Classroom

To better serve the growing Spanish-speaking population in Dallas, TX, the local school district’s library media services director, Gay D. Patrick, put out a call for volunteers. Since 2006, this group of intrepid school media specialists, the Luminarias committee, has been developing an annual list of 20 of the best bilingual and Spanish-language books for children. Their goal is to help fellow librarians curate quality materials to meet the needs of the young Hispanic community in Dallas, while staying true to the culture and the language.

Fighting censorship and limited access to materials is an integral part of a librarian’s mission and job description. Launched in 1982, Banned Books Week is the national book community's annual celebration of the freedom to read. More than 11,300 books have been challenged since then. The following is a selection of SLJ’s news coverage of challenged books, interviews with oft-banned authors, and tools for showcasing censored titles during Banned Books Week, and all year.

Welcoming Schools—a project of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation that provides tools and lessons to educators to stop bias and bullying in schools—is releasing a new short film and related materials for educators and parents. The film spotlights teachers in the classroom generating open conversations with students about the impact of bullying and the power of students to stop it.

While many of us have thought about the interplay of art, text, and design in picture books, few of us have considered how the same elements work in nonfiction. It's time to talk about the decisions that go into choosing and using art in nonfiction.

Fiction for grades three to five can take on tough subjects―abandonment, foster families, and racism. Handled with tactful gloves, the following fiction titles, selected by the editors at Junior Library Guild, allow readers to learn about themselves and empathize with those who are struggling with difficult issues.

From social media to publishing industry-led initiatives, the call for diversity in children’s and young adult literature has steadily grown into a loud roar in the past months. As part of School Library Journal’s SummerTeen virtual conference, the “Embracing Diversity” panel featuring Karen Arthurton, Jonathan Friesen, James Klise, and Amanda Sun, led to a lively and ongoing conversation about the importance of not only publishing books for kids by and about diverse people, but also getting them in the hands of readers. SLJ spoke to industry professionals who are raising awareness on the need for different perspectives in young adult books, and compiled a list of resources to find these titles.

Nancy Jo Lambert, librarian at the Ruth Borchardt Elementary School in Plano, TX, created a unique program that connects her school library’s statistics with her students’ classroom math in a fun way. Find out how she did it—and why her students now clamor for this monthly program.

Pulled from SLJ archives, here is a PDF of our original news coverage about the fateful day that the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked by terrorists. Librarians in the New York City and Washington, DC areas rose to the challenge of serving their students and patrons amidst the chaos and confusion of the tragic event. Andrea Glick's "Responding to Terror: School Librarians in NYC and DC Cope with Frightened Students," appeared in SLJ's October 2001 print issue and online the previous month.

September 11 marks a difficult anniversary. To help children’s and young adult librarians navigate the challenging teachable moments that the day might raise and to guide those librarians working in universities and public libraries to address the potential research needs of their patrons, our editors have compiled these resources.