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January 2024 | |
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Youth Services Notes |
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News from the Library of Virginia
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Smokey Bear Reading Challenge Celebrate Smokey’s 80th Birthday by joining the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge. This challenge will be available through the online Beanstack platform as well as a printable challenge paper log. The challenge will engage youth in reading about wildfire prevention, forests, and natural resource careers while they explore their local environment. The challenge is designed to complement the 2024 Collaborative Summer Reading Program theme of “Adventure Begins at Your Library.”
When Libraries can run the challenge anytime from January 1st to November 28th, 2024.
Who Challenge is geared for ages 4 to 10, but all ages are welcome.
What Libraries Get Virginia is enrolled, and each library in the State libraries will receive at no cost the following incentive items:
Access for you and all of your State’s public libraries to a digital toolkit containing everything needed to promote and implement the challenge, including:
Printable challenge paper log, posters, bookmarks, sticker/button templates, completion certificates, coloring sheets, “Pin the Hat on Smokey” game, Smokey’s Reading List, and additional prizes.
Graphics and images for online platforms, social media, monitors, and websites.
Reporting Enrolled States will be asked to provide basic follow-up metrics regarding program engagement to the USDA Forest Service. The USDA Forest Service may reach out to you regarding questions or clarification concerning the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge.
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2024 National Día Program Registry Form ALSC invites program coordinators to share information about public programs that your library or community organization is hosting throughout the year to celebrate Día. Programs submitted via this form will be added to the national map. If you are hosting multiple programs, please complete a separate form for each program.
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The 57th Annual Conference of the Virginia State Literacy Association will be held March 18-20 in Norfolk, VA with the theme, "Every Page Tells a Story." Authors, researchers, and classroom practitioners will share expertise on the Science of Reading, writing instruction, assessment, and the current needs of educators due to the changes from the Virginia Literacy Act and the updated Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System. Register today!
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World Read Aloud Day For over a decade, World Read Aloud Day has called attention to the importance of sharing stories by challenging participants to grab a book, find an audience, and read-aloud! The global effort, created by the non-profit LitWorld and sponsored by Scholastic, is celebrated annually in over 173 countries and is all about bringing people together through the shared connection of reading aloud in all of our communities.
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2024 Talk Story Grant (March 15)
Talk Story: Sharing Stories, Sharing Culture is a family literacy initiative that connects Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI), and American Indigenous or Alaskan Native (AIAN) communities across generations.
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The Talk Story micro-grant celebrates and explores AANHPI and AIAN stories through books, oral traditions, and cultural arts to provide interactive and enriching experiences for all ages. This $500 grant provides financial support to libraries and community organizations who are motivated to promote intergenerational literacy through programming, services, and collections. Talk Story programs may be conducted in-person or virtually.
The Grant Information and Application fields can be accessed on the APALA website: apalaweb.org/talkstorytogether/grant/ and the AILA website: ailanet.org.
To submit your proposal, please use the online form: https://forms.gle/3vUy3EuCFUxBuiKZ9. For additional information, contact: familyliteracy@apalaweb.org or AILA.TalkStory@gmail.com
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Children's Book Week The Children’s Book Council has unveiled the official poster for Children’s Book Week (May 6-12). Created by two-time Caldecott Medal-winner Sophie Blackall, the poster is a whimsical illustration of a diverse group of kids enjoying their books.
This year’s slogan is “No Rules. Just Read.” — a not-too-subtle response to our censorial era. A statement issued by the Children’s Book Council explains that the theme “speaks to the joy and pride that come with reading what you want, when you want, and how you want. It is an affirmation that there is not a right way or thing to read.”
Schools, libraries, bookstores and families can sign up to receive two free copies of Blackall’s poster and additional online information about children’s literacy (register here).
Children’s Book Week was founded in 1919 to celebrate reading and encourage kids’ love for stories and illustrations. |
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Book News
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Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children's Literature We Need Diverse Books has announced the winners of the ninth annual Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children’s Literature. The Walters are awarded in two categories: teen (age 13-18) and younger readers (age 9-13).
Younger Readers Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson Younger Readers Honor Book
Grounded by Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, & S.K. Ali
Teen
Saints of the Household by Ari Tison Teen Honor Book All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr
The 2024 Walter Awards ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, March 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C. Young People’s Poet Laureate and National Book Award-winning author Elizabeth Acevedo will serve as moderator for the event, which will include a panel discussion with the winners and honorees, followed by a Q&A.
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Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
The Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction Selection Committee is thrilled to announce that the winner of the 2024 award is Bea and the New Deal Horse by L.M. Elliott, published by Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Bea and the New Deal Horse transports readers to the challenging period of the Great Depression. It is a poignant tale that celebrates the resilience of the indomitable American spirit, the profound connections of discovered kinship, and the enchanting alliance between a young girl and a remarkable horse. |
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Youth Media Awards On January 22, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, digital media, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults—including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery, and Printz awards—at ALA’s 2024 LibLearnX conference in Baltimore.
For a complete list of award and honor book winners, click here. |
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Your library program can be featured here! Please submit a photo and description of your favorite program! |
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Upcoming Important Dates & Celebrations
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National and State Conferences March 14-16: Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children (Roanoke) March 18-20: Virginia State Literacy Association (Norolk) March 19-20: Virginia Head Start Assn Health & Family Institute (Charlottesville)
April 3-5: Public Library Association (Columbus, OH) |
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