''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, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...
, and other information resources that are likely to interest young learners. Reviews are classified by the target audience of the publications:
preschool
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...
; schoolchildren to 4th grade, grades 5 and up, and teens; and professional librarians themselves ("professional reading").
Fiction,
non-fiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...
, and
reference books books are reviewed, as are
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
s, multimedia, and digital resources.
History
''School Library Journal'' was founded by publisher
R.R. Bowker
R. R. Bowker LLC (trading as Bowker) is an American limited liability company domiciled under Delaware Limited Liability Company Law and based in Chatham, New Jersey. Among other things, Bowker provides bibliographic information on publishe ...
in 1954, under the title ''Junior Libraries'' and by separation from its ''
Library Journal''. 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.
Media Source Inc. (MSI) is an American company based in Plain City, Ohio. It began in 1980 as Pages and changed its name in March 1999. It owns Horn Book, including ''The Horn Book Magazine'', Junior Library Guild, Library Hotline, ''Library Jour ...
, 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
Children's magazines published in the United States
Literary magazines published in the United States
Monthly magazines published in the United States
Book review magazines
Children's literature criticism
English-language magazines
Library science magazines
Magazines established in 1954
Magazines published in New York City