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Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Danielle L. Jensen, Ocean Vuong, Carl Hiaasen, and Ron Chernow. Seven LibraryReads and six Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is The Red House by Mary Morris. Plus, June’s Indie Next preview is out, featuring #1 pick Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab.

Libraries are evolving; their roles and services are being reshaped by our dynamic digital landscape. The new roles that libraries are assuming also demand new skills and expertise from librarians to remain adaptable and effective. MLIS programs provide the essential foundation for professionals to thrive in an increasingly digital landscape.

Trump has fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Winners of the Vermont Book Awards, winners of the Sarton and Gilda Women’s Book Awards, and shortlists for the UK Booksellers Association’s Indie Book Awards are announced. They Came for the Schools by Mike Hixenbaugh wins the NYPL’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. Frank Herbert posthumously wins the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association’s Infinity Award. Plus, Page to Screen and interviews with Jennifer Hope Choi, Rachel Cockerell, Hamilton Nolan, and Jean Grae.

President Donald Trump has fired Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden. In a two-sentence email obtained by the Associated Press, sent on the evening of Thursday, May 8, Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel Trent Morse wrote, “Carla, on behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”

In an era of shrinking library budgets, innovative consortial relationships are proving essential for maintaining equitable access to resources. Library leaders share how ILS-agnostic consortial borrowing, strategic partnerships beyond traditional resource sharing, and communicating value to stakeholders can multiply a library's impact despite financial constraints.

Finalists are announced for the Amazon Canada First Novel Award and the Trillium Book Awards for writers from Ontario, Canada. Margaret Atwood wins the Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award. Carley Fortune recommends high-stakes romances. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with José Andrés, the hosts of the podcast We Can Do Hard Things, and Brendan Slocumb.

The Tenant by Freida McFadden is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.

The Otherwise Award winners are announced. NYT explores the unusual process of awarding this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to Percival Everett’s James. My Friends by Fredrik Backman is B&N’s May book club pick, while Good Housekeeping selects Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang. Baltimore romantasy festival A Million Lives is dubbed the “Fyre Fest of books.” Dua Lipa’s book club and author interviews earn high praise. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for top holds title The Tenant by Freida McFadden. Vanity Fair provides a first look at the adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk. Andy West’s prison memoir The Life Inside will be adapted at BBC. Plus, Practical Magic 2 gets a release date.

In this important work of early feminism, which shocked its readers but reflected its times, Chopin mirrors the sensibilities of her age while universally underscoring the desire to reject prescribed roles and definitions.

Heart, humor, and heat combine in this delightful duo of treasure-hunting romances.

All the September 2025 Prepub Alerts in one place, plus a downloadable spreadsheet of all titles from every post.

Outstanding reads and great picks across a wide range of fiction genres, audio, and nonfiction. Build TBR lists and find something to savor among this month’s top titles.

The Pulitzer Prizes are announced, with James by Percival Everett winning the top prize in fiction. Combee by Edda L. Fields-Black, Native Nations by Kathleen DuVal, Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts, New and Selected Poems by Marie Howe, Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls, and To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause by Benjamin Nathans also win Pulitzer Prizes. Earlyword’s May GalleyChat spreadsheet is out now. The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei is the May GMA book club pick. Diana Gabaldon’s 10th and final Outlander book will be titled A Blessing for a Warrior Going Out.

UPDATE: On May 6, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. issued a preliminary injunction in Rhode Island vs. Trump, stating that the actions of the executive order fall under the definition of “arbitrary and capricious,” as “IMLS, MBDA, and FMCS have not provided a rational connection between the sweeping actions they have taken and the vague, conclusory justifications they have provided,” and that the recision of IMLS grants is in violation of Constitutional law.

Audiobooks are a vital part of any public library’s collections, and streaming audio has become the preferred format among patrons. Yet, librarians often struggle to navigate the various access models available from publishers. Blackstone Audio has a solution to this challenge.

Early in her career, Moni Barrette realized patrons had a passion for comic books. “At that time, there was still stigma and a lack of understanding in the library community about the potential that comics had,” she explains, so Barrette moved into comics advocacy.

Jen Park knew the approach libraries usually took toward political advocacy. “We’d go up to the capitol once or twice a year,” she says. “I always felt like we were leaving something out.” 

Until Janet Hyunju Clarke, Associate Dean of Research and Learning at Stony Brook University Libraries, got involved, the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students who make up approximately 40 percent of the school’s population had never had a campus club that was open to anyone (as opposed to only students) or celebration related to their heritage. “We wanted to do something at a campus-wide level to show students that their history and experiences matter,” says Clarke. 

Through her mobile outreach work with the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), adult librarian Amanda Mellor creates vital connections between LAPL and persons experiencing homelessness. It is essential to bring library resources and support directly to them, says Mellor, whose efforts focus on delivering compassionate and responsive services to adults in the city’s Skid Row community.

With COVID, the scaffolding that Gregory developed to support students all but disappeared, and her work shifted to the purely transactional: Check books in, check books out. When the opportunity to join the Illinois Heartland Library System opened, Gregory transitioned from helping students to helping her fellow librarians.

“After COVID, our local newspapers were filled with stories on how teens were struggling. I thought, ‘Why couldn’t we do something for teens?’” says Renee McGrath, manager of youth services for the Nassau Library System, NY. In answer to that question, she envisioned and piloted Teen Calming Corners.

As Director of Donnelly Public Library (DPL), Sherry Scheline stewards a 1,024 square foot space that has become an anchor institution for Donnelly, ID—a town of fewer than 200 people, with a service population of just under 3,000.

“I have been working with virtual reality in my school library since Google Cardboard hit the educational scene in 2016,” Andrea Trudeau says.

Michelle Matthews, community and employee engagement director at Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL), is an Air Force veteran. “As an intelligence specialist,” says Matthews, “I worked with a lot of data and information, but my most valuable piece of service was working with a diversity of people. That taught me to accept people for who they are and where they are”—a lesson she puts into work daily.

As the archivist for San Diego’s Comic Arts Fest, Pamela Jackson curates 100,000 comics and ephemera. That alone would distinguish her, but bigger impact flows from her work at San Diego State University (SDSU). Along with SDSU history professor Elizabeth Pollard, Jackson developed a comics-based curriculum that has students more engaged than ever. 

After graduating from library school, Alejandro Marquez served in the Peace Corps in El Salvador, and the experience still affects his work today. It “really helped broaden my horizons to seeing different cultures and how different people work,” he says, “being empathetic and thinking about the different people out there who need library services and the best way to connect with them.”

When Library Director Natalie Draper started at the Northfield Public Library, she discovered ideas for supporting the community through public engagement sessions. “Something we heard in the engagement that we put into our strategic plan was people needing to feel that sense of belonging in a space,” she says. “A library services community best when the staff reflect the diversity of their community.”

After a $14.9 million bond library expansion referendum failed, Lisa Kropp knew she also needed a way to keep staff morale up. She proposed that the library take on the Sustainable Libraries Initiative certification program, an idea enthusiastically accepted by staff and the library board. Lindenhurst became the third U.S. library to earn the certification. 

Unlike most of his peers, Jason Homer wasn’t a reader as a kid. It wasn’t until freshman year of college, when he hung out in his school library to get away from his triple dorm room, that he “got” libraries. “The more time I spent there, the better I utilized the resources,” he says. “The librarians were really helpful.” After a foray into classroom teaching, Homer realized it wasn’t for him. So, he followed in the footsteps of the librarians who were part of his early-adult memories. 

Thanks to Keloni Parks, a few other adults, and about 17 young library patrons who wrote the verses, the West End Branch of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library has its own anthem: “The Place I Want to Be.”

As director of Suffolk Public Library, Clint Rudy participated in Virginia Library Leadership Academy (VALLA) in 2012, became VALLA coordinator in 2018, and in 2022 led a task force to reimagine and revise the academy. The first task: create a team with “a broad spectrum of experiences in life and careers—members from academic, special, and public libraries and with contacts and networking experience.”

Edra Waterman was working in a community mental health center when she heard about Indiana University’s top-notch MLS program. “My job convinced me that I wanted to be in a field that helped people of all backgrounds and situations,” she recalls. “The ethos of the public library as a welcoming place for everyone clicked with me on a fundamental level.”

Court Stevens, executive director of Warren County Public Library, is a former adjunct professor, youth minister, and bookseller; runs a hobby farm (four dogs, 10 goats, 20-something chickens, and three babydoll sheep); and has written 10 novels. A thread of care, energy, and vision runs through these disparate roles. 

Starting off as a library assistant in circulation at Missoula Public Library (MPL), Selya Avila jumped at the chance to take on a new role that aligned with her values when MPL’s director created the Community Engagement Department. 

As the first bilingual Latine/Hispanic Northfield Public Library employee, Angelica Linder saw an opportunity to help with the local implementation of a new Municipal ID—an alternate form of legal identification that helps people with banking, work, and finding a place to live. She worked with city offices to provide a safe space in the library for those applying for the ID, as well as needed translation services. 

He calls himself an “accidental librarian,” but little of Shamichael Hallman’s work is done without intention. He began his career in ministry and found his way into libraries after discovering the fields had a great deal of overlap. While Senior Library Manager of Memphis Public Libraries’ Cossitt Library, he oversaw a significant building renovation that expanded his thinking about the opportunities public spaces provide in fostering civic engagement. 

Kelli Rae Morning Bull’s lived experiences entwine with her initiatives at Calgary Public Library. “My Blackfoot culture is what drives my passion,” she says. “Sharing it with people can be very impactful.” Morning Bull builds relationships with Indigenous community groups and Elders and designs unique services for Indigenous and non-Indigenous patrons alike. 

The Hive® at Spokane Public Library is an artist’s dream come true—a nontraditional library location centered around arts education and free public event space, and home to four Artist- In-Residence studios, where a rotating group of creators work, teach, and inspire each other and the public. Its success is largely the work of Eva Silverstone, who believes that art in libraries is for everyone—“No admission ticket, no prerequisite, almost no dress code (within reason).” 

“When I was 13, I saw Pulp Fiction,” recalls Joe O’Brien. “Being part of that audience was like no experience I’d ever had. We were like instruments in an orchestra of adrenaline, gasping, laughing, or squirming together.” They knew then they wanted to tell stories for a living. 

“I’ve shaken hundreds of new immigrants’ hands to welcome them to become new citizens,” says Wang-Ying Glasgow, who hosts naturalization ceremonies at the library as one of her many duties leading adult, teen, and children’s programming for Memphis Public Libraries. The ceremonies are joyous affairs, with Glasgow, herself a naturalized citizen, bringing in Opera Memphis to perform the national anthem.

While viewed as the academic backbone of the two universities it serves, the Loyola Notre Dame Library “struggled like so many other libraries to bring patrons back into the building following the pandemic,” says Mallory Wareham. “We also faced the ever-present challenge of showing our patrons that libraries are far more than just a quiet study space.”