W&L’s Julie Kane Earns Prestigious Book Review Award Professor and collection strategist named a Library Journal Reviewer of the Year 2023.

By Brian Laubscher
January 18, 2024

Julie Kane, professor and collection strategies librarian at Washington and Lee University, has been selected as a Library Journal Reviewer of the Year 2023.

Library Journal is primarily a trade journal for librarians with reviews of all types for librarians to use as a collection development tool. It also provides events and professional development opportunities for librarians.

Among the professional development opportunities is the Day of Dialog, a biannual online event featuring panel discussions by various authors. In addition to reviewing between six and 10 books per year, Kane has served as a Day of Dialog panel moderator since it moved online in 2020. Her Library Journal experiences often include opportunities for dialogue with award-winning authors such as Hernan Diaz, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Trust.” Kane describes her work moderating those accomplished authors as “intensely demanding and exciting.”

Kane is one of four individuals selected for the 2023 Reviewer of the Year Award, joining Andrea Dyba from the Oswego Public Library (Illinois), Lauren Kage from Shaw House (Maine) and Anjelica Rufus-Barnes from the Prospect Heights Public Library (Illinois).

“This recognition is perhaps small, but mighty to me – the kind of thing I can tuck away close to my heart,” said Kane. “Reviewing is sometimes painful and sometimes joyful invisible work. Practicing other literary perspectives and considering other readers takes energy and time. It’s a lovely nod to get this kind of acknowledgment.”

Kane has been a member of the W&L faculty since 2015. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Mount Holyoke College, a Master of Arts in English language and literature from the University of Lynchburg and a Master of Science in library and information science from Simmons University. She also has a graduate certificate in digital humanities from the University of Victoria (B.C.).

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