ALA Report Shows Record Number of Book Challenges

ALA Report Shows Record Number of Book Challenges

The American Library Association recorded 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since the organization began compiling the data more than 20 years ago.
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Julie Stivers: Creating a Place to Read and Thrive | 2023 School Librarian of the Year

Andrew Bauld, Mar 20, 2023
Julie Stivers’s library at Mount Vernon Middle School in Raleigh, NC, empowers academic-recovery students to “be brave together.”

Karina Quilantan-Garza: Local Hero | 2023 School Librarian of the Year Finalist

Andrew Bauld, Mar 20, 2023
Modernizing the library and creating a collection to match her community's needs has been key for Quilantan-Garza at Jaime Escalante Middle School in Pharr, TX, where most students are predominantly Spanish-speaking.

Melissa Corey: Books for Every Student | 2023 School Librarian of the Year Finalist

Andrew Bauld, Mar 20, 2023
Building access and equity into her collection and programming has become Melissa Corey’s mission as media specialist at Robidoux Middle School in St. Joseph, MO.

Zines: Cut-and-Paste Publishing by and for the People

Cathy Camper, Mar 01, 2023
Zines spotlight voices, opinions, and histories often missing from mainstream publishing. Here's what you need to know about curating, collecting, and creating these works at your library.

Marlaina Cockcroft, Feb 21, 2023
More librarians find their work challenging, but most still love what they do, the latest LJ/SLJ Survey shows.

May 21, 2021
Kara Yorio, Sep 16, 2022
Ahead of Banned Books Week, which begins Sunday, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom released data on challenges from January to August of this year.

SLJ Staff, Sep 20, 2022
The first comprehensive look at book bans in the 2021-22 school year breaks down the numbers by state, author, title, content, and legislative pressures. 

SLJ Staff, Aug 05, 2022
K.C. Boyd, Amanda Jones, Cicely Lewis, and other School Librarians of the Year share new plans and perspectives for 2022-23.

SLJ Staff, Jan 31, 2019
On the Diverse Books Survey page, users can access related content, newly updated, as well as our Diverse Books Survey report.

Kara Yorio, Oct 24, 2018
While in the minority, the SLJ Diverse Books Survey reveals some librarians are declining to purchase books with diverse characters to avoid a challenge.

SLJ Reviews, Mar 17, 2023
From developing vaccines to discovering dinosaurs, these women have left an indelible mark on the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. 

Cathy Camper, Mar 01, 2023
Zines spotlight voices, opinions, and histories often missing from mainstream publishing. Here's what you need to know about curating, collecting, and creating these works at your library.

SLJ Reviews, Mar 08, 2023
From a collection of short stories for children to a novel about a high school senior facing Islamophobia in a big city, these six titles center Ramadan and Eid for young readers.

 

SLJ Reviews, Mar 03, 2023
From John Schu's latest picture book to an Ibram X. Kendi adaptation of a Zora Neale Hurston story, March's starred titles all shine.

SLJ Reviews, Feb 17, 2023
To honor Black History Month, SLJ is curating lists of fiction and nonfiction book pairings focusing on pivotal moments in Black history in the United States. These 10 books are excellent resources for understanding the experiences of those who had to uproot their families during The Great Migration.

SLJ Staff, Feb 16, 2023
The award is given annually to outstanding fiction and literary nonfiction titles for ages two to eighteen that inspire a love of math.

These 27 picks for teens offer so much for young people pushing to define themselves--first love, fantastical worlds, betrayal, political upheaval, and more.

Stellar research, unexplored histories, scientific breakthroughs, and heartbreaking truths loom large in this whopping list of 52 choice nonfiction works.

SLJ Staff, Sep 08, 2021
This month, we feature John Lewis's follow-up to the "March" trilogy, Samira Ahmed's middle grade debut shines, Tiffany D. Jackson delivers another winning suspense novel, and two nonfiction titles discuss Charles Dickens.

SLJ Reviews, Feb 07, 2023
February's starred titles include professional reading and reference books, along with a range of fiction and nonfiction for young readers of all ages.

Brigid Alverson, Jan 18, 2023
Including fiction, nonfiction, and memoir, these titles cover topics from the making of the atomic bomb to the history of video games.

Johanna, Feb 13, 2023
Science Comics: The Periodic Table of Elements has a great blend of educational content and framing story.
Esther Keller, Jan 31, 2023
Graphic novels were well represented at the 2023 Youth Media Awards. "Good Comics for Kids" offers a complete list of the honored titles.

Striking images, stunning narratives, rich colors, and complex panel designs are prime examples of why these 22 works of sequential art belong in the classrooms and on library shelves.

SLJ Reviews, Jan 18, 2023
Navigating new friendships can be tough, as every middle schooler knows. Yet in these graphic novels, sharing a hobby or an extracurricular activity proves a surefire way to bring kindred spirits together.

J. Caleb Mozzocco, Feb 01, 2023
The Archie Encyclopedia catalogs the sprawling cast of characters that make their home in Riverdale, as well as characters from other Archie Comics, like Sabrina and Josie and The Pussycats.
Oct 01, 2020
Kathy Ishizuka, Jan 24, 2023
Twitter’s decline makes the case for information literacy.

 

 

Travis Jonker, Feb 21, 2023
Thoughts on the upcoming revisions in Roald Dahl's work.
Kimberly Olson Fakih, Feb 13, 2023
By reaching back two generations to the abuses suffered by her grandmother in boarding school, Carole Lindstrom, author of the Caldecott Medal-winning 'We Are Water Protectors' reclaims a piece of Indigenous culture about the power and beauty of long hair.

Marva Hinton, Feb 02, 2023
SLJ spoke with five school librarians about how they came to the profession, the work they do each day, and their connection with students.

Kathy Ishizuka, Dec 22, 2022
Driven by conspiracy theories and memes, contemporary antisemitism is spurring new strategies to inform youth, empower allies, and hold social sites to account.

Amanda MacGregor, Feb 07, 2023
The stories I want to tell are the ones where trans kids fall in love. I want to write stories to let them expand and take up space and find and choose their joy, in spite of everyone else.
Amanda MacGregor, Feb 02, 2023
Gloria Chao talks about the inspiration behind her new book and shows us how to make paper lanterns.
Kathy Ishizuka, Feb 01, 2023
Travis Jonker raises up the best titles for reading aloud. “Some will be obvious and popular. Others lesser known. All will be story time gold.”

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