School Libraries

As assessment and recovery efforts continue, Tennessee Association of School Librarians president Dustin Hensley is stepping up to assist in the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Here are some ways to help.

A summer at the camp at Brooks River comes with constant contradiction. The more beautiful and interesting something is, the more likely it is to be dangerous. Nothing embodies that more than Brooks Falls. The Falls is an historical fiction adventure set in Alaska in 1953 for ages 10 and up.

It’s a well-known phenomenon: some adults lose their sense of wonder about the natural world when they age out of the science fair years. But grownups who write STEAM books for kids are a special breed: Meet Laura Perdew!

The new California law prohibits public libraries from banning books based on "race, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, or political affiliation of a book’s subject, author, or intended audience"; New Jersey legislators move "Freedom to Read Act" forward; and more. 

Presented by SLMath in partnership with SLJ, the Mathical Collection Development Awards will enable up to 36 libraries in K–12 U.S. schools with high numbers of low-income students to receive grants of $850 to purchase titles from the Mathical Book Prize list.

Librarians responding to our 2024 Transitional Books Survey had a lot to say about their favorite series. Here's why "Fly Guy," "Mercy Watson," and others stand out to them. 

Explaining why they write about children who are grieving, authors describe experiences from the loss of a family member to concerns about gun violence.

On August 21, 1939, five Black men quietly sat down to read in the Alexandria (VA) Public Library after being refused a library card. Occurring years before more widely known efforts to desegregate lunch counters beginning in the 1950s, the Alexandria Library sit-in is the focus of a project to digitize and distribute related materials and teaching resources.

Early chapter books? Easy readers? Whatever you call them, transitional books are key for young students, librarians say.