It’s National Library Week! This week celebrates our public and school libraries as trusted, relevant, and committed community resources and raises awareness of challenges libraries face. CLiF is honored to partner with many rural libraries that bring incredible value to their communities–often on shoestring budgets.

• This week the American Libraries Association (ALA) released the State of American Libraries report – which points to significant budget concerns, particularly for school libraries. There’s a useful Publishers Weekly synopsis here and the full report here.
• I started following the Gatsby In LA blog after reading this thoughtful entry in the Washington Post this week. If you want to know what happens when children don’t develop strong literacy skills or a love of reading, sit in the back of this high school classroom.
• Five great reasons to go to the library today. Any day. Every day! From Huffington Post.
• Our friend Elizabeth Bluemle is compiling favorite first lines over on the Shelftalker blog. Read these and head straight for the library!

 

Happy Friday!