Tech Teen Week - 2010

The American Library Association (ALA) and its Young Adult Library Services Association division sponsors an annual Teen Tech Week. This year, the official spokesperson is Tom Kenny, known for the voice of SpongeBob Squarepants and the theme is Learn, Create, Share @ your Library. Public Service Announcements are available for download. For more information on Teen Tech Week, please visit www.ala.org/teentechweek, or contact Macey Morales, ALA Media Relations Manager, (312) 280-4393, mmorales@ala.org or Jennifer Petersen, ALA PR Coordinator, (312) 280-4393, jpetersen@ala.org.

School Library Advocacy in Action

"School Library Advocacy in Action" is the title of Teacher Librarian Tom Kahn's post, after he spent a day at California State University East Bay campus, promoting the importance of strong school libraries in increasing student academic achievement. Hundreds of middle and high school students attended a morning "education summit" to learn more about how and why to successfully go on to college. All got 2 handouts:

• "Haves, Halves, and Have-Nots: School Libraries and Student Achievement" by Dr. Doug Achterman
• CSLA "Best Sellers" Campaign for Strong School Libraries.
  

In addition to California School Library Association's table, each northern California CSU and many community colleges staffed a table. Another organization there was Project SOAR, a program funded by the U.S. Department of Education GEAR-UP initiative. GEAR-UP programs provide after school programs for at-risk middle school and high school students. GEAR-UP programs all SHOULD have school library/research skill components, but most overlook the obvious. CSLA should be able to collaborate and upgrade grant requests.

Gotta Keep Reading - A Music Video

A "tweet" from Joyce Valenza alerted me to this 12/11/09 music video from Ocoee Middle School (FL) on Teacher Tube. Apparently, the school hired a professional singer to write and sing lyrics related to reading and literacy to encourage kids to prepare and read for the FCAT test. The music video, "Keep Reading" includes full student participation. Music is based on song by The Black-Eyed Peas. It is awesome!



See also on Vimeo. What is also very cool is all the "response" videos by kids everywhere....posted to YouTube.

ART in the ALA Exhibits?

Heard on an ALA LinkedIn discussion started by Rick White on "Trade Show Giveaways" that there is a possibility of an art exhibit at ALA conference. I'm always on the lookout for book art. See gifts for book lovers.

Here's my suggestion for another art-related idea for ALA Conference: Have an art contest and promote it to college and university art departments so a crop of creative students can submit their work for a large, national audience of librarians and friends. I'm taking a graphic design course now (an introductory course) and will be learning how to design logos. Next semester, we will be designing posters. Why not get commercial art teachers to assign or give extra credit for entering the ALA Annual Art contest? After all, librarians love illustrators too!

There could be a number of categories of library art, with a new theme each year. I'm sure art librarians and ALA's graphic art team could have fun creating this new program. Library signage would be a good category. Just the words "Library" and "READ" would be fine design themes. Lots to think about. Lots of possibilities beyond poster contests like Dr. Lesley Farmer's annual California School Library Association's @YourLibrary contest for kids.

I'd welcome postcards or posters of ALA award-winning art. Better yet, how about ALA members being able to use the award-winning art in digital format for local or state-level library advocacy, thus providing more visibility for the artist and libraries. Seems like a win-win.

Advocate for Authors, too!

Heard on the California School Library Association listserv: One way to find suggestions for books similar to the one you just read is by going to Literature Map: the tourist map of literature and typing in an author's name. What you get is a bunch of other authors scattered around on the page, with the most similar ones closest to the center. This works well with some, but not all authors. Still, it is kind of fun and a different way to look at authors -- show your friends, students. See if your favorite author is "on the map"and, if they are not yet on the map, recommend them!!! Librarians and book lovers are ideal contributors to Marek Gibney's Literature Map.

The new issue of Booklist was sitting next to my netbook, so I experimented with a few authors including Alexander Smith (Yippee! He has another book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series).

When I entered a new or lesser-known author such as Kathy Carmichael, author of "Diary of a Confessions Queen" (a Booklist starred review), the following message appears:

Kathy Carmichael has not found a place on the map yet.

Do you like Kathy Carmichael? If so, please click here and tell Gnod what else you like. So we can put Kathy Carmichael on the map as fast as possible.

Ventura High School Library - Marathon Fundraiser

Ventura High School Teacher Librarian Susan Adamich has announced that she is "taking steps (literally!) to raise support and awareness for our school libraries. I am working now to be proactive in raising funding for the school library so that any future reductions in the budget will not be a fatal blow to the school libraries or librarians in the Ventura Unified School District....On March 21, 2010, I will walk in my 8th Los Angeles Marathon. I am asking you to consider a donation of $26.20 to the Ventura High School library for the 26.2 miles I will be walking."

"Please share this with your network of friends and family who value school libraries and would be willing to give their support. We need people who believe in the worth of school libraries! Especially in Ventura, with the closure of our most popular branch of the public library, the school libraries are even more important to our students."

Susan goes on to say in her letter to parents, "This year I am beginning on a small scale and fundraising for my own school; but I am already thinking of next year and walking the marathon to raise support for ALL of our K-12 school libraries in the Ventura Unified School District. Maybe you would like to consider walking or running the LA Marathon and joining me in some school library fundraising?"

Training on March 22! Hope Susan will keep her supporters posted via a blog or "tweets". Best wishes!

This Book is Overdue! - by Marilyn Johnson

My friend gave me a new book:"This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can SAVE US ALL" by Marilyn Johnson, published by Harper Collins. Check it out! It is a collection of stories about librarians (mostly public librarians) doing all sorts of wild and crazy ... and important things. Image on cover is of an old-time style Wonder Woman leaping into action to save the day... holding a digital device (size of an Apple iPad).

Wonder how many other librarians were given this book? Or how many will re-gift to members of their library boards and commissions? February is "Library Lovers Month", a good reason to give this book to your favorite librarian or library advocate!

See als0 3/11/10 review by National Public Radio: "How Librarians Can Save The World".

Let the Games Begin -- Librarian @ the Olympics

This librarian is covering the 2010 Winter Olympics. The games last about three weeks, so most of the time comments will be from "afar", not actually on site in Canada. What will be covered? Recommended reading? Olympics-related science lesson plans? News on Wylee, the Squaw Valley avalanche rescue dog? Library connections? All of the above and more. If you know of any good books that are based in Vancouver or Whistler, let me know. For fun, follow Winter Olympics.

VOTE 4 BEST SLOGAN - Support School Libraries

Redwood High School Teacher Librarian Tom Kahn has done it again. He has set up a way for California school library advocates to vote for their favorite button slogan. He used Google spreadsheet and listed almost 100 choices (see below). Missing slogans include the 3 key messages of the California School Library Association's Campaign for Strong School Libraries:

• Students deserve equitable access to school library resources.
• Library standards provide blueprints for strong school libraries.
• Strong school libraries build strong students, who are life-long learners.

Choose up to three slogans from the following list *

• Save a Library = SAVE A LIFE
• Librarians always go by the book
• Librarians know how to check it out
• Librarians do it silently.
• Question authority. Ask a librarian.
• Libraries = Information Literacy
• School Libraries Combat Plagiarism
• School Libraries Foster Literacy
• School Libraries WORK!
• School Libraries = Good Citizens, Critical Thinkers, Life-Long Learners, Effective Communicators
• School Libraries = Good Citizens
• School Libraries = Critical Thinkers
• School Libraries = Life-Long Learners
• School Libraries = Effective Communicators
• School Libraries Make Connections
• Every student succeeds @ the library
• No use going to class unless you go to the library-- Ray Bradbury
• Equity@your school library!
• School Librarians narrow the achievement gap
• Information Literate@your school library
• Reading Saves Lives -- Save your school library!
• School Libraries Work 24/7
• Don't UnDewey our Kids--Save School Libraries!
• Don't UnDewey our Kids--Keep School Librarians.
• Cut School Libraries = Intellectual Famine
• Love Your Library
• Love Your Librarian
• Librarians Create Readers
• Teacher + Counselor + Books = Librarian
• A Library is not a Warehouse
• Support Literacy, Support Your Library
• Librarians: Planting the Seeds of Literacy
• Librarians Work!
• I love school libraries....and I vote!
• Information, Communication, Technology = School Librarian
• The Library's Legacy: ACHIEVEMENT
• Save Our students, staff and stock the library
• Libraries + librarians = literacy!!
• Libraries: the people's university
• My good looks = my parents; My quest for knowledge=Teacher Librarian
• Good looks=parents; Knowledge=School Librarian
• Who's YOUR Teacher Librarian? *******
• Who's YOUR School Librarian? *******
• Hitch my library to a rising STAR score
• School Librarians: an Endangered Species
• My [or Your] child deserves a school library
• Equal Access: School Libraries
• Cross the Digital Divide @ the School Library
• Improve Literacy; Fund School Libraries
• School Librarians: Information Access Specialists
• Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries
• Librarians or Prisons? You choose
• Spend more on librarians than prisons
• Library Lovers Unite!
• Support your school library---it's long overdue
• Got libraries?
• [heart] Your School Library
• I [heart] My School Library
• Don't shelve your teacher librarian....
• Vote with your feet: Go to the library
• Renew: school library funding
• Remain a literate society: thank your librarian
• Archive Arnold
• California 2010. Fahrenheit 451?
• A book in time saves AYP
• Dis the digital divide: visit your library
• Read across America (and California)
• Librarians: Who you gonna call? CAHSEE busters!
• Call me CAHSEE, but I see a library in your future.
• Friend a school librarian
• Books: the original tweet!
• Remember: the book is always better
• Book Potatoes score high, Couch potatoes live virtual lives.
• Words rule! Learn one today.
• Librarians support lifelong learning. Live a little!
• Your school librarian teaches EVERY student
• School librarians teach EVERY student
• School librarians open doors to infinite knowledge
• School librarians open the doors to infinite learning
• Students count on their school librarian year after year
• School librarians are more than teachers
• School librarians are teachers too
• School librarians hold keys to the doors of knowledge.
• School librarians foster literacy and learning. Keep them in our schools.
• School librarians teach EVERY student
• Read. Think. Grow. Fund School Libraries.
• Save California School Libraries
• Prisons or Libraries- you choose!
• Libraries Lead Learning
• "When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself." --Isaac Asimov
• Teacher Librarians help students make connections
• Don't discard our libraries!
• iRead - Available @ Your Library!
• Other:

Chiles - Children & Libraries in Espanol

Learned about the CHILES website developed by UCLA Library School graduate Amanda Sharpe for childrens librarians who work with Spanish-speaking children. Love the name, CHILES, which stands for Children & Libraries in Espanol: a site dedicated to providing resources, ideas, and support to non-Spanish-speaking children's librarians who serve Spanish-speaking children.

The site should be particularly popular in California and the Southwest. There is a discussion forum, including a discussion seeking input from school librarians.

Read for the Record - Jumpstart

Jumpstart has announced its annual "Read for the Record" contest. The idea is for individuals to vote for their favorite of four classic books. This year, the books are:

• Blueberries for Sal
• Make Way for Ducklings
• Peter's Chair
• The Snowy Day
  

The winning book title will be announced on March 2 via text message. [Humm... to get a text message, you'd have to give your wireless phone number rather than the more common e-mail option.] The Pearson Foundation will donate $1 for each vote, up to a maximum of $200,000. Funds go to a Jumpstart scholarship program. Deadline is February 28, 2010.

According to the website, in 2006 Jumpstart introduced its "international campaign to bring preschool children together with valued grownups in their lives to read the same book, on the same day, in communities all over the world - all to raise awareness about the crisis in early literacy."

LIBRARY - Poem by Carole Koneff

LIBRARY (Sung to the tune of “Agony” from Into the Woods by Sondheim)

Retold by Carole Koneff – May, 2009, Los Angeles, CA

There is a person who’s quietly at the circulation desk

A brilliant librarian eagerly waiting to do their best

LIBRARY

It’s a place full of books

You can read there all day

There is so much to learn

And it’s full of great nooks

LIBRARY

It’s a place you can read

You can search for a book

The computers are free

And find just what you need

Finding a book that’s just right for you, you only need ask

The librarian will help you find what you need they are up to the task

LIBRARY

You can lose yourself there

You get lost in a book

Become one with the page

In a nice comfy chair

It is important that jobs are secured to help people to read

Librarians with know how are crucial to seeing that they can succeed

LIBRARY

Please stop making these cuts

It’s important to read

To be who you believe

And it hurts in our guts

LIBRARY

We will fight to the death

To keep funding alive

And the doors open wide

With our very last breath

Black Armbands and Buttons in Support of School Libraries

There has been a lot of discussion online about wearing black arm bands and making buttons to get the word out in our communities about how school libraries are getting slashed by budget cuts and students are the ones getting hurt. Marin Teacher Librarian Tom Kahn has the right idea: He has a school blog read by students, teachers, and parents. So, he wrote a short but effective post on "Do Educators Need a Tea Party?" and included a close-up photo of an "I Love My Library" button tied around an arm of a suit jacket with a black arm band.

Read Across America -- Start Planning!

Anaheim Union High School District (CA) high school teacher librarian Heather Gruenthal says, "It's time to start thinking about Read Across America Week -- first week in March! This is a great event to get good publicity. Here's my page of ideas from our District. Also, Kohl's Cares for Kids program is offering Dr Seuss Books and Plush for $5 each. Titles include: The Lorax, If I Ran the Circus, the Foot Book, and Oh, The Things You Can Think."

NEA now has a "Read Across America" Facebook page. Check it out.

If you are crazy for everything Seuss, check out the Dr. Seuss sculpture garden and Seussville catalog.