Ideas

Back in May I shared Elissa Malespina’s media-rich, interactive Choices Summer Reading list.  She created it for her South Orange (NJ) Middle School readers using Apple’s iBooks Authors. She hosts the list on the Bookry platform and it feels very much like those cool magazine apps we flip through on our tablets. Randie Groden just shared an alternate [...]

Only one in three parents of children ages eight and under reads stories to their kids each night, according to a new survey by the literacy organization Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and Macy’s.

More than just a craze, the interest in zombies points the way towards a new kind of literacy engagement.

As the end of the school year approaches, school media specialists and teachers are equipping their students with lists of books to read over the summer break. Meanwhile, public librarians are prepping for their busiest season. From audiobook classics to DIY fun, the following is a compilation of tools that can be used in the summer months (or even throughout the year). SLJ's summer reading resources page will be updated continuously, so check back for new materials.

I had to share this wonderful idea from Sarah Mulhern Gross’s recent Infotopia post: Beyond the Book: Infographics of Students’ Reading History!   Sarah, a high school English teacher, was excited about sharing her lesson with the school library community. Sarah describes herself as a book evangelist.  She shared her interest in having students think about some of the books that have affected [...]

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) is offering a library amendment to the immigration bill that the Senate is considering this week. The amendment, #1223, would make public libraries eligible for funding for English language instruction and civics education, and would also add Susan Hildreth, the director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to the Task Force on New Americans. The American Library Association (ALA) is asking its members to call their Senators in support of Reed’s amendment.

I’m chatting today with Edith Donnell, the Youth/Teen Librarian for the Chelsea District Library. For the last five years she has been one of the driving forces behind the all-ages Kids Read Comics event, which is held at the Ann Arbor District Library – 343 S 5th Avenue in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This year the [...]

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's signing of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation—and these recently published books highlight the remarkable true stories of courageous Americans during this period of history.

With the demise of print textbooks and the rise of digital learning resources, the digital shift is certainly underway. There are many ways that teacher librarians can inform and assist school districts making the transition. They have the skills and knowledge necessary to help administrators create guidelines and systems that will guarantee a successful change.