Collection development is at the core of the work of children's librarians, an ongoing activity that shapes collections as well as library spaces, services, programming, and communities. The process of collection development includes the consideration of several factors that impact the evaluation, selection, and acquisition of books available for…

This article examines the familiar imperative for educators to cultivate affective attachments between students and reading--to foster love or ward off hate, for books. It considers the interplay of this affective economy with other "economies" of reading long theorized in literacy studies: the moral economy, promoting dominant social…

This study sought to explore the reading culture of students in pre-tertiary technical institutions from two Municipalities in Ghana. The study adopted a descriptive observational cross-sectional study design to understand the phenomenon under study. The population of the study consisted of two hundred respondents who were purposively sampled from…

This issue's Featured Article is bold! Readers are challenged to be advocates with loud voices, ready to push back on current legislation intended to silence voices in our classrooms and on our bookshelves. The author provides readers with an overview of laws and legislation currently impacting teachers and provides ideas for what you, as an…

COVID-19 has changed the daily lives of families, impacted on work, social interactions, and mental health. Since spring 2020, parents have been working from home and children have been home from daycare and school. Parents are experiencing stress in an attempt to satisfy the demands of work, family, and COVID-19 concerns. Due to the fact that…

Using formative design experiment, we engaged in iterative rounds of data collection, analysis, and redesign across three rounds to explore and hone 41 preservice-teachers' (PTs') preparation for selecting and integrating digital texts/tools in literacy instruction. Each PT submitted about two videos of literacy tutoring sessions (88 total). These…

This study investigated second language (L2) learners' use of reading strategies through extensive reading in a Korean English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university context. Extensive reading was implemented as part of class activities over an eight-week period in an EFL class. Seven students from the class volunteered to participate in the…

African American males have consistently scored lower than their peers on national reading assessments for the last 50 years (Ladd, 2017). These readers are among many students who find their reading motivation wanes as they matriculate through school. Reading attitudes of middle schoolers are also generally negative. This qualitative case study…

Previous research has established relationships between reading fiction and increased empathy levels, an effect amplified by reading young adult fiction and by feeling transported by, or wholly immersed within, one's reading. Given the established correlation between increased empathy and decreased intolerance levels, reading fiction may decrease…

This qualitative case study examines the experiences of four new educators who participated in a semester-long professional development institute aimed at fostering social justice literature instruction. Specifically, we examine what practices new educators developed and deepened over the course of the institute. Data interpreted through deductive…

Recently, the public outcry after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police revealed a disconnect among some Americans between historical events (slavery, the Civil Rights movement) and the present day. That is, many Americans--particularly White Americans--had believed racism to be a mostly historical construct and failed to…

In a socially just world, everyone would have an equal chance to become an enthusiastic reader. This article presents a detailed 'asset map' of a successful reading life and investigates three necessary components for creating readers: access, choice and time to read. Access to books, the chance and the requisite knowledge to choose reading…

Gender is ever present in education preparation, school materials, curriculum, and school systems. To improve our knowledge about different facets of gender and the extent to which the depiction of gender has changed over time in picture books, there is a need to dig beneath the surface of questions about gender representation in picture books.…

As the role of print collections in academic libraries moves from monograph storage to a method for engaging users, the browsability and accessibility of print collections are becoming increasingly important. One factor that affects the ability to comfortably browse collections is the height at which the books are stored. This paper examines the…

In this article, the author explores why a school librarian's value should be wrapped up in books. First, reading is a foundational skill, and memories are built around who people are before and who they are after reading a book. School librarians get to be a part of that transformation. Second, books still make up the heart of a physical library,…