News

Beginning as a series of posts on the American Library Association (ALA) Connect members discussion board in fall 2024, Librarians We Have Lost was created to celebrate the Association’s sesquicentennial. ALA members were asked to submit tributes through ALA Connect to honor the memory, service, and professional contributions of librarians, educators, and library workers we have lost over the past 50 years.

Brittani Sterling, Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies Librarian at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas (UNLV), was named a 2025 Library Journal Mover & Shaker for her online workshops and UNLV Libraries program “We Need to Talk: Conversations on Racism for a More Resilient Las Vegas.” LJ spoke with Sterling about academic advocacy, talking about systemic racism in Las Vegas, and being in the public eye as an introvert-leaning ambivert.

After refusing to comply with the library board’s decision to remove 132 books from the children’s section of the Rutherford County Library System (RCLS), TN, former Director Luanne James has been fired. The library board voted 8–3 to terminate James at a special board meeting on March 30.

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.

Can we, should we, focus on the core value of sustainability when so many of our professional core values are under attack? While some of our patrons are under attack? As we see the repeated attempts to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services?

Staff members of the American Library Association (ALA) have announced plans to unionize with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 in Illinois. More than 40 employees of ALA, whose main headquarters is in Chicago, shared an open letter with their colleagues on March 2 encouraging their support for a new union, ALA Workers United.

In this month's AI Watch column, the Libraries Lead podcast team discusses whether AI could be making us work more, not less; ChatGPT's testing of ads; and how AI is being used in crime investigations.

Beanstack today announced its acquisition of Comics Plus. The two digital platforms will combine to create a  Joyful Reading Company, a new brand combining Comics Plus' catalog with Beanstack's reading motivation tools.

Kayleen Jones, Education and Human Service Professions Librarian at the University of Minnesota–Duluth (UMD) Kathryn A. Martin Library, was named a 2025 Library Journal Mover & Shaker for her work launching the Antiracist Literary Advisory Board. Together with her library colleagues and the UMD Education faculty, Jones created the platform for Education students to learn about identifying needs around representation in children’s publishing and exploring ways to fill them. LJ spoke with Jones about the genesis of the project, and how it impacted those who participated.