For 2023’s first episode, we discuss independent reading and school library support. Joining the pod are Nancy Stenberg, who is the librarian at Dorman Elementary School in Springfield; Sarah Murphy, Kennedy Middle School librarian in Natick; and Laura Harrington, the high school librarian in North Andover. Independent reading and school libraries is a vast topic, connecting to many things we all do everyday, yet the culmination of Emily Hanford’s reporting into the Sold a Story podcast and Wayne D'Orio's recent SLJ article, which outlines the scope of the problem and how some libraries are responding, has put it back into the spotlight.

Media discussed:

• Brian Selznick Wonderstruck
• Brian Selnick The Invention of Hugo Cabret
• Pam Smy, Thornhill
• Lincoln Peirce, Big Nate series
• Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X
• Jason Reynolds & Jason Griffin, Ain’t Burned all the Bright
• Jason Reynolds, Long Way Down
• Jason Reynolds & Danica Novgorodoff, Long Way Down: The Graphic Novel
• Laura's Article "Independent Reading: One Town's Process to Support Choice"
• Brenna Maloney, Buzzkill: A Wild Wander Through the Weird and Threatened World of Bugs
• Pierre Bayard, How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read
• Deborah Moyer, The Readers’ Advisory Handbook

Laura is Reading:

• Carolyn Hays, A Girlhood: A Letter to My Transgender Daughter Book by Carolyn Hays
• Tracy Deonn, Bloodmarked

Nancy is reading:

• Kwame Alexander, illus. by Dare Coulter, An American Story

Sarah is reading:

• Rebecca Caprara, Worst-Case Collin
• Christina Lauren, The Honey-Don't List