Library Admin

October 14, 2009

Library Program Self-Assessment regime-72

SD #72 Campbell River

Submitted by Ruth Kline

CRTL’s: Library Assessment

In 2007, the teacher-librarians were involved in questioning whether the school libraries meet the standards recommended by the Canadian Association for School Libraries. We as teacher-librarians applied for a Collaboration for Growth Grant through the Core Pro-d Committee of the School District. During this professional development, it became evident that change was needed and that we needed to make it effective within our libraries. Our goal has been to have a collective voice to add our input into a new Library Policy for Campbell River School District. We met as a group six times to read articles and discuss “Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada” and we developed our own evaluation rubric based on our discussions and the readings from the book.

Download Rubrics (PDF: http://bctf.ca/bctla/pub/documents/libraryprogram/SD72TLAssessment.pdf

School District 72

Library Program Assessment

School:

Teacher-Librarian:

Date:

Vision

Campbell River School District libraries promote the development of independent, lifelong learners and readers. They emphasize the collaboration of all participants in education (students, teachers, administrators, parents) and focus on resource-based learning, using a wide variety of information sources and strategies.

Core Values

Libraries of Campbell River School District shall allow all patrons:

access to the collection, resources and services of a teacher-librarian
a friendly, stimulating, open and supportive learning environment
opportunities to learn with a variety of resources and strategies within a flexible environment

Goals

Goal 1: Provide appropriate staffing to implement an effective district-wide library program.

Goal 2: That each school develop a site-based library committee consisting of classroom teachers, school administration and school teacher-librarian.

Goal 3: Provide for more effective student learning through collaborative processes in planning, teaching, and assessment between the teacher-librarians and the teachers.

Goal 4: Provide up-to-date library resources in a variety of formats and technologies to meet the diverse needs of all learners.

Goal 5: Provide appropriate school library facilities and equipment and access to ICT to meet the learning and teaching needs of an effective school library program.

Download Rubrics (PDF: http://bctf.ca/bctla/pub/documents/libraryprogram/SD72TLAssessment.pdf

Posted by Al Smith on October 14, 2009 at 09:57 PM in 50 Anniversary, Chapter News, Downloads, Library Admin, Members, Pro-Development, theBookmark | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

June 23, 2009

Library Tools- an evolution of library displays

Promoting Reading with Tools-Old and New

By Al Smith

When teacher-librarians think of ‘new’ book displays they likely conjure up visions of Amazon.com, Shelfari, and other web 2.0 models. Despite immersing myself in new media and web 2.0 because of the power to share, I am in fact shifting my modus operandi to the traditional display- analog rocks! After reading Garr Reynolds’, Presentation Zen, I started rethinking some of the old faithful tools. I have been revisiting the craft I learned teaching elementary school. Tactile and visual chart paper, tripods, acrylic holders, furniture, hemp baskets, bookcases, sticky notes, chalkboards, etc. all have an attraction to particular students.

My creative instincts has led me to embrace ‘hi-touch’ has generating some benefits for students but also nurtured my librarians soul.

An Old Approach Feels New

I’ve changed my approach recently in that I now believe the process a patron undergoes to find a book, whether research or recreation, is more multi-dimensional than the past. The initial reason is that students (and teachers) now have so many digital tools at their finger tips; however, I also think that there are two other powerful variables in play. Smith Theory:

1. Students seem starved for more social interaction with peers and adults

2. The brain needs analog modalities to create new ideas and synthesize information.

I believe we miss out when we sacrifice analog devices for just digital tools. Nevertheless, the suite of new digital tools is easier and more powerful than ever. To ignore them is a peril as well.

Picture Frames

Picture frames are an attractive and efficient way to display promotional material. Whether new posters, self made promotions, or even photography, frames draw the attention of patrons. One simple way is to create a letter size sign of book covers with quotes or statements. Print the sign on Inkjet photo paper and hang with a matt board and glassed frame. (Opus, Michaels, etc. have sizes and options.) Display them on ends of stacks or any wall space. You can repeat the same process for smaller 5x7 signs for desks and counter space.

Simple Displays

The grand display or bulletin board obviously has a unique purpose and valuable impact; however, the small surprise display works well too. I’ve started tagging books by inserting a paper bookmark slipped in the books. A Just-Read slip has a patron and a brief rating or comment.

I’ve added more front cover displays and targeted and varied showcase titles and themes. Most librarians have used thematic displays to promote resources and learning opportunities. I have had some interesting success when adding more random and varied displays.

Example: I pulled a coffee table book during our annual Cancer Week fundraiser. Bryan Adams photography book was a Breast Cancer research project. I placed it along a shelf behind my desk. I had more amazing conversations with kids because they were invited to browse with an attached signage. The photo of a bald woman obvious was part of the initial attraction. It created a chance to talk meaningfully with teens about cancer, photography, rock and roll music. A display out front and center seldom gets my teenage students talking or even looking. The best interaction has been born of the smaller discreet display, especially those close to my desk. I invite kids to flip through the large coffee table books by having them out on the tables and counters. Although I may risk some damage to expensive books, most patrons I’ve surveyed find the visual clues valuable. Maybe the media is the message? Buy some coffee table books.

Book Shelf Signage

I have not finished some areas because of time and money but...shelf sign holders and some subject headings signage helps. You still need to teach classification systems but some clues benefit the browsing shy patron. Also place more book covers within your shelving. After a serious weeding, I started placing more books up on stands and vertical facing the aisles. My logic was if it is good for Chapters it must be good for us too. Our circulation evidence proofs it. Anecdotal and circulation data show that visible books, especially non-fiction, get borrowed more frequently than items tightly shelved in the stacks.

Adults As Readers

Modeling reading is perhaps the most important criteria for encouraging children to read. Research shows that boys, whose father was frequently seen reading, eventually read more themselves as adults.

A lively discussion can develop around the book we have all recently read. The discussion around the content is valued as much as the reading itself. Case in point? Literature Circles. I believe this strategy works because it sets up and values the social and conversational nature good literature can engender.

Margaret Ruurs wrote in the last Bookmark about ‘Teachers As Readers’-TAR.

...All participants who are teachers agree that the book group helps them to know what their students are reading and gives them a better grasp of which books to use and recommend….All of the TAR group participants I talked to agreed that the experience has enriched their lives as readers by making them read books they would not otherwise have selected and through the rich discussions that follow...."

(Bookmark Vol49 Issue IIII p.35 )

* International Reading Association Teachers as Readers: Perspectives on the Importance of Reading in Teachers’ Classrooms and Lives, IA book, Michelle Commeyras, Betty ShockleyBisplinghoff, and Jennifer Olson, editors, 2003,

see:

http://marketplace.reading.org

Reprinted from Reading Today, IRA February/March 2006 with permission from the author, Margriet Ruurs. see Bookmkark Winter 2009.

I believe the informal conversations with students are a force for learning. Varied displays increase the opportunity to talk to one another and can make the library space a stimulating environment. Anything in your library that generates conversation is not bric-a-brac but rather a powerful library tool. I used to always read books with my players during my coaching years. While riding a bus on a road trip, I always had a book front and centre. While sitting around in gym bleachers waiting for games, I always read a book- Always! I now bring the same logic to my teacher-librarian world. A day filled by a series of spontaneous unstructured librarian-student conversations is a good day.

OPAC

our school catalogue is an obvious but often underutilized tool for your library program. Sometimes a catalogue system can be a challenge for library patrons. Using the OPAC is a good platform to teach K-12 search skills and online reading, including how web interfaces vary. I edit my station defaults to always show advanced boolean fields. The interface provides a daily teachable moment for rehearsing narrowing and broadening terms. Use your OPAC to ‘boolify’ students but also use the lookup station as a niche for books displays and other objects. I often place small acrylic signs near the OPAC to promote contests or events.

A relatively new addition to the catalog environment is the ability to link or integrate other web based services. One way is to create URL’s of your catalogue queries and use the links in emails, blog posts, and other bulletins- even Twitter updates.

https://twitter.com/literateowl/status/2299202937

Another powerful service feature that some cataloguing software have is ‘syndetics-the ability to embed book covers and other bibliographic information into your local OPAC queries. My Mandarin system( sadly old) can automatically display links to Amazon titles of individual search results. My favourite is the option to get Ebsco’s Novelist to provide a reference to my bibliographic records. The ability to research books and quickly see if the title is in a collection is very nice.

Another serendipitous benefit of having a variety of displays around your stations is just fun. For a couple months a year, I put out a scrabble board for open community play. No signs, no specific rules, just a public challenge to add to the board. I do the same with chess sets. The boys really seem to like it and if nothing else it is an ice-breaker.

Library Web Sites

An obvious asset to school libraries is their online platform. Regardless of what software or ISP you have, teacher-librarians have powerful tools to engage readers and promote reading resources. Email alerts, RSS feeds, Wish Lists, banners, links, widgets and other cloud computing options are free ways to share book related content. Amazon has a service called Amazon Associates. Their intent is to grow the store experience but the same power can be exploited for free. At no charge and some technical inquiry, librarians can provide value added information to their online library. Implementing Listmania or embedding search boxes can help engage more patrons. If you cannot manage the technical side, then try to find an ally or associate that can help implement your vision.

Amazon Wishlist:

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/registry/registry.html?ie=UTF8&type=wishlist&id=A77P7XMAYQUQ

User friendly blogging tools now make a powerful communication platform available to the average librarian. The scope can be as simple as posted news or complex with threaded group discussion activities and even online book clubs. The scope is almost infinite. The addition of RSS and Social Networking has added layers of potential for sharing and informing your library patrons.

Web 2.0

Whether book cover images, video content or user generated writing, web 2.0 has it all.

If have licensing or permission for images( Amazon, Novelist, etc.) then why not make a slideshow of new book covers. Try out Picasa or Flickr to assemble a web album from your computer files. Link or convert your slideshow for you blog, web page or .doc handout or pdf. One nice feature for Picasa I’ve used is I created a Picasa Screesaver from book covers and then I activate it all day long on my flatscreen so when I am idle patrons see an animated show of book covers that are in our collection.

Use Google Docs to share files and presentations of books, authors or new arrivlas etc.

Use your private network or favourite blogger to have a literature circle class share viewpoints, writing tasks, etc. Just plan your implementation and skill requirements in advance.

The web 2.0 world has offered us all the new technology RSS newsfeeds. Librarians can now automate the publishing of book news, messages, etc...by using RSS tools.

In Blogger you navigate the Layout Window to add Gadgets that provide extra utilities such as Blog Rolls, Search Boxes or Aggregated Posts from other blogs.

Example. The BCTLA web site now

has President Heather Daly’s blog posts scrolling in without the webmaster manually entering anything.

Try it now>>> http://bctf.ca/bctla/

My current favourite is using Ebsco Alerts to promote using Novelist Plus Database. You create a specific query and subscribe to the query RSS feed. The messages can be a Blogger gadget or a web page asset. I use the URL alerts for emails to faculty booked into the library. Example. History teacher gets an email link focused on Ebsco alerts of the upcoming unit. It also works well for other Ebsco databases such as author study, sciences, etc.

The link below will request you subscribe to Ebsco query Passchendaele.

http://rss.ebscohost.com/AlertSyndicationService/Syndication.asmx/GetFeed?guid=1838083

Other web 2.0 resources harness technologies that have potential for a teacher-libarian wishing to expand service points online.

Use Delicious tags and bundles to deliver content to students with one specific URL. You can create your own tags( subject headings) and bundles ( groups ) so that a grade, curriculum or class can be targeted with a your list of pre-selected web addresses.

LibraryThing.com is your own personal catalogue platform with many add-ons and network of fellow readers. You can query titles from Amazon or UBC Library. Collect, Sort, Comment, Rate...etc.

Goodreads and Shelfari follow similar functions. The power of these services is any user can aggregrate content and implement the data as they need it. Example. Doing a Unit Next Week- Romantic Poetry? Query and tag items of interest and then creates links to your tag.

http://www.librarything.com/author/vassanjimg

http://www.librarything.com/tour/

Writeboard

is a service where users can write, share, revise, compare web based documents. Writeboard is perfect for...

-Authors, journalists, PR folks, editors, and publishers
-Bloggers or freelance/independent writers
-Letter writers, songwriters, poets, comedians, creatives
-Students, professors, and groups collaborating on a paper

http://writeboard.com/

Slideshare
is a popular presentation service that allows sharing of powerpoint files and other common files. Similar to the functionality of Google Docs.

http://www.slideshare.net/

Odiogo
is a service that digitizes your blog post into an audio file. The directory of posts include links and downloadable mp3. You can even have the audio versions subscribes via iTunes podcast.

http://podcasts.odiogo.com/the-virtual-bookmark/podcasts-html.php

With iTunes the scope of possibilities is endless. iTunes-U is an academic vault for seniors or college( too american) but the free podcast library at iTunes is huge. CBC channel is terrific for books or current news promo.

While you are investigating CBC try out YouTube channels. ‘TheHour’ has many contemporary authors, scientists, etc...Better yet, get your kids to create their own author podcasts. In 2009, I’m going to try ‘Hamlet Radio 1079’ ....the podcasts don’t need to stored on a public server. Access from behind a private group or school LAN.

Wallwisher.com
is a simple way to post news or get others to share- such as planning an event or discussing a novel.

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/kelowna2010

Lastly an attractive tool is streaming video. The ability to easily integrate clips from YouTube or GoogleAuthors, etc...provides potential to share insight in reviews, author biographies, etc.

Example. Like her freckles, Julianne Moore’s second book, Freckle Face Strawberry has literary and personal hooks everywhere. A small display could match up with a storytime or book talk.

"... Actress Moore’s exuberant heroine with strawberry-red freckles and hair is back in this second outing. A bright palette and a classic cartoon feel should prove eye-catching, as Freckleface navigates the world of playground activities: ..."(Novelist Plus)

BCTLA Position Statement-Book Levelling and School Library Programs

BCTLA POSITION STATEMENT:

BOOK LEVELLING AND SCHOOL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

BCTLA Annual General Meeting, April 2009

The practice of levelling books, used to support guided reading instruction in classrooms, is not consistent with the values of teacher-librarians and should not be applied in part or in whole to school library collections. Children have opportunities in well-developed school library programs to acquire, develop, and use important lifelong skills that will enable them to select independently their own reading materials. Levelled collections, whether located in school or classroom libraries, inhibit the use of authentic strategies for selection and directly contradict the message of pursuing reading for the interest and passion it inspires.

Students have access to school libraries and to teacher-librarians to learn and practice the skills for finding the “just-right” book to read. School library programs build in opportunities for child or young adult readers to engage in the complex task of finding a book that they can understand, that holds personal interest for them, that speaks to their life experiences or cultural identities or gendered reading preferences, or that extends a topic being studied in class or one catching their attention as something that simply needs to be explored more deeply. Teacher-librarians, as specialist teachers, work with these sets of understandings about book selection, as well as particular knowledge about individual students gained through relationships built over time, and with the students themselves to help them come independently to the right reading level and the right book. Teacher-librarians and teachers of literature eschew word counts and syllabic structures as measures of readability, looking instead for literary merit, sophistication of ideas, developmental appropriateness, capacity for engagement, or maturity of theme or language.

Research into the field of reading literacy supports the position that book levelling is something that ends with classroom guided reading programs and is not meant to apply to classroom libraries or, by obvious extension, to the school library collection (Fountas & Pinnell). “We seem to be in the midst of a levelling mania in which massive amounts of time, money and energy are devoted to organizing books by reading levels … teachers are driven to attach a level to every text that students encounter during their school day” (Dzaldov & Peterson). Teachers, in so doing, are well-intentioned as they “whitewash” over the diversity factors of selection noted above in order to reduce the frustration students might experience that unquestionably confounds literacy development. But these teachers act to suppress students’ natural interests even as they are also reducing

the field of choice, researchers suggest, where they need to be building connections and scaffolding their background knowledge and experience, motivating students to read and enabling them to reach beyond their assessed level, usually measured by a single standardized test which, interestingly, many would argue is inappropriate assessment practice.

There is little evidence to support the decision to acquire and build levelled collections in our schools. While certainly supporting the literacy industry, the notion of applying a single strategy to entire collections eliminates the importance of both balanced and differentiated approaches to literacy development in schools, threatens to turn rich and dynamic collections into extended bookrooms, may be largely budget-driven, and is incompatible with the goals for school library programs. We know that it limits choice and may cause children to miss “great reads.” Capable readers may not choose books, perceiving them to be too low for them. Students may miss light reading opportunities that are, in Stephen Krashen’s view, conduits to more substantial reading or, in Jim Trelease’s terms the very “home-run” books that turn a child on to reading more. Worse still, it may exacerbate reluctance and resistance to reading, stigmatize struggling readers, and mislead others into believing that reading level is the important criterion in choosing a “just-right” book.

References

Dzaldov, B. S. & Peterson, S. Book Leveling and Readers. The Reading Teacher. 222-224. November 2005. Retrieved March 2009 from ProQuest Education Journals.

Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. S. Leveled Books K-8: Matching Texts to Readers for Effective Teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2006.

Krashen, S. The Power of Reading. 2nd ed. Portsmouth, N.H.: Libraries Unlimited. 2004.

Reuter, K. Teaching Effective Book-Selection Strategies and Inspiring Engaged Readers in the Library Media Center. Library MediaConnection. April/May 2008. 26 (7) 18-20. Retrieved March 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals.

Rog, L. J. & Burton, W. Matching texts and readers: Leveling Early Reading Materials for Assessment and Instruction. The Reading Teacher. Dec 2001/Jan 2002. 348-356. Retrieved March 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals.

Trelease, J. The Read-Aloud Handbook. New York: Penguin, 1985.

Wedwick, L. & Wutz, J. Bookmatch: How to Scaffold Student Book Selection for Independent Reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2008.

Posted by Al Smith on June 23, 2009 at 09:25 PM in Association, Library Admin, Members, Pedagogy, Position Statement, Selections, theBookmark | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

May 13, 2008

Internet Safety-Libraries

http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/05/12/internet-safety-issues-what-can-librarians-do/

Internet Safety Issues: What can librarians do?

Top Issues, Concerns and Questions from a public library perspective:

1.In a public school teachers have a captive space, in a library kids are not captive - you have to get creative to get kids to participate!
2.How do you keep up?
3.I want kids to be safe online as a parent and librarian, but I am not sure I know how to do that, or my role?
4.balancing safety and access
5.our constituents are our staff, the public, patrons, legislators: educating all about the role of a public library
6.how do we get seasoned professionals to see the value? (we referenced the diffusion of innovations graph)
7.Internet is ever changing / dynamic, how can we monitor the changes without becoming obsolete?
8.how do we fit this in with how we spend our time at work? (what is appropriate and not appropriate )
9.Classrooms are different: captive audience, year long relationship – librarians are in a different situation, how do we make an impact in our role?
10.Chat rooms and filtering are big issues: want to close down chats in some cases
11.People watching out for the children: it is not part of library policy but is a moral or social issue
12.No cheese with the whine
13.electronic gaming: hard to keep up, kids taking over the computer room
14.people have moved their role (CIPA) from protecting from objectionable content to keeping kids productive / on task
15.importance of boundaries and communication, texting, gaming
16.considering having teens make a social networking account (We discussed how a moderated and managed/controlled social networking environment like ning.com could be preferable to just having kids setup a MySpace page. We also discussed the importance of parent permission and getting signed forms for participation from them as well as kids.)
17.we may have to break bad habits
18.boundaries are so important: cell phone example, parents wanting that contact

February 02, 2008

Study Says "Google Generation" a Myth

British Study Says Libraries Must Step Up

Norman Oder -1/28/2008(SLJ)

Young people not very web-literate
Libraries must make interfaces easier
Libraries must integrate content with commercial search engines

A new study commissioned by the British Library and JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) says that the "Google Generation"—youth born or brought up in the Internet age—is not particularly web-literate, and their research traits—impatience in search and navigation and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs—are becoming the norm for all age-groups. The lesson for libraries, according to the CIBER research team at University College London, is that they must step up significantly, "both raising awareness of this expensive and valuable content and making the interfaces much more standard and easier to use."

Ian Rowlands, the lead author of the report, Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future, said, "Libraries in general are not keeping up with the demands of students and researchers for services that are integrated and consistent with their wider Internet experience." Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the British Library, said, "Libraries have to accept that the future is now. At the British Library we have adopted the digital mindset and have seized many of the opportunities new technology offers to inspire our users to learn, discover and innovate."

The report offers several predictions for 2017 that likely also apply across the ocean to North American libraries. It foresees:

A unified web culture, as national library services and provision will become far less meaningful
The inexorable rise of the ebook, with print sales diminished sharply outside leisure markets
More content explosions, as mass book digitization bears fruit
Emerging forms of scholarship and publication, including pre-publication release and online peer review
Virtual forms of publication in various formats
The semantic web, in which computers become capable of analyzing all the data on the web, especially in areas like science

The report suggests that, as with the discussion about bibliographic control in the United States, libraries must never forget Google: "Given current levels of investment by the big corporate search engines, and static or declining library R&D budgets, it would seem that the only effective strategy is for tighter integration of library content with commercial search engines." Beyond that, further customization is necessary. "The main message of this report for research libraries is that the future is now, not ten years away," the report reads, adding "that they have no option but to understand and design systems around the actual behavior of today's virtual scholar."

The report also cites "a desperate need for a well-funded program of educational research and inquiry into the information and digital literacy skills of our young people. Emerging research findings from the U.S. points to the fact that these skills need to be inculcated during the formative years of childhood.... This will require concerted action between libraries, schools and parents."

Learn More
Download UCL Report: Download UCLciberbriefing.pdf

Posted by Al Smith on February 02, 2008 at 05:14 PM in Information Literacy, Library Admin, Pro-Development | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

January 06, 2008

Book Lust by Nancy Pearl from AmazonWire #32

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m27J9T90Z1BJI7:m26Z909DAYBTU

Book Lust by Nancy Pearl from AmazonWire #32
- 'America's Favourite Librarian'
Well worth a listen...audio interview. Discusses promoting books to middle grades and selections....
nb. I have not read the title yet...Al Smith.
" I would strongly recommend you talk to your local librarian at your school or public library!"-N. Pearl.

From Booklist
This column is the latest in our series of interview articles showcasing books written by Booklist contributors. Our focus this time is on Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl, a longtime freelance contributor of reviews to this magazine (see our review of the book on p.24 of this issue).

When Booklist asked Pearl about the provenance of her new book, her answer struck us as the dream of every writer and book lover. "The publisher came to me," she confided, "with the idea of doing a book of recommended reading--incorporating all sorts of books, old and new, fiction and non, for all ages. They wanted it to be friendly and inviting, to sound like I was talking to people who shared my love of reading and good books and wanted some ideas of what to read next."

The publisher certainly approached the right person for the job. A practicing librarian for many years, Pearl is currently the director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle (WA) Public Library. Also, it was her brilliant and much-imitated idea to get all the readers in her hometown to read the same book at the same time and join discussion groups about it. The idea has spread from city to city across the country. She has written a two-volume readers'-advisory reference set titled Now Read This (1999; 2000). But her new book is more than a reference resource for librarians in their readers'-advisory work. It is also a book for personal use by library patrons, and even a book to own and keep on one's reading stand.

Pearl sees this book as a personal milestone. "It's the book that I think my whole life (and career as a librarian) has been leading toward. I basically went through my bookcases at home, where I have managed to accumulate most of my favorite books, and figured out categories they would go in." She came up with almost 200 categories, many of them not surprising, such as "Latin American Fiction," "Science gFiction, Fantasy, and Horror," "Techno-Thrillers," "Biographical Novels," and "First Novels." Other categories reflect Pearl's creative approach to linking books, and these unexpected but exciting categories include "Our Primates/Our Selves," "Historical Fiction for Kids of All Ages," "Grit Lit," "Do Clothes Make the Man (or Woman)?" and "Shrinks and Shrinkees."

One of the most interesting categories is called "Too Good to Miss." Actually, this category makes repeat appearances throughout the book, each time focusing on the work of a single author. In "Too Good to Miss," always approximately a page in length, Pearl isolates what makes a particular writer special to her and what books she would recommend. The authors receiving this special treatment include Frederick Busch, Mark Kurlansky, Eric Kraft, and Iris Murdoch. When Booklist suggested these one-author spotlights were one of the best features of the book, Pearl admitted, not surprisingly, that she loved preparing them. "I tried to include authors who I felt might be underappreciated . . . as well as those who might be less well known. Doing them gave me the chance to talk a bit about what makes these writers so good, which was a fine exercise for me as a reader and book reviewer." She expresses the regret that "I wish now that I had done more of them." So will her readers.

Of course, in preparing a book like this, which is all about recommending books on all kinds of subjects to open and eager readers, Booklist wondered if Pearl worried more about leaving out a number of books and authors than figuring out which ones to include. Pearl concurred: "The worst--most painful--part was having to bring the project to a halt. I still wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, realizing that I left out [certain] authors and books." That would seem to be an inevitable part of the selection process. Pearl had the last word on the subject: "I have to say, having done the indexing myself, that most of my favorite books are here. Except, of course, for the new books that come out after the book was done. I might have to do another book to include those!" We look forward to the sequel, then. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association( Amazon).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m27J9T90Z1BJI7:m26Z909DAYBTU

Posted by Al Smith on January 06, 2008 at 05:57 PM in Books, Library Admin, Literacy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

November 16, 2007

Canadian Children's Literature Collection

National Library's Canadian Children's Literature Service Collection

The PIKA database provides a unique window on Canadian children's literature. Contained in the database are records for all children's books held in the National Library's Canadian Children's Literature Service Collection -- over 35 000 titles. The collection contains Canadian children's books in English, French and other languages, dating from the 19th century to the present day.

Records for recent titles have been enriched by the addition of summaries and age levels, which have been generously provided by The Canadian Children's Book Centre and Communication-Jeunesse. And for the first time, we have also begun adding subject headings to fiction titles, beginning with the most recent, in order to provide improved access to Canadian children's fiction.

The database will be updated on an ongoing basis as new children's literature titles are added to the collection.

Collections.ca-Childrens Lit Database - PIKA

Posted by Al Smith on November 16, 2007 at 04:22 PM in Books, Library Admin, Literacy, Selections | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 26, 2007

Children’s Choices Booklist for 2007

Children’s Choices Booklist for 2007

http://www.reading.org/downloads/choices/cc2007_bookmark.pdf

The Children’s Choice Booklist for 2007, sponsored by the International Reading Association, was announced Oct. 5. Find the complete list here.
Also:

_________________________________________

Posted by Al Smith on October 26, 2007 at 11:18 AM in Books, Library Admin, Selections | Permalink | Comments (0)

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