The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens
The Association of Educational Publishers and the Association of American Publishers have agreed to merge. The two professional groups will combine their programming, professional development, and public policy advocacy operations serving the preK–12 educational publishing industry. Once the merger is complete, AAP will create a new pre-K division.
The American Library Association has selected the presidents of its three youth divisions and the members of its 2015 Newbery, Caldecott, Sibert, Printz, Edwards, and Nonfiction Awards committees.
According to an ALA press release, “Young received 5,391 votes, while Immroth received 5,029 votes.” Meanwhile, a measure to allow ALA to increase dues in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) without explicit member approval also passed.
The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has announced that the recipient of its 2013 Distinguished Service Award is Dr. Keith Curry Lance, a Ph.D. sociologist who works with school and public libraries and related library organizations.
No matter how many school classrooms I visit, tours I lead, or new patrons I welcome into the library, I cannot help but stare in shock every time I am asked, “What is the cost of a membership?” Once I realize they aren’t asking me a reference question (the local Costco fee is $55 per household, and the nearest gym charges $83 per month) I respond, “Unless you drop a book in the bath tub or return something past its due date we will never charge you for anything—ever—at this library.”
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.
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.
When it comes to reaching out to teen library patrons, partnerships between public and school libraries are absolutely key—but how to make them successful is an ongoing challenge, agreed those library staff and stakeholders who gathered in a virtual town hall yesterday hosted by YALSA.
As dwindling funds and looming budget cuts reach many of the nation’s public libraries, 12 institutions received $5,000 mini-grants to support programming in their diverse communities. ALSC recently gifted these Día Family Book Club Program awards to expand El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día) into an ongoing yearlong celebration. The winning libraries give SLJ some insights into how they garnered the much-needed funds.
The American Library Association (ALA) will be selecting the presidents of its three youth divisions in the coming weeks, with voting opening tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Central Time and closing at 11:59 p.m. on April 26, 2013. School Library Journal asked each of the candidates why they want to be president of their respective division, and what they would bring to the position. Here is what they had to say.
Check out School Library Journal’s comprehensive guide to the 2013 Association for Library Service to Children’s (ALSC) Notable Children’ Books and the Young Adult Library Services Association’s (YALSA) Best Fiction for Young Adults and Great Graphic Novels for Teens.
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has launched its 2013 Teen Summer Reading Teens ReadingPrograms website, featuring lots of great resources that will make your teen programming a raging success. Funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, the site also has information on grants that can help support your summer reading programs. Join now and you’ll get complete access to all the online resources, which will continue to be updated as the summer reading season approaches.
Have you heard about “The Hub Reading Challenge,” sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)? As reported in SLJ’s Good Comics for Kids blog, YALSA is hosting an expanded, new and improved The Hub Reading Challenge for 2013. This is how it works: you have until June 22 to read as many titles as you can from YALSA’s official challenge list. Once you hit the 25 book mark, you’re eligible to submit a reader’s response for any of the titles you’ve read. Sure, there’s a prize, and you can earn a badge too!
Following 2013 ALA Midwinter, many awards for children’s literature were announced, including the American Indian Youth Lit, Gryphon, and the Children’s Book Committee Awards.
With the Youth Media Awards having been announced Monday January 28, buzz around the Caldecott-winning This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick), the Newbery-winning The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins), and the Printz-winning In Darkness (Bloomsbury), is higher than ever. School Library Journal has compiled a list of relevant blog posts, reviews, interviews, and articles related to the winners and honor books.
Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan and Jon Klassen’s This Is Not My Hat may have won the Newbery and Caldecott on Monday, January 28, but they were already stellar titles for School Library Journal’s Book Review editors. Both books made SLJ’s Best Books of 2012 list, as well as many of the other ALA’s Youth Media Award-winners. Check out SLJ’s reviews for the top prizes.
The audience erupted in cheers Monday after Katherine Applegate was named the winner of the Newbery Medal for The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins), and Jon Klassen was awarded the Caldecott Medal for This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick) at the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards for 2012, which were announced during its annual Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, WA.
Librarians who serve children in predominantly Latino communities were shocked this past December to read a New York Times article claiming that there is a dearth of Latino characters in books written for young readers—a notion that is at odds with their own experiences. In fact, they tell School Library Journal, there is actually a wealth of resources currently available to these kids, and librarians have the power (and the responsibility) to make those meaningful connections.
What’s a tweet up? Your chance to meet face-to-face with fellow educators who use Twitter to strengthen professional learning and to connect. This is the second ASCD Sham-rocksannual ASCD Tweet Up, sponsored by Herff Jones Nystrom, a provider of classroom teaching resources. The free event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, March 16, during ASCD’s 2013 Annual Conference and Exhibit Show in Chicago.
Three school librarians who create a spirit of community in their libraries were among 10 recipients of the 2012 I Love My Librarian awards.
