On May 25, the Central Arkansas Library System library board voted nearly unanimously to file a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Act 372, also known as Senate Bill 81. The bill, which was signed into law in March by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and will go into effect in August, creates the offense of “furnishing a harmful item to a minor” and makes it a Class A misdemeanor. In addition, it provides for civil action against governmental entities that possess, sell, or distribute “obscene materials,” and updates the process for challenging library titles.
PITS® is an online library Patron Incident Tracking System that fosters a safe space for everyone. Your staff can experience clear and consistent incident reporting, send notifications to appropriate staff members, and keep track of which patrons are currently suspended or trespassed.
Pulling data from several different sources and making sense of all this information is a significant hurdle for academic librarians. Yet, librarians must be able to do this effectively not only to make sound, evidence-based decisions about their use of campus resources—but also to meet federally mandated reporting requirements (such as IPEDS). Learn how Panorama, a next-gen analytics platform can simplify this process.
The Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize, developed in partnership between the Gerald M. Kline Family Foundation and Library Journal, was created in 2019 to recognize the public library as a vital community asset. When libraries, civic entities, organizations, and the people they serve become close partners, their communities thrive. One winning library will receive $250,000 in unfettered grant monies from the Gerald M. Kline Family Foundation. Deadline: June 16, 2023.
“Its effect, we think, is hostile to the freedom to read and is enabling censorship, even before it’s applied. It creates a process that allows one patron to come in and trigger this review at a nonjudicial, legislative level in the county or the city. It provides no input on the part of the person who wishes that material to stay in the broad circulation of the library.”
President Biden is appointing a book ban coordinator for the Department of Education, to make schools aware that book bans can violate federal civil rights laws. Holly Smale’s Cassandra in Reverse is the latest Reese Witherspoon book club pick. Roger Reeves wins the Griffin Poetry Prize for Best Barbarian. Lambda Literary announces Ryka Aoki, Light from Uncommon Stars, and Aaron Hamburger, Hotel Cuba, as the winners of the 2023 Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize. The Royal Society of Literature Christopher Bland Prize winner for is Paterson Joseph for The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho.
The Aisle-by-Aisle Exhibitor Guide & Coupon Booklet is now available for download. Get an early look at the Exhibitors and what’s happening on the show floor: book signings, show specials, prize drawings, booth giveaways.
EveryLibrary and GLAAD teamed up to offer practical advice for fighting censorship in your community; the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) announces its 2023 Best Book Awards; and publishing news from Baker & Taylor and Nosy Crow in this edition of News Bites.
Library Journal's annual award for the Best Small Library in America was founded in 2005 to encourage and showcase the exemplary work of these libraries. It honors the U.S. public library that most profoundly demonstrates outstanding service to populations of 25,000 or less (see below for eligibility requirements). The winner will be announced at the 2023 Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) Conference, and thanks to support from ARSL, will receive a scholarship to attend and the opportunity to speak. The winning library will also receive a cash award, and two finalist libraries will be also be honored.
The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand leads holds this week. Other buzzy books include titles by Ali Hazelwood, James Patterson, Jill Shalvis, and Fiona Davis. Five LibraryReads and four Indie Next picks publish this week. People’s book of the week is You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard. Norton celebrates 100 years. Plus, Elizabeth Gilbert pulls her previously announced forthcoming novel, The Snow Forest, from its publication schedule.
The Lambda Literary Foundation announces that Eboni J. Dunbar wins the Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction; Naseem Jamnia, author of The Bruising of Qilwa, and Maya Salameh, author of the poetry collection How To Make an Algorithm in the Microwave, win the Markowitz Award for Exceptional New LGBTQ Writers; and Jaquira Díaz, author of Ordinary Girls: A Memoir, wins the Jeanne Córdova Prize for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng and Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu win Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Awards. Shortlists for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Michael Knost Wings Award are released.
Zadie Smith's The Fraud is a starred fiction selection. "Smith wrestles contemporary themes surrounding women’s independence, racism, and class disparity from centuries-old events in her beautifully crafted historical. Readers of Geraldine Brooks or Hilary Mantel will be enthralled." The Beach at Summerly, by Beatriz Williams, is another starred fiction title. "This page-turner has depth of feeling and intriguing historical details that will sweep readers off their feet." Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus is a starred horror selection. "Two-time Hugo finalist Tingle has a huge cult following, and his brilliant mainstream debut does not disappoint. Suggest to fans of authors such as V. Castro and Hailey Piper, who take well-worn tropes and explore them through marginalized perspectives, creating something breathtaking and wholly new." And Ruth Ware's Zero Days is a starred mystery. "From its resourceful, resilient protagonist to its seamlessly constructed, au courant plot, everything about Ware’s newest novel is guaranteed to keep her fans up way past their bedtimes."
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