Librarians who work with teens will welcome these useful guides. In Booktalking with Teens, Kristine Mahood explains how to use booktalks to engage teens with the library. She discusses what teens are reading (and how to find out); surveys various genres, including graphic novels and classics; and outlines the steps in making booktalking a success. … Continue reading Titles for Teens
Five 2nd-graders stand before a group of 20 preschool children sitting on the rug in the library’s story area. Each of them is holding a hardback copy of Eric Rohmann’s picture book A Kitten Tale (Knopf, 2008). After the name and author of the book have been announced, the children begin to read: (Nar): Once … Continue reading From Children’s Literature to Readers Theatre
A new survey of U.S. colleges and universities has some troubling findings for libraries about their declining use by faculty, but also holds clues as to how they can maintain their relevance. The report of the results, Faculty Survey 2009: Key Strategic Insights for Libraries, Publishers, and Societies (PDF file), summarized the findings as: “Basic scholarly … Continue reading Faculty Survey Tracks Changing Perceptions of Libraries
Library workers and supporters nationwide are turning to social media to spread the word about proposed funding cuts and recruit advocates. Despite what looks to be a very bleak FY2011, social media blitzes to stave off cuts for the current fiscal year may have laid some groundwork toward influencing budgetmakers. In March, the Charlotte (N.C.) … Continue reading Will Social Media Activism Rescue Besieged Libraries?
When you think of Twitter, you might think of Oprah. You might think of Ashton Kutcher. But do you think of Roy Tennant, Jessamyn West, and ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries? While social networks are useful for keeping up with celebrities, friends, and family, they’re also valuable professional networking tools that can connect … Continue reading Dipping into the Stream
There’s nothing quite so satisfying as a good story well told. We all tell stories, and libraries are the best places in the world to share them. With a growing national trend toward taking advantage of the cultural and literary programs, personalized professional learning assistance, and community social hub that good libraries offer their constituents, … Continue reading Tell Us a Story
There are few pleasures in life as rewarding as being in the presence of a great storyteller—an opportunity I get every year when the University of Washington SLIS hosts the Spencer Shaw Lecture, in honor of our beloved emeritus faculty member. This year’s treat was Patricia McKissack, whose talk was titled “On the Front Porch … Continue reading The Biggest Front Porch
For many years, readers’ advisory has been a fundamental and valuable library service that has helped library patrons and others decide what books to borrow from a library or to buy from a book dealer. Librarians have also been prolific writers of book reviews, which have helped other librarians make purchasing decisions and helped readers … Continue reading Let’s Review Everything
A couple of months ago I started a daily blog entitled "Will Unwound." At first, I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that as a retired librarian I wanted to stay connected to librarians on a daily basis. Call me crazy, but I think librarians are the most interesting tribe … Continue reading Quirkiness “R” Us
In the latest book on a persistent challenge, Michael Sullivan offers readers’ advisory as a strategy to bring boys to the library and get them to read. Serving Boys Through Readers’ Advisory explains “boys’ lit” and outlines how to use readers’ advisory effectively. Librarians will appreciate the many boy-friendly booktalks and book lists. Indexed. 152p.PBK. … Continue reading New from ALA: May 2010
In April 2009, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) released its updated Federal Depository Library Program Strategic Plan, 2009–2014 (PDF file), which summarizes the current condition of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and posits a future for the program in which depository libraries will be significant providers of current and historical government information. Many … Continue reading Fixing the Federal Depository Library Program
Katherine Paterson, two-time winner of both the National Book Award (The Great Gilly Hopkins and The Master Puppeteer) and Newbery Medal (Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I loved), is the second person to be named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. She takes over for children’s author … Continue reading Award Winning Author Katherine Paterson Is Ambassador for Children’s Reading
