Opinion

Betsy Bird considers reading during a pandemic and how children's books are meeting the crisis.

Here we are. Well into a new school year—sort of. The fall has brought no relief from uncertainty, and we have a ways to go. So we asked, and Jarrett Krosoczka and Jerry Craft were on board to illustrate our October 2020 issue.

Ensuring that all students have access to reading material during remote learning; adjusting expectations for student research; fielding questions about Little Free Libraries.

Seven months of learning loss. That’s the impact wrought by the pandemic, and low-income, Black, and Latinx children stand to suffer the most. Some cities are adapting the pod concept, working with community partners to serve at-risk students.

"Now is an especially critical time to inform readers," writes Kathy Ishizuka, SLJ editor in chief. "That means publishing stories centered on the people who power libraries and schools. We are here for it, and we hope you are, too."

In quarantine, read-alouds remain a powerful way to engage young readers and support their long-term reading growth.

Concerns about challenged summer reading during quarantine; Most Challenged Books & LGBTQIA+ topics; banned books that will engage students. 

Make equity about people, not stuff. Rethink library policy. More than 120 library staff have signed on to advance next steps in the COVID-19 Reimagining Youth Librarianship project, a crowdsourcing effort to create a framework for youth services during times of crisis.

While we're rethinking everything, how would you better serve youth in your community? SLJ is supporting a project to devise a new, crowdsourced vision for libraries.