LJ Talks to the 2022–23 ALA Presidential Candidates
By Lisa Peet
LJ invited candidates Stacey Aldrich, state librarian at the Hawaii State Public Library System in Honolulu; Ed Garcia, director of Cranston Public Library, RI; and Lessa Pelayo-Lozada, adult services assistant manager at Palos Verdes Library District in Rolling Hills Estates, CA, to weigh in on some key issues pertaining to ALA and librarianship.

The Best Debut Novels of Spring and Summer 2021
By Barbara Hoffert
LJ’s thrice-yearly list of debut novels typically draws on news, reviews, and reading to report on the top titles of the coming seasons. That’s true of this list as well, but slowed-down book distribution and reviewing owing to the pandemic, and the list’s expansion to embrace midsummer titles (the next installment won’t appear until August) sometimes made assessment harder.

Ithaka Library Director Survey on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Antiracism Reveals Disconnects
By Lisa Peet
Ithaka S+R's report, “National Movements for Racial Justice and Academic Library Leadership,” looks at how their perspectives and strategies around diversity, equity, inclusion (EDI), and antiracism have changed over the last year, as well as their perceptions of COVID-19’s financial impacts on staff and faculty of color.

Amanda Jones and Diane Mokuau Named 2021 School Librarians of the Year
By Kara Yorio
Jones and Mokuau, librarians in Denham Springs, LA, and Molokai, HI, are exemplars of the profession, overcoming challenges of a uniquely difficult year to serve their students and communities.

SPONSORED BY INDIE AUTHOR PROJECT

Promoting Literacy and Diversity Through Local Libraries

This project celebrates local authors while promoting libraries as an essential literary and civic hub. In 2020, the collaboration’s inaugural Communities Create Award went to Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute, led by Dr. Artika Tyner, for the novel Justice Makes A Difference.

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Processing Hate: Anti-Asian racism calls for education, a place in our national reckoning
By Kathy Ishizuka
Nearly 3,800 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate have been reported since the start of the pandemic. Activists want to shift attention from news coverage of incidents to education measures to counter bigotry.

The Bounty by Janet Evanovich & Steve Hamilton Tops Holds Lists | Book Pulse
By Kate Merlene
The Bounty by Janet Evanovich & Steve Hamilton leads holds this week. Three LibraryReads selections arrive this week along with four Indie Next choices. The April issue of Entertainment Weekly is out. Margaret Atwood, John Grisham, Celeste Ng and others are collaborating on a pandemic novel to be titled Fourteen Days: An Unauthorized Gathering.

SPONSORED BY SEVERN HOUSE PUBLISHERS

A Haunting, Heroic Thriller Set in Nazi-Occupied Venice

At his beloved grandfather’s deathbed, a teenage boy receives a yellowing manuscript which reveals his grandfather’s darkest secrets from Nazi-occupied Venice in 1943. The Garden of Angels is a gripping tale, both for its imagining of war-torn Venice and the timeless portrait of life under Fascism.

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Bluebird Languages | Reference eReviews
By Rob Tench
Language-learning app Bluebird aims to bring language instruction to everyone, regardless of mother tongue. Affordable, responsive, easy to set up, and simple to access, Bluebird is an excellent resource with an enormous amount of content.

Library Groups and Authors Respond to Anti-Asian Hate Crimes | Book Pulse
By Mary Bakija
Library groups, authors, bookstores, and more have been speaking out against a recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and the recent murders in Atlanta, including pieces in the L.A. Times by Steph Cha, Your House Will Pay, and Sanjena Sathian, Gold Diggers, and interviews with Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings. 

 Reviews

WEB-FIRST REVIEWS OF BOOKS AND MEDIA

In history, R. David Lankes's starred title, Forged in War: How a Century of War Created Today’s Information Society, "is ideal for readers seeking a more comprehensive look at information dissemination technology, its context, and its impact on the way in which we now live." You Will Get Through This Night, a starred psychology selection by Daniel Howell, is "a book that could be read in tandem with Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library. With the same themes of choice, fate, and decision-making, Howell’s book offers practical guidance on handling life’s toughest experiences, both in the immediate moment and in the short- and long-term aftermath." And Death of a Showman, the fourth title in the “Jane Prescott” series (following Death of an American Beauty), is this week's starred mystery. "With a spirited, intelligent heroine; pitch-perfect descriptions of pre–World War I New York; and believable characters, Fredericks’s latest historical mystery is a delight."

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JOB OF THE WEEK
San Mateo County Libraries (CA) seeks a Librarian I/II