A Blogger’s Blogs September 20, 2011

As I continue to work toward my career as a school librarian, I value the thoughts, opinions, and reviews of those who have come before me. Narrowing my picks to only a few professional librarian or journal blogs has been difficult, but I thought I would share some of my favorites with you. While my blog has a limited scope of one person’s responses to a limited list of children’s and YA books, these blogs often share so much more from the children’s library and publishing worlds. Click away, peruse their professional suggestions, and enjoy the new goodies!

A Fuse #8 Production
A Fuse #8 Production is an SLJ children’s literature blog written by Elizabeth Bird, who works for the NYPL system, served on the Newberry Award Committee, and has written for Horn Book. Her blog shares her reviews of new books, predictions of future award winners, literary events, and fun video finds. Her in-the-know writing style shares a lot of great information in quick posts and helps me stay on top of the children’s literature buzz.

Out of the Box
Horn Book has some amazing writers. It was hard to choose from Roger Sutton’s Read Roger, HB’s newest blog Calling Caldecott, or Out of the Box. However, I am drawn to almost every post in Out of the Box by the staff sharing “an exclusive look at what comes into the Horn Book offices.” The blog covers new reads, interesting finds (such as the cool app Shake & Make), and comical musings. After reading Sutton’s A Family of Readers, I grew to understand Horn Book’s impressive collective knowledge and experience, and I cherish this peek behind the HB office doors.

The Hub: Your Connection to Teen Reads
Finally, I have really enjoyed reading YALSA’s The Hub: Your Connection to Teen Reads. I have a special place in my heart for YA lit and am always reminded of the small readers services I performed as an English teacher. As ALA’s official Young Adult Library Services Association, the blog provides pertinent information and books shared by its staff. I found many exciting and interesting books reading the blog’s themed book list posts and know I will use their suggestions in future co-teaching instances.