Professional Connections: Resources for Teachers and Librarians

It’s the end of the year, and we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some interesting articles that you may have missed that have been recently published in various library world publications, both professional and academic.

Bader, Barbara “Virginia Haviland: Children’s Librarian, U.S.A.” The Horn Book Magazine 87.1 (Jan/Feb), 2011: 60-66

___. “Augusta Baker: Reformer and Traditionalist, Too.” The Horn Book Magazine 87.3 (May/June), 2011: 18-25

___. “Mildred Batchelder: The Power of Thinking Big.” The Horn Book Magazine 87.5 (Sept/Oct), 2011: 15-22

Bader's three-part series takes a look at the generation of youth services librarians who followed in the footsteps of Anne Carroll Moore and Alice Jordan while adapting their services and programs to successfully meet the challenges of their times. Haviland's career spanned over four decades and several continents as she became heavily involved in the then-new International Board on Books for Young People and eventually was named the first director of the Children's Book Section in the Library of Congress; meanwhile, Baker transformed the image of African-Americans in children's books and highlighted the significance of the oral tradition in librarianship as a noted storyteller; finally, Batchelder's thirty-year involvement with children's literature and services through the American Library Association left an indelible mark on both the organization and the entire field of youth services. Bader takes a close look at each woman, contextualizing their contributions while relating their impact to the overall culture of children's literature. For any librarian or scholar interested in the historical trajectory of youth services librarianship, this series is a can't-miss.

Gruner, Elisabeth Rose “Wrestling with Religion: Pullman, Pratchett, and the Uses of Story.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 36.3 (2011): 276-295

In a volume that focuses on the intersection of religion and children's literature, Gruner argues for a direct link between the narrative impulse and the religious impulse by examining the presence of narrative causality and the characters' resistance to it in Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy and Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series.

Karp, Jesse “The Power of Words and Picture: Graphic Novels in Education.” American Libraries 42.7/8 (July/August), 2011: 33-35

The appeal and popularity of graphic novels can't be denied, but the educational value of the graphic format is still often challenged, even by those in the library field. Karp presents a concise but effective argument for the complex visual narratives that GNs have given rise to by looking at the story arc communicated by Shaun Tan's The Arrival. Librarians who are still fighting for a place for graphic novels and comic books on their shelves will find support here.

Lempke, Susan Dove "Sports in Series Nonfiction." Booklist 108.3 (1 October), 2011: 58-59

Series nonfiction sometimes gets a bad rap, and the sports book in particular is often ignored by review journals and the like. But as Lempke (a former reviewer for the Bulletin) points out, these very same books are often overwhelmingly popular, either for school projects or for entertainment value. She takes a look at the characteristics of solid sports series nonfiction as well as offering best practices for the selection process, especially in times of tight budgeting.