Ideas

Curricular bazaar Teachers Pay Teachers has never been more popular. But questions about quality, cultural insensitivity, and plagiarism beg expert guidance. Consider your librarian.  

In an unprecedented year, managing the pandemic dominated attention. SLJ covered the gamut, from publisher policies adjusted to accommodate remote learning, to tips on running a virtual book club for middle schoolers. Despite all, fostering literacy and celebrating great books persisted as key topics of interest for our readers.

Micro mentoring connects people in order to focus short-term on specific areas of professional development. 

As SLJ welcomes submissions for the 2021 School Librarian of the Year, we spoke with the 2020 winner about what she has been up to, including a student "Vote Woke" program.

Tackling a variety of topics important to school librarians and all educators, these presentations, discussions, and panels are available for viewing. 

At the SLJ Summit, attendees can convene in smaller groups after select panels to further ideas, discuss practical applications, and enjoy the kind of conversations that have been typically lost in virtual events.

Betsy Bird considers reading during a pandemic and how children's books are meeting the crisis.

The creative book displays and fun in-person programming must wait until next year. Banned Books Week will be virtual this year, but the Office of Intellectual Freedom has ideas for addressing censorship during a Week of Action.

"Now is an especially critical time to inform readers," writes Kathy Ishizuka, SLJ editor in chief. "That means publishing stories centered on the people who power libraries and schools. We are here for it, and we hope you are, too."