Staff writers at The Guardian recently compiled a short list of the best books in children’s literature. The list is broken down into five different age groups (0-2 years, 2-4 years, 5-7 years, 8-12 years and 12+ years) and is “a combination of personal recommendations, enduring classics and currently popular borrowings from school and public libraries.” Included are some time-honored classics like the The Very Hungary Caterpillar by Eric Carle, some more recently acclaimed books such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, and a few lesser known titles like Stig of the Dump by Clive King, which was the first original work published by Puffin press in 1963. The staff intends this list to be a starting point, and hopes to encourage parents and children to explore the wonderful world of reading together.
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Earlier this month, online magazine Miller-McCune.com posted a very interesting article discussing the findings of a recent study on the correlation between home libraries and children’s educational success. A team of researchers analyzed data from the World Inequality Study, which surveyed more than 70,000 people in 27 countries. Their analysis determined that “growing up in a home with 500 books would propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average, than would growing up in a similar home with few or no books.” This advantage is independent of a nation’s economic stability, political climate, and even the educational level of a child’s parents.
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An article published in The New York Times earlier this week discusses the threat to government funded literacy organizations posed by changes in the proposed 2011 federal budget. Currently, established nonprofit groups like Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), which supplies literacy resources and free books to underserved children, get funding directly from the Department of Education. For the past 34 years, RIF has received an annual government grant, amounting to approximately 75 percent of the organization’s annual revenues. However, under the proposed 2011 budget, the Department of Education will pool money previously earmarked for specific nonprofit literacy organizations, and give the funds to state and local governments to distribute as they see fit. RIF, along with the other previously funded groups, will have to apply for grants in each state, and compete to maintain their funding.
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The American Library Association (ALA) celebrates the first annual National Bookmobile Day today, as part of its National Library Week 2010 (April 11-17) festivities. For over a century, bookmobiles have provided outreach services to communities in rural, tribal and urban areas. As an integral part of library services throughout the county, bookmobiles have helped bring reading and educational materials to people of all classes and ages. Even today, these mobile units offer many of the same services as a traditional library branch, allowing people to check out books and DVDs, take classes, and access the internet. The ALA hopes this celebration will underscore the importance of bookmobiles and help expand their scope.
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In a recent op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, public school librarian Sara Scribner emphasizes the importance of libraries, librarians and teaching today’s children to be information literate. Though the Google generation, children in grades K-12, is more tech savvy than previous generations, the huge amount of data available on and off-line makes it difficult for anyone to parse and analyze. Google has become an integral part of our lives, and most kids now head straight for this search engine when doing any kind of research. Yet because of all the false or misinformation on the web, this is often not an effective strategy. Young students need to learn to craft successful search terms, utilize a variety of different search engines and databases, and use critical thinking to decide whether the source provides reliable information.
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Last week, Best-selling author James Patterson made a special appearance at the ALA’s American Association of School Librarians national conference, held in Charlotte, North Carolina. In his speech, he called for all librarians to fight hard to get more kids hooked on reading. “It’s time for librarians to start making a lot more noise,” Patterson urged. “School libraries are not a luxury, they are a necessity. … When you turn kids on to reading, it is the most satisfying thing that you can do on the planet.” The writer’s passion for literacy has inspired him to create a new website, ReadKiddoRead.com, that assists librarians, educators and parents in finding quality books for children. The site, aimed at kids of all ages, reading and interest levels, features book recommendations, reviews and Patterson’s interviews with prominent authors.

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The American Library Association (ALA) and Safeway Inc. have teamed up to bring information about libraries to households nationwide. The partners have planned a campaign of five Safeway-brand cereal boxes with back panels detailing interesting facts about libraries and librarians. The first two boxes were released in October, and the remaining boxes will be released in a staggered schedule over the next few months. Honey Nut Toasted Oats and Toasted Oats boxes featuring the library panels are in stores now, and are available in Safeway’s 1,500 locations nationwide. This partnership provides a great platform for the ALA to emphasize the relevancy and importance of libraries, even in today’s digital age. “The cereal boxes will bring information about some of the exciting ways to enjoy libraries – and about the value of libraries – straight into people’s homes,” said ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels.

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