Oh, the Things We Saw and Felt! On Friday, January 24th, the ALSC Special Collections and Bechtel Fellowship and a few special guests were treated to a behind-the-scenes type of tour of the recent “Our Five Senses Exhibit” at the Rare Book Department, Parkway Central Library, Free Library of Philadelphia. We were amazed at the interactivity and book magic that was demonstrated in this popular exhibit. It was co-curated by ALSC Member Christopher Brown, Special Collections Curator, Children’s Literature Research Collection and co-curator and our tour guide Karen Kirsheman, Librarian, Rare Book Department. Inspired by Aliki’s children’s picture book work and the original artwork from her 1962 book My Five Senses, a gift to the Children’s Literature Research Collection, this exhibition was such a hit with families early on that it was extended. Original art was created by local children’s picture book and Geisel Award-winning author/illustrator Greg Pizzoli to help…
Category: ALA Midwinter 2020
Intellectual Freedom at ALA Midwinter 2020
The ALA Midwinter Conference in Philadelphia featured a number of meetings and sessions of relevance to those interested in intellectual freedom for children in schools and libraries. Here are some highlights for those who may have missed them, courtesy of the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee.
EFL’s MidWinter Wrap-Up
Welcome back! We hope you had a great time at ALA’s MidWinter Conference. While in Philadelphia, the Early and Family Literacy Committee (EFL) met face-to-face for the first time, it was truly exciting. This meeting took place on Sunday at the All-Committee Meeting. During this time, we were able to talk about the direction that we would like to take this committee in. One of the first things that came up, something that we had been discussing beforehand as well, was partnering with other ALSC committees. Previously, EFL had put together a short list of other committees that we felt could be great to work and collaborate with. We want to make sure that we are addressing the research topics that librarians across the country want and need. We thought that the best way to first go about this is to reach out and see what other committees and…
Virtual TBR: Books to Look for in 2020
The Youth Media Awards may have only been announced two days ago – and what incredible choices those committees made – but I’m already looking forward to tracking down the next best books of the year. With that in mind, I spent pretty much my entire time at Midwinter touring the Exhibit hall, chatting up vendors, and asking for book recommendations. Here are just ten of the titles for kids currently on my TBR pile:
What I learned from my #alaleftbehind adventure #alamw20
Live blogging from a conference when you’re not actually there is not as crazy as it seems- thanks to the Internet of course! Again and again I wonder how “they” ever did it anything my BFF the internet! Here are five fun things I’ve learned while NOT attending a conference: Graphic Novels are taking over the world. The fact that a graphic novel won the Odyssey (Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka) and the Newbery (Jerry Craft’s New Kid) and a Printz Honor (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Meby Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell)is so unprecedentedly awesome. Hopefully this can show to all the teachers, educators, students (myself) out there that graphic novels are REAL literature with so, so many benefits! It is important to think critically. Yes, my favorite song of all-time is EVERYTHING IS AWESOME but I need to remember it might not always be awesome! #critlib is the latest…
Home Again, Home Again #ALAMW20
We took the Peter Pan bus home from Philadelphia to New York City. Only $18.50 for me, my husband and baby! Cheap ride and tons of room. The bus driver didn’t bat an eye at all my tote bags of books and baby things. He encouraged me to put them in the empty seats. It was a long day and wonderful conference. Of the books in my totes, I’m most looking forward to reading: The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha King and the Dragon Flies by Kacen Callendar The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron the EveryLibrary Annual Report the IMLS grant-funded EXCITE project and future papers Marxism: A Graphic Guide by Rupert Woodfin and Oscar Zarate The Eighth Life by Ninoharatischvili The Light in The Lake by Sarah R. Baughman The Oracle Code by…
#alamw20 Well There You Are, Philly!
When I made my reservations for Midwinter last year, I didn’t know what the weather would be like. Philly in winter? Could be rough! I decided to stay at the main conference hotel, and it was fantastic. Raining buckets outside? No problem! I didn’t even have to put on a coat; I just ambled to the elevator, and off I went. No outside required. That was pretty cool, but then I realized today that I hadn’t seen anything of Philadelphia at all. And I’m leaving tomorrow, eek! Happily, I was lucky to spend the afternoon with a dear friend from Chicago (we have standing Monday afternoon dates at conference), and we wrapped up the conference by seeing the Philly sights. We saw Christ Church Burial Ground, where Benjamin Franklin is buried (his grave is covered in pennies from people looking for a little luck, and as it turns out, those…
The Bronx and the YMAs #alamw20
I was born and raised in The Bronx, NY and I was super proud to see two Bronx born names mentioned in today’s Youth Media Awards announcements: Sonia Sotomayor, author of Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You. Rudy Gutierrez, illustrator of Double Bass Blues. The Bronx is a gritty borough of NYC that’s filled with so much art and good, but the positives are most times overshadowed by the negatives. The only bookstore in the entire borough opened in the spring of 2019, so when I visited home last summer I had to check it out. I can’t seem to find any of the pictures I took of the inside, but the outside of the store was just as beautiful. Although there’s access to public libraries (thankfully), it does still make me sad to know that there is only one bookstore in an area with a population of over 1.4 million…