Kathy Ishizuka

4 days ago | slj.com | Kathy Ishizuka |Jess deCourcy Hinds |Kara Yorio |Erica S. Perl

In April, school librarians from the United States attended the Sharjah School Librarian Conference in the United Arab Emirates. The American Library Association (ALA) and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) partnered with the Sharjah Book Authority and the Emirate Library and Information Association for the two-day conference, which focused on literacy and reading promotion.

5 days ago | slj.com | Kathy Ishizuka |Amanda MacGregor

If you’re struggling to make it make sense, you’re in good company. Among parodists, even the highly skilled can’t top our current state. “It’s just so absurd that it doesn’t leave much room for a novelist to work,” said Percival Everett, speaking to The Times of London about the Trump administration. “How can you come up with anything crazier than this?”Everett had just received the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for James , his reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

1 month 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.

1 month 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.

1 month 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.