Amplifying Jason Low's message here. While Hochul vetoed the Freedom to Read Act in NY, publishers should be among those advocating, actively, for access to books.

Members of the literary community we lost this year (Literary Hub)

Ready, 2026.

The new, weekly podcast, StoryKind, starts Jan. 19, with "tips for writing, answer questions they receive from young readers, celebrate the hard work of teachers and librarians in literacy spaces and spread the magic of real, human storytelling." (People)

Truly the epitome of the dog / cat hetero couple

Jumaane Williams addresses NYC "the shining beacon of possibility," taking the oath of office of Public Advocate.

A New Years blessing. #MamdaniInauguration

I made an interactive map! This is a look at the effects Tx book-banning laws have had just *since the end of last school year*. I made it because it's easy to hear a shocking story about a book ban and then forget it and lose the larger picture. www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...

That’s it. Last read of 2025, and a good note to end on. Happy New Year, you crazy kids!

Access to college courses is available to those aged 60+ in all 50 U.S. states, including Rutgers and Queens College here in the tri-state. More institutions should provide opportunities to audit, as space allows, to serve their communities.

BCALA, SLJ Announce 2025 Winners of the Children & Youth Literary Awards (Feb 2025)

😓"NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts---Holdings from the library at the Goddard Space Flight Center, which includes unique documents from the early 20th century to the Soviet space race, will be warehoused or thrown out." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...

Well that's some good news.

For more perspective on Japanese American incarceration and the lessons of history, Rachel Maddow's podcast "Burn Order." @maddow.bsky.social #JapaneseAmericans

For my mom and for all of us: our stories are powerful, stand by them. (Feb 2025)

SLJ Is Quitting X. Here’s Why. | From the Editor (Mar 2025)

Recentering Reading | From the Editor (June 2025)

What a year. The least of effects, in the grand scheme of things, is the loss of my job. Simply for the record, I'm sharing some of my work here. AI-generated booklists are possible—and even published. So what is the value of human curation? My July 2025 editor's note.

At year end, the dividing line in politics today is defined by dignity. Dignity is something that can't be taken away. It can only be surrendered voluntarily. We saw the most powerful business leaders willing to surrender dignity while everyday Americans stood tall.

We’ve heard your calls to make THE LIBRARIANS available online so we’re hosting a special event for the US on Kinema to kick off 2026 - with you all, celebrating our First Amendment rights! Join us on 01/10 for an online screening + Q&A. Get tix now via tinyurl.com/TheLibrariansKinema

Chicago Tribune’s investigative report on ICE: 4,500+ arrests over 64 days, only 1.5% had violent felony convictions. Tear gas, families separated, nightmares. This is what enforcement looked like in year 1 of the 2nd Trump admin. archive.ph/2025.12.28-2...

"Every book you have is a story of who you are." - (Roger Rosenblatt, NY Times) As we take stock at the end of the year. I've been catching up with accounting our book club reads, going back years, and I swear, it's taking me places.

Books by women dominated most-borrowed library lists in 2025, reports NPR.

ATTN Librarian job seekers: The Dalton School is seeking a High School Librarian, Grades 9-12.

Sedum.

Lavender. Lavandula x intermedia 'Phenomenal’

Love this annual series by Betsy Bird, who posts a different list each day in Dec of her picks in kids books, She runs down the usual categories, along with the most unconventional titles of the year, "Caldenotts," and "Funny Books," because who doesn't love those.

Bombing on Christmas. Yeah that tracks for the dude who gave himself a madeup Fifa Peace Prize.

Kudos, Diane!

I hadn’t thought about 60 Minutes in forever, but then they started hiding the news, like a cool scavenger hunt.

Under Trump, the Dept of Education has dismissed thousands of civil rights investigations and instead has pursued inquiries into alleged anti-white discrimination, antisemitism complaints and policies regarding transgender students, reports Hechinger.

It bears repeating.

Nice piece by Jess deCourcy Hinds, surveying research, perspectives on bibliotherapy, with resources for reading and further exploration. #BookSky

This.

I have a few openings on my School Librarian Advisory Team for 2026 – if you're interested in taking the occasional survey, getting early copies of new books, & taking a peek behind the scenes of making kids’ books, it might be a good fit for you & your readers! Details: forms.gle/mkA9L5EuvjTu...

PW Notables 2025: Carla Hayden Former librarian of Congress

40% of full-time faculty (126) at the New School have received voluntary separation or early retirement offers. It's said to be the “largest attempted firing of faculty currently taking place in the nation.”

Rest in peace, Chris Choy. Some life force this one.

Japanese American National Museum Receives $20 Million Gift from Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott It's the largest single gift in JANM history.

I made this.

My dad survived valley fever decades ago, thx to one dr's accurate diagnosis. The proposed treatment for a misdiagnosed ailment would likely have shortened his life. A trip to the Calif desert to dig for shark's teeth likely stirred latent spores. Shifting climate could increase fungal disease.

"Show up to your local school board meetings, make your voices heard," writes Kamye Hugley on @the74.bsky.social

A library's entire board of trustees was fired and replaced because they refused to ban one of my books. It's so terrible. www.randolphhub.com/article/news...

Goodness, I love this word.

The Illustrated Children’s Book I’ll Never Stop Recommending to Adults - by Hannah Kingsley-Ma

Celebrating Somali Americans in Minnesota and Beyond, a booklist (Ramsey County Library) tinyurl.com/25756r8y

In 2026, "the news industry will finally realize that these informal community information networks are not peripheral to local news — they are the most functional version of it." —Garry Pierre-Pierre, The future of news is happening where no one is looking (@niemanlab.org)

So love wobbegongs. Everything is good about the wobbegong. Its name. Its flattened Oscar the Grouch face. Its frondy bits. Its lazy life as a hungry rug. And it’s a shark. Outstanding animal 10/10

Facing a backlog of school discrimination cases, the U.S. Department of Education has asked hundreds of employees it fired months ago to temporarily return to work. (USA Today)

Sempervivum tectorum. (Hens and chicks) #Decembercolor