News & Features

Take a look back at the SLJ Summit in November with pictures of speakers and attendees.

"Wherever K.C. Boyd goes, excellence is bound to follow." So began our profile of Boyd, named the 2022 School Librarian of the Year. 

Ellen Oh's keynote address at the 2022 SLJ Summit extolled the impact of school librarians, the power of books, and the need to keep fighting against censorship attempts.

Samuels, the former Katy (TX) ISD student who led the student protests against censorship, talks about the fight for intellectual freedom and what Banned Books Week means to them.

“If not me, who else?” Given the abuse Amanda Jones suffered—she was publicly accused of promoting pornographic materials in the library’s children’s section—“Why me?” might have been more like it. Instead, the school librarian took measure.

Amid continued attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community, an ALA Annual panel of library leaders offered advice on how to create an inclusive and safe space for staff and patrons, as well as handle angry patrons or threats to the library and staff.

Boyd, librarian at Jefferson Middle School Academy in Washington, DC, earned the annual honor for her innovative programming, advocacy, and dedication to her students and community. 

The Front Desk author tweeted a call to action to her colleagues, as she tries to "motivate and mobilize" people to fight coordinated efforts to remove books from schools and libraries.

A Twitter campaign organized by #FReadom prompted authors—including Cynthia Leitich Smith, Laurie Halse Anderson, Alex Gino, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, and others—to share the heartfelt messages they have received from young people who connected with their books.