Reading is Fundamental, but Literacy is Key By Lauren Barack - 10/07/2009
Students are taught to read in their early years of schooling—but that doesn’t mean they’re given the keys to comprehension. And it’s this skill that the Carnegie Corporation of New York believes is the cornerstone to academic—and lifelong—success, says a new report.
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Librarians as, um, Crap Detectors Lauren Barack - 10/06/2009
Frances Jacobson Harris, Joyce Valenza, and Harold Rheingold believe librarians are on the front lines in teaching students how to evaluate which sources are relevant and which are not.
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Things That Keep Us Up at Night By Joyce Kasman Valenza and Doug Johnson - 10/01/2009
The library, as we once knew it, may no longer be relevant. School librarians, as we once knew them, may no longer be relevant. And, yet, this is undoubtedly the most exciting time in history to be a librarian. The future of the school library as a relevant and viable institution is largely dependent on us and how quickly we respond to change.
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Bill Gates Kicks Off Get Schooled Program By Lauren Barack - 09/17/2009
High school students have some fairly heavy hitters behind them, with the launch of Get Schooled—a five-year program designed to help kids not just do well in class, but also graduate.
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The Next Big Thing: Is Your Library up to 21st-Century Speed? By Christopher Harris - 09/01/2009
Libraries of the future will primarily manage digital repositories of information rather than warehouse physical books. A more functional method geared toward easy browsing will replace the Dewey Decimal system. And computers will surpass human librarians in the ability to answer even the most complex reference questions.
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As Goes California: A Flawed Initiative Could Become a Fabulous Opportunity Brian Kenney, Editor-in-Chief - 09/01/2009
Digital textbooks, once the playthings of a few Arizona high schools, are suddenly looking like they might become commonplace. And that could end up being a great thing for school librarians and, more importantly, students. Back in May, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the Free Digital Textbook Initiative, which would make open-source textbooks—for now just in science a...
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Join Celebrities, Communities in the “What Book Got You Hooked” Campaign By SLJ Staff - 08/10/2009
What book left a lasting impression on you as a kid? For actor Morgan Freeman, it was Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty. For singer Patti LaBelle, it was Johanna Spyri’s Heidi, and for Newbery-award-winning author Kate DiCamillo, it was Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. More
SLJ Covers 2009 A bigger and better view of SLJ's covers from 2009
BookExpo America 2009: SLJ's Day of Dialog School Library Journal held a Day of Dialog in conjunction with the annual BookExpo America on May 28, 2009 at the Brooklyn Public Library. Full story: bit.ly/1a0G7o
2008 National Book Awards Nominees in the young people's literature category graced the red carpet on Awards night Nov. 20, 2008.
The Alvin Ho Collection, Books 1 & 2 (unabr). 4 CDs. 4 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape (library.booksontape.com). 2009. ISBN 978-0-7393-7997-4. $38. Gr 2-4–Alvin Ho, a quirky Asian-American second grader, is articulate at home but so afraid of school that he is unable to speak while he is there.
Clowning around at the second annual Atlantic City Free Public Library Family Fun Festival last weekend. About 2,500 people came out to enjoy the beautiful day and the many festivities, including an array of performances, face painting, poetry readings by local teens, games, and music.
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The Alvin Ho Collection, Books 1 & 2 (unabr). 4 CDs. 4 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape (library.booksontape.com). 2009. ISBN 978-0-7393-7997-4. $38. 
