It's the middle of the month and the flurry of school starting up again makes me feel we didn't miss a beat. The September issue of School Library Journal helps us get off to a strong start.
Be sure to take advantage of the excitement surrounding this year's Presidential election--the first African American presidential candidate and the first woman on the Republican ticket as a vice presidential nominee. School Library Journal has made our lives easier by publishing a helpful article full of links that will engage students as they research issues, positions and candidates: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590042.html. Also, peruse "Getting Out the Vote" http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590043.html.
Teen Read Week is in October: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6593562.html
This article about the connection between reading success and public libraries has parallels to school libraries: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590044.html.
It's baseball season--and a great time to reflect on the role of African Americans in the greatest American pastime: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590039.html.
An inspiring idea for online lesson plan development and sharing: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590061.html
A boost to our TLC titles in the form of links to fight bullying: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6590062.html
Reading blogs is a great way to keep up-to-date and informed. Try these:
School Library Activities Monthly has a blog worth viewing: http://blog.schoollibrarymedia.com/
Another blog for librarians: http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/
AASL http://www.aasl.ala.org/aaslblog/
Resource Shelf http://www.resourceshelf.com/
There's really way too much here, but for those of you who are insatiable:
http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/resf/current.html
Here's our agenda with minutes included:
1. Follett issues
Patron upload continues to be problematic. We're hopeful to have this resolved in the next few days. I appreciate your patience. The good news is the SIF agent will make the whole process seamless--and ongoing! The file will be updated every 15 seconds.
Cataloging books
Librarians reported problems with cataloging. One of the problems is that z sources aren't loading; I've reported that to technology. Another problem is that books are arriving without records. I will be in touch with our rep.
Destiny Quest
Consensus was to introduce this new interface after students have a handle on traditional searches.
Free ebooks--To learn more about Follett eBooks and how you can help build a bridge to the classroom, call 1-877-221-3506.
2. Picturing America Grant—http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/
We applied for this grant which comes with a collection of books and posters.
3. Interactive whiteboards—ActivStudio tutorial http://www.prometheanlearning.com/
Sign up to take this tutorial. It is straightforward and helpful. Atomic Learning has tutorials on the board as well.
4. Blogs--eChalk now has a blog feature. I will investigate opening it up for those interested.
5. Summer reading program follow-up--Once you receive names of the participants, make sure to raffle the books. I'd appreciate a photo that you can save to Library M in a folder I set up in Summer Reading for that purpose.
6. Finance Manager/budget information--You can retrieve budget info from your Requisition Manager account. If you have any trouble, let me know.
7. Lesson plans--Please save to your Library M folder, e-mail me, or use the online form.
8. Inservice courses--If you're interested in teaching a class, let me know. Some of the Teachers as Readers sections will have to be combined because of low enrollment.
9. Staff Development--Ideas for November were discussed. a)online databases vs. Google
b)Promethean ActiveStudio I will canvas you further once I have the go-ahead to meet with everyone as a group.
10. Videoconferencing--If you haven't introduced videoconferencing to your buildings, this year would be a good time. Take a look at the BOCES website http://www.nassauboces.org/dln/Videoconferencing/index.htm. Call me for a username and password if you want to look at the catalog. I need to assess whether we should purchase additional modules, so let me know of your interest asap.
11. Websites of note
Resources for school librarians http://www.sldirectory.com/
Go SLMS blog http://goslmsgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/digital-copyright-issues.html
Children’s Picture Book Database http://www.lib.muohio.edu/pictbks/
Eduscapes http://eduscapes.com/
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