''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for
school librarians, media specialists, and
public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology,
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...
, and other information resources that are likely to interest young learners. Reviews are classified by the target audience of the publications:
preschool
A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...
; schoolchildren to 4th grade, grades 5 and up, and teens; and professional librarians themselves ("professional reading").
Fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
,
non-fiction
Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...
, and
reference book
A reference work is a document, such as a Academic publishing#Scholarly paper, paper, book or periodical literature, periodical (or their electronic publishing, electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information ...
s books are reviewed, as are
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
s, multimedia, and digital resources.
History
''School Library Journal'' was founded by publisher
R.R. Bowker in 1954, under the title ''Junior Libraries'' and by separation from its ''
Library Journal
''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
''. The first issue was published on September 15, 1954. Gertrude Wolff was the first editor.
Early in its history ''SLJ'' published nine issues each year, dated September to May and released on the fifteenth of each month. It now publishes monthly. In 2008 ''School Library Journal'' launched ''Series Made Simple'', a twice-annual supplement which features reviews of series nonfiction books. It also releases a Best Books list annually.
R.R. Bowker sold ''SLJ'' and ''Library Journal'' in 1985 to Reed International (later merged into
Reed Elsevier). In 2006 ''School Library Journal'' had a circulation of 38,000 subscribers and more than 100,000 readers. Reed sold the two journals in 2010 to
Media Source Inc., owner of the
Junior Library Guild and ''
The Horn Book Magazine''.
Website
The ''School Library Journal'' website provides full access to every issue published from 1996 to the present, including the current issue. It also publishes several blogs and several e-newsletters including ''Curriculum Connections'', ''SLJ Teen'', and ''SLJ Extra Helping''.
See also
*
List of literary journals
References
External links
*
{{Media Source
Library science magazines
Book review magazines published in the United States
Monthly magazines published in the United States
Children's literature criticism
English-language magazines
Magazines established in 1954
Magazines published in New York City
1954 establishments in the United States