I was in Mexico this time last year!
I sure was going to stop after posting my review of Perfect Shot, but then I started reading the blogs, tweets and newspapers and I just had to reflect on my SundayMorningReads!
I have to say goodbye to Amy at Bowllan’s Blog on the SLJ website. I met Amy through her Writers Against Racism series where I 
posted my own story. I actually met Amy and presented with her at the National Diversity in Libraries conference back in 2010. She’s one of my few online friends that I’ve actually met in person and that makes her quite special to me! Her energy, intelligence and charm will be missed!
When you reflect on what you’re doing and start to feel like you’re preaching the same message to the same choir and getting no results, one has to wonder who has to make some changes? My blog feeds been given quite a transformation lately, along with a resolution to post comments more often. Who knows what the results will be!
We lovers of books talk about inspiring young people to want to read, but I know firsthand that all it takes is the right reading material matched to the right reader. We honest to goodness have it so easy! Imagine if we were math teachers and had to inspire students to like math! I’ve been thinking about this since responding to a comment lately, how easy it is to get students to read if they’re given the right stuff to read. All they need is the freedom to choose and that comes from availability not only in terms of representing the vast diversity of people who read but in realizing the vast diversity of what teens want to read: magazines, newspapers, manga, non-fiction, graphic novels, almanacs, books of records… They’re not all into novels!
Hey, if you’re a librarian reading this and looking for diversity in what you do, why not try writing about librarians in a non-librarian publication? Let the world know what we do! Enter your piece in the Great Librarian Write Out and win some cash!
Summer for you means hot fun but it’s back to work for me! This week, I’ll begin working at Indiana State University as an Asst. Reference Librarian. Summer for bookies means ALA , BEA, Comic-Con, ChLA, SBCWI or the Mazza Conference in Findlay, OH??? Perhaps you’re a bit more international and headed for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content ? What conferences will you be attending? How do you anticipate them upping your game?
Amy Bowllan is a mom, an author, a book lover and an activist. She began her career as a Television Investigative Producer and Reporter for WCBS-TV NY and KNXV in Phoenix, AZ. She has received two Emmy awards for her work in Broadcast Journalism as well as several Associated Press awards.
Bowllan has been a teacher (grades K-12) for 12-years and has also hosted “Internet in Action” for PBS.
She is currently the Director of Diversity and Educational Technology at The Hewitt School in NYC and is responsible for integrating technological resources into staff and student's day-to-day programs.
Bowllan is the author of two children’s books: The Land of Crayons and the Forest Hills Girls League Basketball Commissioner.
I met Amy Bowllan through her wonderful blog at
School Library Journal where I first learned about the project W.A.R. (Writers Against Racism)
.
The following is a guest post by Amy Bowllan, where she explains to me about the W.A.R. project, how it began and why it's so important. Amy is someone who by virtue of her friendship, and introducing me to her work, has truly changed my life. Thank you so much, Amy!
After the post I've included some links where you can stay in touch with Amy. I hope you'll give her your support and join the movement!
Why a W.A.R.? Why Now?
by Amy Bowllan
Writers Against Racism (W.A.R.) began in the summer of 2009 and was the direct result of the missions of two very dedicated and passionate authors--
Dr. Zetta Elliott and
Dr. George E. Stanley - both authors and educators -who helped to spearhead the movement via their respective fields of expertise, and have been vocal about erasing racism long before I came along.
Writers Against
I’m sure my new name is quickly becoming, P A I N, since I have been toiling through this new blog platform with loads of questions for the tech department. Kudos to Brian Kenney who has the patience of a saint, while this migration is still underway.
Here’s my new contact info:
Amy Bowllan
Bowllan’s Blog at School Library Journal
[email protected]
http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/bowllansblog
http://twitter.com/abowllan
Find me on Facebook
Amy Bowllan at Bowllan’s Blog has a series of posts titled “Writers Against Racism,” in which she asks authors about their experiences of racism and their opinion on the ways in which literature can be used to combat its effects. The ongoing series so far includes interviews with Zetta Elliot, Mitali Perkins, David Yoo, Neesha Meminger, Tanita S. Davis, and many more. In one of the August installments, Bowllan interviewed children’s literature specialist—and PaperTigers contributor/consultant—Laura Atkins. Laura’s views on the topic are very interesting, and partly informed by years of working in the children’s publishing industry developing multicultural picture books (her insightful paper “What’s the Story? Reflections on White Privilege in the Publication of Children’s Literature,” has recently become available online).
Laura says on her blog of the “Writers Against Racism” series: “The questions and answers reveal how the personal and the political are intimately linked. Each person has their own experiences, their own stories to tell—and all of us have connected to and through literature as a way of combating racism.” I can’t imagine a more effective weapon than literature in this worthwhile battle. Can you?
posted my own story. I actually met Amy and presented with her at the National Diversity in Libraries conference back in 2010. She’s one of my few online friends that I’ve actually met in person and that makes her quite special to me! Her energy, intelligence and charm will be missed!
I didn’t know that Amy at Bowllan’s Blog was resigning. You do make a good point: about preaching to the choir over and over again with the same results. Do you think SLJ is going to get anyone to take over that blog or start a similar one?
You’re right about kids and their choice of reading materials. My daughter loves comic books while my son loves non-fiction. Only my youngest and one of my sisters enjoy novels. Sometimes it can be hard to take but reading is reading.
Have a great weekend.