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I am a bit of an anomaly when it comes to being a school librarian.  I work with a team, I am in an independent school that does not participate in standardized testing, and common core is not a factor.  So many of the issues that face so many school librarians do not necessarily apply to me.

That said, even if I feel like a bit of spare peg, it is incredibly important to take part in the larger conversations happening in the field.  While attending the SLJ Leadership Summit in Austin in September, I was lucky enough to share a table with Elissa Malespina ( @SOMSlibrary ) and she told me about #tlchat (teacher librarian chat) on twitter.  #tlchat is a monthly chat filled with concerns of teacher librarians, and each month the topics are broad strokes like “Collaboration”, “Participatory Culture”, “Building Your PLN”.

I took part for the first time this past Monday during the collaboration chat.  Not only did I get a few new ideas, I also found inspiration.  Inspiration, as I have said before, is fuel for me.  Even though I work with a team in a progressive environment, it is pretty incredible to connect across geography with professional peers.

If you have never participated in a library related chat on twitter, I encourage you to do so.  Here is a list of chats that may help you find some inspiration!

• #readadv – Reader’s Advisory Chat
• #edtechchat – Educational Technology Chat
• #storyappchat – Chat about writers creating storybook apps for the iPad
• #titletalk – A chat about books and promoting reading and readers
• #pblitchat – A chat about picture books
• #alscchat – And of course the chat hosted by alsc members focusing on a variety of topics.

Please add any other chats you find valuable into the comments!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?  By all of the things?

Some of my stats.

• My current pile of “to read” titles on Goodreads sits at 138.  And as discussions on Heavy Medal heat up, the pile grows.
• My weekly classes number at 15.  We are a school that changes curriculum from year to year, so planning is ongoing and constant.
• The number of folks I follow on twitter comes in at 864.  The vast majority of them are educators/librarians/authors and I am very interested in what they have to say.
• If I can’t get to a professional conference, I try to follow the back channel.  Some of the hashtags I am following on top of twitter followers are #pen2013 #sljsummit #teacherlibrarian #readadv #edchat

This list doesn’t even include all of the weekly trolling I do to try to find edtech that matches my curriculum, the extra bits you chip in with when you are part of a school community, plus a leadership role with regard to PD.

Every now and again, as professionals, we need to sit back and weed some of the things. I’m not just talking about our collections either.  Weeding outdated books is easy compared to culling down the list of all of the things that we want to do.  How often do you take stock of “all of the things”?  What is necessary?  What can you let go of?  I often tell new librarians that it is important to be okay with the fact that it is impossible to do it all.  I just have to remember to practice what I preach!

Inspiration is found in isolation for some, but not for me.  I am actively seeking it!  Each summer I try to rework my curriculum, learn a new skill/technology, and read plenty of books to inform my readers advisory skills.  This summer, however, I am thinking big.

Big thinking ususally means big change.  I have learned over time that no matter how inspired I may be to make changes, it will take lots of time and effort to bring others along.  As a school librarian, my days are often dictated by the schedules of other people, teachers and administrators and what this means is that I need to be creative in implementing change.

Some of the big ideas I am thinking about have been inspired by other school librarians and movements that are afoot in the spheres of education.  From the reconfiguration of the library furniture (based on the reflections of our students) to the bigger idea of makerspaces, I am reconsidering the way that I do things.  The following are some of the links, sites and blog posts that have gotten my creative juices flowing, and I hope that they may inspire some of you as well!

Buffy Hamilton’s article plus links on makerspaces on her blog The Unquiet Librarian.

School Library Journal article, by Margaret Sullivan on Divine Design (April 1, 2011)

This blog post from Tania Sheko on the future of school libraries. (Brave New World blog)

Claire Moore’s ALSC Blog post on Kids Advisory Boards in the library.

I am wondering where you are finding inspiration these days!

I have been attending ALA meetings and conferences for many years now.  I have tried to be active in ALSC and have taken on different roles in different committees.  What Annual has often meant to me in the past was a whole lot of committee meetings.  Sure, I tried to get out onto the floor and talk with some publishers and discover new books, but the main thrust of my attendance was my committee.

This year, I looked at Annual through a new lens.

I was on the outgoing side of my Newbery tenure this year, and as such I have yet to commit to another committee!  Anaheim meant celebration for me.  But it also gave me an opportunity to look at my time at Annual in a different light.

Without hours of committee meetings, I was free to explore the sessions that were being offered.  And what happened because of that?  I left Anaheim feeling truly inspired.

Like Renee, I attended the session There’s An App for That.  Before listening to these knowledgeable folks, I looked at iPads as a student device that could be used in the library, but I hadn’t considered using mine for storytime!

I discovered new (free) resources that I am happy to bring back to my teachers and kids.

I also dove into the YALSA and ALSC joint President’s Program that looked into the “Digital Lives of Tweens“.  Not only did this session, enlighten me as to tween tech use in other parts of the country, it gave me a greater understanding about the lives and upbringing of today’s tweens.

And last but not least, there was the AASL President’s Program where Lori Takeuchi (Joan Gantz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop) shared the latest research on just how families and children are using technology in their everyday lives.  Again, the session was enlightening and inspiring.

I am going to continue using my new lens to look at Annual attendance.  I will make my schedule not only based on my committee meetings, but will be sure to make time to attend several of the sessions that are sure to leave me with a spring in my step and ideas for my program!

With the school year winding down and the summer reading season gearing up, it’s a good time to reflect on the partnership of public youth services librarians and school media specialists.  The recent cover story by Rebecca T. Miller and Laura Girmscheid’s, “It Takes Two,” in the May edition of School Library Journal offers up some food for thought, and I urge everyone to read it.

Many of the partnership ideas suggested in “It Takes Two,” are great ones, including “middle school booktalks, outreach to school groups, shuttle buses between schools and libraries, and age-appropriate book clubs.” Miller and Girmscheid also suggest the possibility of a purchasing collaboration, noting that “the results of SLJ’s first survey of public library spending habits on children’s and young adult services reveals a disturbing trend: only 30 percent of respondents say their library collaborates with local schools to coordinate book purchases to support the curriculum—leaving 70 percent that don’t.”

I’d be interested in hearing others’ thoughts on this.  Here are mine.

My library system has a centralized collections department, but that isn’t to say that individual branches do not have some say in the purchase of books.  Several times per year, I am offered the opportunity to submit purchasing or replacement requests.  Having a close connection with my community, I, of course, request books that I know will appeal to local children or will fulfill the need for commonly requested resource materials (e.g., Ancient Egypt, Colonial America) However, there is a definite difference between a public library and a public school library, particularly when it comes to the  library’s collection.  Personally, I believe that the school library’s mission should be to support the curriculum of the school and the education of its children.  To some degree, public libraries do this as well, but I believe that our main focus is to foster literacy and a love of reading and learning, and to provide appealing, inclusive, informative and desirable books, programs and materials, as well as a place to enjoy them.  This, I feel, is where our paths diverge.

Anecdotally, I can say that, over the years, to fulfill homework assignments, I have had children request lower elementary school level books on the brown trout, sea lettuce, Chinese stirrups,  Ancient Egyptian jewelry making, anchovies, and obscure local inventors. These materials (were they actually to exist) would not necessarily meet the collection development criteria of the public library.  With school and public library budgets shrinking, we definitely have ourselves a dilemma.  The school library often doesn’t have the needed books.  The students come to the public library, which may not have them either.

I am very fortunate to work in town where I have very close connections with the local school media specialists, as well as some teachers and school administrators. When I contact my district’s media specialists, to let them know of my inability to find age-appropriate reading material on some of the aforementioned topics, they commiserate. They in turn, contact the teachers from whom the requests originate. The teachers may also commiserate.  Their requests are often dictated by government requirements.

I’m not offering an opinion on the initiative,  but like it or not, the Common Core is coming. (Read USA Today article here)  Read more at the  Common Core State Standards Ini

So you’ve done the ground work.  You’ve talked to the teachers and convinced them that you can help them out.  They want to meet to plan out library time with you.  You have your curriculum, they have theirs.  The big question now, is how to compromise and make things work for everyone involved.

Typically in April, library classes for 3rd graders are made up of exploration of the 811s, talking about poetry formats, creating concrete poems and spine poems.  The teacher I am working with wants me to spend library classes teaching the students how to use edmodo.  Hmmm.

Why not use edmodo to explore poetry?

We are setting up the pages for the students and I am spending break figuring out ways to fit my curriculum into the new format.  One of the cool things about edmodo is that I can create assignments and polls, and making them poetry focused will bring my curriculum nicely into synch with the teacher’s curriculum of teaching the tech.

As with every new venture, I am expecting some bumps.  But with a firm collaboration in place, I trust that we will help each other make it work!

Am I a poet in the traditional sense? Nay. My expertise doesn’t stretch much beyond the “roses are red” variety. While I appreciate and am amazed by the poetically-minded, I have trouble pulling the stuff off myself. But book spine poetry is a different story.

The concept is simple – stack books using the titles on the spines to create a poem. The learning curve is low, the results are often awesome – it’s a natural fit for a National Poetry Month program for kids.

Inspired by artist Nina Katchadourian, book spine poems (or “centos”) have been my form of choice to celebrate National Poetry Month for the past two years. I’ve spread the word on my blog, 100 Scope Notes, and gathered the work of others to share.

With April fast approaching, I encourage you to give book spine poetry a shot with your young patrons. Here are my four steps to success:

1. Check out last year’s book spine poem gallery for inspiration.
2. In the library, start looking at titles to see what strikes you. Arrange and rearrange in your head. The best part of this type of poetry is that you don’t know where you’ll end up.
3. Have a pencil and paper with you to write down titles that stand out – you can refer back to them later, and it’s easier than pulling a whole bunch of books.
4. Don’t be afraid to use the library catalog to look up titles with specific words or phrases that fit.

If you try book spine poetry with kids, snap pictures and send them my way (scopenotes at gmail dot com). I’ll include them in a gallery up at 100 Scope Notes on April 2nd, and add to it throughout the entire month.

So let’s rock National Poetry Month with a poetic form that kids will take to.

I am the media specialist in an urban middle school, and I often have to ask myself, “How do I get/keep the kids’ attention long enough to teach them what they need to know?”  Sometimes the answer is make it short and sweet, or make it fun and memorable.  When teaching the Dewey Decimal System, my answer is get them to laugh with a catchy rap made just for the Dewey system!  Two years ago, I came across this YouTube video:

I couldn’t get the song out of my head!  So I decided if I couldn’t get it out of my head, then my students wouldn’t be able to either!  I immediately added it to my lesson on the Dewey system.  I start my lesson with a short introduction to the DDS, then introduce my students to the “best four minutes and fifteen seconds of their day” that they are about to have.  I let them watch the video, and by the end, they are laughing and singing along.  After that, I delve into my more in-depth PowerPoint about how and why we classify books in the DDS.  I end the lesson with a Dewey Scavenger Hunt, and you wouldn’t believe how many of the kids are singing the rap while they are completing their scavenger hunt!  Days and weeks pass, and the students are still found singing the rap in the library, the hallways, and even their classrooms!  They will come up to me and tell me that they shared the video with their entire family when they got home.  And one thing is for sure, none of my students EVER have to ask me where the shark books are!  As silly as it may be, The Dewey Decimal Rap hits home with kids that love music, rap, or just plain silliness!

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Our guest blogger today is Jill Schriner,  librarian at Portage Middle School in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Jill  can be contacted at [email protected]

If you’d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at [email protected].

When a school librarian hears the word “collaboration”, chances are s/he thinks about working with the teachers in his/her school.  I’d like to invite everyone to broaden this definition and widen it to include collaboration with your local public libraries and public librarians.

Having worked in public libraries, I remember how hard it sometimes was to get into the schools.  As a YA librarian, I remember phoning my local high school to no avail, and then on the advice of a more seasoned librarian, walking over to the school unannounced and planting myself in the office until I could speak with the vice-principal to try and get the ball rolling on a relationship between my library and the school.  (I was on that bench in the office for over an hour and a half)!  I never forgot that time.

As a school librarian, I make it a point to talk up our local public library to our teachers at every turn.  I keep abreast of the programs they offer, let teachers know of curricular matches, and help talk up their stellar children’s programming.

In the broadest possible curricular stroke, every school has a match with the library, since both school and library are part of the community.  Our first graders look to the public library as something that helps make a community, while our fourth graders are fascinated by the library’s role in the history of our city.  Our fourth graders went beyond their curriculum  after learning about the budget cuts our library was facing; they took to twitter to voice their displeasure about the situation.

Are you a librarian in a public library?  Have you successfully collaborated with your local schools?  Are you a school librarian?  Have you successfully collaborated with your local public library?  Please use the comments to share ideas and success stories!

Setting is an integral part to story, and creating bookmaps can help readers visualize a story, whether informational or fictional. Bookmapping: Lit Trips and Beyond (2011 International Society for Technology in Education) by Terence W. Cavanaugh and Jerome Burg is divided into 12 chapters, defining the concept of bookmapping and how it can enhance classroom instruction including collaborative and multi-disciplinary learning, as well as using existing bookmaps and creating one’s own. While bookmaps can be low-tech, this book focuses on ways to incorporate technology such as Google Earth. By the way, Burg is the founder of Google Lit Trips.

Bookmapping: Lit Trips and Beyond is geared toward classroom application although one could use the technology and activity in a public library setting. Have you used bookmapping? If so, how?

As I have been retooling my curriculum this summer I have fallen in love.  The subject of my affection is no other than wordle.  Wordle, if you don’t know, is a “a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide.” The overall effect is powerful, and I’ve been figuring out ways to use it in my library classes as well as ways to suggest its use to classroom teachers.  The following are some of the ideas that I’ve seen online and come up with myself!

Book recommendations

Students can write book recommendations as they have in past years.  But instead of posting a hand written “card” with their book blurb, they will create wordle recommendations either by copy and pasting their text, or listing character traits, plot points, genre and conflict.

Tall Tale Character Creation

Every year my second grade students study tall tales in depth.  At the end of the study, the students create their own tall tale character.  Instead of listing their traits and strengths, the students will create a wordle to post beside their illustration

Dewey Study

Our fourth graders take on Dewey in their final year of lower school.  They are responsible for learning the 10 main categories, and each year I ask them to choose their favorite category.  (Don’t laugh!  They have favorites, trust me!)  As a part of their favorite category explanation, they will create a wordle listing the sub-categories within.

As a colleague recently pointed out to me, images are powerful.  So are words.  Combining the two gives people pause, and can encourage deeper thinking on so many topics.

What would you do with wordle (or word clouds) with your students/patrons/kids?

Wordle taken from Drape's Takes

One of the things that I like best about being a school librarian is that every year is different. Just when I think I have the perfect curricular match, or an activity that hits it out of the park each and every time, changes occur. There could be new teachers coming in; curriculum might change; or as with this year, technology may need to work its way into my lessons in new ways across new platforms.

I am exploring ways to integrate i-Pads and Kindles into the upper elementary classrooms in ways that may developmental sense for 8 through 10 year olds. We all know that simply placing new devices in the classrooms is not going to help anything. As librarians, we are looking to provide classroom teachers with apps and activities that will enhance their curricula and add depth to student work.

This summer I am super grateful for social networking. Partly because it’s nice to not have to reinvent the wheel each time something new comes up, but also because so many folks are working on the same type of projects. Quick keyword searches on twitter and google led me to many resources that I can mine in order to tweak my curriculum for the 2011-2012 school year. Some of the resources that I have found particularly helpful are:

21st Century Educational Technology and Learning
This blog written by Michael Gorman is “devoted to educators intent on infusing technology and 21st century education into the classroom.”

Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero
David Kapuler provides what my profs in Library School used to call “quick and dirty” breakdowns of technology resources that are helpful in school and library environments.

I also follow the #edtech conversations on twitter whenever I get a chance.

All of these small steps help me fine tune my practice as a school librarian.

Are you a librarian who is changing practice to integrate technology into your classroom/library? Please take a moment to share the resources that you find helpful!

Many times, school librarians are on their own.  Few schools have multiple librarians working together in a physical space where they can bounce ideas off one another.   Between classes, shelving, processing, reference work and the many unforeseen situations that come with working with children, there is little time for changing up our curriculum.

But change is necessary.  Each school is different, each school year is different and most of us want to change up our classes.  This is why the creation of a virtual community is so important to the school librarian.  We often look to ALSC and beyond to inform our curriculum.

April means poetry in many schools, including the one where I work, and in the past few years, other librarians and bloggers have truly informed my curriculum.  Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes has written on this blog before about the Spine Poetry Project , and spine poetry quickly became part of my fourth grade curriculum that is here to stay.  The students love it, and every year someone who didn’t think of themselves as a poet, quickly changes his/her view!  Another online resource that informed my National Poetry Month is online magnetic poetry .  In the past, I created hard copy “magnetic” poetry kits for my students by simply building packets with the different parts of speech, packaging them up in a ziploc and letting the students go.  However, using the online version allowed my students to practice their touch-typing as well as skills they are learning in their technology classes.  A final resource that my teachers appreciate is the 30 Poets/30 Days feature each April at Gregory K’s Gotta Book blog.   Greg has a group of amazing poets present a previously unpublished poem on his blog each day in April.  This has led to students being inspired to write poetry daily either individually or as a class.

I am grateful for such a great online community of librarians, educators, and bloggers. They certainly help me keep my curriculum rich, varied and interesting.

I didn’t get a sudden inspiration to start doing a Mock Newbery.  I received an internship at St Joseph County Public Library under Kris Springer.  Kris is the Manager of Children’s Services and had run a Mock Newbery club for several years.  She was on the actual Newbery committee and used her knowledge and love of books to start her club.  Being a school librarian, I was fascinated.

After stealing all of Kris’ ideas, I went back to school/work (that’s what I call it) and badgered the Language Arts teachers into joining a Mock Newbery Club with me. I promised them they would be children’s lit gurus when the club was over.  Suckers.

I chose 12 books off the list of 76 I’d helped Kris compile for her student Mock Newbery Club.  The teachers had to read 2 or 3 books per month and fill out one of those Mock sheets before they came to the meeting.  I tell you, teachers can be boring! But, they quickly stopped thinking about how they could use the book for some sort of lesson and started to get into just bringing students some fun, awesome reads.  Conversations were heated and fast-paced.  We bought lots of new books for students including When The Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton.  We were able to Skype with Fran and she was fascinating.  We still use that book in 7^th Grade.

After volunteering in the Children’s Department another year, I decided I was finally ready to start my own student Mock Newbery Club.  Oh Boy!

I spent the summer helping Kris compile the most fantabulous list of books! We looked at starred reviews, big name authors, twitter, blogs, all those places where they talk books.  We argued, read, argued and read until we got that list down and picked the top 18 books for students to focus on.  Kris and I used most of the same books but I changed a couple of titles. Kris and I also started a blog which we modeled after the ACPL Mock Newbery.

I announced my student Mock Newbery club on our in-school news broadcast and told interested students to stop by and sign up in the library.  I’d set up a google form and had it bookmarked on library computers.  I ended up with over 20 students!! Our meeting dates were Friday mornings at 7:45AM!!! And they showed up! And they argued and we learned the difference between popular and distinguished and we had so much fun.  They were told to read at least 3 books a month and come prepared to discuss.  Our final two meetings were INTENSE! Our final book was The Cardturner by Louis Sachar.

I was able to get permission from teachers that students could be dismissed to watch the real Newbery award ceremony with me.  Unfortunately, our school system BLOCKED the broadcast but we could get on Facebook and Twitter! With continuous updates we found out that a book we had not read won The ALA Newbery.  We read and determinedly hated that book on principle alone.  Just kidding, sort of.

Anyway, I look forward to working with Kris again this year.  Who knows what I might be able to steal learn.

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Our guest blogger today is Kathy Burnette, a librarian from Discovery Middle School where she moderates The Brain Lair.

If you’d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at [email protected].

Looking into the none-too-distant horizon, I see that April (a.k.a. National Poetry Month) is fast approaching. Last year, inspired by artist Nina Katchadourian, I tried my hand at book spine poetry and came away convinced that this was just the sort of thing that kids would take to. I shared my experience on the ALSC Blog and encouraged others to try it with their students or young patrons and send me photos. I posted a gallery of student poems on my blog, 100 Scope Notes.

The results were a lovely sight to see:

How do you create your own? Here are my tips for kids and teens:

1.     Check out last year’s book spine poem gallery for inspiration.

2.     Once you’re in the library, start looking at titles to see what strikes you. Arrange and rearrange in your head. The best part of this type of poetry is the fact that you don’t know where you’ll end up.

3.     Have a pencil and paper with you to write down titles that stand out – you can go back to them later.

4.     Don’t be afraid to use the library catalog to search for titles with exact words or phrases that you want.

If you try book spine poetry with kids, snap pictures and send them my way (scopenotes at gmail dot com), and I’ll include them in a gallery of student work going up at 100 Scope Notes on April 1^st. I’ll add to it throughout the entire month

So let’s celebrate National Poetry Month in style, with a form of poetry that just about any kid can get into.

The new school year started, for us, just ten days ago.  I used the Library classes time to catch up with my 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students about their summer reads.

I put together two lists: New School Year — Summer Favorites featuring many series and books that 4/5 graders love and recommend for their peers, and 6th Grade Summer Reads, with the titles that 6th grade students shared with their friends during English/Library classes.

I also asked the 6th grade students to share their genre preferences and also the reasons why they liked these books so much.

Here are two charts to demonstrate their opinions:

* OTHERS: Nonfiction, Humorous Stories, Sports

The program below is one of many featured on ALA’s online clearinghouse for school/public library cooperation managed by the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation. Visit the clearinghouse to learn more or share your own exemplary partnership!

Title of Program: Bristlecone Storytelling Festival
Type of Program: Special Events
Age level: Elementary & Secondary
Description of Program: The Clark County School District storytelling festival is an exciting, voluntary program offered to fourth through sixth grade students in all elementary and middle schools. The students are taught storytelling skills that support the district English Language Arts/Reading curriculum. The Bristlecone Storytelling Festival Teacher’s Guide is a tool for librarians and teachers to use as they lead their students through the steps of the storytelling process. The teacher’s guide includes student activities, structure, strategies, and tips to enhance learning and to ensure a successful storytelling experience for all. Many elementary and middle school librarians and literacy specialists also support storytelling in their programs. Teachers schedule individual classroom festivals that provide their students the opportunity to practice the storytelling craft for an audience. Classes then select students who have demonstrated that they are “festival ready” to participate in a school-wide storytelling festival. Students who participate in the school’s storytelling festival then select two school representatives who will perform at a Region Storytelling Festival.

Contact Information:
Mary Nelson Brown
Youth Services Coordinator
833 Las Vegas Blvd. N.
Las Vegas, NV 89101
(702) 507-3596
brownm (at) lvccld.org

For the school librarian, April is a busy month!  Not only is Spring Break officially a thing of the past, but April ushers in all things poetry.  It is a month where the reference questions are bound to contain requests for obscure poems that teachers and students remember fondly, but cannot remember where they heard them in the first place! 

I enjoy steering students and teachers alike to new poetry.  We put new 811s on display and encourage the students to be thinking about all kinds of poetry.  One of the resources that I am so happy to steer folks to, is Gregory K’s 30 Poets in 30 Days project.  Now in its second year, Greg’s GottaBook blog hosts 30 published poets posting 30 previously unpublished poems.  In the classroom, this spins off into students trying to write a poem a day for the month and beyond!

Spread the love of poetry!

The program is one of many featured on ALA’s online clearinghouse for school/public library cooperation managed by the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation. Visit the clearinghouse to learn more or share your own exemplary partnership!

Title of Program: Bucket of Books
Type of Program: Book Collections/Kits
Age level: Elementary/Secondary (K-12)
Description of Program: In fall 2002 the Multnomah County Library School Corps debuted a new program for educators: Bucket of Books. Each bucket contains 24-30 books plus a teacher’s guide. The teacher’s guide includes an annotated list of age-appropriate Web sites on the topic, a pathfinder for doing research on the topic at Multnomah County Library, and instructions on how to obtain additional copies of the books. Some buckets also contain an Internet scavenger hunt for students. Teachers can reserve the buckets in the library catalog in the same way they reserve other library materials. Start up funding came from the Friends of the Library. URL: www.multcolib.org/schoolcorps/bucket.html

Contact Information:
Jackie Partch
School Corps Team Leader
Multnomah County Library
205 NE Russell, Portland, OR 97212
503.988.6004
[email protected]

My palms get sweaty.  I’m nervous.  I feel a little anxious.  There’s some tingling in my fingertips.  I feel like I’m falling in love.  And the video below is the reason.  You may have seen it; it’s making the rounds on various literacy and children’s literature blogs these days.   But in case you haven’t, here it is.

Gotta Keep Reading

See?  Do you feel like you’re falling in love too?  When I first saw this last week, it made me want to leap out of my chair, run into the streets and change the world.  Cheesy?  Yes, but actually true.   Even now, watching it again, I feel a thrill.   Hundreds of kids are dancing, singing about reading with books in their hands!

Did you catch the copies of The Giver, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Kingdom Keepers II?  There was even a book exposing the library check-out card and pocket!  Did you catch that very happy, smiling teacher around minute 2:36?  And the cool kid who’s clearly got rhythm at 3:55?

This group of school kids pumping their book-filled fists in the air reminded me of the energy and spirit that drew me into a career as a librarian in the first place.  Today, I’m in love with being a librarian.

Kelley Beeson                                                                                                                             Children and Technology Committee, member

The program below is one of many featured on ALA’s online clearinghouse for school/public library cooperation managed by the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation. Visit the clearinghouse to learn more or share your own exemplary partnership!

Title of Program: Books and Brunch
Type of Program: Special Events
Age level: Adult
Description of Program: We have a program each fall for school librarians and teachers called “Books and Brunch.” We highlight library services and materials that will help teachers in the classroom and school librarians. In the past, we have brought in authors to speak about their books and how to use them in the classroom. We also give practical information about booktalking, displays, database instruction and other information teachers can use. We have arranged with some of the schools for librarians and teachers to get inservice credit for attending this program. The library funds this program.

Contact Information:

Deborah L. Dubois
Outreach Librarian
Mansfield/Richland County (OH) Public Library
[email protected]

 I know first-hand that the last thing any public librarian wants to think about during the craziness of Summer Reading programs is planning the next big thing, but according to YA consultant Tasha Squires, now is precisely the time to start thinking about any collaborations you may wish to have with your School Library counterparts.    Her new book, Library Partnerships: Making Connections Between School and Public Libraries lays out the basics for starting and maintaining successful endeavors between Public Librarians and School Library Media Specialists. 

The author includes parallel advice for School Library Media Specialists alongside advice for Public Librarians.  While it may seem more convenient for the book to be arranged in two parts:  one for public libraries and one for schools, integrating these two perspectives adds value to the work.  Squires gives public librarians a view of the obstacles that school librarians face and vice versa. 

Squires’ coverage is thorough – from reminders that not everyone checks their email on daily (or weekly) basis to making sure that your supervisors are on board with your partnership projects before you make a commitment.  While some of these pointers seem obvious, Squires was wise to include them because in the excitement of starting a new collaborative relationship, details can sometimes be forgotten.  She also offers a broad spectrum of general advice on topics such as resource-sharing, school/library visits, and a valuable chapter on technology-based partnerships.    Real-life examples are provided throughout, and chapters on maintaining and ending partnerships provide insight on issues that aren’t usually considered during the initiation of a partnership. 

No matter what stage of collaboration you are in, Library Partnerships provides guidance in an organized manner and includes a thorough index and a recommended reading list.

Library Partnerships: Making connections between School and Public Libraries.  Tasha Squires.  Medford, N.J. : Information Today, Inc., c2009.  ISBN 9781573873628.

Summer reading lists have been distributed. The shelves have been read. The inventory is almost done. “You’re so lucky!” I hear from colleagues who like the sound of having July and August “off”.

So what happens to a school librarian in the summer time?

Summer is the time to plan, research and tweak the library program. Being part of an independent school is at times liberating, and at other times librarians can feel like the only one on an island. My curriculum is mine alone, and I am responsible for updating, integrating and keeping it alive.

This summer I will be revamping the entire thing: adding new and exciting titles to read aloud, finding ways to integrate research lessons into the social studies curriculum, designing Dewey Decimal playground games, writing thematic booklists for distribution to parents, designing a blogging program for our 4th graders.

How are you changing your curriculum this summer?

by Kimberly McCloud, M.Ed.

1. Research the company you are applying to. I read my husband’s subscriptions of Money, Kiplinger’s, Smart Money, etc. to look for companies that have a strong financial portfolio and have a philosophy about their grant foundations that meet the needs of the grant I am applying for. I then read up on as much information as I can about the company.
2. Be focused on what you truly want. Give the grant your total commitment when writing it. Your passion for your proposal and your students will come through.
3. Follow all directions on the grant form. Some corporations will ask you to send an inquiry letter before applying. Also, they may request a certain font size or limit your application to one or two pages. Whatever they ask for, be sure to do it! They will immediately disqualify you if you can’t follow their directions when applying.
4. Give yourself plenty of time to apply. Write rough drafts before filling out application forms. Give yourself time to think and re-think your proposal. I write each grant proposal several times before I send in the one I’m satisfied with.
5. Carefully proofread and don’t leave any spaces blank.
6. Don’t be afraid to apply! Grants are much easier to apply for than you think! I cannot stress this enough to people. You will be amazed with the results if you only try!
7. The more grants you apply for, the easier the process becomes. I started writing proposals for small amounts and then increased the monetary value of the grants I was applying for as I gained confidence in my grant writing abilities.
8. Consider writing grants not only for your own classroom, but also for your grade level and school. It’s a wonderful feeling to know you have helped as many children as possible with the funds from a grant.
9. Be sure to write a thank you letter to the companies that give you grants. Have your children write letters to thank them as well. Companies love to hear how much their donations mean to the teacher and students.
10. Some companies will ask for your school’s tax exempt 501(3)(c) status and Federal Tax Identification number. This is easy to get from your school secretary or principal. Be sure to include this information if the company asks for it.
11. Be sure to look for grant opportunities from companies in your own community. You will be surprised how many companies have grant opportunities but don’t advertise it. Don’t be afraid to call and ask!
12. Consider joining a grant writing mail ring or website. I belong to the Teachers.Net (http://teachers.net/) grant writing mail ring, which gives me an opportunity to chat with educators about their grant writing successes and tips. There are also many grant writing websites you can subscribe to for a fee that list private and public grants available, which saves a lot of time researching grant opportunities. I am currently a member of SchoolFundingCenter.com (http://schoolfundingcenter.info). I was given this subscription by its owner, Don Peek, who contacted me after reading about my successes on Teachers.Net.

Feel free to contact me if I can help you with applying for grants. It’s incredible to see how they enrich and enhance the learning process for your students. It is well worth your time and energy.

Kim McCloud
[email protected]

*****
Thanks to Kim McCloud for permission to post this information. Kim McCloud is a first grade teacher in Tumwater, Washington, who has written and been awarded 11 grants in the last two years.

Thanks to Barbara Jean Hicks for providing the information to ALSC Blog in the first place.

Friends and colleagues look at me like I’m mad when I tell them that I spent 12 hours overnight in the library with a bunch of 4th grade boys on Friday. “The Library Sleepover”, as it has been dubbed, morphed out of an 8th grade right-of-passage into a fundraiser for our school.

Like many independent schools, the one where I work has an auction to help with fundraising. Many of the faculty donate their time to auction items, and the librarians are no exception. The Middle School Librarian, the Middle School Math Teacher, and I (Lower School Librarian) auction off a night of fun and games in the library. We have made it work for various ages and genders - ranging from 7th grade girls, to 3rd grade boys and girls, to this year’s 4th grade boys.

The parents drop the students off at school at 7p.m. on Friday. They haul their sleeping bags and pillows into our library, and head to the auditorium for pizza. From there they move onto a library scavengar hunt where they use all kinds of resources along with their library skills in a race to the finish scavengar hunt. This is very easy to tailor to the age of the students. Then comes the games section. The youngest students partake in games like “Fishy, Fishy in the Sea” and relay races, and the older students play H.O.R.S.E. or have a mini dance. Following a refreshment break, the craft portion begins. Some ideas we have used for this are mini photo albums, beading, making flubber, lanyards, and decorating t-shirts. Then it’s back into the library and into pjs for a movie. Lights out comes in around midnight, with various degrees of giggles depending on the age of the students. Caregivers arrive at 7 a.m. to take the students home!

I have to say, while on the surface “The Library Sleepover” seems daunting, it is an amazingly fun experience. We get to know our students on a completely different level, and put the library in a bit of a different light. Follow these links for more information on various forms of library sleepovers, or library lockdowns.

Camp Library
San Antonio Public Library Sleepover