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Oct 1, 2024 | 
slj.com | Marlaina Cockcroft
Librarians responding to our 2024 Transitional Books Survey had a lot to say about their favorite series. Here's why these standouts appeal to them.
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Sep 27, 2024 | 
slj.com | Marlaina Cockcroft |Allie Stevens
Transitional books are in transition. To bolster these books’ appeal for emerging and newly independent readers, librarians are changing what they call them and how they shelve them, according to respondents to SLJ ’s 2024 Transitional Books Survey. And since an increasing number of transitional books are graphic novels, librarians are figuring out where to shelve those titles. With prose books? Other graphic novels? There are various solutions. What makes a good transitional title?
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Jun 27, 2024 | 
dailystarnewstoday.com | Marlaina Cockcroft
ShopRite is expanding and relocating within Watchung’s Blue Star Shopping Center on Route 22, prompting a $12 million update of the nearly 420,000-square-foot property, as seen in early June — Photos by Aaron Houston for Real Estate NJBy Marlaina CockcroftAs supermarkets and other anchor tenants look to expand their reach in New Jersey, landlords are accommodating them with renovated shopping centers that are likely to help attract new retailers to those properties.
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Mar 7, 2024 | 
slj.com | Marlaina Cockcroft |Amanda MacGregor |Travis Jonker |Kathy Ishizuka
Michelle Barnett’s students at Providence (AL) Elementary School, which won a 2022 Mathical Award Left and center photos by Michelle Barnett, right photo of Barnett with student by Susan Gautreaux How do you prevent students from developing a fear of math? With a great book, librarians have found. When kids read engaging stories about math, they learn to love it.
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Jan 4, 2024 | 
slj.com | Marlaina Cockcroft |Terry Hong
Children are eager listeners—of audiobooks, according to a new Library Journal / School Library Journal survey. Almost all public libraries now carry audiobooks for teens and children, the survey of nearly 500 public librarians found. Currently, 93 percent of public libraries offer children’s titles, and 83 percent carry YA titles. Young people greatly prefer fiction, and most don’t care who narrates the story. Meanwhile, librarians are concerned about AI replacing human narrators.
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Oct 3, 2023 | 
slj.com | Marlaina Cockcroft |Steven Engelfried |Andrew Eliopulos |Shelley Diaz
Illustration by Michael Byers If graphic novels are flying off the shelves at your library, that reflects a remarkable trend: In the last few years, the format’s popularity has shot up at over 90 percent of school libraries, according to a new SLJ survey, with the biggest jump in elementary schools. Students are clamoring for humor and contemporary fiction, in particular, and manga is exploding in popularity.
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Oct 2, 2023 | 
schoollibraryjournal.com | Marlaina Cockcroft |Andrew Eliopulos |Shelley Diaz |Cathy Camper
Illustration by Michael Byers If graphic novels are flying off the shelves at your library, that reflects a remarkable trend: In the last few years, the format’s popularity has shot up at over 90 percent of school libraries, according to a new SLJ survey, with the biggest jump in elementary schools. Students are clamoring for humor and contemporary fiction, in particular, and manga is exploding in popularity.
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Aug 24, 2023 | 
schoollibraryjournal.com | Marlaina Cockcroft |Emily Mroczek-Bayci |Kathy Ishizuka
The surge in book challenges nationwide is having a chilling effect on school librarians, who are more likely to avoid buying books or to remove titles from collections because of their content than they were last year, according to SLJ’s 2023 Controversial Books Survey. Thirty-seven percent of librarians said book challenges influenced their purchasing decisions for the library, up from 27 percent in 2022, an effect that spans all grade levels.
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Aug 24, 2023 | 
slj.com | Marlaina Cockcroft |Kara Yorio
The surge in book challenges nationwide is having a chilling effect on school librarians, who are more likely to avoid buying books or to remove titles from collections because of their content than they were last year, according to SLJ’s 2023 Controversial Books Survey. Thirty-seven percent of librarians said book challenges influenced their purchasing decisions for the library, up from 27 percent in 2022, an effect that spans all grade levels.
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Jun 27, 2023 | 
slj.com | Marlaina Cockcroft |Andrew Bauld |Cathy Camper |Bob Hassett
School libraries have been focusing less on tech since 2019, according to SLJ’s latest tech survey. While school librarians are still largely considered school tech leaders, usage is down, and librarians’ priorities are shifting. Regarding the future of artificial intelligence (AI) in schools, some respondents see possible educational uses, while others believe it will stifle creativity and encourage cheating.
