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The Queue: Library News for the Week Ending July 11, 2025

Among the week's headlines: Rhode Island enacts the strongest 'freedom to read' law yet; a Georgia librarian fired for including an LGBTQ+ book in a library display is getting community support for her reinstatement; and North Carolina Governor Josh Stein vetoes several anti-DEI bills.

New Report Looks at the State of the Library Ebook Market

"The data forces us to conclude, reluctantly, that not only does print still offer libraries a far better bang-per-book than digital, but that for the most popular titles, digital collections are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain," the report concludes.

Carla Hayden Joins Mellon Foundation as Senior Fellow

Hayden will “pursue scholarship, writing, and research projects” while also advising Mellon on “opportunities to support and advance libraries, archives, and other organizations in the public knowledge ecosystem.”

The Words & Money Weekly Newsletter for the Week Ending July 4, 2025

It's official. We're official. At the 2025 American Library Association Annual Conference, Words & Money officially launched. We are humbled and grateful for the support you've shown us since we soft-launched at the London Book Fair back in March. While we've come

The Queue: Library News for the Week Ending July 4, 2025

Among the week's headlines: the ALA Annual Conference draws more than 14,000 to Philadelphia; Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoes a controversial anti-LGBTQ+ library provision; authors ask publishers to eschew AI; and why Idaho schools just got less welcoming, and more political.

Libraries, Front and Center

Help us build and strengthen Words & Money with a premium subscription. For just $45 annually you can support a new media venture that aims to properly center libraries in the 21st Century reading and writing enterprise.

The Words & Money Weekly Newsletter for the Week Ending June 27, 2025

The 2025 ALA Annual Conference is underway, and as has become something of a tradition, the Supreme Court has weighed in with two major decisions that will impact libraries. In a bit of good news, after nearly two years of searching the ALA has found its new executive director. In

Supreme Court Delivers Two Major Decisions Impacting Libraries

the Supreme Court delivered two major rulings on June 27, one negatively impacting the freedom to read, and one saving the popular E-rate program.

The Queue: Library News for the Week Ending June 27

Among the week's headlines: two key fair use decisions roil the AI landscape; A major Supreme Court decision threatens the freedom to read; Texas signs its controversial school library bill into law; and the Library of Congress faces a budget cut.

As Annual Conference Kicks Off, ALA Announces New Executive Director

Daniel J. Montgomery, currently President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, will take the helm at ALA this fall.

Lyrasis to Take Over Library Ebook Platform, The Palace Project, from Digital Public Library of America

Some five years after it was chartered, the Palace Project will now be solely owned and operated by Lyrasis.

The Words & Money Weekly Newsletter for the Week Ending June 20, 2025

As the library world prepares to converge on Philadelphia for the 2025 American Library Association Annual Conference, challenges abound. But this week, librarians got a little backup from the Government Accounting Office, which released a report concluding that, yes, the Trump Administration's withholding of IMLS funding is illegal.

The Queue: Library News for the Week Ending June 20, 2025

Among the week's headlines: Escambia County votes to allow book bans without review; a chilling report on the freedom to read in Utah; two more 'Freedom to Read' bills advance; and BookCon returns!

Judge Schedules Next Steps in the ALA’s IMLS Case

In a filing this week, Trump administration lawyers said they would move to have the ALA's lawsuit to save the IMLS dismissed.

GAO Declares Trump's Withholding of IMLS Funds to Be Illegal

The Constitution grants the President "no unilateral authority to withhold funds from obligation," concludes the independent, nonpartisan watchdog.

The Words & Money Weekly Newsletter for the Week Ending June 13, 2025

After two legal victories in May, library advocates were feeling better about their chances of saving the Institute of Museum and Library Services from a Trump executive order. But after a federal judge in Washington D.C. backtracked on issuing an injunction and with an appeal seeking a stay of