What’s shaking in the library world? In this roundup, I have a bunch of library-centric news items and think pieces, some troubling statistics around reading for pleasure, adaptation news, and a handful of book lists to freshen up your displays. Let’s dive in.

Library Updates

• Behind the push to decimate a Josephine County (OR) library.
• A look at the ongoing funding troubles of the Samuels Public Library.
• The Milwaukee Public Library is bringing young readers back into the stacks with their hilarious TikToks.
• As part of the US’s 250th anniversary celebration next year, the NYPL is going to offer a public viewing of a copy of the Declaration of Independence handwritten by Thomas Jefferson. (Just don’t tell Nicholas Cage.)
• Jefferson County Public Schools (KY) implemented a new cell phone ban, and now school library visits are skyrocketing.
• A look at the successful tool library in the LA County library system.
• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is expanding to the UK!
• Warsaw opens a metro station “express” library to get commuters off their phones.
• Inheriting, repairing, and reimagining collections.
• The Morrin Centre and its library have become a sanctuary for English speakers in Quebec City.
• The pressure of the perfect program.
• 7 tips to bring sustainability into your library programming.
• How libraries became “first responders” for America’s opportunity gap.
• Building stronger library partnerships.
• Collective nouns for librarians.

Adaptations in the News

• Welcome to Derry is premiering on HBO Max on October 26th. (October 26th also happens to be my wedding anniversary, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate with my husband.)
• Department Q has been renewed for a second season with Netflix.
• Katie Kitamura’s novel Audition is being adapted as a film, starring Lucy Liu and Charles Melton.

Numbers & Trends

• A new study has found that only 16% of American adults reported reading for pleasure on any given day in 2023, the lowest reported number in at least 20 years. Honestly, I believe it. Focusing on anything over the last five years has been hella difficult.
• 12th-grade reading skills hit a new low.
• The Danish government has announced it will abolish a 25% sales tax on books to combat the country’s reading crisis.

5 Book Lists To Jumpstart Your Displays

• 7 novels that reimagine classic stories.
• The best baby and parenting books for first-time parents.
• 8 folklore-inspired horror novels that will make your skin crawl.
• 8 twisty books about deeply toxic friendships.
• 5 fantasy novels involving poison.