2026 marked the 25th anniversary of the Robert F. Sibert Award for Informational Books. And it’s been a full year of celebration! Both ALA Annual and the ALSC National Institute had multiple sessions highlighting the winners of this award specifically and the magic to be found in our nonfiction collections in general. This past spring, Horn Book and Children and Libraries had special Sibert-theme issues, featuring Interviews and written reflections with winners. And it’s not too late to order some Sibert Swag. Awards honor particular books, but there are always more worthy of promotion. And remember, it’s always time to elevate informational books for youth.
Let’s Talk Readers’ Advisory
At our preconference at ALA Annual, committee member Vicki Smith asked this simple question: “When you are asked for something good to read, how many of us head to the nonfiction section?” Did your hand go up? If so, yay! If not, no shame, just think about what’s stopping you. Such authors like Steve Sheinkin, Candace Fleming, and Gail Jarrow write books that fly off the shelves. Let’s take a look at the extreme popularity over the years of such series as the Eyewitness books from DK, Who HQ’s Who Was/What Was series, and National Geographic Kids’ Weird But True books. You would think it would be natural to include nonfiction in our regular readers’ advisory work based on this knowledge. Yet we are conditioned to think “book recommendation equals fiction”. Parents and teachers often make this assumption as well. Why, when many adults only read nonfiction? We ask these young readers about their likes and dislikes; why not add asking about whether they want something true? Bravo to many of you who already include your nonfiction collection regularly in readers’ advisory work.
In a 2023 position statement, the National Council of Teachers of English stated “Reading nonfiction is not simply about taking in information. It is a deeply enriching aesthetic experience.” For some, this is the genre of choice. Some kids love facts and statistics; remember loving Guiness Book of World Records? Melissa Stewart has written extensively about the “5 Kinds of Nonfiction” and has an excellent website and blog. As librarians, our goal is to support readers where they are and to help them go beyond their comfort zone. We talk about this all the time with graphic novels and to a lesser degree, audiobooks.
Make a Match
Displays, book lists, and bundles are great ways to tie your fiction and nonfiction collections together. A simple Google search will give you a good start with your matchmaking possibilities. Check out blogger Afoma Umesi’s Reading Middle Grade’s pairings as a first stop. What about moving a reader’s enjoyment of a work of fiction beyond the story and into the world of fact? Tie some historical fiction to the research that went into it. This expansion helps teach valuable information gathering and evaluation skills along the way. Running a book club? Bring in a pairing of fiction and nonfiction to challenge your participants. Or add a nonfiction title in, along with graphic novels, and other formats to really expand your readers’ world. What ways are you promoting reading from the nonfiction collection in your library?
Guest blogger Judy Ehrenstein is a children’s librarian in Maryland and served as the Sibert Award 25th Anniversary Task Force chair and on the 2023 Sibert committee. She currently has too many knitting projects started and even more to dream about.
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.
If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please read and fill out our Guest Blogging Interest Form. We would love to hear from you!
The post In Appreciation of Nonfiction: Sibert and Beyond appeared first on ALSC Blog.
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