Industry News

Every time Best Buy Mobile opens a new location in the U.S., YALSA will designate a public or school library in the vicinity to receive $2,000 from Best Buy to purchase digital library resources for teens. That library will take part in a community celebration to promote the partnership.

New York’s Bank Street Center for Children's Literature (CCL) has announced the finalists for its Irma Black Award for the best read-aloud picture book for first and second grade, and the finalists for its Cook Prize for the best picture book that teaches science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) principles. Both winners will be determined by students from around the world.

When it comes to putting Common Core Standards into action, there’s one word for where we’re at as a nation: patchwork. Marc Aronson points out what school librarians can do to remedy the situation.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America announced has the nominees for its famed Nebula Awards, the Andre Norton Award, and the Ray Bradbury Award. Included among the Norton nominees are Libba Bray’s The Diviners, Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina, David Levithan’s Every Day, and Guadalupe Garcia McCall’s Summer of the Mariposas; all were SLJ Best Books.

Have you heard about "The Hub Reading Challenge," sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)? As reported in SLJ’s Good Comics for Kids blog, YALSA is hosting an expanded, new and improved The Hub Reading Challenge for 2013. This is how it works: you have until June 22 to read as many titles as you can from YALSA’s official challenge list. Once you hit the 25 book mark, you're eligible to submit a reader’s response for any of the titles you’ve read. Sure, there’s a prize, and you can earn a badge too!

As this article goes live, we are three—count 'em!— three days away from opening the new Gum Spring Library. I've been here since mid-January, and I'm just beginning to realize that the expectations I had in my head were way off base. Between preparing volunteers, planning opening day activities, and training pages, few things have gone exactly as planned. Yet despite the many changes we've made in our schedule, our confidence grows as we learn what must be done now and what can wait.

The familiar faces of beloved book characters Madeline, George, and Eloise greeted visitors at the 110th Toy Fair at the Javits Convention Center in New York City this month, an industry-exclusive event showcasing toys and technology from thousands of companies around the world. Here are my top dozen of the best new items for children's librarians and educators to incorporate into their programs.