
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
September 18, 2013
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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

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.

“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.

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.

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.







By Travis Jonker on September 16, 2013
By J. Caleb Mozzocco on September 16, 2013
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