Best New Magazine Launches of 2019
By Peter Koonz
In 2019, the year saw some publishers close down or sell off long-lived titles, others tried creative adaptation in an effort to survive, while still others bravely entered the field with fresh ideas.

Library, Archives Workers Share Work-From-Home Ideas
By Ryan P. Randall and Jennifer LC Burke
As “shelter in place” orders were declared in communities across the nation and libraries and archives moved to close their doors to patrons, library and archives workers have begun working from home, helping their communities stay healthy while maintaining remote access to library staff, services, and resources.

IMLS Research Partnership To Address Safety Guidelines for Library, Museum Materials
By Lisa Peet
On April 22, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced a research partnership with OCLC and Battelle Memorial Institute to investigate best practices for handling paper- and plastic-based, circulating, and other types of collection materials in light of concerns about COVID-19 contamination, and offer guidelines for libraries and museums as they plan for reopening.

Documenting the Pandemic: Libraries Launch COVID-19 Archival Projects
By Jennifer A. Dixon
In the midst of the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, many library workers and archivists have carried on with what they do best—gathering and preserving information for future researchers. Numerous digital archives are already capturing life during lockdown, represented through images, journals, videos, and other formats.

Book Sales, Digital Circulation Looking Up as Industry Continues to Embrace Online Environment
By Barbara Hoffert
Assessing the week of April 5–April 11, BookScan, a division of the NPD Group providing data and analytics on the publishing industry, reports that sales were up for a second week in a row, with all demographic areas measured reporting growth for an average upswing of 13.7 percent.

Making a Difference on Earth Day and Every Day: Carol Phelps on Small-Scale Philanthropy Toward “Resilient Communities”
By Lisa Peet
Carol Phelps and her husband Andy are “small-scale” philanthropists living outside of Madison, WI; the parents of two soon-to-be librarians; and climate activists. Carol, a “semi-retired” teacher, and Andy, a Google hardware engineer, are the funders behind the American Library Association Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change initiative.

NYPL Performing Arts Library Welcomes New Executive Director
By David P. Szatmary
In her new position as the Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director for the New York Public Library’s (NYPL) Performing Arts Library, Jennifer Schantz will blend her passion for classical music and dedication to libraries and museums. Schantz, who joins NYPL next month, previously served as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the New-York Historical Society.

The Jerry Kline Community Impact Prize | Call for Nominations
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: July 15, 2020.

From Arson to COVID-19: Learning from Disaster
By Allister Chang
In 2016, a man set fire to a library in St. Cloud, MN. I had an opportunity to speak with Karen Pundsack, director of the Great River Regional Library System, to reflect on what the library learned from the experience that is applicable to its COVID-19 response today.

Why You Shouldn’t Do Curbside During COVID-19 | Backtalk
By Katelyn Attanasio
At this point, I do not believe that libraries should be providing curbside service. The more people are coming into contact with one another, and the more people who are coming into contact with a surface (for example, a library book), the higher the risk becomes.

Eleven Free Virtual Field Trips for Touring the World From Home
By IdaMae Craddock
Many organizations have moved their field experiences online, while others have created new virtual journeys to explore everything from shipwrecks to great works of literature.

Literacy Is a Right, says Federal Court | Book Pulse
By Neal Wyatt
Camino Winds by John Grisham leads holds this week. Sea Wife by Amity Gaige (Knopf) gets some buzz. A federal appeals court decides literacy is a constitutionally protected right. NYPL ponders the complexities of how to re-open.

Resources for Those Facing Grief and Mortality
By Megan Rosenbloom
During this pandemic, people are experiencing grief and loss while isolated from their communities that typically provide practical and emotional support. Books can be a comfort for those experiencing loss or looking for guidance on how to support others.

Sally Rooney Love Story Normal People Debuts on Hulu | Book Pulse
By Neal Wyatt
Normal People arrives on Hulu. There are reading lists for debuts and summer titles as well as LJ’s graphic novel preview. Jeremy Irons, Jeanette Winterson, Hilary Mantel, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, and Iggy Pop are all taking part in a mass reading of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Xpress Reviews

WEB-FIRST REVIEWS OF BOOKS AND MEDIA

In social sciences, Show Them You’re Good: A Portrait of Boys in the City of Angels the Year Before College, a starred title by Jeff Hobbs, "arranges dozens of vignettes of...boys and their friends, foregrounding their experiences and centering their voice in a beautifully rendered group portrait of adolescents and of adolescence itself." Another starred nonfiction title is No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. "Highly recommended for leaders eager to build innovative, fast, and flexible teams, and all university libraries supporting business and human resource development curriculum." The Hour of Fate: Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Battle To Transform American Capitalism, by Susan Berfield, is a starred history selection. "It’s no easy task to write a dual biography while also incorporating the feelings and emotions of the historical moment, yet Berfield accomplishes all of this. An extremely readable work that will engage American history and business readers everywhere." And Harold Schechter's Ripped from the Headlines! The Shocking True Stories Behind the Movies’ Most Memorable Crimes is a starred law and crime selection. "Schechter’s expertise is such that three of his previous titles appear as works cited in this well-researched and gripping read. This fascinating look at the intersection of true crime and pop culture is a must."

See All Xpress Reviews›››

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