''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are easily accessible for use and not just for display purposes. It is responsible for housing updated information i ...

s. It was founded in 1876 by

Melvil Dewey Melville Louis Kossuth "Melvil" Dewey (December 10, 1851 – December 26, 1931) was an influential American librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library A library is a collection of materials, books or media t ...

(familiar as the inventor of the

Dewey decimal system The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), colloquially the Dewey Decimal System, is a proprietary library classification system which allows new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject. It was first published ...

). It reports news about the library world, emphasizing

public libraries A public library is a library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are easily accessible for use and not just for display purposes. It is responsible for housing updated information in order to meet the user's needs o ...

, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice. It also reviews library-related materials and equipment. Each year since 2008, the Journal has assessed public libraries and awarded stars in their Star Libraries program. Its "Library Journal Book Review" does pre-publication reviews of several hundred popular and academic books each month. ''Library Journal'' has the highest circulation of any librarianship journal, according to

Ulrich's Ulrich's Periodicals Directory (, and ) is the standard library directory and Bibliographic database, database providing information about popular and academic magazines, scientific journals, newspapers and other serial (publishing), serial publica ...

—approximately 100,000. ''Library Journal's'' original publisher was

Frederick Leypoldt Frederick Leypoldt (born Jakob Friedrich Ferdinand Leupold; 17 November 1835 – 31 March 1884) was a German-American bibliographer Image:Library-shelves-bibliographies-Graz.jpg, 250px, Bibliographies at the University Library of Graz Bibliog ...

, whose company became R. R. Bowker. Reed International (later merged into

Reed Elsevier RELX (pronounced "Rel-ex", sometimes written RElX) is a British-Dutch multinational Multinational may refer to: * Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries * Multinational force, a military body from m ...

) purchased Bowker in 1985; they published ''Library Journal'' until 2010, when it was sold to Media Source Inc., owner of the

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial Book sales club, book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samue ...

and ''

The Horn Book Magazine ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietress ...

''.

Early history

Founded in 1876 by

, ''Library Journal'' originally declared itself to be the "official organ of the library associations of America and of the United Kingdom." Indeed, the journal's original title was ''American Library Journal'', though "American" was removed from the title after the first year. Its early issues focused on the growth and development of libraries, with feature articles by such prominent authors as R. R. Bowker, Charles Cutter, and Melvil Dewey, and focusing on cataloging, indexing, and lending schemes. In its early issues, Bowker discussed cataloging principles; Cutter, creator of the

Cutter Expansive Classification The Cutter Expansive Classification system is a library classification system devised by Charles Ammi Cutter. The system was the basis for the top categories of the Library of Congress Classification. History of the Expansive Classification Charl ...

system, developed his ideas; and managing editor Dewey made recommendations for early library circulation systems. Initially, ''Library Journal'' did not review books unless they related to librarians' professional interests, but then, like now, the journal ran articles on collection development and ads from publishers recommending their forthcoming books for libraries to purchase. Early issues of ''Library Journal'' were a forum for librarians throughout Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States to share news, discussions of their libraries' ideas and practices, and reports of professional activities such as meetings and conferences. In an 1878 prospectus, the journal stressed its importance by noting that small libraries, in particular, could gain the "costly experience and practical advice" of the largest libraries. Regular reading of ''Library Journal'', the prospectus declared, would make "the librarian worth more to the library, and the library worth more to the people." In the Notes and Queries section, librarians shared reports of how their library managed common problems, and they maintained a constant exchange of questions and answers about authorship and reader's advisory. Two prominent sections, the Bibliography (compiled by Cutter) and Pseudonyms and Antonyms (compiled by James L. Whitney), served as reference resources for librarians. The latter contained an ongoing list of titles of untitled works and real names of authors who were anonymous or used pseudonyms, with an index compiling all of them in the December issue.

Current features

The print edition of ''Library Journal'' contains the following sections:

Annual awards

''January'' * Librarian of the Year: 2011's Librarian of the Year was

Seattle public librarian

Nancy Pearl Nancy Pearl (born January 12, 1945) is an American librarian, best-selling author, literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often infl ...

, 2012's winner was Luis Herrera, 2013's winner was Jo Budler, and 2014's winner was Corinne Hill. The winner for 2015 was Siobhan A. Reardon. Lauren Comito and Christian Zabriskie of New York won the "Librarian of the Year 2020" award for their work organizing the Urban Librarians Unite organization. ''February'' * Best Small Library in America: 2010's Best Small Library in America was Glen Carbon Centennial Library in

Glen Carbon, Illinois Glen Carbon is a village in Madison County, Illinois, Madison County, Illinois, United States, northeast of St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis. The population was 13,842 at the 2020 census. History In 1801 Colonel Samuel Judy received a military gra ...

, 2011's winner was Naturita Community Library in Naturita, Colorado, 2012's winner was The Independence Public Library in

Independence, Kansas Independence is a city in and the county seat A county seat is an administrative centerAn administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a Tow ...

, 2013's winner was Southern Area Public Library in Lost Creek, West Virginia, and 2014's winner was Pine River Library in

Bayfield, Colorado The Town of Bayfield is a Statutory Town in La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 2,333 at the 2010 United States Census. The town derives its name from W. A. Bay, founder. Geography Bayfield is located at (37.230 ...

. 2015's winner was the Belgrade Community Library in

Belgrade, Montana Belgrade is a city in Gallatin County, Montana Montana () is a state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * The State (newspa ...

. ''March'' * Paraprofessional of the Year: 2010's Paraprofessional of the Year was Allison Sloan, Senior Library Associate at Reading Public Library in

Reading, Massachusetts Reading ( ) is a town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use ...

, 2011's winner was Gilda Ramos from Patchogue-Medford Library in New York, 2012's winner was Linda Dahlquist from

Volusia County Volusia County ( ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state In the United States The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US), or America, is a country Contiguous United States, pr ...

Public Library in Florida, 2013's winner was Laura Poe from Athens-Limestone Public Library in

Athens, Alabama Athens is a city in and the county seat A county seat is an administrative centerAn administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a Township, ...

, and 2014's winner was Clancy Pool from St. John Branch of Washington State’s Whitman County Rural Library District. In 2015, Tamara Faulkner Kraus was named the Paralibrarian of the Year (the name of the award was changed in 2011). * Movers & Shakers recognizes numerous influential and innovative North American library and information professionals. ''June'' * Library of the Year: 2010's Library of the Year was

Columbus Metropolitan Library The Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) is a public library system in Franklin County, Ohio Franklin County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of 2019 census estimates, the population was 1,316,756, making it the ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the List of US state capitals, state capital and the List of cities in Ohio, most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a population of 905,748 for the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of United States c ...

, 2011's winner was

King County Library System The King County Library System (KCLS) is a library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are easily accessible for use and not just for display purposes. It is responsible for housing updated information in order to me ...

in King County, Washington, 2012's winner was

San Diego County Library The San Diego County Library is a public library system serving San Diego County, California, San Diego County in the U.S. state of California. Any person living in the state is eligible for a free library card. The San Diego County Library con ...

in San Diego, California, 2013's winner was Howard County Library in Howard County, Maryland, and 2014's winner was

Edmonton Public Library Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province The provinces and territories of Canada () are sub-national divisions within the geographical areas of Canada Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. It ...

, the first Canadian Library to win this award. 2015's award went to Ferguson Municipal Public Library,

Ferguson, Missouri Ferguson is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. The population was 21,203 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History What is now the c ...

, 2018's award went to the

San Francisco Public Library The San Francisco Public Library is the public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually founded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, ...

. ''November'' * LJ Teaching Award: 2010's LJ Teaching Award winner was Steven L. MacCall of the School of Library and Information Studies at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public In public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization An o ...

, Tuscaloosa, 2011's winner was Martin B. Wolske from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012's winner was Lilia Pavlovsky from Rutgers University, New Jersey, 2013's winner was Suzie Allard from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and 2014's winner was Paul T. Jaeger from

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public In public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an org ...

,. Patricia K. Galloway of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, founded in 1883. The University of Texas was included in the Association of American Universities in 1929. The i ...

was named the 2015 winner.

Star libraries

In 2008 the journal started awarding public libraries with a star system, grouping libraries into categories by expenditure level. In 2018, the journal award five stars in the over-US$30 million expenditures category to five libraries:

Cuyahoga County Public Library Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) has 27 branches that serve 47 communities in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Cuyahoga County ( or ) is located in the northeastern The points of the compass are the Euclidean vector, vectors by which planet-based d ...

Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library (CHPL) is a public library system in the United States. In addition to its main library location in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, CHPL operates 40 regional and branch locations throughout Hamilt ...

Seattle Public Library The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is the public library system serving the city of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Efforts to start a Seattle library had commenced as early as 1868, with the system eventually being established by the city ...

Cleveland Public Library Cleveland Public Library, located in Cleveland, Ohio, operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business cente ...

, and

. A total of 257 libraries nationwide were awarded stars, ranging from 3 stars to 5, in the nine different expenditure level categories.

Website

LibraryJournal.com, the ''Library Journal'' website, provides both subscribers and non-subscribers full access to all print content as well as recent archives. Visitors can sign up for email newsletters such as "BookSmack", "Library Hotline", "LJ Academic Newswire", "LJ Review Alert", and "LJXpress". Web articles in the site's "Libraries & Librarians" category are listed by topic, with each topic assigned its own

RSS feed RSS (Resource Description Framework, RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a Standardization, standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS ...

so that users can receive articles relevant to their interests. Past and present reviews are archived and organized by type (book, DVD, gaming, magazine, video, etc.); they are also available via RSS feeds. Another feature is "InfoDocket" (edited by Gary Price and Shirl Kennedy, originally founded, and still accessible, as an separate website at InfoDocket.com). Additionally, ''Library Journal'' maintains an up-to-date list of library jobs in the website's "JobZone" feature.

References

External links

''Library Journal'' website
* Hathi Trust
''Library Journal''
digitized issues, various dates {{Authority control Book review magazines Library science magazines Magazines established in 1876

Monthly magazines published in the United States {{CatAutoTOC Magazines published in the United States by publication frequency, Monthly Monthly magazines by country, United States ...

American librarianship and human rights Magazines published in New York City 1876 establishments in the United States