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Welcome to Check Your Shelf! This is your guide to help librarians like you up your game when it comes to doing your job (& rocking it).
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
- Libraries are fighting to preserve your right to borrow ebooks.
- A look at the Lynda.com/LinkedIn acquisition, and why this is troubling for your patrons’ privacy.
Cool Library Updates
- A North Carolina organization runs a literacy-based anti-racism camp for kids.
- Queens Public Library will host a series of salary negotiation boot camps for women this fall.
- A look at seed lending libraries in the Bay Area.
- These Colorado teens used their library’s Makerspace to create accessible board games!
- Librarians are changing the 50+ dating game. It’s definitely a desired service, but I’m just getting unpleasant flashbacks to all the awkward (and occasionally boundary-crossing) interactions I had with patrons about their online dating efforts.
Worth Reading
- Supporting students who are homeless.
- Libraries can have 3D printers, but they’re still about books.
- Find inspiration for your upcoming programs with these resources!
Book Adaptations in the News
- Circe is coming to HBO!! I can’t WAIT for this adaptation!
- Robert de Niro is in talks to join the adaptation for Killers of the Flower Moon.
- The Stand adds more actors to the cast, and Stephen King is planning to write a new ending for the show.
- Elizabeth Acevedo is reportedly adapting her latest book, With the Fire on High.
- ABC is planning a miniseries based on Mitchell Zuckoff’s Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11.
- 13 Reasons Why has been renewed for a fourth and final season with Netflix.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
- We Need Diverse Books celebrates its 5th anniversary and talks about its plans for the next five years!
- Toy company Melissa & Doug is going to be publishing children’s books, with more than 90 titles planned through 2020.
New & Upcoming Titles
- Workman is publishing a biography of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
- Word on the streets is that Meghan Markle is publishing a children’s book! This hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, but we can keep our fingers crossed.
- Edward Snowden has written a memoir, which will be published in September.
- Hillary and Chelsea Clinton team up to write a book about gutsy women throughout history.
- August picks from Amazon, Barnes & Noble (Thrillers & SFF), Book Browse, CrimeReads, Entertainment Weekly, io9, Lambda Literary, LitHub, The Millions, New York Times, Time, Tor.com (SFF, YA SFF, and genre-benders), The Verge, Vulture, and Washington Post.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
- Reese Witherspoon picks The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda for her August list.
- Chances Are… – Richard Russo (New York Times, USA Today)
- The Right Swipe – Alisha Rai (NPR)
- The Escape Room – Megan Goldin (New York Times)
RA/Genre Resources
- What does it really mean to “read for pleasure?”
- A guide to Korean noir.
Books & Authors in the News
- Award-winning author Toni Morrison passed away at 88. To say America has lost a literary giant is a vast understatement.
- Your book group has probably already read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, but did you know about THIS dark chapter in the author’s history? (Read the article – it’s bonkers.)
- Sherrilyn Kenyon has reportedly dropped the case against her husband, who she accused earlier of poisoning her.
- Scholastic has pulled children author Tim Tingle’s upcoming book from publication in light of recent allegations of inappropriate behavior.
- A look at a recently discovered short story by John Steinbeck.
All Things Comics
- Barnes & Noble and Entertainment Weekly pick the best comics & graphic novels for August.
- Comics to get you through a reading slump.
- Graphic novel recommendations based on YA books.
Audiophilia
- Meghan McCain reportedly has an audiobook coming out next year with Audible.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- Picture books to perk up any kid’s summer.
- 21 YA books to read during Romance Awareness Month.
- YA novels starring DC superheroes.
- A reading list for fans of To All the Boys I Loved Before.
Adults
- All of Reese Witherspoon’s book recommendations!
- 8 books about unsung WWII heroes.
- 50 must-read first-person narrative books from the last 20 years.
- 17 Christian fiction authors for your (or your patrons’) TBRs.
- 5 underrated celebrity memoirs by women.
- 8 must-read paranormal books.
- Historical crime novels.
- Marathon-worthy romance series.
- 11 love stories for non-romance readers.
- The 20 most-reviewed books on Amazon.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
- How to conquer your biggest reading fears.
- How white nationalists have co-opted fan fiction.
- A retired Boeing 727 has been converted into a library!
Level Up (Library Reads)
Do you take part in LibraryReads, the monthly list of best books selected by librarians only? We’ve made it easy for you to find eligible diverse titles to nominate. Kelly Jensen created a database of upcoming diverse books that anyone can edit, and Nora Rawlins of Early Word is doing the same, as well as including information about series, vendors, and publisher buzz.
Thanks for hanging, and I’ll see you next week!
–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis.