Mission
The impact of global events is unmistakably apparent in our daily lives, yet Americans, especially children and teenagers, know little of world events and cultures. Moreover, those best positioned to spark their learning — particularly librarians, who are charged with bringing the knowledge of the world even to their littlest patrons — are ill-equipped to help them. Shockingly, only a handful of accredited U.S. library schools even offer courses in international youth literature.
This website is intended to serve as a toolkit for librarians, but also for others who wish to learn more about youth literature — especially translations — from other countries. A global collection helps librarians serve communities with families from different countries and cultures, helps children develop greater international understanding, opens avenues for curiosity, and creates opportunities for learning from counterparts abroad.
Used well, these books can open windows, unlock doors, and serve as mirrors. To this end we provide curated booklists created by librarians, subject matter experts, and community contributors in the Starter Kit and aggregate relevant web-based materials in the resource-rich Hub. Together, they are a one-stop shop for the global youth literature novice, and we expect that even those already familiar with this literature will discover something new.
Contributors
The project team was led by:
Annette Y. Goldsmith (ayg), an adjunct instructor for the Information Schools at Kent State University and the University of Washington, and librarian at Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel in Los Angeles, whose research centers on international children’s books, specifically translations.
Marc Aronson (ma), Associate Professor of Professional Practice at the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information, responsible for creating the school’s International Youth Literature Collection; author of award-winning nonfiction books for children and teenagers.
David Jacobson (dj), journalist, author and Japanese translator; currently working on a biography of Jella Lepman, founder of the International Youth Library and IBBY.
Selections and annotations for the booklists and digital libraries were researched and written by the following current and graduated Rutgers University Master of Information students:
Elizabeth Ambler (ea)
Samantha Bremekamp (sb)
Gillian Demetriou (gd)
Kellyanne Healey (kh)
Mekhala Iyengar (mi)
Amy Ledbetter (all)
Alex Locke (al)
Jennifer Murray (jm)
Celeste Rhoads (cr)
as well as by Annette Y. Goldsmith and David Jacobson. The team leaders selected and annotated the Hub resources.
Maddy Burton was absolutely invaluable, thoughtful, creative, and cooperative in designing and creating the actual website – she is the sine qua non of this project. Find her at maddyburton.com.
We are grateful to the following colleagues for advice: Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, Nanette McGuinness, Lawrence Schimel, and Helen Wang.
Professional assessment and final insights on the project were provided by our advisory board, a distinguished team of outside reviewers whose collective expertise spans many languages and literatures; translation; teaching; public, school, and university librarianship in the US and international school librarianship abroad; working for the International Youth Library; leadership positions in the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and its US section, the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY); service on award committees including the IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Award jury and the USBBY Outstanding International Books list committee; bookselling; reviewing; and more:
Kimberly Beeman, Upper School Librarian, International School of Florence
Jeffrey Garrett, Librarian, Evanston Public Library
Vicky Smith, Access Services Director, Portland (Maine) Public Library
Karin Snelson, Children’s Book Editor/Translator, Seattle
Junko Yokota, National Louis University, Professor Emerita; Center for Teaching through Children’s Books, Director; and USBBY Executive Director