From the Editor (March 2015)

Since the birth of my son, I’ve made a point to never wish for time to pass more quickly. But it’s hard not to long for the arrival of springtime, especially this year. Many parts of the U.S. have seen record snowfalls, as one winter storm after another has made its way through. Even those of us who haven’t seen snow are ready for relief from the cold rainy weather and the short days. I couldn’t be more excited to be in the month of March!

Spring officially begins March 20th, and this month’s CLCD Newsletter includes a list of picture books to get your youngest readers ready for spring. But for basketball fans, spring doesn’t begin until the conclusion of March’s NCAA basketball tournaments, so we are capitalizing on the “madness” by including a list of YA novels about basketball.  

We’re also happy to bring you a feature article by my friend Ryan Taylor, who just happens to be the library media specialist at the #3 ranked high school in the country. Ryan’s school is a STEM-focused public charter high school, where every student is issued a laptop computer and has access to an immense collection of online resources. Does universal access to e-resources spell the end of print books, as so many have predicted? Find out how collection development has evolved during Ryan’s four years of real-life experience in just such an environment.

Also in this month’s newsletter, I gave the new YouTube Kids app a thorough evaluation, and my review delves into what it offers for kids and for parents, along with what it still needs to be useful for schools and libraries. Designed to entertain young children, it is one of the most popular new mobile apps on the market. However, my hope is that in the coming days the snow will begin to melt, flowers will start to bloom, daylight will stretch past dinnertime, and the kids in your care will so busy exploring nature that they won’t have much use for a video app for the next several months.

Happy Springtime!
Andy Spinks
CLCD Online News Editor
admin@readandshine.com