I want to kick today off with Becky Spratford, who wraps up a three-part blog series by talking about the Library Journal 2022 Materials Survey:
“Taken alone, the 3 parts of this series over the last 3 days are all useful, but it is when we look at critically acclaimed, bestselling, and patron usage data all together that we learn the most about our readers… We need to know what is actually selling because if we don’t have those books, and make it obvious to our communities that we do, they won’t use the library.”
The LJ article is definitely worth your time – it talks about the current hybrid model of print and e-books (neither is going anywhere anytime soon, and some patrons bounce back and forth from one to the other) and looks at how streaming and downloads are changing physical media purchasing.
And on the subject of e-media, if you’re a director and haven’t already voted on the NCLS 2023 OverDrive budget yet, you can do that right here. The ballot closes end of business Tuesday, July 26.
Moving right along!
The August Library Reads and Indie Next lists are out, which ALREADY? Next thing you know, the Halloween candy will be out EXCEPT IT ALREADY IS.
The Emmy nominees have been announced, and there’s a ton of literary source materials you may want to have on hand, including The Flight Attendant, Station Eleven, Dopesick, and Maid. And as long as we’re talking about adaptations, is your copy of Persuasion in good shape? Based on the reviews I’m seeing, you may see people wanting to revisit the novel and/or the previous screen adaptations. And how Persuasion is it to give people a second chance to love Persuasion?
Finally, #FridayReads: Remember Supermarket Sweep, when everyone would throw pot roast after pot roast into their carts in a meat frenzy? That’s me with library books right now. I don’t know why. I do not have more time to read than usual, and I’m certainly not getting any faster at it. But I just keep gathering them up like pot roasts. I’ve even started reading some of them – including The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb and World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukamatathil. Is it just me? What’s in your teetering stack of library books right now? Happy reading/sweeping!
