Meg Medina - New LOC Ambassador for Young People's Literature

On January 18, children's author Meg Medina was named by the Library of Congress as the New 2023-2024 Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

The National Ambassador is chosen for their contributions to young people’s literature, the ability to relate to children and teens, and dedication to fostering children’s literacy. The selection, made by the Librarian, is based on nominations from a diverse pool of distinguished professionals in children’s publishing and from an independent selection committee comprising educators, librarians, booksellers and children’s literature experts.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden will inaugurate Medina into the role on Jan. 24 at 10:30 a.m., in a ceremony at the Library. Former Ambassador Jason Reynolds will be on stage as well. Local school groups will be in attendance, too. The event will be livestreamed on the Library’s YouTube page

Please stop here for more information on Medina and the Ambassadorship.

Meet the Newest Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People's Literature!

This just in!  Jason Reynolds, rockstar author and poet extraordinaire, has been named the newest Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People's Literature!

Click HERE to see the official press release and HERE to see the brief video segment aired on CBS This Morning.

Library of Congress Writing Contest for Young Readers

Students in Grades 4-12 Can Win Cash Prizes of Up to $2,000

Letters About Literature, the Library of Congress reading-and-writing contest now in its 26th year, is accepting applications beginning Nov. 1 for the 2018-19 cycle. For the first time, letters will be submitted electronically. For more information about the contest, including instructions for entering and deadlines for each state, visit read.gov/letters.

Letters About Literature asks students in grades 4-12 to read a book, poem, speech or essay by an author, living or dead, to think about how that work affected them and to write to the author on the work’s impact.

Students compete on the state and national level and receive cash prizes of up to $2,000. Deadlines are: Dec. 14, 2018, or Jan. 11, 2019, depending on the applicant’s state.

Find out more HERE

Library of Congress Book Festival, 52 Great Reads and Other Book Lists

Library of Congress - pixabay

The Library of Congress holds the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. each September since 2001. This annual literary event is a librarian's dream bringing together authors, readers, and book fans for all kinds activities, including family-friendly ones. To learn more about the festival, click HERE. To find out how to host your own book festival, click HERE.

One of the resources put together and distributed at the festival is 52 Great Reads, a list of books representing the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands. Links for the 2016 book list and others going back to 2012 are available HERE.

When looking for award winners, one can never have enough places to find comprehensive lists of all of them. Well, the Library of Congress has put one together for us to which even includes a database covering the criteria of the awards, when they are announced and other helpful information. You can find all of those links HERE.

OT Library of Congress

Kid's dreams are a funny business. It became obvious to me that I was meant to be a librarian when I started obsessing about the Library of Congress. The ceiling. The card catalog. The hidden treasure. 

The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with more than 155.3 million items on approximately 838 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 35 million books and other print materials, 3.4 million recordings, 13.6 million photographs, 5.4 million maps, 6.5 million pieces of sheet music and 68 million manuscripts.

But sadly, I have never been there. It's on my bucket list. 

There was a blog post the other day on "The LibrariYAn" about a chance to visit behind the scenes at the library of congress. You know how people always ask, "what would you do if you won the lottery?" That's what I would do, I would fly (first class) to Washington DC and spend days in the library of congress. Smelling old books. Watching people. Thinking about the lives of the items cataloged there.

Can you imagine being a "Librarian of Congress"? There have only ever been 13. 

Until I go, I will have to live vicariously through others. Virtual Tourist & the LibrariYAn 
(anyone else think of Ghostbusters when they see pictures of the card catalogs?)

Get Smart

How often do you find yourself wanting to improve your mind, but feel you don't have the time to sit down and read an intellectual book or document?

Check out the Library of Congress podcasts! Download and listen while you wash dishes or drive to work. They cover a variety of topics and will give you great dinnertime conversation.