New Gale E-Newsletters

Print |

Reprint/License |

Subscription |

RSS |

By Meg McCaffrey -- School Library Journal, 11/01/2003

Comment
on this article

Nina Levine, a library media specialist at Blue Mountain Middle School in Cortlandt Manor, NY, always welcomes a helping hand when it comes to the challenging business of keeping current. That's why she was delighted to learn that the educational publisher Gale has created two new e-newsletters that cater to media specialists and classroom teachers. "The newsletters help me to stay abreast of developments in our profession and the industries that support it," says Levine.

The e-newsletter It's Galementary! offers K–5 media specialists and teachers news, heads-up information on the latest trends, articles on elementary-school topics, and fun facts. There's also advice on how to correlate the curriculum to state standards. To receive the free newsletters, educators simply register online.

CurricuLinks follows a similar format for middle- and high-school educators. The newsletters also spotlight Gale books and products, but that doesn't bother Denise Brandt, a media specialist at Bloomfield Hills Public Schools in Michigan, who says that the product info is minimal compared to the educational content. For example, It's Galementary! featured an article on the usefulness of large-print books. "The 'Mystery of the Month' and 'Clue Yourself In' section is perfect for the librarian who is too busy to find questions and facts to display in the media center," says Brandt. CurricuLinks provides a regular feature called "Decade in Focus," which spotlights a different decade each issue. And "Sci-Try" offers suggestions for science experiments. (Did you know that five bucks and an electric fan can be turned into a functioning glider?)

Gale also recently launched a free Web site (www.galeschools.com) for K–12 educators, that features lesson plans and other resources, including fund-raising tips for media specialists. For more information, visit www.gale.com .