Booklist Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Reading for Change: Booklist Recommends Antiracism Titles for All Ages

By the Booklist staff | June 5, 2020

Booklist recently compiled a list of antiracist books and other resources for librarians and readers. The full list is reprinted below. It can, of course, also mean reading. We’ve seen the antiracist reading lists; there’s New York magazine’s roundup, Betsy Bird’s comprehensive piece for Fuse8, the Stacks’ collection of nonfiction, the list goes on. There’s … Continue reading Reading for Change: Booklist Recommends Antiracism Titles for All Ages →

Judged by the Cover

By S. A. Cosby | May 15, 2020

The following guest column is a reprint from the rereleased May 1 issue of Booklist. This is an opportunity to have substantive conversations about our perceptions, as well as the changing face of the publishing world and the paucity of diverse crime writers. In their desire to be socially conscious, many may have missed that … Continue reading Judged by the Cover →

Setting the Record Straight: Panic and Pandemics

By Briana Shemroske | February 14, 2020

On February 13, Booklist compiled a list of resources for librarians looking for information on the coronavirus and other epidemics and pandemics. The full list is reprinted below. Adult Books ★ Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come by Richard Preston Preston, who first … Continue reading Setting the Record Straight: Panic and Pandemics →

Covers for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

ALA Unveils 2020 Carnegie Medals Shortlist

November 4, 2019

The 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist titles include: Nonfiction Figuring, by Maria Popova (Pantheon). Popova brings her zest for facts and passion for biography to this inquiry into the lives of geniuses who “bridged the scientific and poetic,” spinning a fine web connecting such barrier-breakers as Rachel Carson, Frederick Douglass, … Continue reading ALA Unveils 2020 Carnegie Medals Shortlist →

Covers for the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction: Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America, by Beth Macy (Little, Brown); Heavy: An American Memoir, by Kiese Laymon (Scribner); The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border, by Francisco Cantú (Riverhead); The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai (Viking); There There, by Tommy Orange (Knopf); and Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan (Knopf).

ALA Unveils 2019 Carnegie Medals Shortlist

October 24, 2018

2019 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist titles include: Nonfiction Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America, by Beth Macy (Little, Brown and Company). Macy’s years of reporting on the still-unfolding US opioid crisis earned her remarkable access to people whose lives have been upended. Dopesick is a timely … Continue reading ALA Unveils 2019 Carnegie Medals Shortlist →

Dewey Decibel Podcast: Looking Back at Books

By Phil Morehart | December 29, 2017

First, American Libraries Associate Editor Terra Dankowski talks with author Stephanie Powell Watts in a conversation taped right after her book No One Is Coming to Save Us was announced by Sarah Jessica Parker as the first selection in ALA’s Book Club Central. Next, American Libraries Associate Editor and Dewey Decibel host Phil Morehart speaks … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Looking Back at Books →

The Sympathizer and Hold Still, Carnegie Medal winners

2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals

January 11, 2016

The selections were announced January 10 during the RUSA Book and Media Awards Ceremony and Reception that are part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits in Boston. Viet Thanh Nguyen’s bravura debut novel, The Sympathizer, illuminates the double-mindedness of a half-French, half-Vietnamese spy as he confronts impossible and dire situations in divided, war-torn Vietnam … Continue reading 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals →

Left to right: Donna Seaman, Terry Tempest Williams, Mark Kurlansky, Ken Burns

The Writer as Witness

By Phil Morehart | January 9, 2016

Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker and writer Ken Burns’s response when asked how he chooses the subjects of his work encapsulates “The Writer as Witness,” the theme of the ERT / Booklist Author Forum at the 2016 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston. A writer must look both outward and inward to completely, accurately, and honestly tell a … Continue reading The Writer as Witness →

Finalists for the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction

2016 Carnegie Medals Shortlist Announced

October 19, 2015

2016 shortlisted titles include: Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Shortlist H is for Hawk, by Helen Macdonald, published by Grove Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic. Transfixed by books and birds of prey as a girl, Macdonald became a historian, writer, and professional falconer involved in avian research and conversation. After the sudden … Continue reading 2016 Carnegie Medals Shortlist Announced →

Anthony Doerr (left) with his book. Bryan Stevenson

Doerr, Stevenson win 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medals

By Laurie D. Borman | June 28, 2015

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA’s all-time lead scorer, Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, and a New York Times–bestselling author, offered the keynote address. His first novel, Mycroft Holmes, about Sherlock Holmes’s older brother, will be published this fall by Titan Books. Abdul-Jabbar said his father was an avid reader who gave him books to find answers … Continue reading Doerr, Stevenson win 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medals →

A Celebration of Reading

By Karen Muller | May 18, 2015

The Mother of All Booklists: The 500 Most Recommended Nonfiction Reads for Ages 3 to 103, by William Patrick Martin, is basically a crowdsourced book list. The author gathered 155 authoritative and influential lists of award-winning books and recommended reading lists from a spectrum of organizations, including parenting groups, state commissions on libraries, libraries, library … Continue reading A Celebration of Reading →

Black History Month Graphic Novels for Your Collection

By Sarah Hunter | February 5, 2015

Need to refresh your Black History Month offerings? Here are some graphic novels, both fiction and nonfiction, that address Black History in dynamic, engaging ways. For Adults: Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White By Lila Quintero Weaver. Illus. by the author. 2012. Univ. of Alabama, paper, $24.95 (9780817357146). Perry County, Alabama, was a hotbed … Continue reading Black History Month Graphic Novels for Your Collection →

Latest Library Links

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As communities struggle to contain COVID-19, their libraries ask: What do regular services look like in uncertain times? Some of our favorite examples of libraries meeting this challenge in creative ways are compiled in our latest issue’s Bookend, including drive-thru service, drive-in e-sports, and creating a virtual branch in the videogame Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
American Libraries Bookend, July/August
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Following the lead of Colson Whitehead, who canceled his appearance at Free Library of Philadelphia scheduled for this week, several more authors have canceled their events. Comedian Maysoon Zayid and disability activist Alice Wong, Princeton University Chair of the Center for African American Studies Eddie Glaude, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal have all declined to appear at FLP in solidarity with the Concerned Black Workers at the Free Library of Philadelphia, who posted an open letter to library leadership on June 26 alleging racism, discriminatory hiring practices, and lack of safety.
Philadelphia Magazine, July 8
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Nominations are being accepted for ALA honorary membership, the Association’s highest honor, which is bestowed on living citizens of any country whose contributions to librarianship or a closely related field are so outstanding that they are of significant and lasting importance to the whole field of library service. Members who wish to forward nominations must complete the online ALA honorary member nomination form. The completed nomination packet, with all attachments, must be received no later than September 1.
ALA Governance Office, July 6
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ALA and Capital One announced a new grant opportunity for rural public libraries that will support digital access and financial capability for 20 communities nationwide. Through Community Connect: Digital Access at Home, 20 rural public libraries will receive resources to support financial capability and internet access for their patrons for two years. Applications will be accepted July 6–August 26. Library workers can apply online at ala.org/CommunityConnect.
Public Programs Office, July 6
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ALA announced the deferral of applications for the 2021 Lois Ann Gregory-Wood Fellowship Program. Because the program’s grant is designed to support attendance at ALA Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting, this decision was made in light of the cancellation of the 2020 ALA Annual Conference and continued uncertainty in coming months around public health restrictions on large gatherings. The current 2020 fellow’s term will extend through 2021. ALA anticipates reopening applications in summer 2021 to resume the program in 2022.
ALA News, July 7
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Join ACRL at 1 p.m. Central on August 5 for the e-Learning webcast “Project Outcome for Academic Libraries: An Introductory Workshop.” If you are interested in measuring learning outcomes to drive change, making data-informed decisions, and demonstrating the impact of programs and services at your library, then jump-start your fall semester planning with this interactive virtual workshop. Attendees will learn how to get started with the Project Outcome for Academic Libraries toolkit. Complete details and registration materials are available on the ACRL website.
ACRL, July 8
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At annual review time, many employees complete a self-evaluation, which is often the same evaluation sheet their supervisor will use. Employees’ self-perceptions are not always accurate, and self-evaluations do not offer much insight into why employees see themselves that way. Incorporating self-reflection into the evaluation process can help supervisors understand much more about where employees see their strengths, areas for improvement, struggles, and successes. Register online: LLAMA member $49; nonmember $59.
LLAMA, July 7

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