Pat Scales’ compendium of essays, articles, and interviews from the pages of Book Links

For Immediate Release
Mon, 12/11/2017

Contact:

Rob Christopher

Marketing Coordinator

ALA Publishing

American Library Association

(312) 280-5052

rchristopher@ala.org

CHICAGO — A past-president of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and longtime spokesperson for First Amendment issues as they relate to children and young adults, for several decades Pat R. Scales has been a tireless champion for children’s reading in all its richness and diversity. “Encourage Reading from the Start: Essays, Articles, and Interviews from the Field,” published by ALA Editions, gathers her most popular editorials, feature articles, and author interviews from the pages of Book Links magazine. Filled with stimulating ideas for school and public librarians, this book:

  • spotlights compelling editorial columns that cover the core values of ALA, including democracy, privacy, and diversity;
  • includes interviews with popular authors such as Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Graham Salisbury, Elana K. Arnold, Angela Cerrito, and many others; and
  • features essays on reading trends and classroom discussion topics, with annotated bibliographies.

Scales served as librarian at Greenville Middle School for 26 years and was the first Director of Library Services at the South Carolina Governors School for the Arts and Humanities. She taught children’s and young adult literature for 27 years at Furman University, and has taught special topics courses at the University of Texas, Louisiana State University, Drexel University, and University of South Carolina. She  has served as chair of the Newbery, Caldecott, and Wilder Award Committees as well as ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee. She is a member of the Freedom to Read Foundation and serves on the Council of Advisers of the National Coalition Against Censorship. Her previous books include ”Protecting Intellectual Freedom in Your School Library” and “Books Under Fire: A Hit List of Banned and Challenged Children’s Books.” She writes a bimonthly column, “Scales on Censorship,” for School Library Journal, curriculum guides on children’s and young adult books for a number of publishers, and is a regular contributor to Book Links magazine.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. ALA Editions and ALA Neal-Schuman publishes resources used worldwide by tens of thousands of library and information professionals to improve programs, build on best practices, develop leadership, and for personal professional development. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a growing range of print and electronic formats. Contact ALA Editions at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5052 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.