Public Libraries

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.

SLJ's most viewed coverage of book banning and censorship, which remained front and center in 2023.

We Need Diverse Books offers a new website with resources for librarians and educators about books by Native creators and how to use them in the classroom; Newbery-winning author Susan Patron has died; YALSA releases Teen Top 10 list; federal education employees will create AI guidance and policy for K-12; and more in this edition of News Bites.

Newbery-winning author Donna Barba Higuera based Petra on someone who also kept her vision loss a secret: her mother. 

Cicely Lewis recommends books for the BeyHive.

Children's literature scholar and author Debbie Reese is keeping track of the many books by Indigenous authors that have been challenged and removed from shelves.

The best-selling author recommends nine books by Indigenous authors for fans of the award-winning TV series about four teens on an Oklahoma tribal reservation. 

In Florida, access to the book about a male penguin couple has been restored in a school district's libraries; a teacher provides banned books at a Ben & Jerry's; and a district limits Shakespeare. Author John Green criticizes Indiana libraries for moving his book from the YA section; a Virginia library director is forced to resign, and the ABA passes a resolution against book bans.

A school librarian participated in a Human Library event and answered questions about her identity. Here's what she experienced.