As 2021 draws to a close, readers the world over are taking stock of the books they loved most during the year-including the folks at Booklist. The book review journal of the American Library Association has compiled all of the books featured in its “Reviews of the Day” online column for 2021 and made them accessible for easy browsing by dividing them into four categories (adult books, books for youth, audiobooks, and graphic novels).

The lists feature the best books from 2021, covering a spectrum of genres and topics. Among the selections are The Kaepernick Effect: Taking a Knee, Changing the World by Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation; First Person Singular by the great Haruki Murakami; the audiobook of The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, by Nikole Hannah-Jones; the graphic novel Run: Book One, by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, which the first in a series that traces Lewis’ life and career after the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and YA fiction novel A Boy Named Isamu, by James Yang.

You can read reviews for these books and more at Booklist Online before checking them out at your local library.

Year-End Listening

For those looking to listen to their favorite authors, musicians, and artists discussing their new books and the impact of libraries on their lives, check out the December episode of Call Number with American Libraries, the podcast of American Libraries magazine.

Featured in this installment are never-before-released clips from conversations with Fox Sports analyst and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho (Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man), acclaimed writer Isabel Allende (The Soul of a Woman), reggae musician and philanthropist Ziggy Marley (Music Is in Everything, My Dog Romeo), Top Chef host and producer Padma Lakshmi (Tomatoes for Neela), bestselling horror author Max Brooks (World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Deevolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre), Dance Theatre of Harlem alumni Judy Tyrus and Paul Novosel (Dance Theatre of Harlem: A History, a Movement, a Celebration), and lawyer and speaker Savala Nolan (Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body).

Listen to the episode on the American Libraries website. And, after listening, be sure to find all of these works and more at your local library!

Libraries and librarians aren’t alone in their fight against the rise in book challenges. More than 600 groups and individuals representing writers, educators, artists, racial and social justice advocates, booksellers, and publishers just signed a December 8 statement against efforts to ban books in schools and libraries.

The nonprofit and nonpartisan National Coalition Against Censorship created the statement to support reading and access to diverse stories and against efforts to remove LGBTQ-inclusive books as well as books about race and racism from schools and libraries across the United States. Statement signatories include the American Library Association, GLAAD, the American Civil Liberties Union, Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House, Abrams, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic Inc., and authors Judy Blume, George M. Johnson, Malinda Lo, and many more.

The statement reads:

In communities across the country, an organized political attack on books in schools threatens the education of America’s children. These ongoing attempts to purge schools of books represent a partisan political battle fought in school board meetings and state legislatures. The undersigned organizations and individuals are deeply concerned about this sudden rise in censorship and its impact on education, the rights of students, and freedom of expression.

Nearly all communities have developed policies for both handling book challenges and allowing parents to influence their own child’s reading, but they must do so within the guideposts set forth by the Supreme Court, without infringing on the rights of other students. The law clearly prohibits the kind of activities we are seeing today: censoring school libraries, removing books-and entire reading lists-based on disagreement with viewpoint and without any review of their educational or literary merit. Some would-be censors have gone even farther, threatening teachers, school librarians, authors, and school board members with criminal charges and even violence for allowing students access to books.

Libraries offer students the opportunity to encounter books and other material that they might otherwise never see and the freedom to make their own choices about what to read. Denying young people this freedom to explore-often on the basis of a single controversial passage cited out of context-will limit not only what they can learn but who they can become.

Books help students connect with characters whose stories reflect their own lives. They also widen their view of a changing world that embraces diversity and multiculturalism. But there is always resistance to change. So it is not surprising that most of the books that are being attacked address concerns of groups previously underrepresented in libraries and school curriculums: books about lived experiences of racism or of growing up LGBTQIA and experiencing bias, discrimination, hate and even violence.

The First Amendment guarantees that no individual, group of individuals, legislator, community member, or even school board member can dictate what public school students are allowed to read based on their own personal beliefs or political viewpoint.

It is freedom of expression that ensures that we can meet the challenges of a changing world. That freedom is critical for the students who will lead America in the years ahead. We must fight to defend it.

Read the full list of signatories.

Learn what you can do to help defend the freedom to read.

We are so excited that Marley Dias, the witty and purpose-driven 16-year-old founder of #1000BlackGirlBooksand author of Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!, is promoting the value of library cards this month. She’s such an impressive young person, and she is a passionate advocate for diverse books and lifelong reading. In other words, we are totally fangirling over here. Here are six things you should know about the American Library Associations Library Card Sign-Up Month’s Honorary Chair:

1. She launched #1000BlackGirlBooks when she was just 10 years old.

As a student, Marley noticed that the books she was assigned to read didn’t feature many protagonists that looked like her. As she told American Libraries magazine, “So I told my mom, and she said, ‘Well, what are you going to do about it?’ So that’s really how [#1000BlackGirlBooks] started. I wanted to collect 1,000 books where black girls are the main characters and donate them to the high school in St. Mary, Jamaica, that my mother attended, so I would be able to give back to her community.” Her campaign succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. Marley has collected over 13,000 books to date.

2. You can check out her book Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You! from your local library.

Marley is many things, and in 2018 she added “author” to her list of accomplishments. Well-known for her activism and commitments to social justice, volunteerism, and equity and inclusion, Marley wrote her book to show kids how they make positive changes in their communities and to encourage kids to become lifelong readers. Use your library card to check it out today!

3. She’s so committed to diverse books, she made a Netflix special about it.

Ever want to go to a storytime where Tiffany Hadish, Karamo Brown, Common, Lupita Nyong’o, and Misty Copeland read their favorite books to you? Well Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices on Netflix is for you! Hosted by Marley, the series features famous faces sharing children’s books by Black authors to spark kid-friendly conversations about empathy, equality, self-love, and antiracism.

4. She says “The most important and valuable resource in your library is a librarian.”

And we agree! In an interview with an Orlando news station, she said, “They are the kindest and most supportive people … If you want to go on the computer and play games, if you want to look up something about your town’s history, or just borrow a book, they will support and help you along the way.” She also introduced us to her own local librarian Jane in a video she posted from West Orange Public Library in New Jersey!

5. She has her own READ® poster

Joining the ranks of Oprah, David Bowie, Miss Piggy, and, most recently, Baby Yoda, Marley unlocked next-level library cred when she became the star of her very own READ® poster. ALA’s READ® campaign, supported by ALA Graphics, celebrates the joy of reading and the importance of lifelong learning. For more than 30 years, the iconic READ® posters have featured celebrities, musicians, award-winning authors and illustrators, and library advocates who’ve lent their star power to support our nation’s libraries. Not too bad for someone who just got her driver’s license!

6. You can join her in promoting the power of a library card on social media this September

Send her a picture of you with your library card! Make sure tag @iammarleydias on Instagram. She’ll be sharing your photos throughout the month!

Visit the Library Card Sign-up Month website for more ways to celebrate.

September is Library Card Sign-up Month (LCSUM)-an annual reminder that library cards empower individuals and communities by providing access to technology, multimedia content, and educational programming.

If you love libraries – and the access they provide to rich and diverse worlds – we invite you to join the festivities and help spread the word about the value of a library card. Here are a few ways you can participate:

Use Your Powers of Persuasion to Encourage Others to Get Library Cards

You have a library card, of course. But does your best friend? Neighbor? Cousin? Secret crush? There’s no time like to present to persuade those people in your life to register for a library card. Remind them that signing up for a library card is free and easy, and that libraries are still better than the internet.

Spread the Message on Social Media

Libraries and their supporters are using the hashtag #LibraryCardSignUpMonth and #LibrariesEmpower on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to help get the word out about the value of a library card. The Library Card Sign-up Month website has tons of sample social media posts and amazing graphics featuring LCSUM Honorary Chair Marley Dias for free download.

Tell Us How Your Library Card Empowers You

The American Library Association is encouraging everyone to help spread some library love by posting to social media about how the library empowers you and your communities. Here’s how it works: Post to Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #LibrariesEmpower. Entries can also be submitted by posting as a comment or wall post on the I Love Libraries Facebook page. Don’t forget to tag your library! The creator of one randomly-selected post will receive a $100 Visa gift and an ALA Graphics The Child Poster. Additionally, three second-place winners will receive an ALA Graphics The Child Poster. Official rules are available on the Library Card Sign-up Month page.

Show Off a Library-Themed Yard Sign

Let your neighbors know you’re a proud library card holder with these awesome yard signs from the American Library Association. Pick your favorite sign-options include “library card holders live here” and “in this house, we support libraries”-or design your own, then print and display to jazz up your yard.

Follow the Creators Get Carded series on Social Media

Comic creators are getting into the act this month to help spread the word about the importance of having a library card. Each day in September, at least one new creator will pose on social media with their library card. Search the hashtag #CreatorsGetCarded and follow @libcomix on Twitter and Instagram to see your comics creators like A.C. Esguerra (Eighty Days), George O’Connor (Olympians), Jennifer L. Holm (Turtle in Paradise), BonHyung Jeong (Kyle’s Little Sister), Robin Ha (Almost American Girl), David A. Robertson (Breakdown: The Reckoner Rises), MK Czerwiec (Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371), Varian Johnson (Twins), and many more.

Visit the Library Card Sign-up Month website for more ways to celebrate.

Approximately 42 percent of youths under 17 in Erie County, New York have Buffalo & Erie County Public Library cards. But nearly a quarter of that total, 18,000 youth, have fines or other suspensions on their cards that prevent them from accessing library resources.

The question was: how to get these library card holders back in good standing while also promoting the value of library cards more broadly?

Under the guidance of Director Mary Jean Jakubowski, the library and its partners designed a sports equipment lending and library card amnesty program called “Play Down Your Fines.” Piloted at the Isaías González-Soto Branch Library, located in an immigrant-rich neighborhood and next to a city park, the program expunged all fines, fees and charges from accounts when children borrow and return sports equipment, such as soccer, lacrosse, and snowshoe kits.

Since the program formally kicked off in July 2019, sports equipment kits have been borrowed 435 times. Of that number, 260 children (more than half of the total participants) under the age of 17 took advantage of Play Down Your Fines, representing the removal of a total of $16,500 in fines/fees from their library card accounts.

This summer, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library plans to expand the program the summer of 2021 to include seven selected additional libraries and the Library’s bookmobile in underserved neighborhoods throughout Erie County, NY.

The Exercise for the Body and Mind – Children’s Library Card Amnesty Program and Sports Equipment Lending Program was recognized in June as the winner of American Library Association’s Penguin Random House Library Award for Innovation. The award, supported by Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade book publisher, recognizes U.S. libraries and librarians who create lasting innovative community service programs that successfully inspire and connect with new readers.  

Read more about how libraries are innovating to meet the changing needs of their communities.