Industry News

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Grants Administration Committee are now accepting online applications for the 2014 Bookapalooza Program. Deadline for submissions is February 1.

Jennifer D. LaBoon, coordinator of library technology for the Fort Worth Independent School District, and Cindy Buchanan, program director for library media services for the Aldine, Texas, Independent School District, shared advocacy strategies with attendees at the SLJ Summit in Austin. Here are takeaways from their presentation, “PTA & School Library Relations.”

Two Philadelphia school libraries, at the prestigious Central High School and Masterman High School, will reopen next week thanks to an anonymous donation, the Inquirer has reported. The school libraries had been shuttered last month due to severe city budget cuts.

I've been told that I can turn any conversation into one about libraries, a book, or a “cool thing” my own library is supporting. I don’t just tout the library’s programs during a lull in conversation, though. I simply see a connection between person and program, need and service.

Across Texas, the number of certified school librarians has dropped 10 percent since 2009, in part because of limited budgets and the growth of digital books. The decline has been particularly sharp in Houston, where roughly 60 percent of schools do not have certified librarians this year, according to district data.

Author Lee Bennett Hopkins has pledged to give the Penn State University Libraries his 18,000-volume book collection and correspondence papers from his lifelong career in children’s literature. The children’s poetry and literature collection, valued at approximately $3.25 million, includes volumes from such authors as Nikki Grimes, Madeline L’Engle, and Maurice Sendak, many of whom have autographed their works.

"There are 242 schools in the School District of Philadelphia. Only 16 librarians are left standing across that line. And what my [former] city colleagues tell me, is that NO Philadelphia public high schools have certified school librarians," writes Joyce Valenza. "Consider this divide."

At NBC’s fourth annual Education Nation Summit this week, libraries were more visible than in the past. The event strives to engage the public in solution-focused discussion about improving education and preparing American students for the jobs of the future. This year, the summit tackled the question of “What It Takes” to outfit students for success.

Has the maker movement taken hold in your library yet? Starting a maker space is easier—and less costly—than you may think. Technologies such as robotics, digital video production, computer coding, and 3-D printing may garner the most attention, but traditional activities instill the same spirit of invention, collaboration, and critical thinking of the maker phenomenon.