Spokane Public Library, WA, served as both host for Library Journal’s May 9 Design Institute and—using its creative and community-responsive systemwide redesigns and new construction as a jumping-off point—the inspiration for many of the day’s discussions. Fortunately, the conversation didn’t end there. LJ circled round with participants to find out what knowledge they brought back from Design Institute and what trends they think libraries looking to build, renovate, or retrofit their spaces should be keeping an eye on.

The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and the Independent Publishers Group (IPG) today announced a new model that will give libraries ownership rights to ebooks purchased from Austin Macauley, Arcadia Publishing, Dynamite Entertainment, Dover Publications, JMS Books, and dozens of other independent publishers.

Several major companies—including Clarivate, EBSCO, OCLC, and OverDrive—are introducing new AI tools and features that will impact researchers, patrons, and library work directly.

On the evening of July 31, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) celebrated its 2024 National Medal for Museum and Library Service at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. IMLS Acting Director Cyndee Landrum presented the National Medals to the award recipients, which included a range of libraries from across the country.

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 Inside Higher Ed: Even as federal agencies work to implement the Nelson memo—a 2022 White House directive to make federally funded research freely available to the public immediately after publication—members of Congress are joining academic publishers in pushing back. [Clip] “Researchers should have the right to choose how and where they publish or communicate their research […]

Banned Books Week Join EveryLibrary Live! During Banned Books Week 2024 for a Celebration of Reading and Libraries (via EveryLibrary) Colorado Take a Look Inside: Denver Public Library to Reopen Soon After Major Renovations (via KDVR) E-Books E-Books Are Expensive for Libraries. Some States are Trying to Change That (via NPR) EBSCO Southern New Hampshire […]

First of Their Kind: U.S. AI Safety Institute Signs Agreements Regarding AI Safety Research, Testing and Evaluation With Anthropic and OpenAI (via NIST) Introducing Scopus AI Copilot (via Scopus) OER: OpenStax Partners with Google’s Gemini Apps (via Rice University) Testing the Feasibility of Schema.org Metadata Refinement Through the Use of a Large Language Model (Abstract […]

From Internet2: Internet2 has been awarded a two-year $249,994 Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant  to bolster the digital capabilities of Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Tribal libraries. Funded through the Laura Bush 21st Century Library Program, the grant will enable the Internet2 Community Anchor Program to work closely with these libraries to scale the […]

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.

Readers looking for a wild romp of a sci-fi caper story, complete with long games, big plans, wild heists, and epically flirtatious banter, are going to fall in love with Ada Lamarr every bit as much as Agent Rian White does in this first of a projected trilogy from Revis (Museum of Magic). Perfect for fans of Valerie Valdes and Constance Fay.

Winners of the Christianity Today Book Awards and the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses Firecracker Awards are announced. National Book Awards longlists will be announced between September 10 and 13, finalists will be announced October 1, and winners will be announced November 20. Bookshop.org launches a buy-back scheme for second-hand books that will pay royalties to the authors. Plus new title bestsellers.

This month’s top indie and foreign films feature entwined lives within the Peking Opera, a disquieting Holocaust film exploring the banality of evil, and mindful eating taken to an extreme. 

Two titles examine how climate change impacts children and issue a call to action to parents.