Kathy Ishizuka

New York

Editor-in-Chief, Partnerships and Innovation Director at School Library Journal

@kishizuka.bsky.social

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

SLJ wants to know what's on your mind as you think about the next school year. Fill out our Google form to share your hopes, concerns, and plans for 2025-26. It's summer. Time to relax and recharge, maybe participate in some professional development or tap your PLN for ideas and support. But here at SLJ, we can't help looking ahead. As we work on back-to-school stories, we want to know what you're thinking about heading into the 2025-26 school year.
In "Devastating" Decision, Supreme Court Rules In Favor of Parents in Mahmoud v. Taylor

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

In a ruling that educators, authors, and free speech advocates were anxiously awaiting, on Friday, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor. In the 6-3 decision, the Court decided in favor of the parents over the Maryland school district, ruling that the government burdens parents' religious exercise when it requires their children to participate in instruction that violates the families' religious beliefs.
Social Media Program Helps Students Learn About Jobs and Careers in High Demand

1 week ago | slj.com | Laura Silver |Kathy Ishizuka

Public media outlets turn to platforms used by youth to highlight emerging career opportunitiesWhen the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) wanted to raise awareness among young people about the high-paying jobs and rewarding careers in their communities that were going unfilled, executives realized that traditional TV programming wasn’t going to reach this demographic effectively.
SLJ Opens Poll, Asking Readers to Name the Best Books of the Past 25 Years

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

What titles stand out as the greatest in literature for children and young adults? That’s the question School Library Journal (SLJ) has posed to our readers. Toward identifying the best books of the past 25 years, respondents are invited to make their selections via our poll. SLJ will report the results and facilitate related conversation. Taken together with engaging the poll itself, we hope this will be an enjoyable, thought-provoking experience. This project comes at a particular time.
Silence Is Not an Option For These Student Advocates

1 week ago | slj.com | Kara Yorio |Kathy Ishizuka

Photo courtesy of Julia Garnett Julia Garnett never wanted to get involved. The high school junior disliked public speaking, and, as a competitive athlete, didn’t want to skip soccer practice. But the 17-year-old couldn’t sit by silently while her school district, just outside Nashville, TN, considered a ban on A Place Inside of Me by Zetta Elliott—a picture book that deals with a young Black boy’s emotions after a police shooting.
YALSA Expected To Be Dissolved, Absorbed by ALSC in 2026

2 weeks ago | slj.com | Kara Yorio |Kathy Ishizuka |Jess deCourcy Hinds

As of September 1, 2026, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) will no longer exist. At ALA Annual in Philadelphia at the end of June, the ALA Council will vote on a recommendation for the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) to absorb YALSA, which would be dissolved as a division of ALA. It is expected to pass, and governing bodies for both divisions are working under that assumption and planning for the future as they mourn the loss of YALSA.
Don’t Judge Young Readers Who Need a Break From Tough Topics | Opinion

2 weeks ago | slj.com | Amanda MacGregor |Kathy Ishizuka

Book banning is an attack on the soul of our community, especially when the books targeted are predominantly by or about people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community. And kids are the ones who lose out the most. No child should be deprived of access to a book that could broaden their world or help them feel better about themselves. But as we try to center our kids, could some of the habits of this industry also be inadvertently biased and blocking kids from having a true freedom to read?
Strength in Community: Librarians and Authors Head to ALA Annual in Philadelphia

3 weeks ago | slj.com | Kara Yorio |Kathy Ishizuka |Jess deCourcy Hinds

ALA Annual 2025 has featured speakers and author panels, allowing attendees to hear from Gretchen Whitmer, George Takei, Angeline Boulley, Grace Lin, Ellen Oh, Geena Davis, and others. SLJ Montage/Getty Images Attendees of the annual American Library Association conference have gathered in recent years amid censorship attempts and attacks on libraries.
Lessons from an International School Librarian Conference in the United Arab Emirates

3 weeks 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.
Recentering Reading | From the Editor

3 weeks 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.