Public Libraries

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

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.

These nine works for elementary students to teenagers use visual strategies to convey inner thoughts, feelings, and emotions. 

Who doesn't love a booklist? SLJ's got 'em. From Best Books and Refreshing the Canon—our joint effort with NCTE—to Spanish-language picture books and titles on non-apparent disabilities, our most popular booklists of 2023.

While librarians, of late, have drawn some attention by mainstream press, the profession has always been central in SLJ's coverage. Of stories driven by school and public librarians, their perspectives and work, four drew the most views in 2023.  

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

Pat Scales fields questions about a student who harasses others over reading choices, a verbally abusive mother, and a principal who lets parents observe class.

Among social media platforms filling the void as Twitter/X loses momentum, Bluesky leads in the children’s literature community.

If there’s one thing librarians can agree on it’s that library education could use some shaking up. Enter the Radical Librarianship Institute, which strives to “redefine the role of librarians, centering principles of inclusion and social justice.”