Booklist shines spotlight on green collections
Contact: Mary Frances Wilkens
General Manager, Booklist
1 (800) 545-2433, ext. 5715
mwilkens@ala.org
For Immediate Release,
February 21, 2008
Booklist shines spotlight on green collections
CHICAGO - Booklist magazine launched an annual Spotlight on the Environment with its Feb. 15 issue. This spotlight reflects Booklist's long emphasis on the increasing interest in environmental collections.
“The importance of the subject and the impact it has had on all levels of the publishing industry are clear from the wide variety of materials-print, audio, video and Internet-based-that we review and feature in this extremely green issue,” states Editor and Publisher, Bill Ott, in his introduction to the issue.
Donna Seaman, long a dedicated environmental reviewer, leads the way in adult materials with a Top 10 Books on the Environment list, a Core Collection feature “Environmental Essentials” and an interview with activist author Bill McKibben. These features all help steer librarians toward a good balance between current materials that cover the scientific, economic, social and geopolitical aspects of environmentalism and works of ecofiction, poetry and personal essays.
“Books about the environment comprise one of the most exciting and significant facets of American literature,” says Seaman. “Booklist's commitment to covering the green literary beat has increased steadily to keep pace with both the swell of environmental books and the urgency of environmental concerns.”
Reviewer and editor Gillian Engberg also weighs in with “Top 10 Books on the Environment for Youth” and a Story behind the Story feature on YA author Julie Bertagna. And just as the environment is a key subject for youth, so it knows no gender boundaries, as Booklist's popular “He Reads/She Reads” duo, David Wright and Kaite Mediatore Stover, demonstrate in their respective columns, “Nature Boys,” and “Earth Girls Ain't Easy.”
An advanced search in Booklist Online on keywords related to environmental concerns offers hundreds of results. The new annual Spotlight on the Environment will further guide libraries (the original institutions based on recycling!) as they build collections and recommend resources for their patrons and students, more of whom are actively seeking them out.
For information about subscribing to the magazine or to Booklist Online, visit www.booklistonline.com. Single copies of this issue of Booklist may be purchased for $8 by contacting Booklist Marketing, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611.
Booklist is the book review magazine of the American Library Association, considered an essential collection development and readers advisory tool by thousands of librarians for more than 100 years. Booklist Online, launched in 2006, includes more than 120,000 reviews as well as a free Web site offering the latest news and views on books and media.
