Industry News

SLJ celebrated Trevelyn Jones, Book Review Editor, who retired after three decades, and more than 100,000 reviews under her helm. The event was held on October 29, and was attended by SLJ and Library Journal staff, representatives from several children’s publishers, and longtime friends and reviewers.

Librarians and book lovers of all ages this week are celebrating the Halloween season by recommending and giving away scary books as part of the All Hallows Read campaign. The brainchild of author Neil Gaiman, the annual campaign is marking its fourth year.

The New York Times Book Review announced its annual 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books today, October 30. The selections include Maurice Sendak’s last children’s work and stellar offerings from Brian Floca, Kadir Nelson, and Fanny Brit.

This fall, HarperCollins will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of C. S. Lewis with a worldwide campaign that celebrates his legacy. Kicking off the commemoration is the redesign of both www.cslewis.com and www.narnia.com, and their expansion to offer C.S. Lewis ebooks.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has announced that it is awarding $4,329,567 in grants to 20 museums and libraries in 17 communities in order to support the emerging role of these institutions in providing early learning opportunities, especially for low-income families.

The Kindle MatchBook, first announced on September 3, is now live online with more than 70,000 titles available. The program gives Kindle users the option to buy—for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free—the Kindle edition of print books they have purchased new from Amazon.

Random House Children’s Books has acquired Figment, an online teen community for readers and writers that features more than 300,000 registered users, announced President and Publisher Barbara Marcus.

Make It @ Your Library, in collaboration with Instructables.com and the American Library Association, has finally launched its searchable website, makeitatyourlibrary.org, for librarians seeking maker space ideas and projects. Make It @ Your Library—an initiative developed through the ILEAD USA program over the past year—aims to help librarians realize maker projects in their own communities at low cost.

New York City helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of Leroy Brown, boy detective, by proclaiming October 26 “Encyclopedia Brown Day” and hosting a reception at the New York Public Library. The character was the creation of the late Donald Sobol, who wrote the first book in 1963. The series went on to become a staple in classrooms and children’s libraries.