PLA Blog

It’s a busy time of year for public libraries. Libraries are frantic to spend the last bits of budget before the fiscal year ends, students are taking finals and graduating, and, behind the scenes, summer reading programs are preparing to launch.

I was listening to On Point early last week, when Tom Ashbrook hosted a show on recommended summer reading picks for 2008, with 3 guest hosts: one buyer and manager of a bookstore, and two book reviewers. I’ve listened to this episode two years in a row, and I still find myself wondering when they’ll invite three librarians as their guests… I really should email them about that and see what happens (you should, too). It’s definitely worth a listen (.mp3 file), if for no other reason than to know what books your NPR listener constituency might be seeking. I’ll be adding some of the recommendations to my ever-growing queue of books to read.

So, I’ve decided to grab the opportunity that Tom Ashbrook missed and ask you, the public library and librarian readership: What are you recommending for summer reading this year? It can be any age group, any genre, any format, anything. Scroll down to Leave a Reply on this page and post your picks as a comment to this post, we’ll be listening! While you’re in the comment box, what are you planning for summer programs? Share your ideas, plans, and links to web sites and photos with us and fellow readers.

Also, feel free to comment on the picks listed by the OnPoint guests, I’d be interested to hear what you think of them. You can read about what other listeners thought, and what they’re recommending, and chime in yourself in the 2008 Summer Books OnPoint message board.