News & Features

The new year brings new education laws to states across the country; a young publisher's posthumous fundraiser continues to help others; Jeff Kinney honored by the Educational Book and Media Association; BCALA seeks scholarship submissions; and more in this edition of News Bites.

After a student shared an upsetting incident on social media, Jones set out to teach her students about safely managing social media and ended up learning a lot herself.

The last month of 2023 saw some great books and multimedia offerings, which include holiday books, Spanish-language titles, and music.

The director of the Florida Freedom to Read Project discusses expectations for 2024, plus a look at new book-related laws for 2024, a Massachusetts police chief apologizes for an officer searching for a book at middle school, and the story of a Russian librarian who called out the fascism of removing LGBTQIA+ books.

From censorship and AI to book fairs and the state of middle grade publishing, it's been an eventful year. Among those driving SLJ's most viewed posts of 2023: Jeff Kinney, Moms for Liberty, and stellar librarians. Ah, and those Best Books.

Remembering those who died this year.

A complaint to the police sent a plainclothes officer to the school in Great Barrington, MA, but Gender Queer was not there; hundreds of books get removed in a Florida district; and Books Save Lives Act was introduced in Congress.

From petting zoos to field trips, these initiatives forge strong ties with communities.