UHLS cultivates relationships with publishers of youth materials and receives review copies of some new books. We make them available for your hands-on review to inform your purchasing and awareness of publishing trends. When the review process is finished, UHLS shares the books with libraries for collections and giveaways.
Periodically, when we have ample books, we designate a Youth Services Advisory Council (YSAC) meeting as a book review meeting. In advance of that meeting, we share on youthserv a list of the review copies.
When the book review meeting is in-person, libraries benefit most when staff attend the meeting. Reviewing the books in the company of others results in knowledge sharing about titles, authors, or series that are popular or work well in programs.