News & Features

Late fall 2012, SLJTeen editor Dodie Ownes was introduced to Somebody Up There Hates You by YA debut author Hollis Seamon. Her first thought was, “Oh no, a riff on The Fault in Our Stars.” But that never really should have been a concern.

Linda Lord, Maine’s state librarian, represented the nation’s 16,400 public libraries Wednesday in her call to Congress to provide a “proactive vision for meeting the educational and learning needs of our communities for the next 15 years and beyond.” Her testimony—at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation—also detailed the success of the E-rate program in helping serve more than 30 million people every week.

Lizzie Skurnick Books, a new imprint from Ig Publishing, brings back beloved YA titles; Laurie Halse Anderson wins the Empire State Award; nominate your favorite librarian for the "I Love My Librarian" award; and more.

When it comes to fanfiction and academics, there is a long history of non-fans writing and doing things that fans don’t particularly like, so you should be extraordinarily careful when you introduce fanfiction-based exercises to wary young fans.

Surefire Spanish-language and bilingual books and programming suggestions to share with toddlers and their caregivers for a multilingual storytime. From nursery rhymes to board books, these titles will delight children and adults alike.

School’s out—and time to enjoy some serious lounging. Summer is also a time to consider your Web presence. If your website could use an upgrade, consider these tools to give it a boost for back-to-school—and save you time this fall.

The National Education Association this week voted to support the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) in its lobbying efforts with regard to the "Strengthening America’s Schools Act," the first piece of legislation to recognize the role school library programs play in student learning since 1965, according to the American Library Association.

Acclaimed children’s book creator Marc Simont, who illustrated nearly 100 children’s books, died on Saturday, July 13. He was 97. His many honors include a Caldecott Medal for the art in Janice May Udry’s A Tree is Nice, and Caldecott Honors for illustrating Ruth Krauss's The Happy Day, and his own The Stray Dog.

Highland Park, MI, residents are still enraged that a selection of books and other materials from the local high school's collection devoted to global black history was thrown away recently. The revelation that many hundreds of titles had been found in a dumpster has spurred one community protest, accusations of neglect and mismanagement, and the resignation of an appointed school board member.