February 17, 2013

Sara Stevenson: School Librarian Crusader

School librarian Sara Stevenson in front of the White House.

Give Sara Stevenson a computer and a cause—and you’ll be glad she’s on your side. The school librarian at O. Henry Middle School in Austin, TX. is well-known in educational circles for her opinion pieces and letters to the editor—which appear in her local Austin American-Statesman, and nationally in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal)— succinct and well-sourced points that she hopes will give readers an educator’s point of view as they shape their own opinions about the educational reform movement.

DC Public Libraries Serve Up Books—and Lunch, Too

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Literacy isn’t the only thing Washington, DC, public libraries are offering kids this summer. They’re also serving up some lunch.
“We wanted to make sure they had a reason to come,” says Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for the District of Columbia. “Sometimes the kids will come for the lunch, and sometimes they come for the program.”

Baltimore Schools Receive $5 Million Library Upgrades

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Hundreds of K-8 students in Baltimore, MD, will return this fall to 12 new school libraries equipped with Nooks, computers, and even a reading spot for mom and dad, thanks to a $5 million, four-year grant from the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation.

Mr. Schu’s Road Trip: Via Tweet, Video Blog, and Pinterest

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“I love the idea of showing my students I’m a reader out in the wild,” says John Schumacher. The school library director at Brook Forest School in Oak Brook, IL, uses various means to document his annual road trip to the delight of his students, not to mention the greater social sphere.

Connecting the Plots: Figment is Turning Teenage Angst into Published Prose

Connecting the Plots: Figment is turning teenage angst into published prose

In this Article Using Figment in School Rory Schrobilgen isn’t sure if being a published writer is his life’s ambition. But for now, the 13-year-old is doing just that—posting short stories and novels on Figment.com, where his writings reach scads of readers far beyond his family and friends in Oak Park, IL. Schrobilgen joined the teen [...]

A Walmart Turned High-Tech Library, Ready for School

A Walmart Turned High-Tech Library, Ready for School

The new space and technology upgrade comes just in time to support the McAllen Independent School District as it rolls out a new digital curriculum.

Putting Tech into Teen Spaces

Putting Tech into Teen Spaces

Guidelines from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) address media literacy, low-cost options for serving kids.

Arizona Mandates Stiff Penalties for Schools, Public Libraries Without Filters

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Arizona’s public schools and libraries must filter all computers that are available to children or risk losing 10 percent of their state funding, according to a new law set to take effect August 1.

Study: Young People of All Races Are Politically Active Online

Study: Young People of All Races Are Politically Active Online

A large segment of today’s youth, regardless of race or ethnic group, now actively exercise their political muscle online, says a new study from the MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics.

Proposed ‘Digital Literacy Corps’ will not Usurp School Librarians’ Role, Explains FCC

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A nationwide plan described in the New York Times has sparked an angry response among school librarians. But tech trainers in the $200 million program will teach computer skills after hours and in public libraries–not in school or directly to students, according to the FCC and ALA.

Utah District Restricts Polacco’s ‘Our Mothers’ House’ in Elementary School Libraries

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The removal of Patricia Polacco’s picture book about lesbian moms has created a stir after a Utah school district recently pulled the title from general circulation in elementary school libraries.

Fledgling Publisher Budding Reader Distributes Ebooks—Free of Charge

In an unlikely value proposition for a publisher, the fledgling ebook shop Budding Reader strives to give away as many ebooks as possible.

BrainHive to Offer Schools Pay-As-You-Go Access to Ebooks

Having a hard time figuring out which ebooks to buy for your school library? A new rental service called BrainHive promises to solve the problem with a pay-as-you-go model for K-12 schools.

WV Fifth Grader Donates $10,000 Prize to School Library

Usually graduates receive gifts—but 11-year-old Darius Atefat-Peckham decided to give one instead. He donated the $10,000 he won this spring in the Letters About Literature national writing contest to his elementary school library.

Happi Papi Helps Educators Discover Apps

A program created by a consortium of developers to distribute apps free of charge is gaining traction with educators and app shops alike.

Ban on John Green’s ‘Looking for Alaska’ Sparks Anger

A Tennessee school district has banned John Green’s award-winning novel Looking for Alaska (Dutton, 2005) from the school curriculum.

Reading Challenge Nets WI School a $100K Library Makeover

Elementary schools in Racine, WI, were offered a tough challenge: read one million books during the 2011/2012 school year and win a $100,000 school library makeover.

Amazon Offers Harry Potter for Free Through Lending Library

Potter fans can download all seven books in the J.K. Rowling series starting June 19, following Amazon’s deal with Pottermore to make the titles available through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.