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Though 2021 was another tough year, it also brought some spots of joy--including visually arresting, thought-provoking, and inspiring reference works, as exhibited in these 37 stellar examples selected by the [...]

BOOKS HAVE POWER. We KNOW THIS. IT'S NO WONDER THAT THEY ARE UNDER ATTACK. It's no wonder that access to these mind-blowing, world-expanding, truth-telling, and life-giving receptacles of knowledge and [...]

The reference titles honored as the best of 2020 speak to today's issues--no mean feat, considering that the world looks remarkably different now than it did when these texts were [...]

Providing accurate and reliable information is a cornerstone of public librarianship, but over the last year librarians have been especially challenged by the pandemic, the election, and the increased visibility [...]

SELECTING THE YEAR'S BEST BOOKS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CHALLENGE. Sifting through the stellar titles that have graced our monthly Stars list. Meetings upon meetings of (sometimes heated) discussions about [...]

Bizarre questions are all pan of a day's work for a reference librarian. For Tina Princenthal, senior librarian, InfoNow, at Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), some of the questions she's [...]

Mahnaz Dar is Reference & Professional Reading Editor, LJ & School Library Journal; Maggie Knapp is a Librarian, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX; Patricia Lothrop retired from teaching at [...]

Readers from marginalized backgrounds are hungry for books that reflect their experiences--and librarians are just as eager to provide those readers with stories and memoirs that tackle issues of race, [...]

Though reference works are generally thought to be purely informational, no book is free from its author's point of view. Many of the titles this year demonstrate that reference can [...]

The LJ Reviews editors here present our top picks for spring and summer books. Pinpointing key topics of 2018 -- politics, #MeToo, increasing diversity--as Neal Wyatt notes (p. 16), we [...]

Nicole Gustavsen entered library school planning to pursue public librarianship--dreams that were dashed when they visited their city's public library. 'I saw a man flip out on one of the [...]

The SLJ reviews editors began thinking about which of our almost 500 starred books should rise to the level of 'best' in April, but really hunkered down and started deliberating [...]

Promising fall titles, 33 strong LJ's review editors love sifting through catalogs and author websites, listening to podcasts and Internet chatter, reading blurbs, and more, searching for the big titles [...]

It's been a robust year for reference, as reflected in our best of list. While you'll find tried-and-true reference, such as the most recent edition of Oxford Atlas of the [...]

When the LJ Reviews editors make their spring picks, each of us starts with her wheelhouse. Bette-Lee waves the flag for romance; Wilda unfurls some fiction picks; Stephanie Klose announces [...]

Comics Plus LibraryPass comicsplusapp.com Collecting new and backlist comics from more than 120 publishers, with new titles added weekly, this treasure trove of content represents tremendous value for school, public, [...]

Calisphere calisphere.org Though Calisphere (from the California Digital Library), a wide-ranging digital collection of images, texts, maps, recordings, and more that draws from 300 of the state's archives, libraries, and [...]

Raise your voice. Tell your story. There is power in the written word. Be true to yourself. These are themes that emerged and resonated with us throughout our Best Books [...]

WHAT TIME IS IT? It's time for the editors to pick their favorite fall books for your eager (we hope) consumption. Time for looking backward and forward to see how [...]

This year's list, compiled by a group of LJ's top reference reviewers and editors, spans a wide range of subject areas, from a dictionary of Shakespearean vocabulary and a journey [...]

From the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 to the future of American journalism after Edward Snowden, from psychological thrillers featuring unreliable narrators to a beloved romance author's final novel, the titles [...]

An interview with poet laureate Ada Limón about the poem she wrote that will be engraved on the side of the space probe Europa Clipper and her book "In Praise of Mystery," an adaptation of the poem, is presented. Topics discussed include her first reaction when she was approached by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) about the poem, what was it like to adapt the poem into picture-book format, and the role of artists when it comes to protecting the Earth.

Reference librarians at community colleges usually assist a far more varied group of students than their counterparts at four-year institutions. Some come straight from high school; others haven't been in [...]

OUR ADULT BOOKS 4 TEENS COVERAGE HAS GONE THROUGH SEVERAL ITERATIONS OVER THE YEARS, BUT still continues to highlight a special selection of adult works with teen appeal because we [...]

* HUTCHINSON, Shaun David. The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza. 448p. S. & S./Simon Pulse. Feb. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781481498548. Gr 8 Up--With great power comes great responsibility--and even more [...]

We nominated, debated, and discussed. Then the LJ 12 (yes, 12 of us, just like a jury) convened and voted. On a blustery October day, we got down to it, [...]

THERE ARE FEWER THINGS MORE EXCITING AS A KID THAN GETTING I a piece of mail. For many adults of a certain age, checking the mailbox each month for Highlights [...]

The Old blessing (or curse) 'may you live in interesting times' is timely this season, with the first woman candidate for president nominated by a major party, and the first [...]

Harrowing battles between what is real and what is unreal, temptations that take the shape of everything from giant whispering wasps to dissatisfied spirits to leather-clad bad boys, the dreadful [...]

Films like Grease and The Princess Bride, on near-constant rotation on cable during the 1990s, are favorites among millennials. But many thirty-somethings have complex relationships with these works, which reflect [...]

* ROY, Katherine. How To Be an Elephant. illus. by Katherine Roy. 48p. diag. filmog. further reading, photos, websites. Roaring Brook/David Macaulay Studio. Sept. 2017. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781626721784. Gr [...]

In a year When the ground is constantly shifting beneath our feet, one thing remains steady--our excitement over new books. Many of our fall picks reflect the industry's nuanced take [...]

Librarians are bringing their information triage, vetting, and organization skills to bear on the current crisis. Among them, volunteers are indexing vast volumes of information on COVID-19. The effort began [...]

With colleges and universities across the country shutting down their campuses and moving to distance learning to slow the COVID-19 pandemic, academic librarians are being forced to up their reference [...]

THE ROAD TO BEST BOOKS began over a year ago with the team of SLJ review editors meeting twice monthly to select starred books for each issue. Reviewer nominations, close [...]

WHEN LIBRARIAN K.C. BOYD CAME TO WENDELL PHILLIPS ACADEMY High School in Chicago in 2010, it was ranked second to last among schools in Illinois. Since then, according to the [...]

I was once advised not to make my hobby into my career, because that would be the end of the fun. That's not our experience as reviews editors at LJ. [...]

* FERNANDEZ, Kelly. Manu. illus. by Kelly Fernandez. 192p. Scholastic/Graphix. Nov. 2021. Tr $24.99. ISBN 9781338264197. Gr 4-7--Was she abandoned on a doorstep by an ogre? Or maybe she was [...]

Editorial director Lisa Thomas looks back on a wide-ranging career. Can you describe your time at National Geographic Books? I've been at National Geographic Books since 2001. In 20 years [...]

This is the first of an ongoing series in which we will profile library and archives professionals who are using their skills in an uncommon and intriguing setting or circumstances. [...]

The article focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of public and academic reference librarians. Topics discussed include the challenges faced by academic and public librarians in handling reference services during the pandemic, the importance of communication in the virtual services by libraries, and the increase in safety measures being implemented by librarians during face-to-face interactions.

An interview with author Andrew Joseph White about his novel "Compound Fracture" is presented. Topics include the novel's plot, the idea that started him working on the novel, the complex feelings of the novel's protagonist about his home, where and when he wrote the novel and how he would describe writing the novel.

An interview with author LesLéa Newman about her picture book "Joyful Song: A Naming Story," which portrays a queer family making their way to the synagogue for their baby girl's naming ceremony, a ritual observed by many Jewish people, is presented. Topics discused include the story behind her name LesLéa, where and when did she write the book, and the most challenging and rewarding about writing the book.

* JACKSON, Tiffany D. White Smoke. 384p. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen. Sept. 202 l.Tr$18.99. ISBN 9780063029095. POP Gr 8 Up--Teenage Marigold is an unreliable narrator, and she knows it. A bedbug infestation [...]

* LACOUR, Nina. We Are Okay. 240p. Dutton. Feb. 2017. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780525425892. POP Gr 8 Up--Her first semester of college behind her, Marin stays alone in the dorms [...]

* STARMER, Aaron. Spontaneous. 368p. Dutton. Aug. 2016. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780525429746. Gr 10 Up--From the author of 'The Riverman' trilogy comes a wholly original YA tale of identity, friendship, [...]

* JEFFERS, Oliver & Sam Winston. A Child of Books, illus. by Oliver Jeffers & Sam Winston. 40p. Candlewick. Sept. 2016. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780763690779. Gr 1 Up--A gorgeous, innovative [...]

The titles chosen by LJ's Reviews editors as the Top Ten of 2013 together form a picture of humanity's struggle against injustices great and small but also kept us up […]

The breakdown of this year's list reflects the realities of the publishing world--YA continues to dominate in terms of output and sheer heft, but there was a noticeable uptick in [...]

Pterodactyl rides, ferry-pulling brachiosaurs, and dino poop jokes galore-no one can accuse Daniel Jose Older of writing dull fare. Set in New York City during the Civil War, in a [...]