In the days after the election, LJ spoke with library colleagues for their takes on what may be in store from the new administration—and potential next steps.
One of our jobs at Library Journal is to help libraries contextualize the major political, social, and economic forces of our time. With the 2024 election, real library issues were at stake: Project 2025, a conservative agenda for the new Trump administration, makes clear that library funding, the right to read, and protections afforded to librarians and educators are all at risk.
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“I think it’s pretty assured that the public policy of the Trump administration will be averse to library interests. The previous Trump administration proposed budgets that zeroed out IMLS, NEA, and public broadcasting, so I would expect the same for the incoming administration. I will say, though, that none of them were actually zeroed out by Congress. And, in fact, IMLS funding increased during that time. So I think people should not lose hope.”
Now or Never by Janet Evanovich leads holds this week. Also in demand are titles by Nora Roberts, Sophie Cousens, Danielle Steel, and Cher. People’s book of the week is Time of the Child by Niall Williams. Six LibraryReads and eight Indie Next picks publish this week. Percival Everett’s James is named the Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. Earlyword announces that GalleyChat will move platforms from X to BlueSky, starting December 5.
Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy wins the Melbourne Prize for Literature. The winners of Canada Council for the Arts Governor General's Literary Awards are revealed. Edenville by Sam Rebelein and All I Want Is To Take Shrooms and Listen to the Color of Nazi Screams by John Baltisberger win Wonderland Book Awards for Excellence in Bizarro Fiction. The shortlist is announced for the Eccles Institute and Hay Festival Global Writer’s Award. CrimeReads releases its list of the best gothic novels of 2024. Trinidad-born novelist Elizabeth Nunez has died at age 80.
Amazon and Kirkus reveal their lists of the best books of 2024. Libro.fm shares its bestselling audiobooks of 2024. The shortlist for ALA’s Carnegie Medal and the longlist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize are announced. EveryLibrary has a chart tracking how library-related ballot measures fared in last week’s elections. Plus, interviews with Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey and the National Book Award nominees, and new title bestsellers.
Samantha Harvey’s Orbital wins the Booker Prize. Arthur Sze will receive the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, and the Ignyte Awards winners are announced. Time Releases “The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024.” LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for To Die For by David Baldacci. Lena Dunham will adapt Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis. Plus, Vox argues “why libraries need librarians.”
In SFF, Silvia Park's debut novel Luminous is a starred selection. "This momentous tour de force overtops existing works on robots by leaps and bounds, approaching the subject with a subtlety that allows readers to focus on the effects robots are sure to have in the future; a meditation on and an illustration of human and robot relationships in which it is difficult to distinguish between them." The Mailman, by Andrew Welsh-Huggins, is a starred mystery. "The author of The End of the Road introduces a determined, innovative courier in the vein of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher or James Byrne’s Dez Limerick. Appearances are deceiving in this fast-paced thriller, and the characters are introduced gradually so as not to overwhelm the outstanding series debut." And Natasha Bishop's Only for the Week is a starred romance. "Originally self-published and now traditionally published with bonus content, Bishop’s (“Lost & Found” series) scorching hot, smart, hilarious, and touching novel is highly recommended for all collections."
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