Thanksgiving books are probably the most sought-after holiday books in my library. As a white librarian who strives to do less harm, Thanksgiving books give me pause. Children are still being taught the Thanksgiving myth, while some people consider Thanksgiving a day of mourning. We serve all of them as members of our community. How can we fulfill the demand for books while avoiding harmful stereotypes and misinformation?
Category: Collection Development
Why Do Kids Love Thrillers?
Thrillers have been surging again in YA literature for the last few years. The popularity of thrillers ebbs and flows in YA (raise your hand if you devoured I Know What You Did Last Summer in the 90’s like I did), but Kate McManus’ One of Us Is Lying brought this genre to the top again in a big way, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Thrillers are also a perennial favorite among the middle grade crowd. What’s the appeal behind this genre, and what can we offer young thrill-seekers?
Inclusive Back to School Books
I know that much of the country is not in back to school mode yet, but in Southern Indiana our students started back to school last week. And as families have geared up, our back to school books have been flying off the shelves. I’ve been keeping a close eye on this display to fill it back up. And I always try to make it as inclusive as possible. Keep this in mind as you’re building yours. Consider some of the books below to make your display more inclusive!
Notable Children’s Books Discussion – July 2022
Each year the ALSC Notable Children’s Books Committee identifies the best of the best in children’s books. According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children’s interests in exemplary ways.
TikTok and Libraries: A Powerful Partnership…was a Powerful Presentation!
Monday was my last day at #ALAAC2022, and I started it with a really informative presentation about using TikTok in your library. When the pandemic first started, I created a TikTok account but never used it. (I am not sure I even remember my login information.) Delving into a new social media platform can sometimes be daunting, so, I was really excited to attend TikTok and Libraries: A Powerful Partnership and to learn how to use TikTok to promote books and my library. Presentations about TikTok seem to be just as popular as the social media platform itself—it was a packed house in the Convention Center!
In Search of Autistic Representation in Children’s Literature
Try this when you’ve got a spare ten minutes: open up your library’s catalog and search for “autism.” Imagine that you are autistic (if you aren’t), and you’re looking for books about people like you. What kind of books do you see? How easy is it for you to find positive autistic representation in your library?
Advocating for Diverse Books
I went to a grown-up pre-conference at the 2022 PLA Conference: Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers (check out our PLA 2022 live blogging here!). Many times when choosing conference sessions, I look for content specific to youth librarianship. It’s what I know, it’s what I do. But here’s your sign to look outside our youth librarian box now and then. Although the presenters, Robin Bradford, Alene Moroni, and Becky Spratford are experienced in adult services, everything they said translates easily to youth collections. I want to share my takeaways advocating for diverse books in your collections.
Earth Day STEM Day!
Earth Day is April 22nd this year. However, I want to point out that April is also National Humor Month. I am making a large sacrifice here to bring you a post about introducing your youngest library patrons to citizen science instead of something rib tickling, side splitting or otherwise thigh slap worthy. So, here we go. No funny stuff. And just as an aside, please slap only your own thighs as to do otherwise is considered harassment and is actually frowned upon in many workplaces. A Trilogy of Cunning Plans For your consideration, three cunning plans to expose yourself and small children to STEM this Earth Day: Citizen Science, STARnet’s STEAM initiative, SciStarter, and Seed Libraries. For those of you counting along at home, that makes four (4), making this a poorly named overview of what’s to come. Actually, I think there’s five…oh, well. Citizen Science So, what exactly…