Category Archives: School Media Specialist

Academic, Communication, Resources, School Media Specialist

Have you met CORA yet?

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“Loyola Marymount University is pleased to announce the launch of CORA, the Community of Online Research Assignments. Pay a visit to CORA here: http://www.projectcora.org/ .

CORA is on online, open access repository of research and information literacy assignments. All assignments contributed to
the collection are released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by other educators, allowing the assignments to be enhanced by user feedback.

Assignments are searchable by discipline, information literacy concept, ability level, or keyword. There is also a “Teaching Toolkit” section with the following resource types: Pedagogy/Learning Theory, Assessment, Blog, Classroom Activity, Technology Tip, Subject Guide/Research Guide, Citation Tool, Info Lit Tutorial, and Syllabus. The development of CORA was funded by a SCELC Project Initiatives Fund grant. We welcome your contributions to this virtual community of practice! We especially welcome assignments related to source evaluation and fake news.

Sincerely,
Susan Gardner Archambault, Head of Reference & Instruction | William H. Hannon Library | Loyola Marymount University |

CMLE, School Media Specialist, Visits

A visit to the Buffalo High School library

I could tell just walking into the building that this was going to be a fun library to visit.

Check out that bison!! He’s not in the library (outside the office); but he clearly sets the tone for fun things to happen – and that carries right through to the library.

I managed to be here as they were celebrating Kindness Week – and the library was an enthusiastic participant! Librarian Amy Sparks showed me all around the library, pointing out all the interesting things she and her staff have set up. Any had just finished submitting a grant proposal, and had included a video of the library with a student who raved about the service – fantastic!

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Check this out:, Communication, School Media Specialist

Latest news from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)

http://www.ala.org/yalsa

Teen Book Finder Database

Have you heard about YALSA’s Teen Book Finder Database? It’s the newest and easiest way to check out YALSA’s book and media award winners from past years. This free resource is searchable by award, list name, year, author, genre, and more. Users can create customizable and printable lists and even locate books in nearby libraries. The database will eventually replace our book and media list pages on our website. Check it out here!

New 2017 Selected Booklists!

Have you checked out our newest booklists? They’re all available now!

Beginning this month, Amazing Audiobooks, Quick Picks and Popular Paperbacks are being transitioned over to The Hub. More details on this transition can be found here. These are the only selected lists that will be changing in 2017.

Continue reading Latest news from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) →

Books, Communication, School Media Specialist

Book Recommendations from the American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL)


After talking with several of our members, I know that collecting and recommending books that adequately speak to the American Indian experience is important – and a challenge! We want to be sure we are passing on the best information to our patrons and community members; so it is good to get some expert advice.

I wanted to share this information and blog, by Debbie Reese – a member of the Nambe Owingeh tribe. Her blog is called American Indians in Children’s Literature, and has not only book recommendations but also a lot of very valuable information to help library people (and others) to understand books an information in this area.

Continue reading Book Recommendations from the American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL) →

CMLE, School Media Specialist, Visits

Touring Kimball Elementary school library

For someone who is not regularly around small kids, it’s always a treat to visit an elementary school library – you see just how much thought goes into making everything size-appropriate for the patrons! That kind of usability is important in all libraries, but in a library like this it is clearly on display and fun to see.

This library is a fun open-concept design! No walls cut them off from the rest of the school, so everything feels very open and flexible. They are recessed below the hallways around them, so there is privacy and a sense of specific place; and I love this feeling of being connected to the daily activities around them.

Continuing the idea of design making the library connect with the kid patrons, this art on the wall was just lovely. Kids could see this and be really inspired to read books – but also to just dream about great things!

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