LJ Talks to ALA President Emily Drabinski By Lisa Peet New American Library Association (ALA) President Emily Drabinski has her eye on ALA’s projects and goals, as well as the association’s ongoing work standing up for its organizational values. LJ caught up with her in between stops on her tour of U.S. libraries to hear more about what she has planned. | OverDrive to Launch New Hub, Other Features | Digipalooza 2023 By Matt Enis OverDrive will soon debut several new features including OverDrive Hub, a portal designed to enable staff in a variety of roles to work with their library’s digital branch, the company announced during the “Forward Together: The Future of Your Digital Branch with the OverDrive Hub and Libby” panel at OverDrive’s biennial Digipalooza conference in August. | ALA’s Preliminary 2023 Book Challenge Data Shows 20 Percent Increase in Attempts on Unique Titles By Lisa Peet The American Library Association (ALA) has released its preliminary data on the attempted censorship and restriction of access to books and other materials in public, academic, and K–12 libraries during the first eight months of 2023. Between January 1 and August 31, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented 695 challenges to library materials to 1,915 unique titles. | Bookworthy Birds By David R. Conn and Robert Eagan Two forthcoming natural history titles feature birds and best practices for humans to interact with them. See also: Birds of a Feather By LJ Reviews Reading goes to the birds in these excellent works about birds, birding, and vanishing wildlife. | Movers & Shakers 2024 | Call for Nominations The editors of Library Journal need your help in identifying emerging talents in the library world—both great leaders and behind-the-scenes contributors who are providing inspiration and model programs for others. Our 22nd annual round of Movers & Shakers will profile up-and-coming individuals from around the world who are innovative, creative, and making a difference fighting against censorship, and helping improve their workplace. From librarians and non-degreed library workers to publishers, vendors, coders, entrepreneurs, reviewers, and others who impact the library field—Movers & Shakers 2024 will celebrate those people who are moving all types of libraries ahead! Please let us know about anybody you think we should be aware of. Submissions will close on October 23, 2023. | “That’s one of the things that I love about libraries—we are local. We build collections for the communities that we serve, we provide programming to those communities, and all of those are highly local decisions.” -From: “LJ Talks to ALA President Emily Drabinski” | LJ Talks with Toni Tipton-Martin About Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice By Sarah Tansley Multiple-award-winning author Toni Tipton-Martin is a culinary journalist, a community activist, and the editor in chief of Cook’s Country magazine. She is the author of the forthcoming Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice: A Cocktail Recipe Book; Cocktails from Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks, as well as The Jemima Code and Jubilee. She is a founding member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and Foodways Texas. | SPONSORED BY OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS How to Write a Journal Article In this blog post, we share tips from editors and outline some ideas to bear in mind when drafting a journal article. Whether you are writing a journal article to share your research, contribute to your field, or progress your career, a well-written and structured article will increase the likelihood of acceptance and of your article making an impact after publication. Read More>>> | LITERATURE PREMIUM Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business By Roxane Gay Each piece on its own is worthy of attention. Taken collectively, this title is not to be missed. A Memoir of My Former Self: A Life in Writing By Hilary Mantel Warm, human, unfailingly engaging, this lovely collection should appeal widely. As usual, she writes like a dream. Amos Oz: Writer, Activist, Icon By Robert Alter Through his elevation of the richness of the Hebrew language, Oz’s legacy will continue to be valued; Alter’s biography is a highly recommended contribution to that legacy. | Oprah Picks Nathan Hill’s Wellness for Book Club | Book Pulse By Kate Merlene Wayne Johnston wins the 2023 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour for his memoir, Jennie’s Boy: A Misfit Childhood on an Island of Eccentrics. The 2023 British Fantasy Awards winners are announced. Nihar Malaviya is officially named CEO of Penguin Random House. | 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 The Austin Public Library is seeking a Library Division Manager. | |