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Meet a fly (who used to be a guy) and fabled beasts not found in cages. Hear poems both spooky and silly in our Halloween poetry podcast series, with selections from Bobbi Katz, Juanita Havill, Calef Brown, and Marilyn Singer.
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| Interview |
| HS Senior Explains Why She Doesn't Use the School Library |
 High school senior Andrea Drusch ticked off a lot of media specialists—not to mention her own school librarian—with her recent scathing editorial in The Dallas Morning News about all the things wrong with today's media centers. Even Omar Wasow, cofounder of BlackPlanet.com, mentioned the teenager's views during his closing remarks at the American Association of School Librarians conference in Reno, NV, last weekend. Wasow
stressed the need to address these kinds of concerns if libraries want to play a key role in the 21st century.
All the 18-year-old budding journalist wants is a Barnes & Noble/Starbucks-like atmosphere, where kids can walk in at any time, sit back, browse titles, and perhaps have a nibble and a drink. But she ended up getting a lot of angry email messages. SLJ caught up with Drusch to talk about the kinds of changes that would make her and her friends frequent their school library.
read more... |
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| TechTrends |
Follett, Gale Display New Wares at AASL
ADVERTISEMENT |
The 13th national conference of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), held October 25–28 in Reno, NV, featured several vendor announcements.
Follett Software Company released the latest version of InfoCentre at AASL. InfoCentre 3.0, a new version of the library management system, generates grade and homeroom reading lists based on student records. Version 3.0 lets users keep track of previously lost books that have been returned or paid for, and lets them quickly see the estimated fine for an overdue copy. Additional improvements include Follett Remote Support, which enables updating of InfoCentre's circulation records with circulation transactions logged with Follett Remote. Follett Remote lets users continue to perform many tasks offline if they lose their Internet connection
or their InfoCentre server becomes unavailable. read more... |
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 BOOKS
When I Crossed No-Bob by Margaret McMullan
From SLJ November 2007
 Gr 4-8–Set in rural Mississippi during the hard years of Reconstruction, this novel follows the life of 12-year-old Addy O'Donnell.... |
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 VIDEO/DVD
Grandfather's Birthday
Gr 4 Up–This beautifully photographed, visually evocative, award-winning short film begins with a sweet old man waking up and getting ready for his big day—his 79th birthday.... |
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 AUDIO
In Aunt Giraffe's Green Garden and The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders
PreS-Gr 3–Jack Prelutsky, the nation's first Children's Poet Laureate, demonstrates yet another of his talents as he sets two sets of his collections of poetry to music.... |
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| News and Views |
| Web 2.0 Takes Center Stage at AASL's National Conference |
There's no denying that blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds, and social networking sites were the hot topics of discussion at the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) 13th National Conference in Reno, NV, October 24–28.
"A lot of Web 2.0," says Cecelia Solomon, a media specialist at West Hernando Middle School in Brooksville, FL, describing her first experience at an AASL conference. read more... |
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| Maine Middle School Laptop Program Leads to Better Writers |
Does using laptops make kids better writers? That seems to be the case in Maine, where every middle school student now has a laptop, thanks to a five-year-old program aimed at getting kids ready for 21st-century learning skills.
In fact, since all of Maine's seventh- and eighth-grade students were given laptops in 2002, students' writing scores statewide have improved significantly, says a new report, "Maine's Middle School Laptop Program: Creating Better Writers." read more... |
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| New York Explores 'Dual Enrollment' Programs to Deter High School Dropouts |
New York may soon offer potential dropouts an attractive incentive: they'll be able to earn college credits while still in high school and graduate with a bachelor's degree in just three years.
If approved by the state legislature, the $100 million Smart Scholars program, recently okayed by the state's Board of Regents, will provide at least 12,000 disadvantaged students the opportunity to consolidate the traditional four years of high school and four years of college into just seven years. read more... |
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| Remarkable Reads |
| Mexican Folktales |
Folktales are excellent vehicles for exploring a culture and its values. Class, heritage, food, and religion are all major contributors to Mexico's rich storytelling tradition. Compare these stories to Greek myths and Native American folklore, or use them to complement Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, Nov. 1–2) discussions.
EHLERT, Lois. Cuckoo/Cucu: A Mexican Folktale/Un Cuento Folklorico Mexicano. tr. by Gloria de Aragón Andújar. illus. by author. Harcourt. 1997. Tr $17. ISBN 978-0-15-200274-9; pap. $7. ISBN 978-0-15-202428-4.
PreS-Gr 3–Cuckoo is vain and lazy, but proves herself otherwise when a fire threatens her family's food supply. This simple story of the bird's change of heart (and feathers!) comes alive with Ehlert's cut-paper collages, inspired by Mexican folk art. Told in both English and Spanish, this book is great for reading aloud and will prompt discussion on being judgmental and self-sacrifice. read more... |
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| Watch and Read: Spotlight on Media Tie-ins
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| The Ultimate Toy Store |
| Written and directed by Zach Helm and produced by Walden Media, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium hits theaters on November 16, 2007. After 113 years, eccentric Mr. Magorium (Dustin Hoffman) is ready to relinquish ownership of his beloved—and magical—toy store to his self-doubting assistant, Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman). Encouraged by the friendship of nine-year-old Eric (Zack Mills) and a stuffed-shirt accountant (Jason Bateman), Mahoney finally learns to believe in herself, discovering within the "sparkle" needed to once again fill the shop with magic. Catch a preview at Magorium.com and look for more information at walden.com/magorium. read more... |
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| Librarian's Internet |
| The Great American Smokeout |
| scienceu.fsu.edu/content/index.html |
| The Great American Smokeout is November 15, so take this opportunity to educate kids about tobacco and smoking. This site doesn't preach, but instead provides kids with all the information they need to decide for themselves that smoking is not healthy or cool. By clicking around the various graphic links, kids can learn about how tobacco affects their bodies, the economy, and the environment; the history of tobacco use in the U.S.; tobacco advertising techniques; and why tobacco is addictive (and what to do if you're already addicted). The "Cool Me" section contains online activities and printables. For a great bunch of lesson plans and activities, click here.—Gail Junion-Metz |
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| Multiple Positions |
California State University, Northridge
Northridge, CA
Consider joining an innovative, creative and learner-centered Library that takes great pride in working with students and faculty in the areas of reference, information literacy, instructional programming, and collection development.
To see all positions available through the SLJ Career Center, click here...
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