February 16, 2013

“Will Puberty Last My Whole Life?” | Questions Preteens Ask

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For more than 20 years, Julie Metzger and Robert Lehman have been meeting with children, teens, and their parents. Their goal? “To promote positive communication about pubery, sexuality, in topics around adolescence and growing up.” In Will Puberty Last My Whole Life?(Sasquatch Books, 2012), they share some of the questions preteens have asked them on these topics and offer readers honest answers.

SLJ 2012 Day of Dialog: Keeping Middle Schoolers Engaged

From Left: Sharon Creech, Joan Bauer, Eoin Colfer, James Dashner, Jennifer Hubert Swain, Rebecca Stead

Middle school students are a “hormonally charged” bunch who are “full of complex contradictions” and just “want a voice,” say authors who participated in SLJ’s 2012 Day of Dialog on June 4 at New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Center.

The New Standards Dovetail Elegantly with Inquiry, and We Know Inquiry | On Common Core

This is the worst time to be a school librarian and the best time to be one. Our profession is under daily threat of extinction, yet the implementation of the Common Core Standards affords incredible opportunity to make the strongest case for the importance of librarians and libraries in schools. Together we must commit to gaining a deep understanding of these new standards and determine to be at the fore of the Common Core conversations taking place in our buildings. We are uniquely suited for this because the Common Core Standards dovetail elegantly with inquiry, and we know inquiry.

What Is the Future of Reference?

From the left (left image): Rocco Staino; Barbara Genco, Library Journal's manager of special projects; and Christopher Harris. From the left (right image):Jon Gregory, Matt Andros, Roger Rosen, Diana McDermott, and Geraldine Curran.  Photographs by Sean McGinty.

The world of reference is moving at warp speed these days. Public library patrons are used to Wikipedia and expect the same convenience when it comes to library resources. And in many school libraries, budget crunches, technology issues, and Common Core standards have made librarians’ jobs even more, shall we say, exciting. Wouldn’t you love to sit down with some of the world’s leading reference publishers and say, “Hey, wait a second! This is what we need you to do to make our libraries better”?

Palacio’s ‘Wonder’ Launches Companion Anti-Bullying Campaign

Those of you who were moved by R.J. Palacio’s debut novel, Wonder (Knopf, 2012), will be pleased to know that her publisher has launched a campaign called Choose Kind to encourage kids, educators, and readers of all ages to join the fight against bullying.

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.

You Mean I Can Lose My Job/Admission/Diploma For That?

Students from a nearby district were recently caught sexting: posting sexually explicit messages, photos or videos online. In this case, the boy who shot the video and the boy he forwarded it to are being charged with a felony, Juvenile Sexual Exploitation of a Child. While they will be tried as juveniles, there is still the possibility that both will have to register as a sex offenders if convicted. They will have to knock on the doors of their neighbors and explain their felony, tell their future bosses and colleges they are applying to about this crazy sex video they shot in high school.

Tech Tidbits from the Guybrarian and His Gal: Shallow Research

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In a recent Pew Internet study called How Teens Do Research the Digital World, AP and National Writing Project teachers said that one of educators’ top priorities should be to teach students how to “judge the quality of online information.” The study reports that 95 percent of our students do online research, but their research skills are only good or fair. Also, for many students, doing research means Googling. Many students see research as a fast-paced process in which they [...]