Putting quality books into the hands of kids can change their lives, but how do educators find the right reading material for students? This month’s #ILAChat focuses on using booklists, like the recently released Choices reading lists, to find appropriate, engaging, and diverse books to fill classroom libraries and to recommend to readers of all ages.

Each year during Children’s Book Week, ILA releases the Choices reading lists. Composed of three different lists—Children’s Choices, which is cosponsored by the Children’s Book Council; Young Adults’ Choices; and Teachers’ Choices—the project is a nationwide effort to compile each year’s favorite, newly published titles into carefully selected, easily accessible lists. The goal is to ensure every classroom has a wide range of guaranteed enjoyable reads for students by providing them with these recommendations. What better way to empower young readers than to fill their classrooms with books chosen by the readers themselves?

Follow @ILAToday to join our #ILAChat hosts Jennifer Fox (@JenniferFox13) and Shannon Miller (@shannonmiller) and to let us know what you think about this year’s Choices Reading Lists results. The chat will take place Thursday, May 11, at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Jennifer Fox was a team leader for the 2017 Teachers’ Choices list. She worked to receive, review, and distribute this year’s titles to schools across one of five regions of the U.S. She recently completed her doctoral studies at the University of Missouri with a dissertation study entitled, “Secondary Literacy Teachers’ Use of a Twitter Chat Community for Voluntary Ongoing Professional Learning.” When she’s not busy sifting through piles of children’s literature, she is a tech-minded professor in Bolivar, MO, as well as a wife and mother of two.

Shannon Miller served as the K-12 district teacher librarian at the Van Meter Community School District in Iowa for 8 years. She is currently an international speaker and consultant, as well as author of the award-winning blog The Library Voice. Shannon is also the Future Ready Libraries and Project Connect Spokesperson, Buncee's Teacher Librarian Advisor, and Cantata Learning's Teacher Librarian Advocate. She has a passion for education, librarianship, technology, and social media. She is also a wife and mother to three amazing children.

Follow @ILAToday and use the hashtag #ILAChat to join the conversation.