Oh MG News

Celebrate School Library Month

By on April 1, 2025   /   Oh MG News  
AALS School Library Month Logo with OMG

The month of April is known for many things. It’s National Poetry Month, of course. And it’s also American Heart Month, National Garden Month, National Autism Awareness Month, and National Financial Literacy Month. But guess what else it is…. April is School Library Month, and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) encourages us all to join them in both celebration and advocacy.

The idea for School Library Month originated in 1983 with Lucille Thomas, who was appointed to spearhead the School Library Month Committee by then AALS president, Judy King. The idea became a reality on April 1, 1985, which means that this year we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of School Library Month.

Our support for school libraries and librarians is more important now than ever. In many schools, libraries are under attack, librarians are being defamed, and books are being removed from shelves. It’s a critical time to be an advocate for the right to read, access to books, and the vital role played by school librarians.

AASL provides lots of free resources to help you promote School Library Month in your area. They offer an editable Canva infographic that allows you to share data from your own school library. They also provide access to proclamations made by various local officials that can be downloaded for use in your observance. 

Additionally, there are toolkits to assist administrators and other school library advocates in supporting their libraries and librarians. Administrators can learn about the AASL Standards and the strong correlation between school libraries and student achievement. Teachers, students, and parents can download templates for thank-you cards or read about ways to establish Secret Library Pals.

AASL also provides a downloadable copy of the Declaration for the Right to School Libraries. The first page identifies specific attributes of value that libraries contribute to our school communities – empowering individuals, supporting literacy, and preserving our nation’s cultural history, just to name a few. The second page allows space for school communities to create their own declarations.

Within the month of April, several related events are also identified on AASL site:

National Library Week is an annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries, librarians, and library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities.

For #RightToReadDay, we’re asked to celebrate — and defend — the freedoms that are found in our libraries!

NLWD is a day for library staff, users, administrators and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers.

National Library Outreach Day (formally National Bookmobile Day) celebrates library outreach and the dedicated library professionals who are meeting their patrons where they are.

Take Action for Libraries Day is a day to rally advocates to support libraries.

Now more than ever, it’s time to be an advocate for school libraries and school librarians. It’s easy to feel discouraged by book challenges and book bans. However, April delivers the opportunity to harness some springtime invigoration and show our support for school libraries and school librarians.

After all, in addition to being School Library Month, April is also the National Month of Hope.

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Will ‘Young Teen Lit’ Catch On?

By on March 1, 2025   /   Oh MG News  

You’re not alone if you feel like there’s a gap in the middle-grade market. There are plenty of books for the younger and middle end of middle-grade readers, but where middle grade ends and YA begins? There’s a big ol’ hole, says middle school librarians Christina Chatel and Marcia Kochel in a guest article for School Library Journal.

They write:

We do not believe that 12- to 15- year old readers just need a few more books aimed at their interests and developmental level. We submit that young teens need their own publishing category and we propose to call this category Young Teen Lit.

What does young teen lit look like graphic

When you’ve aged out of books aimed at 4th-6th grade but you’re not quite ready for YA, you need more! In another guest essay, Kochel says:

I’m a middle school librarian and I just got the latest issue of Booklist in the mail. I’m looking for books for my middle school readers. I search through all of the reviews for youth and find almost no titles for seventh and eighth graders–not in Middle Readers or Older Readers or Youth Nonfiction or Graphic Novels. Almost every book for Older Readers is recommended for grades 9-12, and every single book for Middle Readers has a lower age range of grade 3, 4, or 5. Surely publishers don’t think that middle schoolers have the same interests and intellectual capacity as 8-10 year olds? Are there really no books being published for middle school students? Can this be true?

Making more room for upper middle grade, young teen lit, or whatever else publishers, educators, librarians, writers, and the readers themselves call it is something we’d love to see here, too. If you’ve got books that are perfect for 7th, 8th, and 9th graders, share them below.

 

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Awards and Recognitions!

By on February 4, 2025   /   Oh MG News  
Middle Grade Authors

February is the season of awards and recognitions in the children’s book world, so there’s a lot of exciting news to share. The American Library Association (ALA) announced winners of its Youth Media Awards, and the Library of Congress named our new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

 

Let’s begin with ALA’s Youth Media Awards:

The First State of Being cover

  • The John Newbery Medal, which recognizes the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature, was awarded to The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly. This book, which was also a National Book Award finalist, tells the story of a 12-year-old boy who is befriended by a time-traveling teenager. Kelly previously won the Newbery Medal for Hello Universe in 2018.

Chooch Helped book cover

  • The Ralph Caldecott Medal is awarded to the most distinguished American picture book for children. This year, the honor went to Chooch Helped, written by Andrea L. Rogers and illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz. The story follows an older sister who is frustrated that her younger brother seems to get away with everything.

Twenty-four Seconds book coverMy Daddy Is a Cowboy cover

Brownstone book cover

  • The Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature went to Brownstone, written by Samuel Teer and illustrated by Mar Julia. This graphic novel tells the story of Almudena, who comes to terms with her mixed heritage and personal identity when she spends the summer with the father she never knew.

 

 

For information about additional ALA Awards and to find lists of award honorees, you can visit the ALA Youth Media Awards announcement.

Mac Barnett headshot

In other news, author Mac Barnett has been named the 2025-26 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Barnett has written over 60 books for children, including picture books Extra Yarn and Sam & Dave Dig a Hole and the graphic novel series “The First Cat in Space.” 

 

The role of this ambassador is to raise awareness about the importance of young people’s literature and the positive impacts reading can make on all aspects of kids’ lives. The Library of Congress, in partnership with Every Child a Reader, selects an ambassador for a two-year term. Previous honorees include Meg Medina, Jason Reynolds, and Kate DiCamillo.

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