and more.
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LibrariesThe Top 10 Library Stories of 2024
PW looks back at some of the library stories that captivated the publishing world this year and what they portend for 2025.
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Libraries
Editor's Note: So Long, Not Goodbye
A sincere thank you from outgoing PW executive editor Andrew Albanese, and best wishes for a happy holiday season.
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Libraries
New Jersey Delivers a Victory for the Freedom to Read—and for Librarians
More than three years after she became a target of abuse from book banners, librarian Martha Hickson found herself standing side by side with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on December 9 as he signed the state’s Freedom to Read Act into law.
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Libraries
Librarian Amanda Jones Files New Defamation Lawsuit
In a November 26 complaint, Jones accused Dan Kleinman, a longtime ALA critic who authors a blog called Safe Libraries, of Defamation and False Light, seeking damages in excess of $75,000.
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Publisher News
Internet Archive Copyright Case Ends Without Supreme Court Review
Officials at the nonprofit have decided against exercising their last option, an appeal to the Supreme Court, ending the closely-watched case over the scanning and lending of library books.
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Publisher News
Summary Judgment Motions Filed in ‘Tango’ Book Banning Case
The authors of the 2005 picture book ‘And Tango Makes Three’ argue that the book’s removal from school library shelves is rooted in unconstitutional, anti-LGBTQ+ “viewpoint discrimination.” County officials insist that it is “government speech.”
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Libraries
Urban Libraries Council Survey Shows Positive Trends, Challenges for Libraries
The survey captured a range of trends in patron engagement from 115 ULC member libraries, "representing nearly 2,300 locations and serving over 87.5 million people” for 2023.
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Libraries
ALA Reopens Search for New Executive Director
The news of the reopened search comes on the one-year anniversary of Leslie Burger taking the helm as interim executive director, on November 15, 2023, and more than a year after executive director Tracie D. Hall abruptly resigned from her position on October 6, 2023.
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Libraries
Three Candidates to Vie for ALA Presidency
Lindsay Cronk, Andrea Jamison, and Maria McCauley have been announced as the candidates for the 2026-27 presidency of the American Library Association. Ballot mailing for the ALA election will begin on March 10, 2025.
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News
How to Help Rebuild Libraries in Conflict Zones
Alison Tweed, CEO of U.K.–based charity Book Aid International, describes the destruction of libraries in Lebanon, Ukraine, and Iraq and advises on how the book business can help to rebuild them.
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Libraries
EveryLibrary Warns That U.S. Election Results Mean More Uncertainty for Libraries
The last few years have been difficult for libraries and librarians. And following the 2024 presidential election, the future for the profession just got a lot murkier, according to the customary election night wrap-up from nonpartisan library political action committee EveryLibrary.
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Awards & Prizes
Librarians’ Choice: 2025 Carnegie Medal Longlist Announced
A total of 46 books—23 fiction titles and 23 nonfiction titles—have made the longlist for the American Library Association’s 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, the association’s adult book award. The six-title shortlist will be announced on November 12.
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Libraries
The Week in Libraries: October 4, 2024
Among the week's headlines: Penguin Random Houses's new public policy manager talks about book bans and her new role; a fascinating look at the Internet Archive; and a new survey explores people's attitudes toward libraries.
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Libraries
In Arkansas, Book Banners Dealt Another Legal Setback
A federal judge has ordered the Crawford County Public Library in Arkansas to stop segregating books with LGBTQ themes into special “social sections,” finding that the policy “was motivated in substantial part by a desire to impede users’ access."
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Libraries
The Week in Libraries: September 27, 2024
Among the week's headlines: it was a busy Banned Books Week in court with developments in two major book banning cases; an anti–book banning resolution is reintroduced in Congress; Delaware libraries grapple with a ransomware attack; and the Carnegie Corporation gives $4 million to New York City libraries.
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Libraries
On Appeal, Llano County Seeks Book Ban Ruling That Would Upend Public Libraries
At an appeal hearing this week, lawyers for the rural Texas county told the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that it should strike down a three-decade-old precedent and hand politicians near total authority over what books can go on—or be banned from—public library shelves.
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Libraries
ALA Finds Book Challenges Are Slowing in 2024
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 414 challenges to censor library materials in the first eight months of the year, down from 695 during the same period in 2023, with ALA reps suggesting that advocacy efforts, including lawsuits in several states, are beginning to yield positive results.
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Libraries
Penguin Random House Creates New Role to Help Battle Book Bans
Rosalie (Rosie) Stewart, most recently manager of grassroots communications for the ALA's Public Policy and Advocacy Office, will join the publisher as senior manager for public policy, reporting directly to PRH VP Skip Dye, a key move that signals the publisher's intent to expand its battle against book bans beyond the courtroom.
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Libraries
The Week in Libraries: September 20, 2024
Among the week's headlines, ALA releases a new booklist for young readers on the importance of voting; Penguin Random Houses's Banned Wagon embarks on its second-ever tour; and why the Florida attorney general is wading into a closely watched book banning case from Llano County, Texas.
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Libraries
The Week in Libraries: September 13, 2024
Among the week's headlines: PEN America reports a surge in school book bans; amicus briefs are filed in a key freedom to read case from Llano County, Texas; and Book Riot reports on the escalating attacks on academic libraries.
