As library leaders contemplate retirement, are their libraries—and the next generation of leaders—ready for the change?

With picnics, barbecues, and backyard parties, summer seems made for cooking. Support patrons’ culinary plans with these tasty, wide-ranging suggestions.

Executive leadership development is imperative for the future of any organization, and this was especially pertinent to Columbus Metropolitan Library as my retirement announcement grew closer. I decided to strategically tap the expertise of our library board of trustees because of their external organizational perspectives on talent management.

Frankly, I should have seen it coming, but personal growth and change can be so subtle that you sometimes don’t realize you’re doing it until you’ve done it. When I literally squealed with delight upon discovering “Gardening with Monty Don” on the Hoopla BingePass at PLA 2024, it dawned on me that I was no longer someone who just liked plants...I’d become a gardener.

COVID shifts drove falling print circ and rising ebooks. But will it last? LJ's 2021 Materials Survey looks at some of the last year's trends.

This is the 13th year of the LJ Index of Public Library Service and Star Library ratings. The 2020 scores and ratings are based on FY18 data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Public Library Survey (PLS). Because of that delay, they don’t reflect the impact of the coronavirus; that won’t be reflected in the data until 2022. The big news in this year’s edition is that successful retrievals of electronic information (e-retrievals)—measuring usage of online content, such as databases, other than by title checkout—joins the six other measures that determine the LJ Index.

Whether librarians are providing services in-person or virtually, reference has changed with the pandemic.

Library Journal’s annual Placements & Salaries survey reports on the experiences of LIS students who graduated and sought their first librarian jobs in the previous year: in this case, 2019. Salaries and full-time employment are up, but so are unemployment and the gender gap; 2019 graduates faced a mixed job market even before the pandemic.

From Brown University: Fifteen humanities scholars from across the nation gathered in Brown University’s John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library this week with a shared mission: Explore best practices for authoring and publishing a first-rate, digital-first monograph and leave with the skills to create their own. [Clip] First held in 2022 and now in its second […]

From the Idaho Statesman Private schools and privately funded libraries in Idaho sued state officials Thursday, challenging a controversial new law that allows community members to challenge library books they believe are “harmful” to children. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boise, argued that the law reaches new heights of invasiveness by limiting the […]

From EDUCAUSE: There are three critical copyright issues that arise with the use of generative AI. In this video, we touch on the legal and ethical complexities around data ingestion for AI training, the potential for AI-generated outputs to infringe on existing works, and the challenge of securing copyright protection for AI-created content.

From ALA The American Library Association Council decided on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, that Sam Helmick will be the 2024-2025 president-elect effective immediately. Helmick, who is Community & Access Services Coordinator at Iowa City Public Library, was recommended by the ALA Executive Board and confirmed by the Council. ALA bylaws specified the process for replacing […]

When the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccines began to roll out in mid-December 2020, their distribution was immediately complicated by a shortage of doses and widespread uncertainty about who would be given priority. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued suggested guidelines for phased allocation. When it was not yet clear who would be next, many library workers, leaders, and associations began advocating for public facing library workers to be vaccinated as soon as feasible.

In the messy middle of the pandemic, library leaders share how things have changed since March 2020, their takeways, and continuing challenges.

Whether librarians are providing services in-person or virtually, reference has changed with the pandemic.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of books on the subject has been increasing exponentially. This introductory list, which will be updated regularly, is meant to help collection development librarians get started on determining which books work best for their collections.

With its mix of astute cultural analyses, quippy personal anecdotes, and deeper dives into sociopolitical and theoretical factors, this book does more than show disabled and chronically ill people that they belong. It also serves as a reminder that it matters how one shows up on dating apps and in relationships, in order to counteract the systems that try to render invisible the people whose bodies don’t conform to social norms.

Ferdia Lennon wins the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize for Glorious Exploits. Lisa Jewell’s None of This Is True, Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing, and Laurie Gilmore’s The Pumpkin Spice Café win TikTok Book Awards. Longlists for the Polari Prizes for LGBTQIA+ literature are announced. Plus, interviews with Elise Bryant, Hala Alyan, and Claire Kilroy and Page to Screen.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on July 24 announced the availability of almost $1 billion in competitive grant funding for programs that “support efforts to achieve digital equity, promote digital inclusion activities, and spur greater adoption and meaningful use of broadband,” according to a notice of funding opportunity posted by the agency. Application materials are available on NTIA’s BroadbandUSA website, and must be submitted through the NTIA Grants Portal by September 23.

Collecting one of the most popular, beloved, and influential comic strips ever created, this volume and the four preceding it are essential purchases for all libraries.