The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens
2013 Mover & Shaker Susan Anderson-Newham, early learning supervising librarian at the Pierce County Library System in Tacoma, WA, talks about the importance of collaboration and a good sense of humor to her work, why hands-on play is key to kids’ learning, and her top early learning picture books of all time.
What better way to engage and inspire a group of fashion-conscious kids than by creating a design competition modeled after the hit reality show Project Runway? Thanks to the efforts of children’s librarian Frances Grossman-Goldberg—and a little help from The Weinstein Company, Mood Fabrics, and L’oreal.Paris—a group of teens and tweens at the Pomonok branch of the Queens Borough Public Library (NY) had the experiences of a lifetime this past winter.
“If you can bring the community into the library, those children will ultimately flourish. And if a library can go outside of its walls, you’re only expanding the area in which young people can be affected,” says Rebecca Zarazan Dunn, 2013 Mover and Shaker, lifelong bookworm, blogger, advocate, youth services librarian assistant for the Lawrence Public Library (KS), and soon-to-be MLIS candidate. In this interview, Dunn shares her top kids’ book picks of all time, her inspirations and passions, and why it’s critical for public librarians to collaborate with school librarians and teachers.
Librarian, educator, and champion of children’s literature Caroline Feller Bauer, died Monday at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel where she made her home, following a four-year battle with mesothelioma. She was 77.
Collaboration among teachers and media specialists is critical to promote learning, increase student achievement, and help students develop 21st century skills. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, and Library Media Connection magazine are calling for media specialists and educators at K-12 public and private schools in the U.S. and Canada to share their collaboration success stories by submitting for the 2013 TEAMS Award (Teachers and Media Specialists Influencing Student Achievement).
BYOD, or bring your own device, programs offer media specialists an opportunity to connect with students, teachers, and school administrators—and to take a leadership role in their schools and districts.
What have you done to celebrate School Library Month? The theme this year is Community matters @ your library, and some of your colleagues have contributed their activities to the “Community Calender” which the American Association of School Libraries (AASL) has set up to allow libraries to exchange their ideas and programs.
In our candid interview with Library Journal Mover & Shaker Lindsey Tomsu, new youth librarian and teen club advisor extraordinaire at La Vista Public Library (NE), she shares with SLJ her top teen book picks, her dealings with Dewey, her inspirations and passions, why teens matter so much, and her views on the future of youth services.
Media specialists, teachers, and principals in public and private K–12 schools are invited to submit their collaboration success stories for an opportunity to win the 2013 Gale/LMC TEAMS Award which recognizes the critical collaboration of teachers and librarians to “promote learning and achievement.”
“The power of books is profound, but power does start in the children’s room. When we connect children with books…we are introducing them to the world,” says Pam Sandlian Smith, director of Colorado’s Anythink Libraries and opening keynote speaker at our first Public Library Leadership Think Tank on Friday. Among the day’s emerging themes: dreaming big, collaboration, innovation, creating community, and believing in the power of kids (and kids’ librarians) to change the world.
“Out of the stacks and into the streets” was the rallying cry for the first Urban Librarian’s Conference this weekend in New York City. Organized by Urban Librarians Unite, a grassroots advocacy group, it attracted 120 librarians from around the country.
“We’re bringing services to people who either would not or could not access them otherwise….[it] truly does change lives,” says Library Journal Mover & Shaker Richard Lyda, outreach librarian at Arapahoe Library District in Centennial, CO. In our follow-up interview, Lyda shares with SLJ his strategies for effective community outreach, what’s next for him in his district, and much more.
Blogger and teacher-librarian Joyce Valenza will join Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information (SC&I) early next year, the university announced today. Valenza, who SLJ once dubbed a “rock star librarian,” will use her extensive experience in education and technology to lead courses in school media, social media and learning, and digital youth in SC&I’s undergraduate, graduate, and Ph.D. programs.
McDaniel College awards librarianship scholarships to twelve teachers working in underserved areas of Maryland; a presentation from the opening night of Girls Write Now’s reading series.
Mover & Shaker Kirby McCurtis, new youth librarian and storytime standout at Multnomah County Library (MCL) in Portland, OR, shares with us her top book picks (for storytime and beyond), her inspirations and passions, her strategies for meeting the needs of her entire diverse community, and her views on the future of youth services.
SLJ blogger and NYPL youth materials specialist Betsy Bird moderated a panel, “The Alternative Children’s Library,” in which several children’s librarians discussed their own nontraditional paths to the profession. Their places of employment include the Bankstreet School for Children, New York Society Library, Children’s Book Council, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“March Madness” has taken on a secondary meaning in rural Pollok, TX, where 423 high school students have been closely watching, rooting for, and predicting the winners of a unique elimination contest this month—not basketball, but books. Under the direction of Donna Steel Cook, district library director and high school teacher-librarian, Pollok’s Central High School has incorporated our fifth annual Battle of the Kids’ Books contest into an engaging program to support reading.
Long Island (NY) school librarian and tireless school library advocate eva efron died March 20 at the Tuttle Center in Port Washington, NY, following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 66. At the time of her death, efron—who spelled her name in lower case—was a candidate for supervisor section representative to the American Association of School Librarians executive board, and was serving as chair of the AASL supervisors section.
Students at the Bankstreet School discuss diversity and book covers with editors from Knopf; author Elizabeth Eulberg reunites with a fan at TEDXTeen.
Justin Hoenke, Portland Public Library’s very first teen services librarian, has had a super productive few years, with even bigger plans on the horizon. In this first of a dozen interviews with the youth services librarians named as 2013 Library Journal Mover & Shakers, we explore in more detail what makes Hoenke tick—his inspirations, his passions, and his vision for the future of teen services.
