Also: Stepping Up at Scale, Academic Libraries Post COVID, OA Use Up During Pandemic |
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| | Battling the Infodemic: LJ's 2021 Librarians of the Year
By Lisa Peet
Librarians Elaine R. Hicks, Stacy Brody, and Sara Loree have been named LJ's 2021 Librarians of the Year for their work with the Librarian Reserve Corps, helping the World Health Organization manage the flood of COVID-19 information. |
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| America’s Star Libraries 2020
By Keith Curry Lance
We are pleased to announce the results of the 13th edition of the LJ index of Public Library Service. The 2020 Index derives from data recently released by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for FY18. This year, 5,608 U.S. public libraries qualified to be rated in the Index. In this edition, there are 262 Star Libraries, each receiving three-Star, four-Star, or five-Star designations. |
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| | Stepping Up at Scale | Editorial
By Meredith Schwartz
Elaine R. Hicks, founder of the Librarian Reserve Corps, and Stacy Brody and Sara Loree, who joined as volunteers and evolved into codirectors, saw a serious need: the World Health Organization was not equipped to review and organize the incoming flood of COVID-19 information. On top of their jobs as academic and medical librarians respectively, they pulled together, with no budget, a 130-plus person team of international volunteers who used core librarianship skills to bridge that gap in the short term. |
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| | Visions of Success: Academic Libraries in a Post COVID-19 World
By Christopher Cox and Elliot Felix
Academic libraries have been undergoing transformation. In response to student and faculty needs, libraries have moved from physical spaces valued for their collections and research support to full-service research and student success hubs. COVID-19 has both accelerated these changes and, in some cases, upended them. |
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| | "I knew that there would be a lot of questions that needed to be answered, and I knew that there was going to be a lot of knowledge management. We really needed some medical librarian support. That was apparent very early, and almost immediately the need grew exponentially." | | From "Battling the Infodemic: LJ's 2021 Librarians of the Year" |
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| Academic Library Open Access Use Up During Pandemic | LJ Survey
By Melanie Kletter
Academic librarians are seeing more interest in open access content and open educational resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, survey respondents reported, due in part to a lack of access to physical materials and a desire to keep textbook costs low. Those are some of the findings from the Library Journal Open Access Content/Open Educational Resources in Academic Libraries Survey. |
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| | Neighbors by Danielle Steel Leads Holds This Week | Book Pulse
By Mary Bakija
Neighbors by Danielle Steel tops library holds lists this week, and other popular titles include All the Colors of Night by Jayne Ann Krentz, The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins, and Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Sanjay Gupta. Future First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will address the ALA Midwinter virtual meeting on Jan. 25. |
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| Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library’s Gina Millsap on Retiring, Finding the Money, and Why Meetings Are Good
By Lisa Peet
Gina Millsap, CEO and director of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library (TSCPL) for the past 15 years, retired on December 1. With Millsap at the helm, TSCPL earned LJ ’s 2016 Library of the Year award. At the national level, Millsap served as president of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Leadership & Management Association, and on the board of the Public Library Association. She also chaired ALA's Committee on Library Advocacy for four years. |
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| | | Help Little Ones Explore Emotions in an Unfair Time | First Steps
By Jessica Anne Bratt
Empathy helps children build positive relationships with the world around them and provides skills to process feelings. That’s especially important in a time of restricted social interactions that causes feelings of panic and anxiety, even in young children. Research shows that empathy is often innate and is demonstrated by infants as young as six months. |
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| | Remembering John N. Berry III
Teacher, raconteur, debater, mentor, advocate, editor, and above all, librarian: Colleagues and friends from the field recall John N. Berry III’s vital voice. |
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| Barack Obama Shares His Favorite Books of 2020 | Book Pulse
By Mary Bakija
Barack Obama's 17 favorite books of the year include Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, Deacon King Kong by James McBride, and Jack by Marilynne Robinson. BOMB looks at new titles released by small and independent presses during 2020, plus other best-of lists from the L.A. Times, CrimeReads, Book Riot, and more. |
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| Reviews WEB-FIRST REVIEWS OF BOOKS AND MEDIA Cynthia Pelayo's Children of Chicago is this week's starred sff selection. "With superior worldbuilding, a relentless pace, a complex heroine, and a harrowing story that preys off of current events as much as its well-developed monster, this is a stellar horror novel that fires on all cylinders, from the first page through to its horrible conclusion." Janice P. Nimura's The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine is one of this week's starred sciences titles. "This book is an excellent read for those interested in the history of medicine and those who enjoy a well-written biography." In how-to, The Farmer’s Daughter Bakes: Cakes, Pies, Crisps and More for Every Fruit on the Farm, by Kelsey Siemens, is this week's starred title. "The recipes here are simple enough to turn even the most reluctant baker into a creator of beautiful and delicious desserts with fresh fruits. An essential guide with a personal touch." Also in sciences, adventure writer David Roberts returns to "the swath of desert in Southeastern Utah known for its scenery and cultural significance" in his starred title, The Bears Ears: A Human History of America’s Most Endangered Wilderness. In law and crime, Glen Sample Ely's Murder in Montague: Frontier Justice and Retribution in Texas "offers a disturbing, clear-sighted look into murder on the frontier. Any collection of Western U.S. history or true crime is incomplete without this title." In social sciences, Information Activism: A Queer History of Lesbian Media Technologies, by Cait McKinney, is "a scholarly examination, [which] will also appeal to nonspecialist readers with a keen interest in queer and feminist history and activism, as well as the history of technology and communication. And Benjamin M. Friedman's economics title, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, makes "an important contribution to the literature on the intertwining of Western economic thought with religious beliefs. His detailed tracing of the philosophical and theological roots of free market economics is well researched, well written, and well worth reading."
See All Reviews››› |
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| Job Zone utilizes unique job matching technology to help you find the perfect job (and employers find the perfect candidate), whether you’re actively seeking or just keeping an eye out for your possibilities. Log on today and check out our newest features, including automated job and candidate matches, and email alerts. JOB OF THE WEEK
Mark Twain Library (CT) is seeking a Library Director |
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