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It shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that Charise Mericle Harper thinks in words and pictures, to the extent that when we interviewed the prolific author and artist about her contribution to the new Fairy Tale Comics anthology, she prefaced her answers with this caveat: “Since I didn’t provide images to accompany these questions, [...]

To better serve the growing Spanish-speaking population in Dallas, TX, the local school district’s library media services director, Gay D. Patrick, put out a call for volunteers. Since 2006, this group of intrepid school media specialists, the Luminarias committee, has been developing an annual list of 20 of the best bilingual and Spanish-language books for children. Their goal is to help fellow librarians curate quality materials to meet the needs of the young Hispanic community in Dallas, while staying true to the culture and the language.

Book lovers of all ages came out in droves to the Brooklyn Book Festival on Sunday, September 22. It is the largest free literary event in New York City, and showcased a diverse group of authors and illustrators that live or work in the borough. Gene Luen Yang, Raina Telgemeier, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka were just a few of the acclaimed and bestselling children's books creators that were present.

A group of forward-thinking and trailblazing school librarians will soon be gathering at School Library Journal’s ninth annual Leadership Summit. Taking place in Austin, Texas from September 28-29, the event will showcase the transformative work that educators are doing all over the country through effective collaboration. Check out the full schedule here.

Torrential downpours did not dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm for the over one hundred authors and illustrators who participated in the Library of Congress’s 13th annual National Book Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., this weekend. Hundreds of attendees jammed the festival tents to see and hear such favorite authors as Richard Peck, Katherine Paterson, Phyllis Naylor Reynolds, Oliver Jeffers, Veronica Roth, and Jon Klassen.

NY middle school librarian Deven Black has been named the 2013 Bammy Award recipient in the inaugural school librarian category, presented by the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International. Sylvia Knight Norton, incoming executive director of AASL, presented the award on Saturday, September 21, 2013. Jennifer Lagarde, Shannon Miller, Joyce Valenza, and Matthew Winner joined Black as nominees for the award.

Friends and family gathered in New York City on Saturday, September 21, to pay tribute to storyteller, folklorist, and picture book author Diane Wolkstein, who died on January 31, 2013. During the memorial, Wolkstein was honored for her contributions to the world of storytelling through her performances and numerous books, audiobooks, and DVDs of tales she collected from around the world.

An idyllic trip ends when Somalian pirates size a yacht and hold the family onboard for ransom.

Hey all!  Before I dive into the oddities of the world in which we live, I just wanted to give a bit of a shout out to two distinct groups that allowed me to sprawl my librarian self all over their respective gatherings.  First up, credit and love to Nancy Castaldo and all the folks [...]