Literacy Now

In June 2020, conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic caused ILA to pause the popular Choices reading program. When it was clear that the ongoing disruptions to in-person schooling and necessary safety precautions once buildings reopened would make it near impossible to resume the project, the International Literacy Association (ILA) made the difficult decision to let it go.

Retiring Choices, however, was not an option. ILA was determined to rehome the reading lists—which launched in 1974 with Children’s Choices and later expanded to include Young Adults’ Choices and Teachers’ Choices—with an organization that would honor the spirit of the program and produce lists with the respect and care they deserved. The obvious choice: The Children’s Book Council (CBC). For years, CBC cosponsored the Children’s Choices list, and in 2019 it also began cosponsoring its counterpart for young adults.

In June 2021, a year after announcing the COVID pause, ILA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) granting CBC full permission to give the Choices project a second life.

CBC Executive Director Carl Lennertz said his organization’s top goal was “to maintain the success and qualities of ILA’s Choices programs and build on the reach of the programs by expanding participation while developing sustainable processes.”

Fast forward to May 2022, when—after months of gathering feedback from the Choices volunteer network and other key stakeholders—CBC relaunched the project as the Favorites Lists.

Like Choices, the Favorites Lists are curated by readers themselves. CBC recruited 80 review teams spanning schools, public libraries, and independent bookstores across the United States. Through a revamped process, the organization was able to put 1,500 books—roughly 100 copies of each publisher-submitted title—into the hands of readers across the country.

The first annotated collection of Children’s Favorites, Young Adult Favorites, and Teacher Favorites Lists are set to publish in May 2023. 

Lennertz says that CBC feels “a great debt of gratitude” for ILA and the decades invested in the three Choices lists, which Lennertz characterizes as a “go-to resource for educators, librarians, and caregivers.”

The feeling is mutual. “We are thrilled that the Children’s Book Council will carry on the Choices tradition,” says ILA Executive Director Nicola Wedderburn. “We feel confident that the new Favorites Lists will continue to identify high-quality, engaging books that foster a love of reading in people of all ages.”

To learn more about the CBC’s Favorites Lists, visit https://www.cbcbooks.org/readers/reader-resources/favorites-lists/.

The International Literacy Association (ILA) announced today that, by unanimous decision of the ILA Board of Directors, ILA Interim Executive Director Nicola Wedderburn has assumed the position permanently.

Traditionally, an Interim Executive Director's role is to steer the organization during the search for and transition to a new permanent leader. In the case of Wedderburn, the ILA Board felt her stellar performance made such a search unnecessary.

"We are continually inspired and encouraged by Nicola's leadership and the culture of collaboration she has fostered at ILA," said Kenneth Kunz, ILA President of the Board. "We've made amazing strides advancing ILA's mission this past year and are confident in Nicola's ability to continue to lead the important work ahead."

Prior to taking the helm as Interim Executive Director in February 2022, Wedderburn served as Director of Business Development, during which time she oversaw ILA's marketing program as well as membership, the chapter and affiliate network, customer service and partnership development.

As Interim Executive Director, Wedderburn spearheaded the creation and implementation of a new strategic plan for ILA that affirms the organization's commitment to improving the quality of literacy learning across the globe and reflects the interests and diversity of all constituents—something that Wedderburn, who hails from Jamaica, has advocated for throughout her 12-year tenure.

Wedderburn's previous appointment was historic for the nearly 70-year-old organization; she is not only the first Black woman to take the helm of ILA but also the first executive director of ILA born outside of the United States.

Said Wedderburn, "I believe in ILA's mission and have seen firsthand the difference we can make in the lives of literacy professionals. It's an honor to serve the organization in this role."

To our International Literacy Association (ILA) global community, we want to take this opportunity to join all of you in celebrating 2022 International Literacy Day and to call attention to the amazing work taking place across our committed and dedicated worldwide literacy network. This year’s theme is: “Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces.” As so many have embraced ILA’s Children’s Rights to Read, one can draw immediate connections to Right #6: Children have the right to supportive reading environments with knowledgeable literacy partners. As co-chairs of the ILA Global Committee, we are proud you have partnered with ILA to carry out this work. We invite you to share how you are embracing quality, equitable, and inclusive learner-centered learning for all.

Our work this year began with a focus on joy around literacy, as we were able to meet for the first time face-to-face since the pandemic at the Federation of European Literacy Associations (FELA) Conference hosted in partnership with the Literacy Association of Ireland (LAI) in beautiful Dublin. Like the projects and initiatives presented to ILA’s global community, we were humbled to participate in their celebration of literacy, diversity, and new directions in the aftermath of COVID-19. As a proud supporter of this year’s event, ILA recognizes that there are countless opportunities to join hand in hand with networks advancing literacy across the globe, and our membership is second to none when it comes to research, innovation, practice, and service.

On this International Literacy Day, our joy around this work continues as we participate in the many events taking place around the world. On this one day alone, the collective efforts of our network impact millions of readers across all of our regions and affiliates. As you celebrate this day with your schools, families, and communities, we invite you to visit www.literacyworldwide.org to learn more about how the “I” is represented across ILA. Click on “Get Involved” and learn more under “Chapters and Affiliates.” We know you will be inspired by responses to literary needs impacting communities around the globe.

If reimagining literacy through a global lens is new to the work that you do, or if you are looking to transform literacy in global ways in the aftermath of the pandemic, we share a few tips that have helped to bring our work into perspective:

• Connect with a colleague from across the globe. Consider attending an international literacy conference (virtually, or in person!). We are looking forward to FELA 2024 in Chania, Greece.
• Evaluate your local/school/classroom libraries to inventory representation of voices and diverse experiences from around the world.
• Visit the ILA website to explore possible literacy networking opportunities. Identify a global affiliate participating in initiatives and projects aligned with your core values and interests.
• Joining ILA is just a click away; membership is open to all of us. By joining or encouraging new members to join, you will learn, enjoy, and grab exposure to the latest research and practices. Join today to add to your knowledge as you promote literacy globally.
• Enjoy the numerous literacy awards and grants that are open to all members internationally.
• Write for Literacy Today, ILA's member magazine, or Literacy Now, ILA's blog, and share your International Literacy Day project. Showcase how you are transforming literacy learning.
• Tag @ILAToday in your Twitter posts so we can connect and share your work! Use the official event hashtag in all of your tweets: #LiteracyDay.

On this International Literacy Day, we would like to recognize YOU for supporting ILA’s mission and are proud that you are part of our ILA network. We wish you a safe, happy, and healthy International Literacy Day and look forward to hearing the different ways you bring readers together around the globe both today and throughout the year.

Wishing you all the best,

Kenneth Kunz        Annette Kiberu
Co-Chairs, ILA Global Committee

The International Literacy Association (ILA) announced today the winners of its 2022 Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Awards, a program that honors emerging authors whose work exemplifies the best from rising stars in the literature landscape.

The 13 titles from this year’s honorees represent a wide variety of genres, themes and topics. They include mind-grabbing examinations of nature and science, authentic and truthful portrayals of history and tales of resilience in the face of prejudice and injustice.

“At ILA, we know that book recommendations are a valuable resource to our network of literacy practitioners, and we are proud to announce the winners of this year’s ILA Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Awards,” said Kenneth Kunz, president of the ILA Board of Directors. “These titles celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion, and provide teachers across the grades with stories that highlight diverse experiences and topics through rich character development and building background. I look forward to hearing the many ways in which teachers bring these titles to life through intentional literacy instruction in classrooms and schools.”

The 2022 award winners are as follows:

Primary Fiction

• Winner: Isabel and Her Colores Go to School. Alexandra Alessandri. Sleeping Bear Press.
• Honor: Archie Celebrates Diwali. Mitali Banerjee Ruths. Charlesbridge.

Primary Nonfiction

• Winner: Mimic Makers: Biomimicry Inventors Inspired by Nature. Kristen Nordstrom. Charlesbridge.
• Honor: Areli Is a Dreamer: A True Story by Areli Morales, a DACA Recipient. Areli Morales. Random House Children’s Books.

Intermediate Fiction

• Winner: Starfish. Lisa Fipps. Penguin Young Readers.
• Honor: Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna. Alda P. Dobbs. Sourcebooks.

Intermediate Nonfiction

• Winner: It Takes Guts: How Your Body Turns Food Into Fuel (and Poop). Jennifer Gardy. Greystone Kids.
• Honor: Orca Rescue! The True Story of an Orphaned Orca Named Springer. Donna Sandstrom. Ill. Sarah Burwash. Kids Can Press.
• Honor: Why Longfellow Lied: The Truth About Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. Jeff Lantos. Charlesbridge.

Young Adult Fiction

• Winner: Both Sides Now. Peyton Thomas. Penguin Random House Young Readers.
• Honor: Where I Belong. Marcia Argueta Mickelson. Lerner.

Young Adult Nonfiction

• Winner: No Way, They Were Gay? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves (Queer History Project). Lee Wind. Lerner.
• Honor: We Are Not Broken. George M. Johnson. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

For more than 45 years, ILA’s annual book awards have recognized newly published authors who exhibit exceptional promise in the children’s and young adult literature fields; eligible titles must be the author’s first or second, and if the book is also the illustrator’s first or second, then the author and illustrator share the award. Past winners include several authors who went on to achieve notable success and high acclaim—Patricia Polacco, Lois Lowry, and Juana Martinez-Neal, to name a few.

“All of these titles are must-haves on classroom and library bookshelves, making this list a perfect starting point for educators and parents alike who are looking to build up their collection,” said Raven Cromwell, chair of the ILA Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Awards Committee and assistant professor at Marietta College in Ohio. “The list is bursting with windows and mirrors representing both diverse and universal human experiences; unique close-up looks at anatomy and nature to inspire future scientists; and journeys toward acceptance that celebrate identity, friendship and culture along the way.”

Find out more about our ILA Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Awards and how to join the awards committee.

The International Literacy Association (ILA) announced today the winners of its 2022 awards and grants, including its top honor and one of the literacy field’s most prestigious—the William S. Gray Citation of Merit—which was awarded to City University of New York’s Linnea Ehri.

The William S. Gray Citation of Merit honors a nationally or internationally known individual for their outstanding contributions to multiple facets of literacy development, including research, theory, practice, and policy. Past recipients have included P. David Pearson, Steve Graham, Nell K. Duke, and Jeanne Chall.

Ehri, a longtime member of ILA, is a distinguished professor emerita of educational psychology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Her groundbreaking research centers on reading acquisition processes, phonemic awareness in word reading and spelling, characteristics of phonemic awareness instruction, the impact of literacy on language processes, and the causes, prevention, and remediation of reading difficulties. Her findings on the importance of grapheme-phoneme knowledge, phonemic awareness, decoding skills, and orthographic mapping have greatly contributed to today’s understandings about psychology processes and sources of difficulty in learning to read and spell.

“I was surprised and felt very honored to join the ranks of highly accomplished scholars in receiving the William S. Gray Citation of Merit award,” Ehri said. “Gray’s stage-based portrayal of the development of reading ability is an important forerunner of approaches such as mine. As one of many researchers who use a scientific approach to understand how reading skill develops, much like Gray’s work on assessment, it is especially gratifying to have the significance of our contributions recognized.”

Ehri is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Educational Research Association. She was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 1998, served on the National Reading Panel and was president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR). She has published more than 130 research papers in books and scholarly journals, edited two books and served on editorial boards of 11 scientific journals, including ILA’s Reading Research Quarterly.

“Ehri’s meticulous research over decades has profoundly influenced the field of literacy education, particularly our understanding of how young children learn to read, spell and learn the meanings of words,” said Nell K. Duke, chair of the William S. Gray Citation of Merit Award Committee. “Her research has a deep relevance to practice. She addresses questions that are on the minds of educators and curriculum designers. Numerous programs, interventions, and curricula that have been informed by Ehri’s work.”

Joining Ehri in this year’s ILA awards and grants program are 10 other educators and literacy leaders, including Alida Hudson, Texas A&M University, who received the Timothy & Cynthia Shanahan Outstanding Dissertation Award for her dissertation, “Upper Elementary Teachers’ Knowledge of Reading Comprehension, Classroom Practice, and Students’ Performance in Reading Comprehension.”

The other award recipients include

• Melanie Collins, Literacy Association of Tennessee | Maryann Manning Special Service Award
• Allison Swan Dagen, West Virginia University | Leaders Inspiring Readers Award
• Amanda C. Dahl, Georgia State University | Steven A. Stahl Research Grant
• Brittany Finch, Michigan State University | Jeanne S. Chall Research Fellowship
• Gary E. Bingham, Georgia State University, and Hope K. Gerde, Texas A&M University | Diane Lapp & James Flood Professional Collaborator Award
• Mary-Claire Ball, Erin Curran, Fabrice Tanoh, Hermann Akpé, Shakhlo Nematova and Kaja K. Jasińska, University of Toronto; and Seung-Hee Claire Son, Kirsten R. Butcher and Lauren Aimonette Liang, University of Utah | Dina Feitelson Research Award
• Tanya S. Wright, Michigan State University | Jerry Johns Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award

The full list of awards/grants and recipients can be found here.