
Calling all performance-inclined library media specialists. Think you can pull off a song about what librarians do—as a rap? Flocabulary, creator of multimedia K–12 lessons to a hip-hop beat, wants you.
September 18, 2013
The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens
Kathy Ishizuka (kishizuka@mediasourceinc.com, @kishizuka on Twitter) is the Executive Editor of School Library Journal.

Calling all performance-inclined library media specialists. Think you can pull off a song about what librarians do—as a rap? Flocabulary, creator of multimedia K–12 lessons to a hip-hop beat, wants you.

Teacher librarian Joyce Valenza reflects on the 2013 Best Websites for Teaching & Learning, the highly anticipated list chosen annually by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).

Simply put, “The pictures tell the story,” says David Wiesner. The three-time Caldecott Medal winner Wiesner shared his thoughts on visual storytelling,—along with fellow panelists, Lizi Boyd, Oliver Jeffers, Matt Phelan, and Chris Raschka—at SLJ’s 2013 Day of Dialog held May 29 at Columbia University.

Here’s the complete schedule for the annual event held Wednesday, May 29 at Columbia University, Faculty House. The 2013 gathering of publishers, authors, and librarians held in conjunction with BookExpo America features keynoters Kevin Henkes and Holly Black.

A closer look at the recently launched DPLA, its features and “how it works, both good and bad.” Linda W. Braun, a library consultant and educator, offers this screencast on the highly anticipated project.

As a self-described nonreader, Matt de la Peña could never have imagined as a kid that books would play an important role in his life. But key encounters with libraries and, more importantly, librarians, who actively sought to engage him, helped open a new world to de la Peña. The author of novels for young adults, including Ball Don’t Lie and Mexican Whiteboy, de la Peña recounted his “path to books” in the closing keynote of SLJ’s Public Library Leadership Think Tank, held April 5 at the New York Public Library.

Librarians are uniquely positioned to handle the acquisition and management of digital content. But Michelle Luhtala, department chair of the New Canaan (CT) High School Library, sees some troubling trends, reflecting misconceptions about econtent among librarians and administrators alike.

Copyright law is arduous enough, but throw in an instance of international remixing by nerdfighters, and you have a real mess. But in the hands of author John Green, it’s also the basis for a pretty cool video.

A new app for the iPad and Android devices uses a highly visual format to provide a different search experience for the tablet user. More than just a pretty interface, Izik—which debuted last month as the top reference app in iTunes—is based on Blekko, the search engine that boasts higher quality results based on human curation.

From the Hunger Games, the Common Core, and maker spaces, to Gangnam Style and the ongoing ebook wars, a look at the highlights and key themes of 2012, according to Twitter.

Melissa Techman has great ideas. So School Library Journal asked the K-5 librarian at Broadus Wood Elementary School in Albemarle County, VA, to guest curate a board of “cheap and cheerful” ideas on Pinterest.

When it comes to measuring the authority of an online source, there’s more than Klout, according to Joyce Valenza. In her latest post on her SLJ blog NeverEndingSearch, the teacher librarian examines some tools that researchers of all ages can use to assess social influence.

School Library Journal (SLJ) is looking for a reporter/editor to write, assign, and edit news for our website, e-newsletters and award-winning magazine. If you have serious journalist chops, with an interest in covering libraries, education, and publishing, we’d be interested in hearing from you.

Author Seymour Simon talks to kids via Skype. The renowned science writer turned Web entrepreneur has launched StarWalk Kids Seymour Simon is not your typical start-up hopeful. At 81, he’s already had a long and prolific career as an award-winning author of science books for children. But like the researchers and explorers that he’s written [...]

Hot off the presses: School Library Journal’s cover. This month we’re featuring the findings from our recent technology survey.







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