American Library Association Journals
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Membership Committee: ALSC Member Profiles
No full textMariel Matthews, Head of Patron Services, Long Beach (NY) Public LibraryMelissa Sokol, Children’s Services Librarian, Dayton (OH) Metro LibraryMegan Jackson, Youth Librarian, St. Louis (MO) County Librar
Practice the Practices: Kids Learn Big in Dramatic Play Areas
No full textA moving child is a learning child. Playing is the best way to learn. And the number one factor in preparing children for success is loving interaction between them and their primary caregivers—the parents or “embedded” persons who are their first, favorite, and most important teachers.Those research-based beliefs are the foundation of the Lester (Two Rivers, WI) Public Library’s (LPL) early literacy approach, and we build upon it by incorporating into all programs, including dramatic play, the American Library’s Association’s Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) five early literacy practices: read, talk, play, write, and sing
Reading Isn’t Easy: A Survey on Leveling Systems in US Libraries
No full textMention the words “Easy Readers” and “Leveling” to any children’s librarian and you are sure to get a breadth of responses—from reverence to revulsion. No two librarians will feel the same way about a system. With this article, we wanted to get a birds-eye view of how children’s librarians across the country felt about leveling: if they do or don’t do it, how they feel about it, and how does it work (or not) for their library.For this article, we created a survey on Google Forms consisting of thirteen mostly multiple-choice questions, with write-in options, that we distributed to various librarian-focused Facebook groups and through the ALSC community on ALA Connect
Editor’s Note: The Struggle of RA Is Real
No full textAs a librarian, I love doing readers’ advisory (RA). But there are two things about it I struggle with.The first is that the parent rarely (or never) brings the child along. When asking for books for their child, they often don’t know what the child is currently reading, what they like, or what they might like. They might incorrectly judge their reading level. Or, they often say, “They don’t like to read.
Book Review: Developing Authorship and Copyright Ownership Policies: Best Practices
No full textDeveloping Authorship and Copyright Ownership Policies: Best Practices is a useful and concise publication that provides clarification to copyright questions that libraries frequently encounter. As many librarians in academic, public, school, and tribal libraries are working to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into their organizational practices, Allyson Mower’s text is especially timely. This nuts-and-bolts guide to policy development is laid out in a format that is both intuitive and useful. While it is relatively short, there is a dense amount of information contained within this book. In particular, the first fifty pages provide guidance and insight to the reader on conceptual and practical tenets of policy development
Book Challenges and Collection Development in Academic Libraries
No full textIn March, the American Library Association reported a “record number of unique book titles challenged in 2023.” These challenges can have a chilling effect on the work of librarians seeking to collect materials inclusive of human identities, religions, and experiences. The LRTS editors asked current American Library Association President Cindy Hohl to consider the intersection of book challenges and collection development in academic libraries
Shifting the Collection Development Mindset: Moving from Traditional Journal Subscriptions to Transformative Agreements
No full textThis article discusses the experiences of two librarians at Montana State University in negotiating, executing, and managing seven transformative, or read publish, agreements. The authors offer their perspectives of transformative agreements and share the hurdles and wins they have had along the way, to help others decide if these types of agreements make sense to implement at their own libraries
Book Review: Rethinking Institutional Repositories: Innovations in Management, Collections, and Inclusion
No full textRethinking Institutional Repositories: Innovations in Management, Collections, and Inclusion by Josh C. Cromwell offers an appealing set of examples of how to rethink the development and innovation of institutional repositories (IRs) in academic libraries. Author contributions provide readers with practical strategies for effective IR management and use cases that offer models for developing a variety of content held in IR collections. Cromwell divided the book into three sections with the first titled “IR Management,” followed by a section on “IR Projects,” and closing with “IR For All,” a section describing efforts to make IRs more inclusive spaces. Each individual chapter contains notes and a bibliography
Celebrating Pinoy Representation: An Interview with Filipino Picture Book Authors
No full textThis feature celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in May with a spotlight on four children’s picture book authors of the Filipino diaspora, specifically Filipino and Filipino American authors living in the United States. Through an email-based interview with Lynnor Bontigao (LB), Sophia N. Lee (SL), Michelle Sterling (MS), and Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young (DG), we learn about the experiences that motivate them to create and share their stories for young readers
Prison Book Programs and Content-Neutral Censorship
No full textAs prison censorship on the basis of the content of books commands more public attention, attention should also be given to policies restricting sources of books within prisons, also termed “content-neutral censorship.” Content-neutral censorship limits options for book access by people who are incarcerated, who already have few avenues for access due to suppressed autonomy and lack of disposable income. One of the most impacted categories of book providers has been prison book programs, which share a mission to provide free books to incarcerated individuals. In recent years, public outcry has successfully reversed content-neutral censorship and restored access to prison book programs. This commentary outlines these issues for readers and suggests a stronger call to action to identify and reverse content-neutral censorship in the future to sustain the irreplaceable benefits of prison book programs