Public Libraries

School librarians expand their skills with offerings from Google and Discovery Education to the Library of Congress. Here's what they have to say. 

Libraries can provide safe spaces from bullying and overpolicing.

In an award-winning internship at the Boulder Public Library, underserved youth work in the makerspace to design and create projects that can improve the community. This year, two teens built board games that are inclusive of players with visual disabilities.

Increasingly in recent years, members of library teen advisory boards have sought to work on community and social justice issues as they help staff with programming, events, and other tasks.

Co-founder, executive director of We Need Diverse Books assess organization's impact and share plans for the future.

The Director of Charisma and Hospitality at the Tewksbury (MA) Public Library works hard each day to bring smiles to the faces of library patrons of all ages. SLJ caught up with Hardcover, the cheerful social media darling who also happens to be a  two-year-old yellow-bellied slider turtle.

Pat Scales weighs in on challenging reading choices, a library clerk who judges reading selections, and a panel on gun violence.

Burners Without Borders, an activist group focused on civic engagement and emergency aid led by Christopher Breedlove, provides inspiration and motivation.

These titles raise awareness and educate young people in the #MeToo era.