Connecting to Bibliophiles Online

At the Online Education Database, Laura Milligan has published an article entitled 100 Places to Connect with Other Bibliophiles Online. It is divided into the following sections.

• Book Collectors - Book collectors can use these networks to locate older editions, trade their own books and track down information about books.
• Blogs - Blogs can provide a great, low-maintenance way to learn about books and connect with other readers through posts, member blogs on community sites and through comments.
• Librarians - Librarians may just be the ultimate bibliophiles. Check here for librarian-only apps and networks.
• Social Media - From Meetup pages to whole social media sites devoted to book lovers, visit these online communities to meet people like you.
• Recommendations - Hop on one of these sites to get recommendations for new titles and to share your list of favorites.
• Organizing and Sharing Titles - The features on these websites offer up neat ways to catalog your collections and share reading ideas with others.
• Novelists and Writers - Writers who love books can promote their own works on these sites, meet agents and publishers, and talk about some of their favorite books.
• Sites for Children and Teens - Children and teenage readers have their own safe networks to discuss their favorite characters and get ideas for books they might like.
• Trading and Selling - The book swapping and selling market is huge on the Internet, and these are some of our favorite networks.
• For Those Who Love to Read - Anyone who loves to read will like these websites, which offer outlets for discussion, recommendations, searches and more.

I was excited to receive word of this list, but disappointed in some of the sections when I checked out the links. Don't get me wrong, as there are some great resources here. However, I found the children and teens section sadly lacking in good resources. Both readergirlz and GuysLitWire are missing. I know that GuysLitWire is new, but readergirlz has been going strong for a while and is recognized by the ALSC as a great site for kids. Most of the sites listed (like the CBC - great site, but not for kids, and Children's Book of the Month Club - too commercial) are not ones I would recommend for children and teens interested in books and reading.

So, now that I've had my say, what say you? What do you think of the recommendations for children and teens? I've already suggested two. Can we come up with our own list of great sites for them? Let me know what you think and I'll round up your suggestions here later this week.