Author: Nina Lindsay

In my post last month post I invited you all to follow a couple of discussions happening at ALSC Board Meetings at Midwinter, including a our “mega-issue” discussion, Next Steps for Early Literacy. Following a review of the IMLS funded report Bringing Literacy Home: An Evaluation of the Every Child Ready to Read Program (2017), the ALSC Board examined the Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) product as a strategic initiative, considering the necessity of further development of the product in formal partnership with PLA. We recognized that ECRR is now foundational to libraries’ work in early literacy, and is understood today as a practice, not just a toolkit. This is exactly what we intended to achieve with this initiative, and while there are opportunities to develop and extend its practices further, we determined that the constraints of the formal ECRR partnership no longer best serve our strategic effectiveness in early literacy….

The Laura Ingalls Wilder award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.  It has been given since 1954, when the award was first conferred upon its namesake.  At first given every few years, it is now an annual award. Tomorrow we will announce the 23rd recipient of this award.  With each award conferred, we honor the hard work and dedicated mastery that goes into creating exceptional literature for children.  Each individual honored presents a new standard for book creators to set their sights on, and an established body of work for children to enjoy for years to come. As a member organization that seeks and holds up excellence in our honored award recipients, we also must examine ALSC and hold our structures accountable to our core values: including inclusiveness,…