First Book staff and volunteers unload boxes of new books at a warehouse in lower Manhattan. Photo by First Book

(This story was last updated at 9:32 a.m. on November 26.)

Those wishing to help school libraries and children’s collections that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy now have an array of giving options, thanks to several disaster relief programs, children’s book publishers, and charities.

Scholastic Book Grants Program announced plans to donate one million books to those in need. The initiative is a partnership with the organization Kids in Distressed Situations (K. I. D. S.) to assist educators, families, and students in the New York tri-state area who have lost reading materials due to the storm. Schools and libraries may apply for Sandy-related book grants through December 31, 2012.

Simon & Schuster’s education and library marketing department is offering aid in the form of donations of 500 “best of” titles to public and school libraries needing to rebuild their collections, according to a press release. S & S has partnered with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Literacy Lifeboats Initiative, individual schools, and state and regional associations, including the New Jersey Library Association (NJLA), in these efforts.

The nonfiction publisher Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights Inc., donated 500 children’s books to Operation BuddyPack, an initiative by the Heart of America Foundation, to assist schools and students affected by the hurricane.

Mackin Educational Resources, a Minnesota-based company that provides schools and libraries with books, ebooks, and other resources, is encouraging those affected by the hurricane to take part in their online fundraising program, Funds4Books Disaster Relief. For each dollar donated to East Coast schools and libraries, Mackin will provide a 10 percent match.

New York City teachers can turn to the online school charity Donors Choose with specific storm-related requests. A Hurricane Relief Fund donation page had logged more than $77,000 in contributions as of November 12. The New York City Department of Education also offers ways to help afflicted city schools. Donations can be made here.

In addition, the New York City School Librarians’ Association (NYCSLA) is creating a donation program organized by city librarians who attended the New York City School Library System’s 23rd Annual Library Fall Conference on November 6.

The Hudson Valley Library Association (HVLA), made up of private school librarians in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, and Connecticut, is also doing its part with a Google Document on its listserv offering HVLA members the option to ask for specific materials or financial assistance. HVLA will then match those requests with donors.

Urban Librarians Unite (ULU), an organization dedicated to promoting librarianship in cities, is also gathering book donations. ULU is specifically seeking children’s books because these materials usually sit on low shelves where flooding damage is worst. However, they are also accepting YA books, as well as monetary gifts.

Other established national disaster relief programs are renewing promotion of their services in relation to Hurricane Sandy. First Book, an organization that provides new books to needy children, announced a partnership last week with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Albert Shanker Institute that pledged to match every donation of $2.50 made to First Book, up to $35,000 for new books. Donations can be made here.

According to First Book’s director of communications, Brian Minter, the organization distributed five million books after Hurricane Katrina, and has already raised enough money to provide 20,000 books in the wake of Sandy. In addition to that, First Book is in the process of delivering a truckload of 30,000 books to be distributed in New York at the request of AFT and its New York City affiliate, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), on November 12.

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Beyond Words Grant program, funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and established in partnership with the National Education Association (NEA), offers help replacing school library books, media, and other equipment, as well as financial aid associated with absorbing students from other afflicted schools in states served by Dollar General stores.

While Beyond Words was incepted in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, AASL issued a new press release about the program on November 9, 2012, stating that Dollar General had distributed over $1.6 million to more than 130 schools during the past six years. Last June, AASL also announced two annual catastrophic grants in the amount of $50,000 for schools in need. Ongoing grants will be awarded to eligible applicants in amounts ranging from $10,000-$20,000.

“We wanted schools to know that assistance is available,” AASL President Susan Ballard told SLJ. “We are hopeful that members along the East Coast in the greater New York-New Jersey area will have a chance to apply for those grants.”

Ballard anticipates that “we will have a greater feel for what the needs are and how we can marshal a plan going forward” after the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) conference from November 29 to December 1.

In the meantime, a new page on the New Jersey Department of Education site provides schools in the state with tips for navigating the federal assistance process and directs those wishing to help to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund.

Also geared toward aid in New Jersey, “YA for NJ” is an initiative in which over 170 YA and middle-grade authors offered items for an online auction, including autographed books, school visits, online meetings. All proceeds will go to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey.

Students whose SAT preparation was affected by Hurricane Sandy also received free assistance from Revolution Prep, an educational software and services provider that offered a free online SAT review session on November 15 to help students prepare for the tests, rescheduled for  November 17 and December 15 because of the storm.

Most New Jersey schools were open on November 13.  Katie Llera, a librarian at Sayreville Middle School, was one of many educators looking forward to returning to school after more than a week without power. Llera took part in volunteer efforts while schools were closed, and she also emphasized the importance of social networking to keep educators and students connected during that time.

Last week, Llera relied upon Edmodo, a social media website for educators, to keep in touch. The site is ordinarily used for her school’s book club, but Llera created other posts to distract students from the stress of the hurricane, offering news about the Garden State Teen Book Awards and information about a Skype chat with fantasy author Gail Carson-Levine. “I was just trying to get them to look forward to school, to keep their mind a little bit off of what’s happening,” she said.

Jennifer Jamison, a school media specialist in the Atlantic City, New Jersey, School District, has been working with Atlantic City Teachers United (ACTU), a group set up last week to help Atlantic City students and their families with basic needs after the hurricane. Though ACTU isn’t officially sanctioned by the Atlantic City Board of Education, it has reached out on the ground and through Facebook to gather donations, dropped off at school libraries, for those who are most in need.

The library at Atlantic City’s Brighton Avenue School was destroyed by the storm, Jamison said. While books are certainly on her radar, at the moment, “Kids don’t have underwear or mattresses.”  At ACTU, “We are collecting necessities,” she explained. “This is not a two-week thing. This will be a year-long initiative.”

As Jamison and others take the steps toward recovery over the coming weeks and months, they will have many ways to seek help.

Book display at Brook Forest Elementary School.

Librarians, authors and illustrators are gearing up for Picture Book Month in November, which will build on the success of last year’s inaugural event. The brainchild of author and storyteller Dianne de Las Casas, Picture Book Month encourages the recognition of picture books through blogs, tweets and other activities.

What’s on the schedule? For starters, de Las Casas has arranged for authors and illustrators to post daily on the Picture Book Month site. Caldecott Medalists Chris Raschka and Paul O. Zelinsky, along with authors Doreen Cronin and Jon Scieszka, are among the 30 “Picture Book Month Champions” weighing in. A Picture Book Month calendar recommends daily themes that educators can focus on—from food to monsters to pigs—and suggests that every Monday be devoted to nonfiction picture books.

Organizations including the Children’s Book Council and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) have signed on for the event. “AASL is pleased to partner with Picture Book Month and to help highlight the value of connecting people of all ages, but especially the young, with this unique and remarkable format,” said AASL president Susan Ballard.

Mock Caldecott display at Minges Brook Elementary School.

How are school librarians getting involved? Mary Ann Scheuer, librarian at Emerson School in the  Berkeley (CA) Unified School District, will emphasize titles for older readers, like Jacqueline Woodson’s picture books, for her fourth and fifth graders. “My students are completely drawn into her stories, appreciating the language, character development and emotions,” Scheuer told School Library Journal. In addition, she says, picture books can challenge older students to focus on skills like inference that are critical to the Common Core Standards. “When we read Woodson’s Visiting Day (Scholastic, 2002) illustrated by James Ransome, they inferred that Maya’s father was in prison, a fact the text does not explicitly state,” she observes.

Displays, an author visit, and student-run mock Caldecotts are all part of the plan for John Schumacher, librarian at Brook Forest Elementary School in Oak Brook, IL. Schumacher will post the calendar around his school and have classes set picture book reading goals that they will track using Biblionasium, a social networking site for kids that promotes independent reading.

He’ll also host Tad Hills, bestselling author/illustrator of Rocket Writes a Story (Schwartz & Wade, 2012) and will collaborate on the mock Caldecott with Colby Sharp, a fourth grade teacher at Minges Brook Elementary School in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Laurel Snyder, author of such picture books as Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher (Tricycle, 2010), will visiting the Main Street Academy in College Park, GA, and will Skype with students from the Community School of Davidson in North Carolina.

Looking for more ways to get involved? Find some inspirations on the event website.

This list of tools and resources from SLJ staff, bloggers, and contributors will enrich your understanding of the national initiative to implement new standards of language arts, information literacy, and mathematics for grades K–12.

SLJ 3-Part Webcast Series: On Common Core

We kicked off a 3-part free webcast series last week on the on how the new Common Core education standards are impacting your library, your school, and your students. You still have time to register for the next session, Librarians, the Secret Weapon, being held on November 20. In these three (3) one-hour webcasts, library, literacy, and education experts from across the country will explore how to effectively implement this nationwide initiative.

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

Understanding the Common Core State Standards : A review of John Kendall’s book, a primer on CCSS
By Alicia Eames

CCSS and us: a video Q&A with John Kendall
By Joyce Valenza

Librarian Creates Guide to the Common Core Standards 
By SLJ Staff

Editorials by SLJ  Editor-in-Chief, Rebecca T. Miller on Librarians and the Common Core

‘I Can Help You With That’: Providing solutions puts librarians at the center of Common Core | SLJ June 2012 Editorial

What Creativity Looks Like: Put a Bunch of Librarians in a Room, and Great Ideas Fly | Editorial
Entries from SLJ’s “On Common Core” column by various experts in the education and library fields

By Olga Nesi
The New Standards Dovetail Elegantly with Inquiry, and We Know Inquiry
The Question of Text Complexity: Reader and task trump traditional measures

By Paige Jaeger
Is a Picture Worth $2,500?: Understanding Facts Visually

By Melissa Jacobs-Israel
A Sticker Won’t Do the Job: We need appealing nonfiction that will engage students and build rigor
Making the Parent Connection

By Mary Ann Cappiello, Myra Zarnowski, and Marc Aronson
Cultivating Collaboration
Creating Community

Installments from Christopher Harris’s “The Next Big Thing” column

The End of Nonfiction: Common Core standards force us to rethink categorization
A Librarian’s Tricks for Finding Those ‘Complex Texts’ Cited in the Common Core
We Could Be Heroes: Research plus tech skills are a hot commodity
A Video Hosting Solution for Schools

Related entries from “Consider the Source” blog by author and educator Marc Aronson

The Problem with Common Core’s ‘Appendix B’
The Reign in Spain
The issues and questions raised by Common Core come up abroad as well.
Convergence
Discusses a set of books that looks at one moment in history from three different angles.
Shuffling Off to Buffalo
The role of the librarian in teaching students about “guided inquiry.”

Tools profiled in Joyce Valenza’s column, “Neverending Search”

New from AASL: Best Websites for Teaching and Learning
New Google Education Search Hub
You’re gonna want to share ShareMyLesson

Informational texts, novels, ideas, and websites that align with the Common Core

The Wild World of Steve Jenkins | An Author Study
By Barbara Auerbach

On the Radar—Top Picks from the Editors at Junior Library Guild: New Science Nonfiction Supports Common Core
By Deborah B. Ford

To Infinity and Beyond | New Sci-Fi Titles for Teens
By Joyce Adams Burner

Underneath the glitz of spaceships, extraterrestrials, and techno bling, these young adult sci-fi novels feature complex characters exploring the question of what it means to be human. Incorporate them into social studies, technology, and literature classes, and blast off into discussions touching on politics, culture, science, the environment. The possibilities are limitless!

Afghan Days, Afghan Dreams
By Daryl Grabarek

The resources are ideal for teachers looking to educate students about Afghanistan while also embracing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Kno Launches K–12 E-Textbooks, Geared Toward Parents, Home Use
By Kathy Ishizuka

Education software outfit Kno has partnered with publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to offer interactive textbooks for K–12 students. The digital titles, which align with Common Core subjects, are available for $9.99 or less for a one-year rental.

At the Core: Audiobooks Promote Critical Reading Habits | Listen In
By Sharon Grover and Lizette Hannegan

Finding a Voice | Writers’ Guides
By Vicki Reutter
These three guides make the often daunting task of writing a little easier by instructing students how to write in a variety of genres, including journalism, poetry, humor, and more.

Libraries, Ebooks and Beyond: Library “Makers” Share How It’s Done
By The Digital Shift

Searching for some great ways to get kids hooked on creating digital content? Attendees at the October 17 Digital Shift event got some great tips from Wes Fryer, Melissa Techman, Liz Castro and Erin Daly, all participants in a panel on “Makers in the Library.”

Get Kids Designing with Student-Created Games | The Gaming Life
By Brian Mayer
A program that gives students a new avenue to display mastery-level understanding of the curriculum while incorporating 21st-century skills as well as the Common Core Standards.

What Is the Future of Reference?
By Henrietta Thornton-Verma

Christopher Harris, of New York’s Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, and Wendy Stephens, of New Market, Alabama’s Buckhorn High School led a spirited discussion of the merits of print vs. digital learning, the impact of those Common Core guidelines on publishers’ plans, and other timely and vexing topics.

News Bites: Support Common Core with a New Nonfiction Program from Scholastic
By Phyllis Levy Mandell

Wii Learn: Surprise elementary grade students with a fun way to learn math
By Matthew C. Winner and Meghan Hearn

Viewing the video game console through the eyes of an educator opens up a world of mathematical applications through which students can master concepts, teachers can align with the Common Core Standards, and classrooms can reflect students’ experiences and interests.

Common Core in the news:

Romney Doesn’t Support Fed Dollars for Common Core
By Rocco Staino

Study: Teacher Support for Common Core Standards Growing; Public Awareness Still Lags
By Debra Lau Whelan

Kentucky First to Adopt Common Core State Standards Initiative
By Lauren Barack