September 18, 2013

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All Aboard!: Implementing Common Core offers school librarians an opportunity to take the lead.

By on March 16, 2012

By Rebecca Hill, 3/30/2012

OK, so school librarians weren’t invited to the party. When members of the National Educational Association, the National Council for Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, and the American Federation of Teachers met in 2010 to draft new benchmarks for language arts and literacy for our nation’s K–12 schools—the Common Core Curriculum State Standards (www.corestandards.org)—there weren’t any media specialists at the table. Even though school librarians have [...]

Filed Under: Common Core

Fuel for Your Fire: Good data offers a reality check that’s invaluable for building libraries

By on March 5, 2012

By Rebecca T. Miller

Following a longstanding tradition, our March editorial brings readers the list of average book prices* . These numbers continue to be a critical piece in the growing data puzzle that we must solve as we plan for the future. Developed by Albert Greco, a professor at Fordham’s Graduate School of Business and senior researcher at the Institute for Publishing Research, the figures provide a key perspective as [...]

Filed Under: Industry News

Best Books 2011: Nonfiction

By on November 28, 2011

Mark Tuchman, 11/30/2011

ADOFF, Arnold. Roots and Blues: A Celebration . illus. by R. Gregory Christie. Clarion. RTE $17.99. ISBN 978-0-547-23554-7. Gr 5 Up–This aptly named collection honors the tradition of blues music and its foundation in African-American history. The rhythmic poems take readers on a melodious journey from a slave ship in “Chained” to a Chicago train station in “Muddy Waters Steps Down.” The accompanying vibrant paintings are in turn [...]

Filed Under: Reviews

Ten Years After: Interview with Don Brown

By on September 7, 2011
donbrown(Original Import)

By Rocco Staino,2011-09-07 11:37:29

SLJ talks to author-illustrator Don Brown about America Is Under Attack (Roaring Brook, 2011), one of the few new titles for young readers that deals with the September 11 tragedy.

In conjunction with the book’s release, Roaring Brook also has created an online discussion guide to assist parents, teachers, and librarians in presenting the events of that day to young people.

Were you a little nervous about taking on a subject like September 11?
I was reluctant to tackle the [...]

Filed Under: SLJ Blog Network

Something to Shout About: New research shows that more librarians means higher reading scores

By on September 1, 2011

By Keith Curry Lance and Linda Hofschire

Librarian Marie Slim knew the cuts were coming. She just didn’t know they’d be this bad. For nearly 10 years, there had been a certified media specialist—and a full-time paraprofessional—at each of the six high schools in her California school district.

Then things slowly began to change.

In 2009, the district got rid of four librarians, leaving Slim and another media specialist to serve the six high schools. [...]

Filed Under: Industry News

U.S. Students Rank 32 in Math Proficiency, 17 in Reading, Study Says

By on August 23, 2011

By SLJ Staff, 8/23/2011

Our nation’s graduating high school class of 2011 had a 32 percent proficiency rate in math and a 31 percent proficiency rate in reading, leaving many to question whether schools are adequately preparing students for the 21st century global economy, says a new report. U.S. students fall behind 31 countries in math proficiency and behind 16 countries in reading proficiency, according to the recent study, “Globally Challenged: Are U.S. Students Ready to Compete?” by Harvard’s Program on [...]

Filed Under: Students

Not Fade Away: Ten years after 9/11, how do you teach kids about a tragedy they can’t remember?

By on August 1, 2011
SLJ1108w_FT_911c(Original Import)

By Frances Jacobson Harris

September 11, 2001, wasn’t a normal day for most of us. The students at my Illinois high school packed into the library to watch the nonstop news coverage. Those in computer-lab classes kept trying their luck with CNN’s much-overburdened website. Administrators cruised the halls, looking for kids with relatives who worked at or near ground zero or the Pentagon or who were just too upset to [...]

Filed Under: SLJ Archives Tagged With:

Straight to the source: Here are a few 9/11 resources to help you get started…

By on July 26, 2011

America Responds
PBS created this website immediately following the 9/11 attacks and now maintains it as an archive of related resources, analysis, and discussion. The site also offers very useful links to PBS content on a wide variety of 9/11 topics and themes. Users will find episodes of Frontline and other TV programs, relevant transcripts from Washington Week, first-person accounts, resources for parents, and lesson plans for teachers.

Newseum: “Today’s Front Pages”
On its website, the [...]

Filed Under: SLJ Archives

Comic Relief: Thirty-nine graphic novels that kids can’t resist

By on July 1, 2011

By Brigid Alverson, Robin Brenner, Kate Dacey, Esther Keller, Scott Robins, Eva Volin, and Snow Wildsmith, 7/1/2011

Welcome to those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. And what better way for kids to while away the hours than with comics? Let’s face it, comics are flat-out fun, and with their fabulous stories, colorful characters, and wacky humor, even reluctant readers find them tough to resist.

In recent years, comics have become bigger than ever. Now, well-established publishers [...]

Filed Under: Collection Development, Graphic Novel Reviews

Are Ebooks Any Good?

By on June 7, 2011

By Lisa Guernsey, 6/7/2011

Do digital books help young kids learn to read,or are they mostly fun and games?

Illustration by Ken Orvidas

In this Article

The young reader

School libraries: Ready to adopt?

What’s an ebook anyway?

Help or hindrance?

Bigger collections, easier access

When Julie Hume, a reading specialist in University City, MO, first saw the potential of a children’s ebook, it was larger than life. The book was projected on a smartboard at the front of a [...]

Filed Under: Ebooks

The Best Animation Tools, from CrazyTalk and Toon Boom to Free Web Apps

By on May 10, 2011

Thanks to some new, easy-to-use tools, kids of almost any age can create their own animated films

By Jennifer Stern and Joyce Kasman Valenza

Move over, Shrek. Step aside, Toy Story. Ditto, Kung Fu Panda. Thanks to a slew of new, easy-to-use animation tools, you don’t have to work at Pixar or DreamWorks to create a summer blockbuster. In fact, it’s now a snap for young storytellers to learn the ABC’s of animation. And that’s [...]

Filed Under: Tech Review

‘And Tango Makes Three’ Tops Most Challenged List, Again

By on April 12, 2011

By SLJ Staff

And Tango Makes Three (2005), the true story of two male penguins who hatch and parent a baby chick at New York’s Central Park Zoo, tops the list of the most frequently challenged books of 2010, according to the American Library Association’s (ALA) State of America’s Libraries Report, which documents challenges and trends in library usage.

The picture book by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell has appeared on ALA’s Top Ten List of the Most Frequently Challenged Books for [...]

Filed Under: censorship, Collection Development

Divine Design: How to create the 21st-century school library of your dreams

By on March 11, 2011

By Margaret Sullivan, 4/1/2011

Things are changing. For starters, ebooks, apps, and the web are now a part of your students’ daily lives. So how do you determine the best way to turn your library space into a learning center that’s right for today’s rapidly changing digital world? Take it from me, a longtime designer of school libraries, it’s not easy.

Things are looking up at P.S. 189, in Manhattan’s Washington Heights, where a flockof [...]

Filed Under: Buildings & Design

Cool Tools: Create your own learning games for free

By on January 11, 2011

A quick web search for “educational games” or a variation thereof will yield thousands of results. Some of those games might suit your students’ needs, but you could end up with nothing. So rather than spending hours searching for a great learning activity, why not create your own game? Better yet, have students help devise one that they can play with their classmates.

Designing and building games used to [...]

Filed Under: Cool Tools, Reviews, Technology

Hang in There: How to get a library job against all odds

By on January 3, 2011

By Lisa Von Drasek, 1/31/2011, Illustration by Victor Juhasz

Cash-strapped school districts? Shrinking budgets? School library positions under the ax? It’s enough to make a resourceful media specialist wonder whether she’ll still have a job at the end of the school year or will need to find a new one. And it’s not just experienced media specialists who are anxious.

A teacher completing her MLS recently wrote on LM_NET that she was worried about getting a job [...]

Filed Under: Careers

Immigration: Coming to America

By on December 31, 2010

By Phyllis Levy Mandell, 12/31/2010

Give me your tired, your poor…

But not too tired, not too poor.

And we will give you the red tape,

the long line, white bread in its wrapper,

forms to fill out, and the looks, the stares

that say you are not where or what you should be,

not quite, not yet, you will never live up to us.

—from “Statue of Liberty Dreams of Emma Lazarus, Awakens with Tears on Her Cheeks” [...]

Filed Under: Collection Development

Summer Reading Programs Boost Student Achievement, Study Says

By on November 1, 2010

By Carole Fiore and Susan Roman

“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” When George Gershwin composed that song, he couldn’t have been thinking of our nation’s public libraries. For those of us who work in children’s departments, summer is the prime season for reading programs and the livin’ is anything but easy. In fact, more kids partake in public library summer reading programs than play Little League baseball. But unlike a ball game in [...]

Filed Under: Students

Anderson’s Speak Under Attack, Again

By on October 13, 2010

By Rocco Staino

Just in time for the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak (FSG, 1999) is under attack once again. This time, Wesley Scroggins, an associate professor of management at Missouri State University, is cautioning parents of the Republic School District against what he refers to as “soft porn” books used in the curriculum, including Speak, which is about rape.

Scroggins’s op-ed piece in Missouri’s News-Leader has generated more than 300 comments on the newspaper’s website, is [...]

Filed Under: Industry News

What Every New Media Specialist Needs to Know: These 10 tips can help your career get off to a great start

By on August 14, 2010

By Donna Corbo and Candace Sample

Illustration by Steve Wacksman

It’s not easy being a media specialist, especially if you’re new to the profession or you’ve switched schools and you’re suddenly the new kid on the block. Let’s face it, many administrators and teachers don’t understand what we do. And like it or not, we’re still battling that age-old stereotype of the school librarian as a little old lady with a bun who shuffles around shushing people. How can you [...]

Filed Under: Careers

The Librarian’s Internet–No More Boring Boards

By on May 21, 2010

Dress up your library with eye-catching bulletin boards

By Gail Junion-Metz, 04/01/2002

Having trouble coming up with new and creative ideas for decorating your library and bulletin boards? Teachers and homeschoolers share the challenge of devising innovative ways to display student work, graphically introduce a curriculum unit, or commemorate a holiday or other special event. And then there are white boards, chalk boards, and posters to decorate. These Web sites can help, with display ideas, tips, and printables.

[...]

Filed Under: Industry News
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