Shipwreck, Survival and Love wins the Nero Gold prize. The Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist is announced. The publishing industry prepares for new U.S. tariffs. Plus, interviews with Laila Lalami, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Bruce Vilanch and new title bestsellers.

On March 5, Clarivate issued an update  to its February 18 announcement of a new subscription-based content access strategy for ebooks and digital collections, acknowledging the need for community consultation and a new transition timeline. Because customers expressed that “the original communicated dates for the last orders would pose a considerable challenge,” the open letter stated, Clarivate will extend the ability to make perpetual purchases of print and ebooks on all platforms—including Ebook Central, OASIS, Rialto, and GOBI—through June 30, 2026.

The Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab (LIL) has created a data vault to download, authenticate, and provide access to copies of public government data that may be in danger of disappearing. The project will collect major portions of the datasets tracked by data.gov, federal GitHub depositories, and PubMed—information of value for researchers, scholars, and policymakers. When the public-facing site launched on February 6, the data vault had collected metadata and primary contents for more than 300,000 datasets available on data.gov.

The Libby Award winners are announced, including Kristin Hannah’s The Women and Erik Larson’s The Demon of Unrest. The Audie Award winners are announced, with Barbra Streisand’s My Name Is Barbra winning Audiobook of the Year. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hallis is Reese Witherspoon’s March book club pick. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title Blood Moon by Sandra Brown. Anthony Hopkins will release his memoir We Did OK, Kid on November 4. Plus, director Jon M. Chu previews the forthcoming Crazy Rich Asians TV series, based on the books by Kevin Kwan.

Longlists for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Plutarch Award are announced, along with category winners of AAP PROSE Awards. HarperCollins will publish posthumous stories and essays by Harper Lee in a forthcoming collection, The Land of Sweet Forever, due out October 21. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall is the B&N book club pick for March, and Count My Lies by Sophie Stava is the GMA pick. Interviews feature Steve Jones, Jordan Chiles, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ione Sky, Hanif Kureishi, and Linda Holmes. A rare hand-written copy of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 is found in Oxford. And remembrances arrive for authors Joseph Wambaugh, John Casey and Laura Sessions Stepp.

This year's Budgets and Funding Survey showed mixed results for fiscal trends in 2024, from robust forward motion to defunding—with more uncertainty ahead.

We cannot be caught flat-footed when library funding is called into question. Doing the work of capturing stories today will help ensure we’re prepared to deal with threats that we may face tomorrow.

Blood Moon by Sandra Brown leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Elle Cosimano, Deanna Raybourn, Charlotte McConaghy, and Danielle Steel. Ten LibraryReads and nine Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker. Audiofile announces the March 2025 Earphones Award winners. Adaptations won several Academy Awards last night. Plus, it’s Read Across America Week.

The March Read with Jenna pick is Laila Lalami’s The Dream Hotel. The NYT Book Review Book Club selects Han Kang’s We Do Not Part as its March read. The shortlist for the Republic of Consciousness Prize (United States and Canada), finalists for the Minnesota Book Awards, and winners of the Florida Book Awards are announced. PEN America releases its report “Cover to Cover: An Analysis of Titles Banned in the 23–24 School Year.” Doubleday launches Outsider Editions, an imprint for paperback reissues. Plus, interviews with Andrey Kurkov and Omar El Akkad.

Established in 2013 in Corvallis, OR, the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archive at Oregon State University aims to collect and preserve books, periodicals, ephemera, and artifacts about brewing and hops farming in the Pacific Northwest. The university has a department dedicated to food science and technology under its College of Agricultural Sciences, as well as its own Research Brewery, and since 1995 has offered one of the few Fermentation Science programs in the country. But it would take a department merger and a wedding to spark the creation of the archive.

Sharon Lee, author of the “Liaden Universe” novels, wins the Robert A. Heinlein Award for sci-fi that inspires space exploration. Haruko Ichikawa’s Land of the Lustrous manga wins the Japan SF Grand Prize. Publishers plan for less mass market paperbacks in the wake of Readerlink ending distribution of them. Journalist Robin Givhan is writing a biography of the late designer Virgil Abloh. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Lidia Yuknavitch, Ione Skye, and Mark Greaney.

The International Booker longlist is announced, featuring all first-time nominees. The London Writers Awards winners are announced. Hachette Book Group launches its first dedicated New Adult imprint, Requited. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for this week’s top holds title, Battle Mountain by C.J. Box. Cosmetics icon Bobbi Brown announces a forthcoming memoir. Dave Eggers’s A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius turns 25 this month. Plus, Ron Stallworth’s The Gangs of Zion: A Black Cop’s Crusade in Mormon Country will be adapted for TV by Hulu.

Sara Ring, continuing education librarian at Minitex (a joint program of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the University of Minnesota), was named a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker for her work helping develop 23 Linked Data Things and the Minitex Wikimedia Project. LJ recently spoke with Ring about what it took to build those projects and her plans for the future.

The Bram Stoker Awards final ballot is released; winners will be announced on June 14. Earlyword’s February GalleyChat spreadsheet is out now. Shelby Van Pelt announces a new paperback book tour for Remarkably Bright Creatures. Interviews arrive with Daniel D’Addario, Haley Mlotek, and Ariana DeBose. Plus, Readerlink will discontinue distribution of mass market paperbacks by the end of 2025.

Battle Mountain, the 25th Joe Pickett novel by C.J. Box, leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Gillian McAllister, Lisa Unger, Curtis Sittenfeld, and Linda Holmes. People’s book of the week is Dream State by Eric Puchner. Salman Rushdie’s assailant Hadi Matar is found guilty of attempted murder. Hoopla announces it is working to remove AI-generated books from its platform.

Catherine Belton, Caroline Criado-Perez, Helen Czerski, Afua Hirsch, Guy Shrubsole, and Chris Van Tulleken have been shortlisted for the inaugural Unwin Award for nonfiction writers in the early stages of their careers. Lee Yaron’s 10/7: 100 Human Stories is selected as the Jewish Book Council’s Winter 2025 Natan Notable Book. Winners of the Ezra Jack Keats Awards for children’s literature are announced. ALA launches a public supporter program at ILoveLibraries.org that will generate donations and keep library patrons apprised of the organization’s advocacy work and grants. Plus, a sequel to Joanne Harris’s hit 1999 novel Chocolat is on the way.

Jennie Pu, director of Hoboken Public Library (HPL), NJ, has announced her run for New Jersey’s 32nd Legislative District Assembly. Pu, who has led HPL since 2021, would be the first librarian to run for state office in New Jersey (joining librarians Kathy Zappitello, who ran for Ohio state representative in 2022, and Rebekah Cummings, who ran for Lieutenant Governor of Utah in 2024). If elected, Pu will be the first Chinese American lawmaker in the state’s history and the first Asian American woman to represent Hudson County.

Artificial intelligence is not a solution—it’s a tech tool that is only useful when it actually solves problems for learners and librarians. AI is everywhere you look today, from the big three search engines to the local library. 

Shortlists are revealed for the Lukas Prizes for American nonfiction. The social media readers’ platform StoryGraph, which uses AI to offer readers tracking tools and recommend their next books, has reached 3.8 million users. Emily Bestler and Scott Glassgold launch 12:01 Books, an imprint of Atria for horror content that can work as both books and films. Plus, a posthumous book from historian David McCullough and new title bestsellers.

Clarivate, the parent company of ProQuest and its Ebook Central platform, on February 18 announced the launch of a new subscription-based content access strategy for ebooks and digital collections. As part of the strategy, Clarivate will be phasing out the option for libraries to purchase one-time perpetual licenses for its ebooks and digital collections in 2025, including single-title purchases, upgrades, and evidence-based and demand-driven acquisitions.

Oprah selects Eric Puchner’s Dream State for her book club, and A24 announces plans to adapt the novel for TV. The LA Times Book Prize finalists are announced, and Pico Iyer will receive the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement, while Emily Witt wins the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose and Amanda Gorman wins the Innovator’s Award. The winners of the Reed Environmental Writing Award are announced. Perminder Mann is named CEO of Simon & Schuster International. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Scottish crime writer Denzil Meyrick has died at the age of 59.

With the release of its 10th-anniversary edition, Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale leads holds this week. People’s book of the week is Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma. The March LibraryReads features top pick Saltwater by Katy Hays. The Southern Book Prize winners and Walter Scott Prize longlist are announced. PEN America will honor Sarah Jessica Parker and Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged at its gala in May. Actress Julianne Moore responds to her children’s book being removed from schools run by the U.S. Department of Defense. An Iowa House bill proposes to remove obscenity-law exemption for libraries and schools. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s memoir will be adapted for film. Plus, Hulu cancels its adaptation of Sarah J. Maas’s “A Court of Thorns and Roses.”

One of the good things about spending more time indoors during the winter months is having more opportunities to spend an evening with a compelling book. If you are stuck on what to read this winter, we have put together a collection of ten riveting page-turners!

In this AI Watch, we discuss:

• The State Libraries and AI Technologies Working Group Gathering

Voting for the American Library Association (ALA) 2026–27 presidential campaign opens March 10, and ALA members in good standing can cast their ballots through April 2. LJ invited candidates Lindsay Cronk, dean of libraries at Tulane University, New Orleans; Andrea Jamison, assistant professor of school librarianship, Illinois State University; and Maria McCauley, director of libraries, Cambridge Public Library, MA, to weigh in on some key issues.

Longlists are selected for the Reading the West Awards. Finalists are revealed for the Compton Crook Award, for best debut sci-fi, fantasy, or horror novel. Isabel Allende receives the Bodley Medal for her contributions to literature. Giada Scodellaro’s Ruins, Child wins the Novel Prize. Publishing Perspectives analyzes the longlists for the UK Carnegie Medals for children’s books and finds a trend of books about masculinity. Plus, Page to Screen and interviews with Helen Fielding, Charlamagne Tha God, and Charlotte Wood.

In July 2024, when Idaho’s House Bill 710 went into effect, libraries across the state felt its impact in large and small ways, from refining policies to removing contested titles from their shelves. The law, passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Brad Little, prohibits libraries and schools from allowing anyone under age 18 to access material containing “sexual content,” regardless of their age—the law makes no distinction between infants and 17-year-olds—or the books’ literary merit. In February a coalition of publishers, authors, parents, students, and the Donnelly Public Library (DPL) District filed a lawsuit challenging HB 710 on the grounds that it violates the First and 14th Amendment rights of librarians, educators, publishers, authors, parents, and students.

Winners of the Society of Authors Translation Prize, the Albertine Translation Prize, and the Westminster Book Awards are revealed. A shortlist is announced for the Athenaeum Literary Award for books from and about Philadelphia. Authors Against Book Bans successfully prevents a book ban in a Florida school district. Plus, a reexamination of the work of Janet Malcolm, interviews with Joe Piscopo and Brigitte Giraud, and new title bestsellers.

Margaret Atwood announces she will publish a memoir, The Book of Lives, in November. The Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction longlist and the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize shortlist are announced. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes. Barbara Hoffert previews a year of titles to watch for LJ. Plus, Amy Adams will star in and produce the Apple TV+ series Cape Fear, based on John D. MacDonald’s novel The Executioners.

The 10th-anniversary edition of The Nightingale by patron favorite Kristin Hannah releases next week. The attempted-murder trial of the man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie onstage in 2022 begins. AAP, IPA, and other groups release a joint statement on AI and copyright. Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged warns about the dangers of banning books. Plus, Thomas Ray’s novella Silencer will be adapted for the big screen.

What is worse, these days celebrating the book might also be resented by those who owe allegiance to futuristic forms of digital reading or what one can call visual orality—the use of mixed media, rooted in TV and film technologies, to tell stories and convey information.

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes leads holds this week. Also getting buzz are titles by Anne Tyler, Brynne Weaver, B.K. Borison, James Patterson and James O. Born, and Heather Fawcett. People’s book of the week is Memorial Days: A Memoir by Geraldine Brooks. The March Indie Next preview is out, featuring #1 pick Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. Grove Atlantic will launch the new Atlantic Crime imprint this fall. Novelist Tom Robbins has died at the age of 92.

Penguin issues new “First Impressions” editions of Jane Austen with refreshed covers, meant to appeal to young readers, romance fans, and “the BookTok demographic.” The Waterstones Children’s Book Prize shortlist is revealed. Poets & Writers reflects on 20 years of its annual celebration of debut poets. Spotify adds audiobooks from Crooked Lane and Podium. Plus, Page to Screen and new novels from Ian McEwan and John Irving.

Preprints, or initial versions of scientific reports that researchers share before the formal peer review and publication process have been completed, have started to become more popular within academic circles—and now the Gates Foundation has changed its Open Access policy to require grant-funded research papers to appear as preprints before publication.

Although considerably smaller than ALA’s Midwinter and LibLearnX conferences of the past, there was a palpable sense of community and nostalgia around the last midwinter gathering.

The American Library Association (ALA) has filed an amicus brief on the U.S. Supreme Court case, Federal Communications Commission, et al., Petitioners v. Consumers’ Research, et al., which stands to decide the fate of federal programs supporting broadband access for half of the nation’s public libraries. The brief affirms both the constitutionality and the value of the Universal Service Fund and the programs it administers—particularly the E-Rate program, which helps power broadband-enabled services and access in U.S. public libraries and schools.