Awards

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.

Collaboration among teachers and media specialists is critical to promote learning, increase student achievement, and help students develop 21st century skills. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, and Library Media Connection magazine are calling for media specialists and educators at K-12 public and private schools in the U.S. and Canada to share their collaboration success stories by submitting for the 2013 TEAMS Award (Teachers and Media Specialists Influencing Student Achievement).

Fred Smith, a junior at Vidor (TX) High School, needed to find something written by an author after 1960 for the Oral Interpretation portion of a prose and poetry competition. He found Francesco Marciuliano's I Could Pee on This, and Other Poems by Cats (Chronicle Books, August 2012) fit the bill. Smith's drama teacher, Adam Conrad, reports that his student recently placed first at the District 20 AAAA level Oral Interpretation contest and has advanced to the Regional level that will be held April 20, 2013 at Sam Houston State University, as part of the Texas UIL (University Interscholastic League) Prose and Poetry Competition.

SLJ is giving away 25 author-signed copies of the latest book in the format-bending “Infinity Ring” series (Scholastic). Written by Matt de la Peña, the middle grade novel Curse of the Ancients continues the adventures of Dak, Sera, and Riq, who are on a quest to set history back on course by traveling to different cataclysmic events in time. Leave comment to enter.

Media specialists, teachers, and principals in public and private K–12 schools are invited to submit their collaboration success stories for an opportunity to win the 2013 Gale/LMC TEAMS Award which recognizes the critical collaboration of teachers and librarians to “promote learning and achievement.”

Mark your calendars for May 29 for an exciting children’s book art silent auction and reception taking place at BookExpo America in New York City. The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the ABC Children’s Group at the American Booksellers Association will use the funds raised to support the Kids’ Right to Read Project (KRRP) and Banned Book Week.

The Street Lit Book Award Medal (SLBAM) Committee has announced its 2012 young adult winners. On the flip sideWinners and honorees are based on the titles' popularity as determined by readers in school, public, and academic libraries. And the winner is... On the Flip Side, A Fab Life Novel (Kensington KTeen) by Nikki Carter.

Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, is thrilled to offer readers a free ARC to introduce two of its spring debut titles, Bruised and In the Shadow of Blackbirds, and to welcome back Laura Lee Gulledge to its list. Gulledge is the author of Page by Paige, which received a starred review from SLJ. “Gulledge is a master of both words and images," wrote SLJ's reviewer. She brilliantly portrays poignant emotions.”

Aww, yeah – how’s that for a screencap? Don’t rub your eyes – you’re not watching C-SPAN2 in the year 2000 (wildest dreams just don’t come true that easily). It’s video of the 2000 Newbery/Caldecott Medal announcement. 2000 isn’t that far back, so it’s interesting to see the differences between these fairly calm “ALA Book [...]