The Library of Congress Center for the Book hosts a series of author webcasts and posts them on their website. Here you can see and hear favorite authors discuss their work.
The list of authors includes webcasts by R.L. Stine, Jon Scieszka, Katherine Paterson, Stephenie Meyer, Toni Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Jan Brett and more.
Scroll through the list at read.gov/webcasts.
In 2018, together with 19 stations (including our own WXXI), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting launched the American Graduate initiative’s, “American Graduate: Getting To Work,” to partner with schools and businesses, and help prepare students with the skill sets and training needed to be part of the new workforce, especially for high-demand fields. As part of this, WXXI is offering on-demand programming highlighting local career opportunities that may not require an expensive 4-year college degree.
American Graduate is one of the largest public media collaborations across the country with over 125 local public media organizations, and national television and radio producers and distributors, working with more than 1,700 community partners.
We’re currently looking for poster sessions and breakout sessions for this one day conference, being held May 22nd from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm at the SUNY College at Brockport.
Poster Sessions:
We’re looking for poster sessions featuring research projects from both high school and first year college level that represent a wide range of student experiences.
Breakout Sessions:
We’re also looking for breakout sessions on all topics related to student success, such as:
Use this form to submit your idea for a poster session or breakout session (or both!). Please submit one form for each session that you want to present if proposing multiple sessions.
Deadline to submit is Friday, March 15th. Accepted session will be notified no later than Friday, March 29th.
A full conference program will be available the week of April 11th.
Registration is also open for this full-day conference where you’ll have the opportunity to learn from your colleagues as we talk about ways to help our students successfully transition from high school to college. This conference will feature breakouts, panels, and poster sessions, with plenty of time for one-on-one conversations and making connections with educators from around the region.
*Registration is hosted by Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES MyLearningPlan. If registering from an institution not listed under District/Institution please select “Other, Not on List” and then type in the institution under Building/Division. – If you have any questions, contact Jim Belair (jbelair@monroe2boces.org)
Governor Cuomo’s Proposed Budget for FY19-20 includes cuts for the third straight year. If you are NYLA members, you have already received information about this from Kelsey Dorado. If you haven’t sent your letter of support for library funding yet, we encourage you to do so. Support from the people in New York State makes a difference.
Click here to send an electronic letter.
By filling out the form and you can send it to multiple legislators. You can choose to leave the letter as is and sign your name to it, or you can rewrite it however you like. Your letter can make a difference. Thank you.
This article, published in “The Conversation” takes a deep dive into the strategies that School Librarians use to promote reading and support literacy initiatives. Although it is written about Australian schools, the strategies are the same across the board. This article could help administrators understand the work that Librarians do every day and the benefits of having full-time Librarians in every school library.
Click link or paste this into your browser window to read it: https://theconversation.com/ten-ways-teacher-librarians-improve-literacy-in-schools-110026?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=facebookbutton&fbclid=IwAR0651xWyMYqJONA2YmJSYgndgfPY1Vl2b-pJUepOcmrYsMP-NU17kpyMbQ
The only known surviving Muslim American slave autobiography has been acquired by the Library of Congress, and has been made available to the public online as a part of the Omar Ibn Said Collection. The autobiography (of Omar Ibn Said) is only 15 pages long, and while written in Arabic, is accompanied by an English translation.
The fact that this was written in Arabic may make it more authentic, as many slave autobiographies that were written in English were edited and changed by their owners. It is also proof of the level of education that existed in Africa at the time.
To view the collection go to: https://www.loc.gov/collections/omar-ibn-said-collection/about-this-collection/
To read a more informative article on the collection go to: https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-19-004/?loclr=twloc
If you have never attended the AASL conference, you may be eligible to win a travel grant. AASL is offering 30 travel grants to first time attendees for its 2019 National Conference and Exhibition, taking place November 14-16 in Louisville, Kentucky.
To find out more about the conference, see: https://national.aasl.org/
Travel grant applications are due February 1st. (https://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/5Ru6p7Jmtb0qI)
The $750 grants are sponsored by Bound to Stay Bound Books.
If you’re looking at starting a Makerspace or introducing some makerspace experiences, check out this great article from the Mackin Community blog.
5 Factors to Keep in Mind When Offering Makerspace Experiences in the Library
This year brought tons of books, films and other works of art into the Public Domain. This means that anyone can use these works in other projects without asking for permission.
See the following articles for more information:
A Landslide of Classic Art is About to Enter the Public Domain (from the Atlantic)
New Life for Old Classics, as Their Copyrights Run Out (from the New York Times)
12 Great Movies Just Added to the Public Domain (from Vulture.com)
For the First Time in More Than 20 Years, Copyrighted Works Will Enter the Public Domain (from Smithsonian Magazine)
For a longer list of works, see this article from Lifehacker: These 1923 Copyrighted Works Enter the Public Domain in 2019
And for a pretty comprehensive list, check out the Wikipedia article for 2019 in public domain
Need something to listen to on your way to and from work? Try a library podcast!
Inspired by The Room of Requirement episode of This American Life, which aired December 28, 2018: Three stories of libraries around the U.S., we decided to post about library podcasts. Here’s a quick breakdown of some that may be of interest to school librarians:
This podcast is hosted by Sara (an avid reader) and Kristen (a librarian), who spent the time to read lots of YA books and then review them for us. Each episode lasts about 50-60 minutes and comes out sporadically. We like that its focus is on YA literature.
This is actually a radio show that airs every other Wednesday at 1pm and features one work of contemporary fiction. Episodes can be found online and in iTunes. Each episode contains a 25-minute interview with the author, and a 25-minute discussion of the book between the host (Cyd Oppenheimer) and two guest readers. They round out the show with a local librarian who recommends a middle-grade fiction book.
Booktalks in 45 seconds! Although this podcast hasn’t aired since 2017, who doesn’t love a quick 45-second booktalk? Nancy J. Keane offers a daily booktalk on books for grades K-12. Listen to booktalks about some of the newest books published as well as some oldies but goodies. Instead of just reading Nancy Keane’s booktalks, tune in to hear the booktalks by booktalking expert, Nancy Keane, herself.
In this podcast, Joe Janes, Associate Professor at the University of Washington Information school, takes a look at documents that have made a difference in the world. In less than 15 minutes, thought slightly awkward, Joe takes us through the history and background of different world documents, and weaves a tale that leaves you thinking. You can listen online at https://ischool.uw.edu/podcasts/dtctw, however, you’ll find more episodes in iTunes.
Each episode of this podcast is about 50 minutes long, and is hosted by staff librarians who work for OverDrive. Hear their book recommendations, learn about new books coming out, and listen to author interviews. While this isn’t a podcast specific to schools or even the K-12 age group, these are all books that are available in OverDrive (for public libraries at least).
If you listen to a library podcast that you think other school librarians would like, let us know!