The Digital Librarian

02/26/2026

In its National Impact of Library Public Programs Assessment, ALA has identified nine library programming competencies that are vital to producing successful programming.

We have identified nine library programming competencies that are vital to producing successful programming.

12/22/2025

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a major national study on the condition of public , highlighting the need for greater investment in library facilities.

"Public libraries serve as cornerstones of many communities. But aging and outdated buildings can make it hard for libraries to meet increasing expectations to provide access to programming, technology, emergency services, and voting sites—in addition to books."

Public Libraries: Many Buildings Are Reported to Be in Poor Condition, with Increasing Deferred Maintenance Public libraries serve as cornerstones of...

09/05/2025

Hot off the press: the Public Library Association has published their Public Library Staffing Report: Results from the 2024 PLA Annual Survey.

The survey "gathered information about staff roles and representation, hiring and retention practices, and goals and activities aimed at creating a welcoming environment for staff and community members of all backgrounds and abilities in public libraries nationwide. The findings highlight both the opportunities and challenges faced by today and in the future."

The Public Library Association (PLA) has released the 2024 Public Library Staff Survey report. The annual surveys since 2020 have followed a rotating series of topics—Technology, Staff, and Services for Strong Communities.

08/15/2025

A look at generative AI's impact on publishing, and the implications for collection development policy.

Generative AI is reshaping the publishing industry—and libraries are beginning to notice the impact on our collections.

05/20/2025

Some exciting news: I’ve been named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker for 2025! I'm honored to be in the company of so many inspiring colleagues—both among this year's Movers and throughout the library world—who are doing outstanding work every day.

05/16/2025

"Library groups in the state are hailing passage of a bill they say would protect them and their patrons from “predatory” publishing industry practices on ebooks and audiobooks."

Library groups in the state are hailing passage of a bill they say would protect them and their patrons from “predatory” publishing industry practices on ebooks and audiobooks.

03/05/2025

Library Journal has released the results of its 2025 Budgets and Funding Survey, which is based on responses from 292 U.S. public libraries between November 17, 2024 and January 10, 2025.

This year's Budgets and Funding Survey showed mixed results for fiscal trends in 2024, from robust forward motion to defunding—with more uncertainty ahead.

02/15/2025

"The [U.S. Copyright] office granted approval and said it determined the image "contains a sufficient amount of human original authorship in the selection, arrangement, and coordination of the AI-generated material that may be regarded as copyrightable."

The image, called A Single Piece of American Cheese, was created using Invoke's AI editing platform.

02/05/2025

"Google announced Tuesday that it is overhauling the principles governing how it uses artificial intelligence and other advanced technology.

The company removed language promising not to pursue “technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm,” “weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people,” “technologies that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms,” and “technologies whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”

Google published principles in 2018 barring its AI technology from being used for sensitive purposes. Weeks into President Donald Trump’s second term, those guidelines are being overhauled.

01/11/2025

A new survey found that parents significantly underestimate their teen's use of generative artificial intelligence.

Generative artificial intelligence is already a huge part of adolescence.

12/25/2024

A look at the status of a number of copyright cases involving generative AI.

WIRED is following every copyright battle involving the AI industry—and we’ve created some handy visualizations that will be updated as the cases progress.