Ericaʼs Corner

by ERICA SOMMER

Greetings, librarians!

I hope you are filled with delight as new blooms surprise us every day and bird calls fill the air. Spring has sprung! I’ve been busy teaching my office assistant to type from dictation (shown left), and we are eagerly anticipating another productive season here at Brodart.

Need help with your Summer Reading plans? Our new program, which offers a rich list of discounted titles to enhance your Summer Reading giveaways, includes titles for toddlers through young adults, focused on this year’s themes of kindness, friendship, and unity. You’ll find titles featuring Bluey, Llama Llama, Pizza & Taco, and The Last Kids on Earth. AND from fabulous authors such as Lisa Yee, Nic Stone, Chris Grabenstein, Celia Perez, Joseph Bruchac, and many more.

To support the program, there are kid-friendly author video spotlights, a summer reading checklist, book trailers, storytime activities, and book club discussion guides to promote and enhance your program. Files will be added to our Resources page throughout the spring. Follow Brodart Youth Services on social for updates, and don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a plush Babymouse – she’s one of our Summer Reading superstars! Contest ends 4/9/23, so enter soon.

Erica Sommer is the manager of Brodart's Children’s & Young Adult Programs. She is excited to share her insights in article form as a featured LittleOne contributor. Check our upcoming issues for more from Erica!

Next up is a reminder to check out our YouTube channel. You’ll find our archived Tell Me More: Collection Connection, featuring librarians Suzy Hawley, Jack Phoenix, Gwen Vanderhage, and me highlighting children’s and young adult titles from the first half of 2023 – plus several thematic author book talks from some amazing creators. Don’t miss the informative Comics Plus webinar lead by our Digital Products Specialist Patrick Deering as well, which walks you through navigating the platform, circ statistics, and the many manga categories.

I look forward to meeting some of you at our events this spring and summer. We’ll be in booth 1327 at TLA in a few weeks, and we have a wonderful new vendor partnership to tell you about at ALA Annual: make a note to stop by booth 4020 to learn more and enter our fantastic raffle. In the meantime, check out our monthly BookWorm newsletter, which features new services and events, staff book reviews, series announcements, links to selection lists focused on timely topics and trendstrends, and more. Sign up today.

I would be glad to assist with your youth services collection and programming needs. You can reach me at BYS@brodart.com.

Until next issue, happy reading!