All posts by Theresa

General

Featured Book: Say What You Will

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovernThis post is part of an original series created by librarians/media specialists across Central Minnesota featuring books.

Title: Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
Written by Maria Burnham, Media Specialist at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School

Another pretty good realistic fiction YA novel.  The storyline is about two 18-year-olds, a girl, Amy, with Cerebral Palsy and a boy, Matthew, who has OCD.  For her senior year, Amy’s parents decide to hire “peer helpers” to help Amy throughout the school day instead of adult aids.  They are hoping that the peer helpers will help Amy meet new friends and enable her to transition to college.  Matthew has always known Amy from a distance, and has taken the job as her peer helper because Amy specifically asks him to.  And so stems an unlikely friendship between two outcasts.

I liked most of the book; however, some of the events in the end seemed a bit unrealistic for the characters in the book (no spoilers here!).  Otherwise, I liked the characterization and the decisions that many 18-year-olds must face as they experience their senior year and find tremendous pressure to go to college no matter what.  This book is a coming-of-age story, and one that I will certainly recommend to my students.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Notable Dates for your Noggin: July 2015

Calendar BannerIntroducing our new monthly update – Notable Dates for your Noggin!  Each month we’ll bring you a compiled list of fun national holidays, birthdays of authors, and publication dates of favorite books.  You can use these for your own personal use or for some library inspiration!

July is National Hot Dog Month and National Grilling Month!

Other things to celebrate in July. . .

Did we miss anything?  Let us know if we did!

For our calendar of library events, including conferences and library days, check out our Events/Initiatives page.

And for more Notable Dates for Your Noggin, check out our Notable Dates page.

General, School Media Specialist

The Baltimore Library Project

Ceremony pays tribute to D-Day veterans on 70th anniversary.School libraries in Baltimore, Maryland are participating in a project through the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and BERC (Baltimore Education Research Consortium).  According to their site, the project is designed “to evaluate the impact of these spaces within the school community.”  An evaluation has been completed on three newly-remodeled libraries in Baltimore.

Released in January of 2014 by BERC, A Library They Deserve: The Baltimore Elementary and Middle School Library Project shares data from interviews with school principals, librarians, teachers, students, and partners.  The interviews were conducted to examine “the experiences of the principals, librarians, teachers, and students at the three schools that received new libraries.”  Data also came from “two schools that agreed to participate and function as comparison sites.”  The report highlighted four major findings:

  1. All three schools with a new library viewed them as inviting, attractive, and well-resourced spaces
  2. A knowledgeable, skilled, and motivated library staff is essential to maximizing the potential of these new libraries
  3. Librarians and teachers need additional professional development to best integrate the library technology into instruction
  4. The community partnerships initiated through this project are adding significant resources to the education of students in these schools.

Revised in August of 2013, School Library Impact Studies: A Review of Findings and Guide to Sources was commissioned by the Weinberg Foundation “to demonstrate the process used to develop effective libraries and to ensure [the foundation was] following best practices in the field.”  The Foundation provides this document as well.  It highlights studies related to access, budget, collaboration/cooperation, environment, instruction/information literacy curriculum, learning and motivation, outreach/community, poverty, resources/collection development, staffing, technology, and usage.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/kats2c9, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Notable Dates for your Noggin: June 2015

Calendar BannerIntroducing our new monthly update – Notable Dates for your Noggin!  Each month we’ll bring you a compiled list of fun national holidays, birthdays of authors, and publication dates of favorite books.  You can use these for your own personal use or for some library inspiration!

June is National Camping Month, National Rose Month, and Fresh Fruit & Vegetables Month!

Other things to celebrate in June. . .

Did we miss anything?  Let us know if we did!

For our calendar of library events, including conferences and library days, check out our Events/Initiatives page.

And for more Notable Dates for Your Noggin, check out our Notable Dates page.