Author Susan Taylor Brown offers a Survey – What Does Reading Mean to You? on her website. She is looking for thoughts to include in a book. You can contribute your answers to her five questions. I found the experience to be very worthwhile, since I got to really think about why I read and what it means in my life.

See YA Around offers programming ideas for teens. From craft programs to lock-ins to food and poetry slams, this site offers it all. There are additional sections on Teen Read Week and Teen Summer Reading, forms and handouts for teens, and resources. This is the place to go if you are a librarian who works with teens and you need some new ideas.

The Children’s Literature Network offers all sorts of information “for adults who are passionate about encouraging kids to read.” Sections include authors/illustrators, new books, reading lists, and a collection of related websites. The organization and website are focused on serving the Upper Midwest, but much of the information is universal.

Reviewers Checklist is an amazing resource for information on new books for children and teens. You can browse the listings by genre/subject or choose to search by keyword, title, author, illustrator, publisher, ISBN or series. Your search can be limited by publication date, age range, or grade range.

Free Kids Music is a site that offers exactly that, free downloadable music for children. Browse the music by artist or if you are a children’s musician, upload some of your own original songs to share. Use this site for new songs to play at story time that fit your theme, or to create a CD that patrons can check out. Artists range from the well-known to the obscure.

NPR : A Cure for Kids’ Summer Reading Doldrums is a piece on the troubles with mandatory summer reading lists. A delightful look at the issue accompanied with a selection of good summer reads that won’t be on mandatory lists.

The problem with “problem” young-adult fiction. By Ann Hulbert has been making the rounds on children’s lit discussion lists. Hulbert wants to see a return to classics in high school classrooms rather than problem novels. My response is why can’t we do both? They appeal to different kids, different readers, different learning styles. Can’t classes offer both? Perhaps creating a kinship between both types of book that strengthen the ties between the kids of today and classic literature?

Virtual YA Index is a directory of public libraries that offer web pages for teens. The number of sites included is amazing, and make sure that if you have a young adult site at your library that you are listed too!

Library Dust, a blog by Michael McGrorty, has a wonderful post: Moving Libraries. It speaks to a libraries need for outreach rather than “merely throwing open its doors every morning to the world.” With concrete examples, Michael is very persuasive about the need for more outreach and outreach to those who have the greatest need for our services, including children.