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2 weeks ago | 
slj.com | Kathy Ishizuka |Beth McIntyre
Author Dusti Bowling speaks with the Student Library Advisory Board during her visit. Photos courtesy of Todd Burleson Virginia found me at the back of our 126-year-old auditorium, where I was adjusting microphones for the upcoming presentation, surrounded by stately wooden chairs, fluted plaster columns, and a slanted floor that gave the space a quiet grandeur. Her eyes were wide with nervous energy.
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2 weeks ago | 
slj.com | Todd Burleson |Kathy Ishizuka |Beth McIntyre
Award-winning author illustrators Julie Flett and Sophie Blackall sat down for a chat on the occasion of Children’s Book Week 2025. Flett created this year’s poster on the theme: “An Ocean of Stories,” and Blackall did the honors in 2024, illustrating “No Rules. Just Read.”Julie Flett is a Cree-Métis artist and an award-winning author and illustrator of books for children including Birdsong, We All Play, Let’s Go!, and others.
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2 weeks ago | 
slj.com | Todd Burleson |Sophie Blackall |Julie Flett |Kathy Ishizuka
On Thursday, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) pausing the dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The narrow ruling stops the Trump administration from taking further action against the independent federal agency while the case is heard in court.
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2 weeks ago | 
slj.com | Brigid Alverson |Kathy Ishizuka |Amy Lilien-Harper |Sam Bloom
History Comics: Ellis Island: Immigration and the American Dream (Feggo) ©2025 by Tait Howard. Immigration is a lived experience for millions of Americans and their family members.
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2 weeks ago | 
slj.com | Kathy Ishizuka |Beth McIntyre
Most organizations maintain social media accounts, and the U.S. government no exception. For its part, the federal Department of Education has a robust Facebook presence, with regular posts to the page’s 324,000 followers. But the real action of late has been in the comments. We ❤️ our librarians! #NationalLibrarianDay — read the DOE’s April 16 Facebook post, accompanied by a cheerful graphic (pictured).
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2 weeks ago | 
slj.com | Brooke Newberry |Betsy Bird |Kathy Ishizuka
School Library Journal has proudly partnered with We Are Kid Lit Collective to share and promote the group’s 11th annual summer reading recommendations. In the next couple of weeks, SLJ will publish individual posts featuring their recommendations of board books, picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult titles. We Are Kid Lit Collective is pleased to present our 11th annual summer reading list.
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1 month ago | 
slj.com | Kimberly Olson Fakih |Kathy Ishizuka
Starred reviews are always good news, for what they mean and for what happens next. 10 Things I Love About Starred Reviews [Read: 10 Things I Hate About Starred Reviews]Recently I wrote an opinion piece, and the counter-arguments began to roll in immediately. Thank you, Mrs. DeWald, high school debate team coach. I really can pick a fight with anyone. Here's what I love about giving books starred reviews.
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1 month ago | 
slj.com | Betsy Bird |Kathy Ishizuka |Brooke Newberry |Rachel Payne
As board books continue to evolve, they’re cleverly expanding to meet the needs of readers even as they approach early school age. Board books are continuing to blossom in their nonfiction era. This roundup features a collection of fact-filled titles, offering a lot of nature exploration for our youngest readers. With developmentally appropriate text and interactive elements, these volumes provide early exposure to a rich vocabulary and a deeper understanding of the world.
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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.
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1 month ago | 
slj.com | Andrew Bauld |Kara Yorio |Kathy Ishizuka
School Librarian of the Year Tim Jones, Library Media Speciaist John F. Kennedy Elementary School, Louisville, KY Photos and SLJ April Cover photo by Antonio Pantoja Tim Jones is the first to tell you that becoming a librarian was not necessarily his dream job. His first love was comedy writing, and the Kentucky native followed that passion all the way to Chicago to train at the famed Second City improvisational theater.
