Public Libraries

“The power of books is profound, but power does start in the children’s room. When we connect children with books...we are introducing them to the world,” says Pam Sandlian Smith, director of Colorado’s Anythink Libraries and opening keynote speaker at our first Public Library Leadership Think Tank on Friday. Among the day’s emerging themes: dreaming big, collaboration, innovation, creating community, and believing in the power of kids (and kids’ librarians) to change the world.

Check out images from the SLJ 2013 Public Library Leadership Think Tank, our first leadership event dedicated to those working in children's services in public libraries.

As a self-described nonreader, Matt de la Peña could never have imagined as a kid that books would play an important role in his life. But key encounters with libraries and, more importantly, librarians, who actively sought to engage him, helped open a new world to de la Peña. The author of novels for young adults, including Ball Don’t Lie and Mexican Whiteboy, de la Peña recounted his "path to books" in the closing keynote of SLJ's Public Library Leadership Think Tank, held April 5 at the New York Public Library.

It’s spring! Just like the narrator says in the 1947 educational film Body Care and Grooming, "Ah, spring. When birds are on the wing, when flowers bloom... Spring, when a young man's fancy likely turns to...."—Author unknown. The answer has to be testing! High-stakes testing! Advanced Placement testing! American College Testing or even the SAT! Students feel pressured to work hard to prove themselves in this world of achievement.

Youth Services of Tulsa, OK, has announced the addition of Tulsa City-County Library’s branches as official Safe Place sites for teens. Safe Place provides runaways and other youth in a crisis a safe place in their own neighborhoods, where they can seek help with issues like abuse, serious family conflicts, and other dangers.

SLJ blogger and NYPL youth materials specialist Betsy Bird moderated a panel, “The Alternative Children’s Library,” in which several children’s librarians discussed their own nontraditional paths to the profession. Their places of employment include the Bankstreet School for Children, New York Society Library, Children's Book Council, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Opening Day of Loudon County Library's newest facility, Gum Spring Library, has come and gone. More than 6,500 people checked out 14,000 materials in just under five and a half hours, and we issued over 1,100 library cards. And those are just the tangible statistics! Teens finally found a place in their community to call their own! Caretakers can now stop driving 25 minutes to the nearest storytime! An entire region of northern Virginia learned what it feels like to have free resources available to them in their own backyard. The looks of amazement and happiness that I saw on Opening Day filled me with amazement and happiness. The Gum Spring Library has arrived, and we're open for business!

How should librarians, publishers, and authors approach diversity in children’s books? Authors Sofia Quintero and Zetta Elliott and editor Connie Hsu joined a recent panel at the NYPL, moderated by Betsy Bird, to discuss these issues and more.

As part the library’s efforts to raise awareness about poetry leading up to National Poetry Month in April, NYPL is encouraging aspiring poets to “follow @NYPL on Twitter, and submit three poetic Tweets in English as public posts on your Twitter stream between March 1 and 10, 2013.”