The mission of the ALSC Blog is to provide a venue for coverage of time sensitive news in children’s librarianship, current issues in the field, and programs, conferences, initiatives, resources, and activities of interest to ALSC members and those interested in children’s librarianship.
As of December 31, 2023, 6531 posts have been published on our blog, with 300 unique posts published in 2023. This number includes both pieces written by our regular team of ALSC Bloggers, posts by guest bloggers and posts by live bloggers at national conferences. Thank you all! Here are some of the most viewed blog posts for each month in the last year:
January 2023
- 2023 Mock YMA Election Results Page
- Graphic Novels Under Fire in Missouri by Anne M. Link for the ALSC Intellectual Freedom committee
February 2023
- All Together Now by Jonathan Dolce
- I Learned It on TikTok: Professional Development from an Unlikely Source by Chelsey Roos
March 2023
- 5 Questions for Better Storytime Planning by the Early Childhood Programs and Services committee
- Baby STEAM Program for Summer by Kirsten Caldwell
April 2023
- Why We Need Sensory Storytimes by Chelsey Roos
- Celebrating the Week of the Young Child 2023 by Tess Prendergast
May 2023
- Manager Mistakes by Amy Steinbauer
- Summer Reading Lists Are Here! by Laura Schulte-Cooper
June 2023
- 3D Printing for Children by Polly Ross-Tyrrell of the Children and Technology committee
- All Together Now: Collaborative Projects for Summer Reading by Emily Mroczek-Bayci
July 2023
- Summer’s Over… Now What?!?: Tips for Planning for a Year of Library Programming by Sherry V. Neal of the School-Age Programs and Services committee
- Smoke in the Summer: Supporting Families in the Wildfire Season by Chelsey Roos
August 2023
- Stuck on Storytime: Tips to Plan for Fall by the Early Childhood Programs and Services committee
- Storytime Safety Plans and Other Things I Didn’t Learn in Library School by Chelsey Roos
September 2023
- The Science of Reading: A Primer for Children’s Library Staff by Tess Prendergast
- My Favorite Middle Grade Novels of 2023 (So Far!) by Ariel Barreras
October 2023
- Picture Book Playtime: An Inclusive, ECRR-Inspired Early Literacy Program Model by Tess Prendergast
- Celebrating Diwali with a STEAM Activity: Fostering Cultural Competency in Libraries by Adele Chase of the ALSC Children and Technology committee
November 2023
- The Art of Early Literacy Asides in Storytime by Maria Trivisonno
- The 2024 Mock Election Results Page is Now Open! by Mary Voors
December 2023
- Nontraditional Times for Traditional Programs by Gabrielle (Gabby) Stoller of the Underserved Children and Caregivers committee
- 2024 Mock YMA Election Results Page
In celebration of the Youth Media Awards, in 2016 we began to offer a compilation of Mock Election results from around the country. This year we expanded the page to include EVERY book award given at the YMAs: American Indian Youth Literature, Asian Pacific/American Award for Literature, Batchelder, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Geisel, Newbery, Printz, Pura Belpré, Schneider, Sibert, Stonewall, AND Sydney Taylor. We invite you to share the results from your school, library, or book discussion group! To have your group’s mock results added to the 2024 Mock YMA Results page, please use this form.
Eight Conference Bloggers shared what they were learning and experiencing during the six days of the ALA Annual Conference in June 2023. They shared 32 separate, unique, and widely read posts. Unique page views over the conference period were up 9.86% and the average time spent on a page was up nearly 200%. If you are attending and would like to share your experiences at this year’s PLA Conference in Columbus, OH or the ALA Annual Conference in San Diego, CA or the ALSC National Institute in Denver, CO, please let us know by filling out the Conference Blogging Interest Form.
I would be remiss if I failed to again acknowledge the great work done by our regular ALSC Bloggers in pursuit of our mission. THANK YOU! I also need to offer a huge shout-out to Laura Schulte-Cooper, the ALSC Staff Liaison to the Blog, who is always available with answers to any questions I might have.
I am excited about the continued growth of the ALSC Blog and look forward to strengthening it in 2024. If you have comments or suggestions for improvement, please let us know! If there are particular topics you wish we would cover, let us know that, too. If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please read and fill out our Guest Blogging Interest Form. If you are interested in joining our team of ALSC Bloggers who commit to writing a piece each month, submit a Regular Blogger Interest Form. We would love to hear from you! With your help, we’re going to continue to grow!
Mary R. Voors
ALSC Blog manager