Of all the things to fake, a booklist.

“Oh good grief. This is what happens when we devalue expertise,” Stephanie Davidson posted to Bluesky, responding to the publication of an AI-generated reading list in May. “Journalists, Librarians, Booksellers, Writers, literally ANYONE WHO READS could have made a real list of real books that actually exist.”

Appearing in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer, the list, billed as summer reading for 2025, boasted offerings by such distinguished authors as Isabel Allende, Andy Weir, and Percival Everett.

Allende’s Tidewater Dreams, is among the selections. Problem is the Chilean American writer never wrote such a book. Nor did Weir pen The Last Algorithm, which the non-bylined, syndicated piece from King Features described as a science-driven thriller to follow Weir’s The Martian.

A freelance writer, Marco Buscaglia, copped to the piece and the use of AI to create it, resulting in a recommended list of books, two thirds of which do not exist.

Outrageous as it is, the incident had me considering anew the import of curation.

Here, we take that task seriously.

Booklists for librarians and their students

“At the end of the day, our users are librarians, the experts in information literacy, and also the experts in collection development,” says Shelley Diaz, SLJ reviews director.

With them in mind, SLJ editors assemble titles that we know will resonate with our readers and the kids they serve, she adds.

So, booklists in hand, what do readers actually do with them? Librarians were quick to respond to my query.

“I use lists to ensure I am curating diverse titles with each order. Awards such as Stonewall, Printz, King, etc. are helpful,” Len Bryan, partner of library services at Cherry Creek School District in Centennial, CO, responded via Bluesky. “Reviewed titles are essential; they are part of our selection criteria. Many schools are staffed by paras, so I use lists to create ‘starter packs’ for them to purchase from.”

Meanwhile, Andrea Trudeau says SLJ booklists help prioritize the titles she’ll order for her library. “I appreciate reading the reviews to determine what might interest my students or fill a gap in our collection. I’ve also shared these reviews with colleagues when we are determining class novels/literature circle books,” states Trudeau, a library information specialist at Alan B. Shepard Middle School in Deerfield, IL.

Learning the specific, practical application of these resources can enlighten our work. But also noteworthy is a commonality running throughout, and that’s trust in the curation and a mutual sense of good faith between curator and reader.

Diaz and the crew understand SLJ’s responsibility in this ecosystem. Moreover, “we try to raise to the surface titles that might get lost, and we know there’s a kid out there who needs that book,” says Diaz. “We want to elevate underappreciated authors or stories that haven’t been told yet from perspectives that historically have been silenced or not available to read.”

Last month, we fielded a poll, asking readers to name the best books of the past 25 years. Turning the curation over to you, we look forward to sharing the results and the related conversation.