If you’re not deep in library policy and advocacy, you may not have crossed paths with Alan Inouye—but America’s libraries have surely felt the impact of his work. Inouye has led advocacy and public policy for the American Library Association (ALA) since 2007, where he’s touched everything from E-Rate to copyright to ebook access, securing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for libraries. His retirement from ALA this month marks a crucial moment for the association, which has weathered significant challenges in recent years and cannot afford to lose ground with relationships in Washington, DC, and across the broader library landscape.
Just days following the installation of Keith Sonderling as the new Acting Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Museum and Library Services Board acted within its statutory capacity to advise the new director on "the essential functions of the Institute of Museum and Library Services as expressly provided by the Museum and Libraries Services Act of 2018 and budget appropriations enacted by Congress."
Fee-based databases offer scholars and general readers access to authoritative, fact-based research. These tools further study, enable discovery, and highlight key archival collections around the world.
From AI tools to a music encyclopedia to nonprofit financial information, the range of truly excellent free resources on the Internet reminds users of the best intentions of technology—to make knowledge accessible and useful to all.
Resources for study, developing knowledge, and exploring issues—created by experts and designed to illuminate—are critical tools. The year in reference showcases how essential facts-based resources are and how they can be harnessed for endeavors as profound as saving lives or as soul-satisfying as fixing a bike.
“To do public policy and legislation, you need to be pretty forward-thinking. It takes many years before you might actually get something through, so you can’t focus only on the current needs.”
In the evolving world of libraries, creating programs that support your community and secure essential funding is both an art and a science. Before her retirement in late 2024, after 30 years of service, Karen Beach, deputy director of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation, NC, and an expert grant writer, shared invaluable insights with members of the Library Support Network on how development professionals can serve as thought partners to library staff. Her guidance emphasized creating more compelling and competitive grant applications to improve funding success rates.
Last year, John Wilkin shared his essay Lyrasis in a Landscape of Radical Interdependence where he discussed the interdependence of libraries, archives and museums, and how Lyrasis is uniquely positioned to provide the connective tissue between them.
Scott Summers, assistant director of the Media and Education Technology Resource Center (METRC) at North Carolina State University, was named a 2024 Library Journal Mover & Shaker for his work developing a program to help new teachers understand the growing problem of book censorship in school libraries, and how to work with librarians against it. We recently spoke with Summers about why he developed the program and what it teaches.
This unique and expansive resource offers exciting opportunities for educators seeking to facilitate discussions centered on race and racism, identity, power, and culture. Materials are curated and presented by exceptional scholars and teachers who offer nuanced understandings and thoughtful writings across a range of topics.
AM has once again produced an impressive archive of important primary documents that give users a firsthand glimpse into the perspectives and mindsets of an underrepresented but essential group in UK and Irish history. The accounts of daily life and the roles and responsibilities of women since 1600 are riveting to read and hear.
The winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards and the shortlists for the British Science Fiction Association Awards are announced. The 2025 Canada Reads winner is A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, written with Mary Louisa Plummer. The Guardian reports how Sarah Wynn-Williams’s Facebook exposé, Careless People, came to top the NYT bestsellers list this week, despite Meta’s attempt to stifle its author. Rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot will publish a memoir in Jan. 2026. President Trump has appointed Keith E. Sonderling as the new acting director of the IMLS. Plus, Page to Screen and booklists from V.E. Schwab and David Szalay.
The inaugural Climate Fiction Prize shortlist and the Jhalak Prize longlists are announced. The Virginia Festival of the Book kicks off tomorrow. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Plus, interviews with Karin Slaughter, Connie Briscoe, Jason De León, and Emma Donoghue and title suggestions for Women’s History Month.
Finalists for the Publishing Triangle Awards and the shortlist for the Kurd Laßwitz Preis are announced. PEN America’s World Voices Festival and Literary Awards events will return this year after being cancelled in 2024. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer postpones his book tour. Reviews arrive for Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. April’s LibraryReads list features top pick The Sirens by Emilia Hart. Eoin Colfer’s best-selling novel Artemis Fowl will be adapted as a stage musical, while Julie Satow’s When Women Ran Fifth Avenue is making its way to TV. Norwegian novelist Dag Solstad has died at the age of 83.
Lethal Prey by John Sandford leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Harlan Coben, John Scalzi, Ashley Winstead, Alex Aster, and Emma Pattee. People’s book of the week is Firstborn: A Memoir by Lauren Christensen. The West Passage by Jared Pechacek wins the Crawford Award. Plus, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s forthcoming book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution, will publish September 9.
Sergey Radchenko’s To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power wins the Lionel Gelber Prize for books about international affairs. Harriet Baker’s Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann wins the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer of the Year Award. The shortlist for the Dylan Thomas Prize is revealed. LJ announces the keynote speakers for this year’s Day of Dialog, taking place on Apr. 17: R.F. Kuang, Susan Orlean, and Cory Doctorow. Plus, new title bestsellers and interviews with Phil Hanley, Elon Green, Colum McCann, and Torrey Peters.
In poetry, The Gift of Animals: Poems of Love, Loss, and Connection, edited by Alison Hawthorne, is a starred selection. "A thought-provoking collection of poetic gems that will inspire and remind readers of the importance of connecting with the natural world." Jason Pargin's starred audiobook, I’m Starting To Worry About This Black Box of Doom, is "A roller-coaster ride of a story, full of mystery and insight, recommended for fans of the author as well as Christopher Moore and Carl Hiaasen." And in fiction, Amy S. Kaufman's debut novel The Traitor of Sherwood Forest is a starred title. "Fans of thought-provoking historical fiction and compelling characters will enjoy this book."
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