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).
Sponsored by Flatiron Books
A lifetime of secrets. A history untold. No. It is a simple word, uttered on a summer porch in 1936. And it will haunt Kitty Milton for the rest of her life and its consequences will ripple through the Milton family for generations. Moving through three generations and back and forth in time, The Guest Book asks how we remember and what we choose to forget, and tells the story of a family and a country that buries its past in quiet, until the present calls forth a reckoning.
Libraries & Librarians
News Updates
- Ohio Library Council pushes back against state House Speaker Larry Householder’s criticism of library drag events. (On a related note, the last newsletter listed the House Speaker as Larry “Household,” and I apologize for the typo.)
- Kansas prisoners are banned from reading thousands of books, including Game of Thrones.
- The St. Paul Public Library system eliminated late fees over the winter, and the results have been quite positive!
- Patricia Battin, librarian and recipient of the National Humanities Medal, has died at age 89.
Cool Library Updates
- Halifax Public Library system has started offering free menstrual products in all of its bathrooms.
- Has your library started using smart speakers like Amazon Echo to engage with patrons?
- How to support your patrons who are experiencing mental health challenges.
Worth Reading
- Libraries face tough choices when their homeless patrons set up permanent residence.
- How to avoid gender stereotyping during library storytime.
- A DACA librarian is not a threat to America.
- Summer reading incentives for kids: yay or nay?
- The chief librarian and the soap thieves. Anyone else think this would be an amazing band name?
- How a Connecticut librarian and a podcast helped solve this lingering cold case in New Hampshire.
Book Adaptations in the News
- Jane Eyre is now a ballet.
- We’re getting TV adaptations of The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown), The Edible Woman (Margaret Atwood), Bunny (Mona Awad), and Dune: The Sisterhood (Frank Herbert & others), plus an update on the Jack Reacher series.
- Trailers for The Rook and season 2 of Sweetbitter.
Collection Development Corner
Publishing News
- Waterstones purchases Barnes & Noble, which is causing a lot of excitement in the publishing world.
New & Upcoming Titles
- (TW: sexual assault) The survivor from the Brock Turner case is writing a memoir.
- Best books of the year (so far) from Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, and Vulture.
- Did you miss Book Expo? Check out 9 of the buzzy new releases from the show, along with the featured Shout n Share titles.
- Library Journal posted summaries from the Day of Dialog (including book panel write ups and Editor’s Picks), as well as Book Con.
- And don’t miss the ALA Galley Guide!
- Bustle, L.A. Times, Paste, and Tor.com all have some notable June releases to keep an eye on.
- 8 awesome horror novels from 2019.
- 40 thrillers for summer.
What Your Patrons Are Hearing About
- L.A. Times selects The Library Book by Susan Orlean as its first book club pick.
- Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly – Jim DeRogatis (Entertainment Weekly, NPR, USA Today, Vulture, Washington Post)
- Mostly Dead Things – Kristen Arnett (New York Times, NPR, Vulture, Washington Post)
- Patsy – Nicole Dennis-Benn (The Atlantic, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Washington Post)
RA/Genre Resources
- The New York Times pulled together a list of “it” books from previous summers.
- Resources for new horror readers.
- 5 of the best ways to pick a new book – for your patrons who want to read something new but don’t know where to start.
- NPR’s Summer Reader Poll will focus on humorous books. And don’t forget to check out their previous lists on horror, comics, and romance!
Authors in the News
- Linda Fairstein has been dropped by her publisher in the wake of Ava Duvernay’s When They See Us.
- Author Natasha Tynes, who lost her book contract with Rare Bird Books after a social media shaming scandal, is now suing the publisher for $13 million in damages.
Numbers & Trends
- In 2016, people visited public libraries more than a billion times. A BILLION.
- School Library Journal looks at summer programming numbers in public libraries.
Award News
- Tayari Jones wins the Women’s Prize for Fiction with An American Marriage.
- If you missed them, here are the Tony Award winners.
- Shortlist for the Orwell Prize.
Pop Cultured
- Entertainment Weekly is transitioning to a monthly publication beginning in August.
- 12 true crime podcasts to bust through this summer.
- What the fork?! The Good Place is ending after its fourth season.
All Things Comics
- DC Comics is rumored to close Vertigo.
- Lucifer has been renewed for a fifth and final season.
- New trailer for Jessica Jones Season 3.
- Mindy Kaling spoke to Marvel about developing a Ms. Marvel project, and she says the response has been positive.
- 8 classic works of literature as graphic novels and comics.
- 50 must-read romance manga.
- 10 comics to read while you smash the patriarchy.
Audiophilia
- Check out libro.fm’s list of activities for National Audiobook Month!
- The best audiobooks of 2019 so far.
Book Lists, Book Lists, Book Lists
Children/Teens
- 8 picture books to promote resilience.
- 5 picture books for daddy/daughter reading time.
- 11 intersectional LGBTQ+ YA novels.
Adults
- 50 unapologetically queer authors share the best LGBTQ+ books of all time.
- 12 books to read if you loved (or are waiting for) The Guest Book by Sarah Blake.
- Barnes & Noble has a list of 100 books to read this summer.
- True crime books to read with your book club.
- 50 memoirs that will hit you in the feels.
- 10 joyful queer books for Pride Month.
Bookish Curiosities & Miscellaneous
- Are you a reader who treats reading like homework?
- How fact checking works for nonfiction.
- If you or your patrons are late to the Goodreads game, here’s how to get started.
- How long will it take to read that book?
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.
–Katie McLain Horner, @kt_librarylady on Twitter. Currently reading Our House by Louise Candlish.