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Survey: How Libraries Are Using AI

Respondents were most likely to use AI for enhancing staff productivity (57.7%), supporting student learning (55.8%), and improving content discovery (53.3%). They were less likely to use AI tools for digital preservation (21.3%) or collection management (27.5%). - Publishers Weekly

A Convicted Prolific Publishing Scammer Seems To Be Back In Business

Over more than five years, Bernardini created some 160 fraudulent internet domains, prosecutors argued, and impersonated hundreds of publishing professionals to obtain more than a thousand unpublished manuscripts. - The New York Times

Wikipedia Is 25 Years Old

In 25 years Wikipedia has transformed from a new and provocative innovation to a stalwart of the internet age. That journey reflects persistent anxieties about credibility, expertise, and user-generated content that have continually haunted our relationship with the online.  - History Today

America’s Largest Young-Adult Book Festival Is Adding Adult Programming

YALLFest, held each fall in Charleston, is adding ROMFest, a parallel programming track for actual grownups, focusing on romance novels. Why are they doing this? Because it turns out that the majority of YALLFest attendees are full-fledged adults. - Publishers Weekly

A Bookseller Confronts The AI Company Trying To Buy His Rare Books

Brandon DiSabatino quickly became concerned that Blue Angel might be trying to buy his books for a similar ulterior—and to him, sinister—purpose. In so doing, he joined the ever-expanding crowd of people who the AI rush has forced to constantly reconsider their reality. - Mother Jones

Schools Report Surge In Library Book Checkouts After Cellphone Bans

Students at Pleasure Ridge Park High School are checking out books at a rate librarians say hasn’t been seen before, coinciding with a districtwide cell phone ban that took effect at the start of the 2025 school year. - Aging Untold

Author Of One Of France’s Biggest Hit Novels Of The Year Accused Of Using AI

C'était ça ou mourir (It Was That Or Die) by Thélyson Orélien has sold over 35,000 copies and been hailed in France’s literary mediasphere as a revelation. On Monday, an anonymous X (Twitter) account claimed the AI-spotting software Pangram found that “this novel was written almost entirely by an artificial intelligence.” - Euronews

How AI Is Changing The Art Of Translation

Many literary translators fear that if machine-assisted translation becomes the norm in book publishing, it could fundamentally change the nature of their profession. - Publishers Weekly

The Powers Of Bibliotherapy

Today, bibliotherapy takes many different forms, from literature courses run for prison inmates to reading circles for elderly people suffering from dementia. Sometimes it can simply mean one-on-one or group sessions for “lapsed” readers who want to find their way back to an enjoyment of books.  - The New Yorker

Nova Scotia Closed Libraries. The Backlash Has Been Intense

Persistent provincial underfunding forced the Annapolis Valley Regional Library system to announce plans earlier this year to permanently close five of its ten libraries. Many are tired of—even enraged by—what they perceive as the government’s assault on culture, treaty rights, and the environment.  - The Walrus

Jonathan Franzen’s TV Conversion

Franzen used to think TV was the “enemy” of the serious novelist. But after the HBO series failed, he watched Breaking Bad, Nurse Jackie and Silicon Valley and loved them. In the age of social media, AI and the endless scroll, TV has started to look like a “friend”, he says now. - The Guardian

Arkansas Ends Effort To Restrict Prisoners’ Access To Hard-Copy Books

“The Department (of Corrections) first proposed banning incarcerated people from receiving physical books last year in order to tamp down on drugs making their way into prisons. … (The focus will be shifted) to ban ‘misbehaving’ third-parties selling publications laced with drugs to incarcerated people.” - Arkansas Advocate

2026 Booker Prize Finalists Include “The Disappearers,” “John Of John,” “The Things We Never Say”

“This year’s Booker prize shortlist features some very familiar names – previous winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart ..., along with Pulitzer winner Elizabeth Strout and prominent British speculative fiction writer M John Harrison. Novelist and poet Luke Kennard and debut novelist Rebecca Perry are also in contention for the £50,000 prize.” - The Guardian

How The American Public Library Model Evolved

When you view the centuries-long history of American librarianship through a Pennsylvania lens, it’s more complex, nuanced and fascinating than many people realize. - The Conversation

Russia Is Deliberately Waging War On Ukraine’s Book Industry

More than 40 Ukrainian publishing houses and numerous bookstores have been seriously damaged — and some simply obliterated — in targeted attacks by Russian drones and missiles since the summer began. Over 13 million books — a third of the country’s annual print run — were destroyed in two months. - AP

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