January/February 2026

Cover of the January/February issue of American Libraries featuring the 2025 Year in Review

Features & Trends

Numbers 2, 0, 2, and 5 floating over an open book with pages flying away

2025 Year in Review

By American Libraries staff

Freedom to read faces federal scrutiny Following the Trump administration’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the US Naval Academy removed nearly 400 books deemed DEI-related from its Nimitz Library (later returning most of them to circulation). Meanwhile, in April, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case brought by … Continue reading 2025 Year in Review →

Unlocking Possibilities

By Sallyann Price

These types of challenges were top of mind at United for Libraries (UFL) Virtual 2025, held in late July. Every year, UFL brings together trustees, foundation and Friends members, and those who work with them for a virtual conference to discuss the library advocacy landscape. It’s also a space to brainstorm practical solutions for rallying … Continue reading Unlocking Possibilities →

Illustration by Antonio Rodriguez of a person reading a book to others in the library

Moving Beyond the Acronym

Last April, Choice, the publishing unit of the American Library Association’s Association of College and Research Libraries, convened the virtual panel “Affirmative Action and the Future of DEI.” Moderated by Fatima Mohie-Eldin, social sciences editor for Choice and editor of its Toward Inclusive Excellence blog, the panel explored how these coalescing issues are impacting academic … Continue reading Moving Beyond the Acronym →

Columnists

American Libraries' November-December 2025 Cover, with a collection of games and the cover lines State of Play, Game and Toy Archive, Ransomware Attacks, and Newsmaker: Sean Sherman

14h

Each year ALA’s Youth Media Awards—including the Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, and Coretta Scott King Book Awards—honor outstanding books, videos, and other materials for children and teens. The 2026 Youth Media Awards will be held on Monday, January 26 at 10 a.m. Central at the Hilton Chicago hotel. The event will be free and open to the public, but registration is required by Wednesday, January 21, for in-person attendance. The announcement will also be live streamed at ala.unikron.com and on the ALA Facebook page.

ALA Youth Media Awards
18h

Larry Neal writes: “When I volunteered to serve as ALA treasurer, I knew it was going to be one of the greatest challenges of my career. Only a few months in, it has already exceeded my expectations. ALA’s financial picture is not a pretty one. And it’s a similar picture currently seen at many other associations and nonprofit organizations. Fiscal year 2025, which ended in August, saw a deficit of $15.4 million. If this sounds like a financial crisis, it is. If it sounds like significant change is needed, it’s long overdue. If it sounds hopeless, it isn’t.”

American Libraries column, Jan./Feb.
21h

Last April, Choice convened the virtual panel “Affirmative Action and the Future of DEI.” Moderated by Fatima Mohie-Eldin, social sciences editor for Choice, the panel explored how these coalescing issues are impacting academic librarians and information scholars. The following are edited excerpts of their discussion, which considered how institutions can pursue and reaffirm their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion principles, the murky legal and political territory around education and information, and how collaboration can support access and inclusion.

American Libraries feature, Jan./Feb.
5d

“For many readers and viewers, HBOMax’s recent adaptation of Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry has become an entry-point for casual observers of the game played on ice with a puck—and hockey romances. You may not know what exactly is happening on the rink, or even in the locker room, but you can guess, and that’s half the fun!” See other lists from Johnson County (Kans.) Library, Multnomah County (Oreg.) Library, Mesa County (Colo.) Libraries, or Omaha (Nebr.) Public Library.

St. Louis Public Library, Dec. 27; Johnson County (Kans.) Library, Dec. 13; Multnomah (Oreg.) County Library, Dec. 11; Mesa County (Colo.) Libraries, Dec. 18; Omaha (Nebr.) Public Library, Dec. 4
5d

Stefan Milne writes: “Seattle Public Library is the only US library system that makes its anonymized, granular checkout data public. The hitch is that the library’s data set contains nearly 50 million rows. To track trends in the catalog over the last 20 years, University of Washington researchers analyzed the checkout data of the 93 authors included in the post-1945 volume of The Norton Anthology of American Literature, which is instrumental in standardizing the books and writers we’ve deemed culturally important.”

University of Washington News, Jan. 8
6d

Janette Wright writes: “I was appointed to a leadership role in local government during a period of corporate change and budget constraint. Staff had a low level of trust in leadership, a history of conflict and incivility, and low expectations of the opportunity for service improvements or development. In this article, I’ll reflect on the leadership challenges inherent in such transitions, drawing on my personal experience across the library sector and applying a theoretical framework to offer practical insights for leaders navigating similar terrain.”

Katina, Jan. 8
6d

Hong Zhou and Hiba Bishtawi write: “For decades, discovery has revolved around keywords: carefully chosen terms, Boolean operators, and increasingly sophisticated relevance ranking. Today, generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems are introducing a different interaction model altogether. Instead of asking how to search, researchers are starting to ask what they want to know and expecting the system to figure out the rest. When does natural language outperform traditional approaches, and what do current AI-powered discovery tools actually do well? We conducted a comparative analysis of four widely used AI-enabled research discovery tools.”

The Scholarly Kitchen, Jan. 6