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School-public library cooperation can take many forms, and promoting access to electronic resources and information seems a natural fit.

Clarksville (Tenn.) is about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, so I often hear about the Limitless Libraries program, an innovative partnership between Nashville Public Library and the Metro Nashville Public Schools that could take up this entire post. While my school isn’t included that partnership, I can imagine how wonderful it is when public libraries and school libraries share resources between them.

Recently I’ve started wondering about some very basic ways school and public libraries can work together.

A  first step can be sharing information about each other’s program, such as putting up posters and flyers on bulletin boards so students/patrons know about on-going programs and special events. At school libraries like mine, we have a somewhat captive audience, but that’s not the case in many public libraries. Anything I can do as a school librarian to promote programs at the local public library may get more students involved in those problems.

Another step for schools might be to promote the e-resources the local public library has to offer: Music, e-books, e-audiobooks, databases, and other resources students may not know are available. If students know about these e-resources and choose to use them, they would never be without a library.

When I talk to students about the public library, however, I find that many of them have never been there. In Clarksville, we have one main public library. They are no branch libraries, and the main location is geographically distant to my students. We do have a public transportation system, but very few middle school students use it.

While electronic access to public library resources can minimize the transportation barrier, many of my students do not have a public library card. Our public library, like many others, requires patrons to get a library card in person and show proof of residency. Without that card, students can’t access electronic resources.

I would like to see public libraries take a different approach to providing electronic access only to students at local schools. School libraries could distribute and collect library card applications and then distribute electronic access-only library cards to students after the public library has processed them. Students who need Wi-Fi to download electronic items can use the Wi-Fi at school to get the materials and then read or listen to the materials at home or even on the bus.

I know there are issues to think about like parental permission, CIPA, and probably more, but almost all problems have solutions if we keep trying to find them. If the students are only using electronic resources, there shouldn’t be an issue with overdue or lost items.

This electronic resource partnership program would be a small step toward bridging the digital divide. It may not be as robust a program as Limitless Libraries, but it would be a starting point for school and public libraries to work together.

Rebecca Jackman is School Librarian at New Providence Middle School in Clarksville, Tenn., and a member of the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School-Public Library Cooperation.

The post Gimme a C (for Collaboration!): Promoting Access Through E-Resources appeared first on ALSC Blog.

As a member of the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School-Public Library Cooperation, I’ve had the pleasure of discussing and sharing ideas with other dedicated librarians on how we can all work together to benefit the kids and teens with whom we work.

We’ve created the following list for both school and public librarians to use in sparking their own creative ideas for helping all youth become information literate.

Why not give some of these a try?

1. Look for grant-funding opportunities specifically for school library-public library partnerships.
2. Set aside time to visit with your public librarian to discuss your school’s curriculum and any big projects your teachers have planned.
3. Schedule a few hours to shadow the public librarian and invite him or her to do the same. This will help you build mutual understanding about what the other’s job entails.
4. Have a library card sign-up event at the school during Library Card Sign-Up Month (September). Make a special day of it or have an evening of gaming. Be sure to include the public librarian in the planning, promotion, and supervising the event. If an event isn’t possible, see if the public librarian can come to the school to hand out library card forms at lunchtime. This would work especially well in middle or high school.
5. Create book lists and resource guides in cooperation with your public librarians. You might focus on materials that support reading in the content areas, science and social studies topics in particular. Include materials from both the public and school library collections.
6. Co-host nonfiction book clubs for students and for teachers.
7. Invite the public librarian to make a presentation to the teachers at your school during the school’s teacher in-service day about public library resources that support Common Core State Standards.
8. Host a joint meeting with the public librarians and your fellow school district librarians to discuss Common Core, 21^st Century Standards and state/local curriculum expectations and the public library’s role in student learning.
9. Talk about early literacy programming in the public library and how it connects to the school librarian’s work with K-2 students.
10. Use the public library as a facility for after-school tutoring for students, especially in reading. The public librarian and school librarian can collaborate to recruit volunteers.
11. Coordinate joint activities that integrate the public library’s summer reading program with the school’s summer programming.

As you can see, there are many ways school and public librarians can work in cooperation. You may already be using some of these suggestions, but if not, what’s stopping you?

When we all work together, it’s a win-win situation for everyone!

Linda Weatherspoon serves on the AASL Board of Directors and is a member of the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School-Public Library Cooperation.

The post Gimme a C (for Collaboration!): Starting Points for Success appeared first on ALSC Blog.

This article will focus on using Google Hangouts on Air.

We’d all love to have our favorite author fly out and visit us in person, but the cost and logistics can be daunting. Streaming visits allow authors to connect with more readers and are easier on your budget- sometimes your author will even speak for free! Here are a few tips that will help ensure your event is a success.

Why Google Hangouts on Air?
Setting up a YouTube channel to associate your Hangout with will automatically archive your event to YouTube.  No problem that you weren’t able to get all the kids in one room at a time, they can watch later. See the King County Library System’s Hangout page for examples of past events.  Creating a new YouTube channel will automatically create your Google+ page for you. Alternatively, if you have a channel you can associate it with a Google+ page. You will need to verify your channel through SMS.

Technical Run Through
Set up a practice session with you author at least a week prior. Send them the link to Google Hangouts so they have the most current version installed. This also gives you a chance to chat with the author and figure out the flow of your event.

Equipment Set Up
You’ll need a webcam so the author can see who they are talking to, possibly a tripod to set it up on, a microphone for questions, and speakers so everyone can hear. For streaming events this is where you may incur some costs, but you only need to purchase these items once!

Hangout Settings
Hover at the top of the page to access your settings. Check that your microphone and speakers are selected and test your sound. You may need to change your main preferences through your Control Panel.

Inviting Participants
We’ve found the least stressful method is to click the person + icon at the top of the page.

Copy the permanent link and email the link to your author. Please note that if you send the invite through email your author will need to login to Gmail or Hangouts to see the invitation.

Starting the Hangout
After you invite your participants you aren’t broadcasting yet. To get your archived video you need to click the Start Broadcast button. When you are finished (yay!) click End Broadcast. YouTube will need to finish processing your event, but it should be finished in a few hours.

Final Tips
Don’t panic if people look reversed during the Hangout. During the processing everything will be flipped and anyone watching remotely will see everything correctly.

Concerned about recording student faces? Make your videos Unlisted and only share the URL with staff and parents.

Help Resources
How to Dominate Google+ Hangouts on Air
Hangouts On Air common questions

The post Best Practices for a Streaming Author Visit appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Creative commons wiki image – free use.

Let’s face it…we all have favorites. Favorite authors, favorite bits of curriculum, (favorite patrons…shhh!).  I am at a favorite point of teaching with my second graders right now.

We have been embarking on an American Tall Tale Study. I use Mary Pope Osborne’s American Tall Tales, as well as several stand alone picture books, including Osborne’s New York’s Bravest, and Isaacs’ Swamp Angel with the children.  We talk about geographical truths and wild exaggerations. We talk about humor and fear. We talk about who tells the stories and who is represented.

At the end of our study, I ask the children to create their own tall tale character who would fit into the world of Paul Bunyan.  Fun, right?

Turns out, in the past, it has been super hard for some students, and I figured out that I wasn’t being clear enough about world building.  7 and 8 year olds are sometimes a bit contrary, and the moment I tell them they get to create a tall tale character, the hands shoot up and inevitably I get asked, “Stacy! Can I make a character who is 5 inches tall?“, “Stacy! Can my character be from outer space?“, “Wait…does it have to be human?“.  This year, I really set the scene talking about setting, place and similarities with my students.  We spoke about the realities of the time period, as well as the fact that the characters don’t have super powers like we know super powers…rather they tend to have exaggerated human abilities (though of course there are exceptions).

When it came time to start designing their characters, the students had to think about things like age, gender and size.  But this year they thought more carefully about naming their character, and about where their character would live based on the special abilities they wanted the character to have.  One student even said, “I think my character would be better friends with Paul Bunyan than Davy Crockett because he’s a hard worker — not a bragger”. 

Sometimes it’s hard to remember we have to slow down and really set the scene for young readers.  When we do, the outcomes are often head and shoulders above what have come before.

The post Favorite Bits appeared first on ALSC Blog.

CC0 Public Domain

Over this past weekend, the Progressive Education Network (PEN) held their biannual conference in Brooklyn New York.  Our school was fortunate enough to be able to attend en masse when our Director decided to close school on Friday and send everyone.

It was my first non-library conference, and I have to say that it clarified a few things for me.  One of the main take aways is that we need to build bridges and trumpet our skills further and more widely.

A highlight of the conference for me (for obvious reasons) was the “Authors as Activists and the Importance of Diverse Book” panel featuring Jacqueline Woodson, Andrea Davis Pinkney and James Lecesne.  All of the authors had so much to say (see my twitter feed and the hashtag #NYPEN2015 ) but what struck me the most were many of the questions that the educators in the room were asking.  They were questions that wouldn’t necessarily be asked if the teachers had strong librarians in their schools, or strong relationships with librarians.  A fellow librarian and I kept looking to one another in surprise when questions like, “How can I find good books highlighting diversity” were directed to the authors.

A small group of librarians met during lunch to talk about how we can help educators beyond our own school walls. It quickly became clear that we need to get ourselves established at the very least resource-wise within educator focused associations. As more and more schools restrict access to libraries in-house and go without librarians, it seems more important than ever to make sure that the knowledge and resources we have aren’t simply kept in-house.

The post PD Outside of the Library World appeared first on ALSC Blog.

I consider myself a bit of an old hand at blogging.  While I may not be as on it as some of my peers when it comes to frequency of posting and such, I have been at this since 2005.  I have seen many blogs come and go, and I have seen many trends come and go.  But for the first time in a while, I got excited about a blog because of its message and its timely nature.

The blog I am excited for is Reading While White : Allies for Racial Diversity & Inclusion in Books for Children & Teens.  I have high hopes for the conversations this blog will be starting.  It is clear from initiatives like #weneeddiversebooks , and the #blacklivesmatter movement as well as the political climate, that discussions of race are on the forefront and are necessary.  The mission of Reading While White states in part-

“We are White librarians organizing to confront racism in the field of children’s and young adult literature.  We are allies in the ongoing struggle for authenticity and visibility in books; for opportunities for people of color and First/Native Nations people in all aspects of the children’s and young adult book world; and for accountability among publishers, book creators, reviewers, librarians, teachers, and others.  We are learning, and hold ourselves responsible for understanding how our whiteness impacts our perspectives and our behavior.”

I like that the creators state that their mission is a work in progress, and is apt to change.  I like that the creators are naming their own privilege, holding themselves accountable and are are leaning in and being action oriented.  I am excited about this resource because as a white educator and a mother of two white daughters I feel a strong need to be a part of this narrative.

My own school is embarking on bringing conversations about race to the surface in a very intentional way.  Our history and legacy is one of social justice, and it is increasingly apparent that everyone needs to be aware and action oriented on this front. Our Director’s expectation is that every member of our community — students, faculty, staff, administration and board members, along with parents and caregivers, will be having active discussions about race/ethnicity, racism and privilege. He states, “Until those of us who identify as ‘white’ can acknowledge and examine the privilege that comes with our race, race will divide us.” I am expecting to refer teachers and parents alike to this blog as a resource, a conversation starter and a source of different viewpoints.

The post Important Resource appeared first on ALSC Blog.

ALSC encourages participants to sign up for Fall 2015 ALSC online courses. Registration is open for all courses. Classes begin Monday, September 14, 2015.

One of the courses being offered this semester is eligible for continuing education units (CEUs). The American Library Association (ALA) has been certified to provide CEUs by the International Association of Continuing Education and Training (IACET). ALSC online courses are designed to fit the needs of working professionals. Courses are taught by experienced librarians and academics. As participants frequently noted in post-course surveys, ALSC stresses quality and caring in its online education options. For more information on ALSC online learning, please visit: www.ala.org/alsced

It’s Mutual: School and Public Library Collaboration
6 weeks, September 14 –October 23, 2015
Instructor: Rachel Reinwald, School Liaison/Youth Services Librarian, Lake Villa District Library

Storytelling with Puppets
4 weeks, September 14 – October 9, 2015, CEU Certified Course, 2.2 CEUs
Instructor: Steven Engelfried, Youth Services Librarian, Wilsonville Public Library

The Newbery Medal: Past, Present and Future
6 weeks, September 14 – October 23, 2015
Instructor: KT Horning, Director, Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University of Wisconsin- Madison

Detailed descriptions and registration information is available on the ALSC website at www.ala.org/alsced. Fees are $115 for personal ALSC members; $165 for personal ALA members; and $185 for non-members. Questions? Please contact ALSC Program Officer for Continuing Education, Kristen Sutherland at [email protected] or 1 (800) 545-2433 ext 4026.

The post ALSC Online Courses – Fall 2015 appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Creative Commons search – maker supplies

Sometimes, school life and library life overlap.  Sometimes they don’t. Often I read the posts of my public library friends and find myself nodding my head and then I read the posts of many school librarians and my experience doesn’t mesh with theirs.  There are two hot topics that are happening right now in both the arenas of education and libraries and we should definitely be expanding our thinking and reading outside of the library and the school publications proper.

Makerspaces.  Unless you’ve been under a rock for the past 3-5 years, you’ve been reading about, learning about, or implementing some aspect of making whether you are in a school, a school library or a public library. I know that as children’s librarians we have been participating in maker culture for years, but the new focus really is more than a rebranding.  The blending of digital and analog, the open ended and problem solving nature of presenting students and patrons with possibilities instead of directions are both different from some of the making that we were doing early in my career as a youth services librarian.

Design Thinking. I recently participated in my own school’s Innovation Institute which brought together members of the faculty to use design thinking to solve a problem or create something new to share with our faculty and students.  The Gates Foundation and IDEO have created a Design Thinking Toolkit for Libraries.  While this way of thinking and problem solving is definitely taxing on the brain, it does tend to lead to innovation. We are always telling our students to take risks in their learning, and as librarians we should be willing to take some risks in ours as well.

The following are some links from the education world that easily lend themselves to library environments.

Edutopia – Design Thinking

Maker Ed – Projects and Learning Approaches

Teacher Librarian – The Philosophy of  Educational Makerspacea

Knowledge without Borders – Design Thinking for Kids

I’d love to hear back from librarians who have successfully used design thinking either with colleagues or kids. Also, feel free to drop your favorite maker link into the comments!

The post Ideas with Crossover Possibilities appeared first on ALSC Blog.

ALSC Online Education (image courtesy of ALSC)

Starting this summer, I will be teaching an online course for ALSC called It’s Mutual: School and Public Library Collaboration. As two public institutions, it’s important for us to reach out to each other, especially as budgets tighten. We already share an audience that we hope will turn into lifelong learners (and library users).

With early literacy programming, public libraries are often the first place kids start learning, when they become students we supplement their learning, and hopefully, when students graduate, they will still rely on the library to aid their learning. When schools and public libraries come together they can share expertise, workers, and save money by sharing resources. Let’s say you have a database that doesn’t see a lot of use. If every student has a library card they can all get to the database. If public librarians and school teaching staff get together to teach the students how to use the database, it will get more use and teachers will be aware of its existence to promote it. Collaborations help communities value education and become aware of resources, as well as position public libraries as “educators” too.

I created this course to help public librarians, school librarians, teachers, and school administrators come together to benefit the students and the institutions they belong to as well.

In this class, you will practice making materials for different school services scenarios. You will learn to research local statistics in order to state your case to school administrations and library board members. You will learn to set up a basic yet comprehensive school services program that opens up communication between libraries and schools (and maybe leads to more joint projects). School services librarians are not here to replace school librarians, but to work together on programming, promotion and library resources to benefit our preschool to high school community.

If you would like to sign up, register here: http://www.ala.org/alsc/its-mutual-school-and-public-library-collaboration. This is a six-week course, beginning July 13th.

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Rachel Reinwald is the School Liaison Librarian at Lake Villa District Library. She has an MLIS from Dominican University as well as several teaching certificates. She loves supporting teachers through professional development, sharing library resources, and suggesting helpful websites and apps. Her interests outside of libraries are lesson planning (oh wait, that’s work isn’t it) rock climbing, writing, and moonlighting as a personal trainer. She blogs at www.litlaughlearn.com.

The post It’s Mutual: School & Public Library Collaboration appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Shhh… don’t tell the kids, but school will be starting before we know it. Sure, summer just got rolling, but time passes so very quickly. Most quickly perhaps, but most productively, for those who think ahead.

If you work in a public library, now’s a good time to take a few minutes out of the hectic Summer Reading Program schedule and plan your library’s involvement in back-to-school activities. The school librarian may not be in the building, but is likely planning and checking email.

If you work in a school library, your dedication is noted (reading library blogs during summer vacation!). As you’re balancing vacation and preparations for the coming school year, consider reaching out to your public library counterparts to brainstorm together.

The AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School-Public Library Cooperation (SPLC) encourages and celebrates collaboration among the librarians who support our young people in and out of school. Here are 10 ideas from the SPLC for working together to make back-to-school super successful:

1. Send the public or school librarian a quick email this summer, or during the second week of school (the first week is so hectic!), asking for the best time to sit down for a chat. Or just drop in to say hi. Bring a treat and a business card to leave in case your counterpart librarian is unavailable.

2. Schedule a few hours to shadow your counterpart librarian this fall, and invite them to do the same. What is their day like? What challenges do they face? What natural connections offer potential for collaboration?

3. Reserve a couple minutes during orientation to tell students about the ways having a public library card and visiting the public library can help with school.

4. Offer library card registration at the school’s open houses for incoming kindergarten families.

5. Send a library card application and welcome letter from the public library in every student’s first take-home folder/backpack of the new school year.

6. Have a library card sign-up event at the school. Make a special day of it. For middle grades through high school, the public librarian might come in to distribute library card forms at lunchtime, or during class. Consider asking science or social studies teachers if you can make a joint presentation during their classes, to underscore the importance of your robust collections of informational text. With a web-enabled laptop or tablet, students can start exploring digital resources from the public library right away.

7. Incentivize library card sign-ups by posting library card-holding students’ names on a wall in the school library. Write each name on a rectangle of colored paper under the words “I got my library card!” Or, take a photo of each student holding a new library card, and post the photos in the school library.

8. Look at your signage for any ways the school and public libraries could mirror each other in wording or imagery. This will help students and families know you’re on the same team.

9. When talking with students about the library, use the phrase “your public library” or “your school library” rather than “your library”, to reinforce the message that they have both.

10. Work together to develop themed storytimes on entering kindergarten for the public librarian to offer to 4-5 year olds during the summer.  If it’s too late to try this out this summer – storytime planning doesn’t happen overnight! – put a reminder on your calendar to reach out to each other next spring. You can look ahead to the coming school year, and even the school year after that, and still have time to enjoy your summer.

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Photo credit: Portrait Shoppe, http://www.portraitshoppe.net

Today’s guest blogger is Janet Ingraham Dwyer, posting on behalf of the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School-Public Library Cooperation (SPLC), of which she is a member. Janet is the youth services consultant at the State Library of Ohio.

The post Looking Ahead to the New School Year appeared first on ALSC Blog.

LREI – Wikimedia commons

I was lucky this week to host a fellow librarian from another NYC independent school.  She had attended a workshop at my school earlier in the year and wanted to chat about the job of the “American school librarian”.  She is to be returning to France soon, and is going to be writing a paper on the subject.

We chatted about our respective schools for a bit and then got down to the real meat of the conversation.  What does it really mean to be a school librarian in the USA today? What are our roles? What could our roles be?

Within this conversation, she filled me in on what it is like to be a school librarian in France. She lamented the fact that there are no elementary school positions — there are only middle and high school librarians in France.  I found this incredibly interesting, as my experience has shown me that elementary positions in the States seem more easily defended than high school positions (“they can just use the internet”).  We spoke about research, stand alone classes, pushing in and progressive integrated curriculum.

I have to say, this tête à tête was just what I needed to get the wind back in my sails for the end of the school year.  It reminded me again about the importance of our jobs as school librarians and the importance of opening the doors and letting folks into our spaces and our practice.

The post Opening the Doors appeared first on ALSC Blog.

I have been mulling over how to expand my interviews, which I so enjoy doing, and have decided that while I want to continue with a focus on illustrators, I want to also incorporate chats with other members of the … Continue reading →

Folks at #libtechcon15 . Photo by Jay Heath

At my school (LREI), our Library and Edtech departments merged a few years ago. We are in a bit of a unique position since two of our dedicated tech people are degreed librarians, and the Department Chair of the Edtech department is actually our high school librarian. So our joint department numbers 9 strong with 6 of us holding MLS degrees. We are fortunate to work and play well together, but our sense from attending conferences and meetings was that we are a bit of a rarity.

In the fall, we hosted the first #libtechcon14 where we invited librarians and tech folks to come in pairs or teams for an unconference style day that would touch on some of the hard questions about communication, working together and the future of libraries. The event sold out quickly and once it was over, we were asked to consider hosting the conference again.

This time we widened our view and decided why not partner with another NYC independent school to co-host the event. I strongly believe that broadening the conversation and sharing resources is essential to our success in libraries and we soon partnered up with Ethical Culture Fieldston and their librarians and tech folks to host #edtechcon15 up in the Bronx.  We looked at what had worked well the first time around, as well as the reflections from participants that let us know what they wanted more and less of. We added an essential question portion asking big questions about collaboration, literacy and future job descriptions. One of the most powerful activities involved all participants anonymously writing down their hopes and fears on separate post-its in terms of library and tech. As job descriptions morph and lines blur, librarians and tech integrators are finding themselves redefining their roles in ways that are both exciting and scary.

I hope this conference will become a bit of a wandering staple the NYC independent school world.  I can see this model working not only for schools, but for public libraries as well —  to foster community between branches, departments or counties.  I know that I left energized with plenty of ideas as well as new contacts.

The post #libtechcon15 appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Creative Common search.

It is time for school librarians to dust off their summer reading lists and refresh them.  I know that the public librarians are wondering how we can possibly just start thinking about summer reading now, but in the school things are a bit different.  We tend to release the students to you all to fulfill their summer reading duties!

Since the majority of librarians at my school came from the public systems, we are hyper sensitive to the look and feel of our summer lists.  We remember keenly the super long, out-of-print, completely off grade level lists that we had handed to us.  So we make sure not to contribute to that problem.

My own lists are updated every year with award winners, books that will give students a running start in terms of curriculum, books that provide both mirror and window opportunities as well as some personal favorites.  I don’t reinvent the wheel every year, but instead add about 30-40% new titles each year.

In the past I reformatted the lists to read “Lower Elementary” (grades 1 and 2) and “Upper Elementary” (grades 3 and 4). While I enjoyed the fluidity, the parents were much more comfortable with set grades.  So there is quite a bit of overlap in titles between the grades. And that is ok.

This year, I am thinking of embedding some book trailers into the lists as well to freshen them up even more.

What do you do to your reading lists to keep them fresh?

The post Summer Reading appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Urban Dictionary’s definition of Shelfie.

In our library we have a bulletin board just to the right as folks walk through the door.  We’ve always kept it looking “nice”.  Some timely book displays…occasionally some student work (our second graders’ tall tale characters are a favorite) graced the construction paper background.  But honestly?  I was getting bored looking at it all the time.

So I did what any good librarian would do and I headed to Pinterest for some ideas.  Sure there were lovely book ad type of displays, but this is exactly what I wanted to get away from.  And I realized, what I wanted was for our students to have an interactive experience.

We started with gratitude.  Modeled off the Gratitude Graffiti Project we seeded our bulletin board with post-its featuring things we are grateful for. Every time anyone (teacher, parent, student) walked through our doors they were invited to add something.  In no time our board filled up with positivity.

Next, I found this fabulous first lines interactive board on Pinterest. Intriguing first lines have always been of interest to me, and I knew some titles that would have to be included.  It’s super easy to switch out the titles after a little while to freshen the board up, and I have to say, circulation of the titles featured has gone up as well!  Bonus!

Our next venture helps our students see that not just our fabulous team of librarians are readers, but all the folks in our school.  We put out a call for staff and faculty to send us a selfie AND a shelfie.  We will ask our students to see if they can pair up the person with their shelf!  The next month we will put out a call to the students, and feature their selfie/shelfie combos.

Our bulletin board is quickly becoming a talked about, interacted with and exciting part of our space.

The post Making the Bulletin Board Your Patrons’ First Stop appeared first on ALSC Blog.

CSK Seal

I mentioned in a previous blog post that I was going to embark on a Coretta Scott King illustrator award study with my students.  I am lucky enough to be fully in charge of my own curriculum, so what I decided to do was to swap out the Caldecott study I had done in the past.

So far we have read 5 honor and winning titles including Beautiful Blackbird, Mirandy and Brother Wind, Uptown, Ellington Was Not A Street, and Jazz on a Saturday Night.  We will continue reading until winter break. After break we will work on our ballot and vote for our favorite of the titles that we have read.  Luckily, one of these classes has library during the award announcements and we will be watching the live stream.

The discussions about the art work have been rich and informed (“I think it’s collage”- “Wow…those pictures look so realistic!” -“Blackbird has brighter colors. Ellington Was Not A Street has quieter colors.”)  What has been more telling to me are the discussions about the content. While I cannot recall ever hearing a student notice “all the characters are white”, they have been noticing “all of the characters are African American.” These comments are the ones that let me know that I need to be making an even more conscious effort to diversify my book choices across the board.

Photo by Stacy Dillon. Cossayuna Lake NY

In our lives as busy and distracted librarians, it’s easy to get sucked into always keeping that running list in our minds.  You know the one.  It has all of those “to-do” tasks on it that have to get done in the next 2 hours, shift, day, week and month.  I know that I always have several balls in the air and am trying to stay ahead of the game.  It often leads to worrying about what’s next rather than being present in the task at hand.

I was speaking with a teacher about this not so long ago, and she told me about a mindfulness workshop she had attended.  She told me that it had not only helped her practice as an educator, but she was using the techniques with her students and it was making a difference in their lives at school as well.

I started looking around the web for some articles not only just on mindfulness, but on mindfulness in the practice of librarianship as well.  Here are some links have proven helpful to me as I begin to slow down, take a breath and be present in my practice.

Mindfulness for Librarians, by Devin Zimmerman

Insights and Practical Tips on Practicing Mindful Librarianship to Manage Stress, by Kristen Mastel and Genvieve  Innes

Mindfulness 101, posted by The Nocturanal Librarian

The Resource Page from The Mindfulness in Education Network

Of course this takes time. And our connected lives give us some hard habits to break.  I am typing this up while at the breakfast table, with several tabs open at once! I hope that you will consider adding some mindful practice to your days.

Photo from pixabay

This is more of a question, than it is a post.

I work in a school that embraces technology. Many of our students have devices, either as part of our one to one program, or they have their own personal devices.  The library in the morning has shifted as a result of the omnipresent tech.

Don’t get me wrong…we do not expect a quiet library, especially in the morning. But now the groups of students are huddled around, eyes on screens, raucously commenting and enjoying their selfies/videos/games/instagrams/apps etc etc etc.

So. How to harness this? How to direct it? I have a couple of ideas brewing, but I thought I would put it out to the great brain. Any and all ideas appreciated.

“Pretend the window is a screen,” said poet Susan Blackaby at this morning’s #alsc14 session “The Poetry of Science.” People spend so much time with their eyes glued to their electronic devices that they’re liable to miss what’s going on in their environment. Imagine if people gave as much concentration to nature as they give to their computer screens. How many hawks would they see? What other wonders would they encounter?

Author Margarita Engle joined today’s panel, discussing how she uses both poetry and her science background to advocate for animal and environment conservation. As a child, Engle said, “No curiosity was too small for concentration.” She made the point that the phrase “the spirit of wonder” is applicable to both science and poetry. Because of this commonality, it’s possible to interest poetry loving kids in science phenomena and give science fans the chance to experiment with language.

Poet Janet Wong said that it’s easy–and vital–to create science literacy moments in the classroom and at the library. The key is to be bold. “Science and technology are accessible to people if they’re not afraid.” As gatekeepers of information, teachers and librarians should embrace the responsibility to expose kids to all subjects. Linking language and science may be a key way to make science more approachable. It doesn’t even have to be an elaborate lesson: just a few science literacy moments a week will have a lasting impact on children’s lives.

Check out these great resources:

Jill’s post about Thursday’s edition of “The Science of Poetry”

Presenter Sylvia Vardell’s Poetry for Children blog

Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong’s blog and book, The Poetry Friday Anthology.

Image from creative commons reuse search “post its” – source Hyper Island FB

As summer winds down some public librarians are feeling thankful and school librarians are gearing up.  I have spent a considerable amount of time planning my year (and realizing that some of those plans will get sidelined).  Each year for the past several school years, I have tried some new organizational methods, but have yet to find something with staying power that smooths transitions and helps me in my day to day life.

I was excited when earlier in the summer #readadv had a chat on this very subject. How do librarians get and stay organized?  What is working for other people?  The storify for this chat can be found here.

It was interesting because folks definitely seemed to use a variety of tools – demonstrating that no one method works for “all the things”.  Being of a certain age myself, I have to say that there is an appeal to some of the analog methods and I am more likely to remember something if I write it down on a post-it than if I type it into my google calendar.  Now, don’t get me wrong – I live off my google calendar for the majority of my in the moment time, but when in comes to actual planning, I need something more visual.

Enter bullet journal.  Some folks have been talking about this on twitter and in blog posts for a while, and this is the method I have decided to experiment with for my overall planning of the school year.  The beauty of this system for me is that it seems infinitely tweakable to allow for my own idiosyncrasies.  I can color code, add post-its (and stickers!), dog ear pages, and blend as much of my outside of school life as my teaching life as I see fit.

I will check back in with you all later to see if I can make this one stick!

How do you all keep your library lives organized?

If you are online at all, you have to be seeing posts about why we need diverse books as well as ways to diversify your own collection.  I have always considered myself a librarian who keeps her eyes open for new diverse titles, and tries to find ways to incorporate them into my work.  But when I faced facts, I realized that I could be doing more, so I am planning on making some curricular changes.

While I always make sure to book-talk titles with diverse characters and situations, I don’t always do the best job with the reading aloud (especially of chapter books for the younger set).  My next two read aloud chapter book read alouds feature characters of color, including Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix Up, and Ruby Lu Brave and True.

The second change I am making is incorporating a Coretta Scott King illustrator study into my curriculum.  I have always done a Caldecott study, which features some diversity to be sure, but I want to be more direct in the study and celebration of illustrators of color.

Diversity work and social justice work is very important to me personally and to my school as well.  I am looking forward to hearing what programs/curricular pieces/author studies you have in place or are planning.

Image from freefoto.com

I don’t know about you all, but the kids in my library are feeling SPRING FEVER!  There are quite a few ways to capitalize on this and harness it rather than just stare at in wonder.

One of the first things I like to do it take the kids outside.  Even though our school is firmly planted in an urban environment, right outside of our front door is a collection of city benches where I can bring the kids for independent reading or for a story time.  There is quite a bit of noise out there so I try to make sure any read aloud is short and boisterous.

A less weather dependent way of adding some spring to the library, is simply reading some books that are spring themed or related in some way.  Some of my favorites are:

Clementine and the Spring Trip, by Sara Pennypacker

The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown

and then it’s spring, by Julie Fogliano

In for Winter, Out for Spring, by Arnold Adoff

What are some of your favorite books to read aloud to welcome Spring?

Timing is everything – right?

It isn’t often that the exact book you need is published exactly when you need it! Many of us are engaged in providing all types of maker spaces and maker programs from low-tech legos to minecraft, coding, and 3-D printers. Even storytime crafts are maker activities for the very young.

These new books by Bob Pflugfelder make a terrific school age book club/maker program in one for grades 3-6 and appropriate for school or public libraries. They are unlikely to win awards for literary merit, but they could win an award for kid appeal on many levels.

Siblings Nick and Tesla use their wits and their uncle’s workshop to invent cool gadgets using readily available stuff to overcome problems and obstacles and to ultimately solve a mystery. My reluctant readers are fighting my avid readers for these books!

Nick and Tesla’s high-voltage danger lab : a mystery with electromagnets, burglar alarms, and other gadgets you can build yourself

Nick and Tesla’s robot army rampage : a mystery with hoverbots, bristlebots, and other robots you can build yourself

Build an adventure.

Sarah Abercrombie
School Age Programs and Services
[email protected]

At school we just had our professional development day and the overarching topic was student voice.  As a part of the planning committee I have been thinking on this topic for a long time, and have been figuring out ways to incorporate student voice more fully into the school library environment.

image search cc – megaphone from pixabay

I always ask my 4th graders to reflect at the end of the school year.  What are their favorite parts about library as a special? What do they like about the space and collection?  What would they change given the chance?  I love this practice, but it also isn’t so effective since it happens at the end of the school year.

I am now thinking of including my students more in the ordering process, as well as in the curricular planning.  Of course, we always take student requests during the year as we order, but I am thinking of more explicitly sitting down with the classes and talking about the collection.  I would tell them about the mission of the library and the school view of purpose, and see if we can come up with an order list that will fill the holes and satisfy the recreational readers as well.

Do your students have a voice in your libraries?  I’d love to know how and where you incorporate student voice.

One of the things that I miss the most about working in the public library is the programming.  I know, I know…when I was in the public libraries, programming could be overwhelming as I worked in large branches with loads of kids.  I took to twitter to muse about missing crafting, and got some suggestions from my PLN that morphed into our “Maker Mondays”.

For a variety of reasons, I decided to make this pretty much a passive program. Because of our active after school program, I decided to make it happen before school when there are usually quite a few kids hanging out.  Since I like crafting so much, that is the genesis of the idea of “making”.

I have chosen basic crafts to start (thank you pinterest!).  Our first week, we simply cut out paper snowflakes and wrote some hopes and wishes for the New Year on them to hang in the students’ windows.  The second craft (seen above) is a simple book mark using paint strips, construction paper, and ribbon.

So far we have had a variety of students ranging from 2nd graders to 7th graders take part.  The program takes minimal planning, and induces many smiles.  I’m so happy I tried it!