Page views on SLJ.com surfaced key interests and concerns among readers. From the Youth Media Awards and self-censorship to the 2024 presidential election, it was a big year in news.

The following news stories received the most views.

Everything YMAs

Each year brings a new crop of honorees in the Youth Media Awards announced annually by the American Library Association. 

There are surprises: “OH my gosh EYES WON IT ALL…!!!” (looking forward to live-blogging of the 2025 awards by “Heavy Medal” bloggers Steven Engelfried and Emily Mroczek-Bayci–stay tuned).

All told, it’s collective excitement that carries the day, and 2024 was no different. 

SLJ’s coverage, pulled together in a dedicated page, including related book reviews, was a popular destination for readers.

After winning the Caldecott Medal, Vashti Harrison spoke to SLJ’s Kara Yorio about a historic first. 

“I was just shocked to know that no Black woman had won the full Medal before. I feel honored. But more than anything, I’m just grateful to create the space for more women to come after me, more Black women to share their stories and be celebrated,” she said.

That interview was also a popular post, along with our followup to reader enthusiasm for Harrison’s award-winning title, Big, at storytime. 

Covering up

“Sad story, great cover,” commented @skeetervm on Instagram in response to our May story “The Cover-Up: Under Pressure, Some School Librarians Alter Illustrations to Avoid Book Challenges.”

Reported by Andrew Bauld, the news story followed up our 2009 survey on self-censorship (See “A Dirty Little Secret”), with first-person accounts of librarians “choosing between altering illustrations to keep books on shelves or risk losing those books entirely and possibly losing their jobs.”

The next most viewed news post: “Election Impact: What Will a Second Trump Term Mean for Education and Libraries?,” filed shortly after the November election.

A year of challenges

Book banning efforts continued to drive SLJ’s coverage as well as reader interest, judging by our next most viewed stories. 

Amanda Jones had enough of Dan Kleinman, who accused the Louisiana school librarian of peddling obscene material to children. In late November, Jones sued Kleinman in federal court for defamation and “false light”—an invasion of privacy that arises from publicity that unreasonably places the plaintiff in false light before the public.

The headlines were rampant, reporting incidents of book challenges nationwide. Of our frequent roundups of censorship news, one stood out for our readership: “13 Books Banned from All Utah Schools,” posted in August. 

The books set for statewide removal included Judy Blume's Forever and six titles from Sarah J. Maas.