Shared Worlds By Kelly Czarnecki - 10/01/2008
Shouts of joy erupted from a group of teens when they were told that they were going to the local Barnes & Noble bookstore to buy Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the Twilight series (Little Brown, 2008). Were these youngsters members of a book club that met at the library or a group of diehard vampire fans? No, they were students in a World Building class called Sh...
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A New Era of Gothic Horror By Philip Charles Crawford - 10/01/2008
Gothic horror fiction has become wildly popular in my high school library over the past few years, and series like Darren Shan’s “The Demonata,” Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” (both Little, Brown), and Libba Bray’s “Gemma Doyle” trilogy (Delacorte) have been in high demand.
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Being and Nothingness By Marc Aronson - 10/01/2008
I was on the phone the other day with one of our nation’s leading education professors. I muttered something about the fact that elementary school teachers have very little training in teaching history—in fact, in teaching any nonfiction content. He told me that he has been offering seminars all across the country, and he’s seen, firsthand, how that lack of specialized trainin...
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Blurring the Lines By Paula Brehm-Heeger - 10/01/2008
Poverty and lack of resources—two problems that typically affect school and public libraries in urban cities—were recently the topics of discussion between me and a longtime friend, who is a middle school librarian near where I grew up. Over the last few years, urban expansion has made this area of Cincinnati, once considered a “suburb,” feel more like an extension of t...
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A Common Cover-up By Carrie Russell - 10/01/2008
We’d like to display our DVDs—just the cases, not the contents. Can we make copies of the original covers (which have the bar codes) to circulate along with the actual discs? —Susan Clayton, assistant county librarian Lake County Library, Lakeport, CA Yes, it’s fine to make copies of the covers.
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Connecting with Teens By Kelly Czarnecki - 09/01/2008
Today’s youth are technologically savvy, and many are avid video gamers. These recently published books are great professional development tools. They offer a broad look at video gaming and provide important insight into teen culture. Librarians and teachers interested in incorporating video games into their programs and lesson plans will find a treasure trove of information, and don̵...
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Things Have Gotta Change By Marc Aronson - 09/01/2008
I was cleaning up around the house the other day when I came across John Brewer’s review of Boyd Hilton’s A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People? England 1783–1845 (Oxford University, 2008) in the New York Review of Books. The book, which examines how Britain regained its world prominence after losing its American colonies, sounds fascinating, but what really caught my interest was ...
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Podcasts are a great way to expand learning beyond the classroom or library. Here are more recommendations from Tech Chicks Anna Adam and Helen Mowers, following up their Dec. 2007 article Listen Up!
Gr 4-7–When their beloved Aunt Grace dies, Dan, 11, and Amy, 14–along with other Cahill descendants–are faced with an unusual choice: inherit one million dollars or participate in a perilous treasure hunt.
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