Industry News

"The key idea is actually a media literacy one related to representation: no one in real life actually looks like an anime or manga character."

The book traces the advent of cross-country train travel, focusing on an early trip from Omaha to Sacramento.

Barbara Robinson, author of the now-classic children's novel The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Harper, 1972), died on July 9, 2013. She was 85. The book was named an ALA Notable Children's book and received the Georgia Children’s Book Award, the Indiana's Young Hoosier Book Award, and Minnesota's Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award.

The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Street Workshop have created the Aprendiendo Juntos (“Learning Together) Council (AJC) to identify models and practical strategies to improve digital literacy for Hispanic-Latino families. AJC plans to use the findings to influence public and private sector investments in effective programs for the community on a regional and national scale.

Emily Gover and Caity Selleck, information literacy librarians and content developers for EasyBib and its new platform, ResearchReady, posit that libraries should stay open later hours in order to serve students' research needs.

Findaway World launches the Playaway Bookpack program, which features preloaded audiobooks and their print versions. There are currently more than 200 titles available for preschool through young adult readers. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is now accepting nominations for the 2014 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The National Book Foundation’s Up All Night online exhibit showcases National Book Award Winners and Finalists in Young People’s Literature. Educators interested in integrating educational games into the K-12 curriculum are invited to attend a one-day workshop on August 19 during the Serious Play Conference.

Are there lessons to be learned from those perennial state assignments? On a road trip, Marc Aronson reconsiders his position.

Uma Krishnaswami’s charming novels will have young readers tap-tap-tapping their toes as the colors and music of Bollywood dance through these madcap middle grade romps, and now five lucky people can win her two books featuring Dini, Maddie, and Dolly–The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, and The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic.

There was a spirit of optimism among attendees at the 2013 annual American Library Association (ALA) conference held recently in Chicago, especially among school media specialists and youth services librarians. Members of ALA’s three youth divisions were particularly energized and motivated by the dynamic programming and renewed advocacy efforts, they say.