Andrew Bauld

1 month ago | slj.com | Kara Yorio |Andrew Bauld

We Need Diverse Books will celebrate the first We Need Diverse Books Day on April 3; senators call on acting director of IMLS to continue funding programs as directed by Congress; Suzanne Collins talks philosophy and Sunrise on the Reaping; Eric Carle Honors honorees announced; and more. We Need Diverse Books Day is April 3We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is launching the inaugural We Need Diverse Books Day on Thursday, April 3.

1 month ago | slj.com | Kara Yorio |Andrew Bauld

When President Trump signed the expected executive order to shut down the Department of Education, “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities,” lawsuits from teachers unions, public school districts, and others followed to challenge the illegal attempt to shut down the department without an act of Congress. But the unions that filed those suits and the lawyers representing them are not the only ones speaking out and fighting the proposed cuts and changes.

1 month ago | slj.com | Brigid Alverson |Kara Yorio |Andrew Bauld

Comics fans gathered for a convention just before COVID-19 struck, shutting down in-person events and sparking a burst of popularity for the format. Photo Courtsey by Brigid Alverson In 2020, during the last weekend of February, 90,000 comics creators, industry figures, and fans flocked to McCormick Place in Chicago for the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2).

1 month ago | slj.com | Andrew Bauld |Kara Yorio |Kathy Ishizuka

School Librarian of the YeaR FINALIST Jennifer Mathews, Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (CSDB), Colorado Springs Courtesy of CSDB  Starting a new job always comes with a learning curve, but when Jennifer Mathews moved from her home in Georgia to the foot of the Rocky Mountains to become the library media specialist at the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (CSDB) in Colorado Springs, she had to learn more than just the ins and outs of a new library.

1 month ago | slj.com | Andrew Bauld |Kimberly Olson Fakih |Travis Jonker

Photograph by Antonio Pantoja Tim Jones, library media specialist at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Louisville, KY, is the 2025 School Librarian of the Year. Jones has built a connection with students and created a library space for fun and learning. In less than two years at the school, he has enacted a variety of innovative programs that draw students into the library while modernizing and expanding the collection and creating a makerspace stocked with coding toys and STEM kits.