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2019 Carnegie Medal winners, The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai and Heavy by Kiese Laymon

2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced

January 27, 2019

The selections were announced January 27 at the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Book and Media Awards, sponsored by NoveList, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Makkai’s novel explores the complexities of friendship, family, art, fear, and love in WWI-era and present-day Paris and 1980s Chicago while … Continue reading 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced →

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 →

Ron Charles is wearing a full suit sitting on an inflatable dragon pool toy.

Newsmaker: Ron Charles

By Jordan Sarti | July 5, 2018

What do you do to make literary criticism approachable? I try to pick books that I think people would enjoy reading, so that’s a start. I try to write about them with enthusiasm and clarity, and I do a few odd things to try and bring in people who are sick and tired of book … Continue reading Newsmaker: Ron Charles →

11 Questions with Jessica Hughes

October 13, 2017

Hughes answered our “11 Questions” to introduce herself to ALA members. Coffee, tea, other? To steal a line that’s often misattributed to Benjamin Franklin: “Caffeine is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” What’s the first website or app you check in the morning? I usually check Instagram to see if there … Continue reading 11 Questions with Jessica Hughes →

Be Our Guest: Create Your Own Pixie Dust at the Library

By Meredith Myers | June 25, 2016

Room W110B was packed tighter than Disney’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique on the first day of summer vacation. Instead of magical pixie dust, RUSA chose Dave Cobb to turn everyday librarians into user experience designers, all with the click of his mouse.

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 →

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 →

Latest Library Links

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Brett Zongker and Deb Fiscella write: “The 2025 National Film Registry has been announced, showcasing a group of 25 films spanning 118 years and including fan favorites such as The Thing, Clueless, The Big Chill, and The Incredibles. The Library of Congress’s annual addition to the list of films to be preserved for their cinematic and cultural heritage starts with the 1896 silent film, The Tramp and the Dog, and stretches to the 2014 Wes Anderson picture The Grand Budapest Hotel. Since Congress established the registry in 1988, 925 films have been added.”

Library of Congress, Jan. 29
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Tony Phillips writes: “In today’s fast-paced world, where everyone seems to be in a rush, displaying data in a way that can be easily interpreted and analyzed—such as in a heat map—is essential. Excel lets you automatically color-code figures to demonstrate their relationship with one another, using darker colors for higher numbers and lighter colors for lower numbers, for example. This means you can see trends and anomalies at a glance.”

How-To Geek, Feb. 2
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The RAILS regional library system in northern Illinois has published advocacy tools for libraries to build awareness about the challenges of e-book and audiobook pricing. These documents include an advocacy flier, sample social media graphics, and sample copy that libraries can use to make their communities aware of this growing problem. Libraries are also welcome to download a Canva template to customize graphics with their own logos.

RAILS, Jan. 30
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Jerry Lawson writes: “When people think about malware, they often imagine someone clicking a suspicious attachment or downloading a shady file. In reality, one of the most dangerous forms of infection requires no obvious mistake at all. It’s called a drive-by download, and it remains a quiet but serious threat. It occurs when malicious code is installed on a device simply by visiting a compromised website—often without any prompt or warning. No defense is perfect, but layered precautions significantly reduce exposure.”

LLRX, Jan. 29
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Angele Latham and Scott Broden write: “Nearly 3,000 books that were flagged as possibly running afoul of federal standards on gender topics have been temporarily saved from removal from public library shelves across Rutherford County, Tennessee, on February 2. Instead, the board approved recommendations from Rutherford County Library Board Director Luanne James that would move 450 books out of the juvenile collection. The statewide review was spurred by an October letter from Secretary of State Tre Hargett, which directed most public libraries in the state to review their juvenile collections conform to a Trump executive order on gender topics.”

The Tennessean (Nashville), Feb. 3, Dec. 3
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Catherine Paolillo and Christopher Marcum write: “This study gathered feedback from student employees on the elements of our retention program that they see as critical to retaining them throughout their time on campus. Consistently positive feedback regarding flexible schedules and a supportive interview experience highlights the effectiveness of our hiring practices. Strong appreciation for the structured onboarding and training process indicates that our efforts to provide consistent and thorough preparation are successful. However, more work is needed to assess our need for direct day-to-day supervision for all students and to improve our performance appraisal process and specific work-preparation activities.”

Library Leadership and Management, Vol. 39, No. 2, Feb. 1
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Ariel Barreras writes: “Like many of you, I currently have Pokémon on the brain! In December, I wrote about how I was preparing to start a Pokémon Club at my library. In this post, I will share the setup for my first session and what I have learned after completing round one of Pokémon Club. The first session of a new program can be a tricky one, with kids and the librarian trying to figure out what works best. Throughout the session, I was taking notes on what worked and what needs work.”

ALSC Blog, Jan. 31

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