We celebrate the wondrous activity of reading with this list of 144 titles, books that delighted LJ reviewers, columnists, and editors.

This database includes intuitive tools that help students learn how to approach literary works, make assessments, and formulate arguments. 

Philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York on December 9 announced a new $5 million pool of grant funding available for public libraries nationwide. The new initiative—Libraries as Pillars of Education and Democracy—“will help public libraries deliver critical services that promote socioeconomic mobility, civic participation, and social belonging,” according to an announcement. The $5 million will be awarded to 10 to 15 library systems in regions serving 500,000 people or more, with each system receiving up to $500,000 in funding over 24 months.

From Brookings: As the Trump administration returns to office for a second term with renewed deregulatory ambitions, the executive branch and its agencies are implementing significant policy changes. The Brookings Center on Regulation and Markets Regulatory Tracker (“Reg Tracker”) provides background information and status updates on a curated selection of significant regulatory and deregulatory changes […]

The article (preprint) linked below was recently shared on arXiv. Title Exploring Wikipedia Gender Diversity Over Time – The Wikipedia Gender Dashboard (WGD) Authors Yahya Yunus University of Queensland Tianwa Chen University of Queensland Gianluca Demartini University of Queensland Source via arXiv DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2501.12610 Abstract The Wikipedia editors’ community has been actively pursuing the intent […]

ALA New ALA Initiative Asks Advocates to “Show Up for Our Libraries” AI LinkedIn Sued For Allegedly Training AI Models with Private Messages Without Consent (via The Record) Web Search Brave Search Introduces Rerank: A Fast, Easy Way For Users to Customize Brave Search Rankings

From an Ithaka S+R Blog Post: In the fall of 2023 we announced the launch of a new research project, funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, designed to assess the impact and implementation of open educational resource (OER) initiatives at public institutions of higher education. Today, we are publishing the resulting report, based on […]

ENSHITTIFICATION. It’s a real thing—the purposeful degradation of the quality in systems in order to maximize profits. And we saw ICT as a boon to society, liberating not oppressing. Sigh. Listen in as we explore enshittification and the implications of all this profit-seeking across all types of information systems.

Dave explores NotebookLM’s podcasting feature. NotebookLM is an AI system from Google that lets you create a workspace around documents that summarizes, creates study guides, and much more. One of the features is creating an “Audio Overview” that transforms your notes and documents into a two person podcast. Dave was impressed, see what you think.

The election is over, and the reactions are emotional and raw. America is still as divided politically and socially as the day before. What’s in store for us as individuals, families and communities? What might the next few years look like for libraries and librarians and those who use and rely on library resources and service?

Chartered by President Abraham Lincoln in 1864, Gallaudet University, in Washington, DC, holds the distinction of being the only bilingual university for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and other Deaf Disabled students in the world. Consequently, it has the world’s largest archives of materials related to deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, with a mission to preserve “the institutional memory of the University and historic material from the global Deaf community,” according to the Gallaudet website.

The Edgar Award nominees and Audie Awards finalists are revealed. USA Today launches its Winter Book Challenge, a bingo card full of book categories, to help readers stretch and track their reading goals. Christian rom-coms are flourishing. Plus, new title bestsellers.

As LJ approaches its 150th year helping librarians curate collections, we offer modern reviews of titles published decades and centuries ago. These reviews highlight iconic works and provide professional assessments of classics that have appeared on banned-book lists.

LitBase is a quality resource that provides access to critical, well-respected literary resources. The breadth of the content is outstanding, making this well worth considering for programs supporting undergraduate literary studies.