September 18, 2013

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Fight the Summer Slide—with a Library Card | Annie Murphy Paul

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How to counter the “summer slide”? Simple, kids during the out-of-school months should read more books, according to journalist and author Annie Murphy Paul. And libraries play a critical role

World Peace and Other Aspirations: The Role of Play | Editorial

SLJ Think Tank 2013 Leadership Logo

Pam Sandlian Smith’s ongoing reinvention of library service at the Anythink Libraries in Colorado shows what leadership exercised in a spirit of wonder and playfulness can achieve. John Hunter’s World Peace Game takes playing to a new level for learning. We can all learn from both.

Children’s Librarians, Architects of Dreams | SLJ’s Public Library Think Tank

Photo credit: Matt Carr/Getty Images for SLJ.

“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.

Hear Matt de la Peña’s Keynote | SLJ’s Public Library Think Tank

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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.

That Collaborative Spirit: Changing times demand more complex partnerships | Editorial

Photograph by Thomas Strand.

Who wouldn’t want to work with the two librarians on our cover? To me, their joyous, open faces welcome engagement. I want in on the action—in this case, the series of projects they pull off to bring more to the kids they each serve.