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.

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.

In the violent rainstorms that hit central Appalachia this summer, one of the hardest hit institutions was Kentucky's Letcher County Public Library. Three of its four locations and a bookmobile were severely damaged. Cleanup has been steady but slow, but a GoFundMe fundraiser set up by Kim Michele Richardson, author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, has raised more than $30,000 to help the library rebuild and restock.

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 the CBC:  A new project from the University of Calgary is creating 3D digital records of some Alberta residential schools. The Taylor Family Digital Library, in consultation with Indigenous communities in Alberta, has created accurate virtual and physical models of three former residential schools with plans for more in the future. Prof. Peter Dawson, […]

From My Modern Met: Situated near Nieuwmarkt station in Amsterdam is a hidden gem for comic fans. Founded in 1968, Lambiek is the oldest comic shop in the world. And while it is well worth taking a trip to the Netherlands to see the brick-and-mortar location, the store offers another valuable resource for anyone interested in […]

From the CBC: The Iqaluit public library has been closed for more than five weeks and according to the Government of Nunavut, which operates the facility, it will be closed for at least six weeks longer. The Iqaluit Centennial Library first closed its doors on Oct. 18. [Clip] Ron Knowling, the library services manager for […]

From a Newsday Report: Districts from both Nassau and Suffolk — including those in Amityville, Bethpage, Baldwin, Herricks, South Huntington and Valley Stream 13, have upgraded their libraries in recent years. Some have used funding from bonds and others budgeted from the general fund. And there are future plans are in the works. For example, […]

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.

“Today’s library is so many things,” says Jennifer Charzewski, principal at the Charleston-based architecture firm Liollio. “It’s library as gathering place, as museum, as park, as school, as community center.” So, library designers are prioritizing flexibility for unforeseen future functions as they embark on both new builds and renovations.

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.