audiobooks Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Transforming Teen Reading with Audiobooks

By Jill Grunenwald | June 18, 2024

Audiobooks can be the solution. By building out their young adult audiobook collections, libraries can encourage teens to engage with literature in a new way—using the device already in their pocket. Science supports audiobook benefits for teens Despite what some naysayers believe, choosing audiobooks over print books does not decrease comprehension. Neuroscientists at University of … Continue reading Transforming Teen Reading with Audiobooks →

2024 Youth Media Award Winners

January 22, 2024

A complete list of the 2024 award winners follows. John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: The Eyes and the Impossible, written by Dave Eggers and illustrated by Shawn Harris, is the 2024 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published simultaneously by Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random … Continue reading 2024 Youth Media Award Winners →

Alyssa Hanson (right) and Melody Dworak speaking at the "Accessible Digital Libraries: Navigating Audiobook Apps with Low-Vision Patrons" session at the 2023 American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago June 26.

Accessible Audiobooks in a Post-CD World

By Greg Landgraf | June 26, 2023

Iowa City Public Library is now purchasing books on CD by request only, and by FY25 it plans to phase out its CD formats. Librarian Melody Dworak and Web Specialist Alyssa Hanson shared what they have learned about providing app-based audiobook service in the session “Accessible Digital Libraries: Navigating Audiobook Apps with Low-Vision Patrons” at … Continue reading Accessible Audiobooks in a Post-CD World →

Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author of the Lunch Lady series, speaks at "Listen to Win: Hearing from Audiobook Winners and the Judges Who Select Them,” a June 26 session at the American Library Association’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.

Making Audiobooks Special

By Diana Panuncial | June 26, 2023

“I had heard that for years, and years, and years,” he said. When he got the chance to turn the series into audiobooks, he dived deep into such ideas and experimented with all the ways he could bring a graphic novel to life for listeners as an audio producer for the Lunch Lady series. At … Continue reading Making Audiobooks Special →

2023 Youth Media Award Winners

January 30, 2023

A list of all the 2023 award winners follows: John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: Freewater, written by Amina Luqman-Dawson, is the 2023 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by JIMMY Patterson/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Three Newbery Honor Books also were named: Iveliz Explains It All, written by … Continue reading 2023 Youth Media Award Winners →

By the Numbers: Audiobook Appreciation Month

By Diana Panuncial | June 1, 2022

June is Audiobook Appreciation Month. 1998 Year the Audio Publishers Association—which represents the audiobook industry—established June as Audiobook Appreciation Month. 71,000 Number of audiobooks published in the United States in 2020. 1975 Year that the company Books on Tape was founded by Duvall Hecht, an Olympic gold medalist in rowing and a former Marine Corps … Continue reading By the Numbers: Audiobook Appreciation Month →

2022 Youth Media Award Winners

January 24, 2022

A list of all the 2022 award winners follows: John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: The Last Cuentista, written by Donna Barba Higuera, is the 2022 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Levine Querido. Four Newbery Honor Books also were named: Red, White, and Whole, written by Rajani … Continue reading 2022 Youth Media Award Winners →

Newbery Award winner When You Trap a Tiger and Caldecott Medal winner We Are Water Protectors

2021 Youth Media Award Winners

January 25, 2021

A list of all the 2021 award winners follows: John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: When You Trap a Tiger, written by Tae Keller, is the 2021 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House. Five Newbery Honor Books also … Continue reading 2021 Youth Media Award Winners →

illustration of an ebook surrounded by clouds with the Big Five publisher logos

The Future of Ebook Pricing

By Alan S. Inouye | July 9, 2019

Within the last few weeks, two of the largest trade publishers—Hachette Book Group (HBG) and Simon & Schuster (S&S)—made significant changes in their terms for libraries. These recent developments follow changes to the pricing model at Penguin Random House (PRH) last October, and the recent imposition of a 90-day embargo on selected digital audio titles … Continue reading The Future of Ebook Pricing →

Alchemy of Audiobooks

By Dawn Abron | June 25, 2017

When asked about the origin of Anna, Savit recalled a conversation between his niece and his brother-in-law. When his niece asked her father if Peter Pan could really fly, her father said no. Gavit felt this question expressed a state of human being and needed further exploration. Orli Moscowitz explained the interesting process that leads from novel to … Continue reading Alchemy of Audiobooks →

Audiobooks and Engagement

By Francisca Goldsmith | June 1, 2017

The traditional dilemma about whether listening equals reading becomes increasingly relegated to the same bin of disproved anxieties as our ancestors’ certainty that radio would kill thoughtful reading. As technology advances our access points to—and interest in—information and literature, the world of social and political possibilities blossoms. Where audiobooks were once limited to oral reading … Continue reading Audiobooks and Engagement →

Members of the Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Committee worked their way through a pile of audiobooks in order to create a final list by Sunday.

An Enthusiastic Earful

By Erika L. Jenns | January 13, 2016

Before this session, I had given little thought to the intricacies of the voices I hear when listening to audiobooks, but now my ears will prick up at the sound of the reader taking a breath. My appreciation for sound effects has grown, and my admiration for vocal imitation has spiked. For each clip, the … Continue reading An Enthusiastic Earful →

Latest Library Links

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Many members know Bill Ladewski as executive director of the Reference and User Services Association, an ALA position he has held since 2019. In early September, Ladewski added another title to his CV: director of Member Relations and Services. In this role, he and his team are charged with providing service and information to the Association’s nearly 50,000 members. Ladewski answered our 11 Questions to reintroduce himself to the ALA community.

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 19
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John Warner writes: “I understand what people mean when they invoke the term ‘institutional neutrality,’ but I don’t know how it’s workable in today’s world. Higher education institutions are built upon a foundation of actual values, values that are, by definition, not neutral. The Kalven report, the Rosetta Stone of institutional neutrality produced by a faculty committee at the University of Chicago in 1967, is not a call to make all work emanating from an institution ‘neutral,’ but is instead a call to make the atmosphere for scholarly inquiry and debate as free as possible.”

Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 15
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Angela Hursh writes: “Ever wondered how your library’s email performance compares to others? Benchmarks help you understand how well your emails perform in key areas and identify opportunities for improvement. They also allow you to compare your email marketing performance, set goals, and stay on top of trends. However, the lack of industry benchmarks for email marketing metrics specific to libraries has been bugging me. Metrics from similar industries don’t fully capture the unique aspects of promoting a library. To help libraries accurately measure their email effectiveness, we’ve created the first-ever library email benchmark report.”

NoveList, Oct. 22
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Rachel Hendrick writes: “Students and library vendors are pushing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in higher education, but there are very few resources that help librarians and scholars separate the wheat from the chaff. Luckily, we here at Choice love a good assessment rubric. (In fact, we made a PDF of our assessment rubric.) Even the least tech-savvy of us can use a very simple AI literacy framework to think critically about whether an AI application is worth your time.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, Nov. 13
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Rowana Miller writes: “In my experience, many young library-goers identify as storytellers but not writers. These are the kids who draw Captain-Underpants-style cartoons, who craft meticulous Minecraft universes, and who plot elaborate Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, but who believe that ‘writing’ is limited to five-paragraph essays. But when children draw the connections between their natural storytelling proclivities and the written word, they can become self-motivated to develop the communication skills that will help them for the rest of their lives. Libraries, I believe, are uniquely positioned to help children make this connection.”

ALSC Blog, Nov. 15
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ALA has reopened its search for an executive director in partnership with executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. A committee of ALA member leaders will oversee the search. The selected candidate will succeed Interim Executive Director Leslie Burger, who was appointed in November 2023. “We are excited to embark on our search for a new executive director,” said ALA President Cindy Hohl. “This leadership position is critical as we navigate the years ahead. We seek candidates who have knowledge of the library community and the urgent issues we face.”

ALA Communications, Marketing, and Media Relations Office, Nov. 14
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Emily Weak writes: “Something I always hear from hiring managers is that they want to build a resilient, diverse workforce. Sometimes we say we want a resilient workforce, but what we mean is that we want staffers who are willing to go above and beyond, or to do more with less. These concepts are deeply entrenched in librarianship, but I think we’re beginning to see how they can cause problems. Instead of trying to hire people who will do more with less and who will thrive amid adversity, let’s think about resilience as an organizational feature.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.

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