Industry News

More than 200 people gathered on Tuesday in New York City to toast YA author Sherman Alexie, who was being honored by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) at its annual “Free Speech Matters” event. NJ librarian Wilma J. Grey was also honored.

The third annual Picture Book Month is currently in full swing, with an ever-expanding array of school displays, Skype sessions, blog posts, and Facebook photo albums bearing witness to this year's festivities. The event—launched by author and storyteller Dianne de Las Casas—brings together children and picture book lovers and creators in daily celebrations of the art form.

The bipartisan Strong Start for America’s Children Act proposes broad investment in educational and development programs for very young children.

INFOdocket editor Gary Price shares ProQuest's announcement of the formal release of its Research Companion tool and offers his thoughts on digital/information literacy, what he calls a "major issue" for the library community. Collaboration across all types of libraries and vendors, he notes, could produce great results and give the public a wonderful opportunity to see library professionals in action.

Findaway World and Mackin Educational Resources have partnered to provide access to more than 31,000 digital audiobooks for PreK–12 students directly through MackinVIA.

In a complete departure from her previous book, 'There Is No Dog,' Meg Rosoff creates a compelling mystery, and an ideal detective in 12-year-old Mila, the narrator of 'Picture Me Gone.'

"If you’ve a Mock committee out there that you know of, please send me the results when you hear of them," writes Fuse 8 blogger Elizabeth Bird. Post them in the comments or email her. "It’s just fun to see what folks around the country feel about the “contenders”, don’t you think?," she says.

Investigative journalist Amanda Ripley, author of The Smartest Kids in the World, shares highlights of her research into the world’s top performing educational systems—Finland, Korea, and Poland—and what the US can do to replicate that success. The Common Core is a great place to start, she says, but for real improvement, administrators, educators, parents, and students need to agree that education matters.

Librarians from around the country made their way to Austin, Texas, on September 28–29 for SLJ’s annual Leadership Summit. On stage and off, the conference convened key players and collaborators who are shaping a vision for the future of libraries. Here's a snapshot and slideshow of the leadership event.