New bibliographies boast Best in Children's Literature
Contact: Laura Schulte-Cooper
312-280-2165
lschulte@ala.org
For Immediate Release
June 19, 2007
New bibliographies boast best in children's literature
CHICAGO - The American Library Association (ALA)-Children’s Book Council (CBC) Joint Committee, with cooperation from the Association for Library Service to Children’s (ALSC) Quicklists Consulting Committee, has released a set of four bibliographies, “Building a Home Library,” intended to provide guidance to parents, grandparents and others interested in assembling a high-quality library for their children at home.
The bibliographies are available as full-color PDFs on the ALSC and CBC Web sites at www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscresources/alacbcbuildingahomelibrary/ALACBCBuildingHomeLbry.htm and http://www.cbcbooks.org and are free to download, copy and distribute.
“Children's librarians are in the business of helping parents be their child's first teacher,” said Carole Fiore, co-chair of the ALA-CBC Joint Committee. “Providing these lists will help teachers and booksellers as well as librarians make appropriate recommendations to parents and allow parents the opportunity to make choices to meet the needs of their children.”
The bibliographies are broken down by age group, with a separate brochure featuring books for each of the following audiences: birth to three-year-olds; four- to seven-year-olds; eight- to 11-year-olds; and 12- to 14-year-olds. The selected titles, including audiobooks, appearing on each brochure are a balance of classics and new books, and were chosen by ALSC’s Quicklists Committee from among nearly 600 submissions from CBC member publishers.
"We hope librarians and educators will share with parents and caregivers the Home Library Bibliographies, since they represent the best in children's literature—something no family should do without!" said Margery Cuyler, co-chair of the ALA-CBC Joint Committee.
“While we will always encourage families to use public libraries as a key resource, we also recognize the importance of book ownership in supporting literacy,” said Kathleen T. Horning, ALSC President. “These bibliographies will help families select some of the best books to have in their homes.”
The new Building a Home Library bibliographies are updates to a set of brochures by the same name that were created by the ALA-CBC Joint Committee in 1992. A Carnegie-Whitney grant from ALA Publishing paid for the professional design of the new brochures, which are colorful and visually-appealing.
Librarians, educators and others who work with families are encouraged to print the brochures and share them with parents, grandparents and caregivers in their community. Visit www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscresources/alacbcbuildingahomelibrary/ALACBCBuildingHomeLbry.htm or www.ala.org/alsc, click on “Resources” and “ALA-CBC Building a Home Library” in the left-hand navigation menu.
