“Where are the scary books?”

“Do you have any fantasy like Percy Jackson?”

“I like sports. Any novels about that?”

If you’ve worked a day in a school library, chances are you’ve heard similar questions.

For many educators, the arrival of artificial intelligence in schools can feel a little like the opening scene of a Star Wars film…

There is always that point in the school year, after everyone is settled, orientation is complete and the excitement of our first library book check-out settles, where I find students start returning to their favourite reads. But we have so many great books in the library!

This issue’s “Author Spotlight” feature is veering into new territory. We decided that what would really help our library staff members as they return to schools in September would be to connect you all with Colby Sharp.

I read my first book by Kelley Armstrong, The Summoning, when it launched in 2009. As an elementary school teacher-librarian, I was always on the lookout for great books for my students, but at the time I was also curating books for intermediate literature circles for my school board.

Weeding outdated materials, adding signage, trying dynamic shelving – none of it worked. Despite my efforts, students still found our elementary school’s non-fiction section unintuitive and overwhelming. They couldn’t find what they wanted, so they stopped looking.