California School Library Foundation

06/09/2026

This month CSLF is recognizing the multi award-winning artist and children’s book illustrator Rafael López. Among Rafael’s many awards are multiple Pura Belpré Medals for Illustration in 2020 for Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln, written by Margarita Engle; in 2016 for Drum Dream Girl also written by Engle; and in 2010 for Book Fiesta by Pat Mora. He has also received three Pura Belpré honors, two Américas Book Awards, in 2017 the Tomás Rivera Children’s Book Award and Society of Illustrators Original Art Silver Medal, and a Schneider Family Book Award in 2020 for Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You, written by Sonia Sotomayor.
Rafael is the founder of San Diego’s Urban Art Trail movement, has created seven US Postal Stamps, and has created official posters for the ‘08 and ‘12 Obama-Biden campaigns. He has also has been part of CTA's Read Across America campaign, and his artwork was an integral part of the packet that went to all schools.



Rafael was born and raised in Mexico City, by his architect parents who were obsessed with books. They would spend their weekends taking adventures to search second hand bookshops and flea markets to find books others had left behind. At an early age Rafael was connected to stories and drawing. His illustrations reflect the rich visual heritage, music and surrealism of his native culture. Color is an integral part of his art, and he learned to speak the language of color at an early age. Use of color and texture helps him express his identity and heritage, and he has learned that color is the most direct route for children to connect emotionally with the books he has illustrated.
Through his connections with young people Rafael is convinced that words and images have the power to make change. He believes strongly that when a child opens a book he has illustrated, he wants them to see themselves on the pages and in turn be inspired to reach their full potential. Thank you, Rafael for your beautiful illustrations, for your belief in the power of art and reading to impact change, and for your generous support of CSLF through the donation of your artwork.
Rafael splits his time between his loft in San Diego, California and his studio in the colonial town of San Miguel Allende, Mexico. See TeachingBooks for more information on his books, including videos, resources, and a blog post by Rafael explaining in detail his process for designing illustrations.
While Rafael’s work is currently not featured in the Library Advocacy Store, he has graciously donated an illustration promoting reading and school libraries for the California School Library Foundation. Donors to the Foundation will receive a bookmark.

Submitted by Renée Ousley-Swank
School Library Technology Consultant
California Department of Education
California School Library Foundation Board Member

06/01/2026

It's all here about the California Student Media Festival winners: see the event and the projects at

The festival exists to celebrate the amazing media and multimedia projects produced by California’s best and brightest students and teachers — rewarding and acknowledging their successful classroom work at an awards event in June every year.

05/26/2026

Join teachers and students everywhere to celebrate Digital Well-Being Week this May 18–22! This new campaign coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month, and pairs well with Digital Citizenship Week in the fall. Digital Well-Being Week offers a fun, easy way to help your students build healthy tech habits as they head into summer. Get details at

Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

05/19/2026

Happy National Museum Day

05/15/2026

Celebrate Reading is Fundamental Week - May 10-16

05/11/2026

Celebrate! May 4–15 – Children’s Book Week

04/28/2026

The American Library Association published their 2025 State of American Libraries report. Some key topics were book banning and censorship (which is now mainly initiated by pressure groups and government officials), services to incarcerated people, advocacy, and libraries as literacy hubs.

State of American Libraries. (2026). ALA.

A report from the American Library Association

04/23/2026

Celebrate Earth Day by borrowing books from the library rather than buying them: it's more ecological and more communal.

04/21/2026

04/14/2026

CSLF Features Cartoonist Gene Luen Yang


Author, cartoonist, and teacher Gene Luen Yang is a longtime friend of CSLA, and his character the Monkey King is featured in CSLA’s Café Press. Yang’s love for comics developed at an early age and he began making comics and graphic novels when he was in the fifth grade. Taking a pragmatic approach to a future career he earned a degree in computer science from UC Berkeley with a minor in creative writing.
He worked for two years as a software developer, and then taught high school computer science, all while writing and drawing comic books and graphic novels on the side. American Born Chinese his breakout novel, was the first graphic novel nominated for a National Book Award, won an Eisner Award, and was the first graphic novel to win the Printz Award. Disney+ has launched a new series based on his breakout novel. Boxer & Saints, a two-volume historical fiction graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion won the L.A. Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award Finalist. The non-fiction graphic novel Dragon Hoops that follow the season of high school basketball team received a Printz Honor, an Eisner Award, and a Harvey Award. He has written other graphic novels and comics including Avatar: The Last Airbender, DC Comics’ Superman, and Secret Coders series.
In 2016 he was appointed as the fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress, Every Child a Reader, and the Children’s Book Council. The same year Yang was selected as a MacArther Fellow. His focus was bringing diverse people and cultures to children’s and young adult literature, while instilling comics’ place as an important and imaginative force within literature, art, and education. To further his passion, Gene created a video blog on Reading Rockets called Reading Without Walls.
Yang lives with his wife and four children in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to cartooning, Gene teaches creative writing through Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Young Adults and claims to teach alongside other amazing authors. (Image by Gene Luen Yang).
Visit the Library Advocacy Store (https://www.cafepress.com/shop/CSLA)to shop for library-related products with art donated by children’s authors and illustrators!