Anythink’s dynamic director explores how children’s services librarians will shape the future of libraries, libraries as places of discovery and experience, and the shift toward participatory librarianship.
Architects of Dreams: Anythink’s Pam Sandlian Smith on the Power of Children’s Librarians
By on May 1, 2013 1 Comment
Flipping the Classroom: A revolutionary approach to learning presents some pros and cons
By on April 1, 2013 3 Comments
Flipping the classroom or library encourages students to learn at home through teacher-made videos, and frees up valuable class time to devote to discussions and exploring topics more deeply.
Meet the Latest Newbery Winner: How Katherine Applegate created a modern-day classic
By on March 1, 2013 4 Comments
Newbery Medalist Katherine Applegate offers a behind-the-scenes look at how she created The One and Only Ivan, a modern-day classic.
Making the Principal Connection
By on January 31, 2013 Leave a Comment
Mark Ray asserts that principals and librarians have a lot more in common than you might think—and he should know. After 20 years as a teacher librarian, the 2012 Washington Teacher of the Year has become a district IT administrator. From his new perch, he shares insights into the the pivotal alliance possible between two key solo players in the school: librarian and principal.
Partners in Success: When school and public librarians join forces, kids win
By on January 1, 2013 2 Comments
School library and public library collaborations are making a huge difference in kids’ lives.
The League of Extraordinary Librarians: SLJ’s latest tech survey shows that media specialists are leading the way
By on November 4, 2012
Meet the latest tech superheroes: school librarians. According to School Library Journal’s 2012 School Technology Survey, media specialists are leading the charge to bring new media, mobile devices, social apps, and web-based technologies into our nation’s classrooms.
Are Dewey’s Days Numbered?: Libraries Nationwide Are Ditching the Old Classification System
By on September 28, 2012 73 Comments
Pushing between snack time and reading group, Zack, a third-grade boy, ducks into our school library while another class is beginning to check out books.
Travis’s Excellent (Ereader) Adventure
By on August 30, 2012
In this month’s cover story for School Library Journal, Jonker, an elementary school librarian, documents the launch of an ereader lending program in words and pictures. This article is adapted from a series of posts at Jonker’s blog 100 Scope Notes, which is moving to SLJ.com.
The Other America: Giving Our Poorest Children the Same Opportunities as Our Richest
By on August 1, 2012 7 Comments
Over the past five years, I’ve returned to the New York neighborhood in which I met the children whom I first described in Savage Inequalities, Amazing Grace, and other books I published in the 1990s. The neighborhood is called Mott Haven. It’s the poorest section in all of the South Bronx, which is the poorest Congressional district in America.
Want to Work with Kids in a Public Library? Here’s the Inside Scoop
By on July 1, 2012 Leave a Comment
It was 2001 and I was a year out of college, my dream of becoming a photographer neatly scrapped due to the slightly sobering fact that my photography skills, not to put too fine a point on it, stunk.
Staying Power: The Magic of Susan Cooper
By on June 1, 2012 Leave a Comment
I’m on my way to visit Susan Cooper on an unseasonably warm day in mid-February. As my car cruises along, about 45 minutes south of Boston, low tide reveals miles of untouched marshland. I drive across a short causeway, creep down an unpaved lane, and suddenly I’m staring at the exquisite home that Cooper built a couple of years ago. My first thought is that I’ve stumbled upon the Grey House, the setting of Cooper’s first children’s book, Over Sea, Under Stone. With its soaring cathedral ceilings and wraparound windows that frame the wetlands, the space is filled with warmth and light even on a winter’s day. It seems like the perfect place for the 77-year-old writer to conjure up some more of her magic.
