News & Features

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Margaret A. Edwards Award, given by the Young Adult Library Services Association in honor of work that makes a “significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.” The award, which is sponsored by SLJ, was presented Saturday to Tamora Pierce for her “Song of the Lioness” and “The Protector of the Small” series. As the featured speaker at the event, the feisty and mischievous Pierce did not disappoint.

Dressed in book-themed costumes and hats, hundreds of enthusiastic librarians gathered at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago to honor the winners of the 2013 Caldecott, Newbery, and Wilder Awards, presented by the Association for Library Service to Children.

Members of the Association of Library Service to Children celebrated 75 years of the Caldecott Medal this weekend with a welcoming reception Thursday evening honoring authors and illustrators, and a day-long preconference on Friday at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. Simon & Schuster BFYR. 2012. Copy from library. Printz Honor Book. The Plot: Summer, 1987. Angel Aristotle “Ari” Mendoza is fifteen, and it’s the start of another lonely, hot summer in El Paso. Bored, he goes to the local swimming even though [...]

The nominees for the 2013 Teens’ Top Ten have just been announced by the Young Adult Library Services Association. Kids Read Now combats summer slide with a summer reading program focusing on children in first through third grades. Channel One News is expanding its digital distribution so that its education content can be accessed inside and outside the classroom. Chronicle Books celebrates its 25 years in children's publishing with a tween and teen book giveaway, with entries due July 3. A school librarian at Hitchin Boys’ School in the UK has discovered a poem incorrectly attributed to William Blake.

The author argues that nonfiction remains marginal–so marginal that neither ALSC nor YALSA seems to notice their bias. The question is, why?

Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL), an advisory group to the Colorado State Library, is launching the Bell Picture Book Awards, with the first honorees set to be announced on February 5, 2014. The program is designed to celebrate books that foster adult-child engagement around the early literacy practices of read, write, sing, talk, and play.

The White Bicycle by Beverley Brenna. Red Deer Press. 2012. Printz Honor Book. Library copy. The Plot: Taylor Jane Simon, 19, is in France for her summer job, being a personal care assistant for her friend Luke Phoenix’s younger brother, Martin Phoenix. Unfortunately, Taylor Jane’s mother has tagged along. It only makes sense; Penny Simon’s mother [...]

Libraries can win a Harry Potter party pack to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, complete with new paperback editions of the beloved series, illustrated by Kazu Kabushi. Entries are due July 17. Latinas for Latino Literature has launched a Summer Reading Program for summer camps, youth groups, and cultural centers serving Latino students and families, running through August 12.