Matt Enis

Playaway has debuted the Launchpad Quest, a 21.5-inch touchscreen learning hub with up to 150 educational games, storybooks, activities, and more for children ages 3–10.

Despite concerns, librarians will assemble for the Public Library Association Conference in Minneapolis; LJ talks to the PLA presidential candidates.

Open data has become “strongly embedded into research practices” and FAIR (findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability) data principles are now widely recognized, with awareness almost tripling from 15.2 percent in 2018 to 40.6 percent recently, according to “The State of Open Data 2025: A Decade of Progress and Challenges,” a report published in January by Digital Science, Springer Nature, and Figshare. The percentage of researchers who responded that they had “never heard of FAIR” has fallen from almost 60 percent in 2018 to 20.4 percent in the 2025 survey.

Follett Content today announced the hire of more than 10 industry veterans—including several who previously held roles at Baker & Taylor—and several targeted investments in its technology infrastructure to strengthen its support for public library systems nationwide. Long a major supplier to K–12 schools and school libraries, Follett Content announced its entry into the public library market last September, as Baker & Taylor struggled to fulfill orders.

As artificial intelligence tools become pervasive, public libraries may want to establish transparent guidelines for how they are used by staff.

A three-year research project, funded through a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, has been making progress on examining how libraries can help their communities better understand artificial intelligence. Led by a partnership between the Urban Libraries Council and the State University of New York at Albany’s Center for Technology in Government, four public libraries—Frisco Public Library, TX, Palo Alto City Library, CA, Queens Public Library, NY, and Schaumburg Township District Library, IL, are involved.

Microsoft makes Windows and Office free for all public access computers in libraries, JSTOR reaches 100 open access books via its Path to Open initiative, Ingram partners with Backstage Library Works to bolster shelf-ready offerings, and more.

The Public Library Association (PLA) announced the launch of a Transformative Technology Task Force that will focus on artificial intelligence and “advise the association on the evolving role and impacts of transformative technology on library work.”

Follett Content, a distributor of children’s and young adult (YA) print books, content, and services to PreK–12 school libraries, announced in September that it will begin distributing to public libraries throughout the United States. And Mackin, another major provider of fiction and nonfiction print books and digital resources to PreK–12 school libraries, announced in October the launch of MackinPublic, “a seamless extension” of the company’s services to U.S. public libraries, according to Mackin. Both moves were made as problems mounted for library book wholesaler, distributor, and service provider Baker & Taylor, culminating in an announcement on October 6 that the company would lay off more than 500 employees and fully cease operations in January 2026.