Tag Archives: media center

Kathy Popp CMLE Extended Mini Grant Report

kids testing the floor chairs
kids testing the floor chairs

This is a guest post from Kathy Popp, Elementary Media Center Para at Royalton Elementary School.

Thank you, Thank you, CMLE for the $1,000 grant. With the grant I was able to purchase child friendly seating for the Media Center.

I purchased bean bag chairs and grab & go chairs. Both will be easy to clean and store. The seating came just as I was wrapping up the last week of “I Love to Read” month.

The students are so excited to be able to have some unique seating to place around the Media Center while they are reading. It is so nice to have something besides adult chairs for the students to use.

The past few years more classrooms are giving students the opportunity to try different seating and now I can offer options in the Media Center also! This seating will last for years! 

Thank you again. Kathy Popp, Media Center Para at Royalton Elementary School. 

Feb is Black History Month! Books by Black Authors to Share All Year Long

We hope you are sharing books written by Black authors all year long. But it’s especially important during February – Black History Month! We have our recs below. And if you’re looking for resources to share with other educators, students, librarians, or community members:

Our links below lead to Amazon – and if you buy something while you are there, Amazon sends us a little of the profits they make from your purchase! Thanks!

Nonfiction:
Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress by Alicia D. Williams, illustrated by April Harrison
“Discover the inspiring story of the first black woman elected to Congress and to run for president in this picture book biography from a Newbery Honor-winning author and a Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning illustrator. Meet Shirley, a little girl who asks way too many questions! After spending her early years on her grandparents’ farm in Barbados, she returns home to Brooklyn and immediately makes herself known. Shirley kicks butt in school; she breaks her mother’s curfew; she plays jazz piano instead of classical. And as a young adult, she fights against the injustice she sees around her, against women and black people. Soon she is running for state assembly…and winning in a landslide. Three years later, she is on the campaign trail again, as the first black woman to run for Congress. Her slogan? “Fighting Shirley Chisholm–Unbought and Unbossed!” Does she win? You bet she does.”

My Little Golden Book About Misty Copeland by Sherri L. Smith and illustrated by Tara Nicole Whitaker
“Help your little one dream big with a Little Golden Book biography all about Misty Copeland, the American Ballet Theatre’s first Black principal dancer! The perfect introduction to nonfiction for preschoolers! This Little Golden Book introduces ballet prodigy Misty Copeland to the youngest readers. The first Black principal dancer in the history of the American Ballet Theatre—who didn’t start dancing until she was almost thirteen—continues to impress the world and pave the way for young Black girls to chase their dreams.”

And We Rise: The Civil Rights Movement in Poems by Erica Martin
“A powerful, impactful, eye-opening journey that explores through the Civil Rights Movement in 1950s-1960s America in spare and evocative verse, with historical photos interspersed throughout. In stunning verse and vivid use of white space, Erica Martin’s debut poetry collection walks readers through the Civil Rights Movement—from the well-documented events that shaped the nation’s treatment of Black people, beginning with the “Separate but Equal” ruling—and introduces lesser-known figures and moments that were just as crucial to the Movement and our nation’s centuries-long fight for justice and equality. A poignant, powerful, all-too-timely collection that is both a vital history lesson and much-needed conversation starter in our modern world. Complete with historical photographs, author’s note, chronology of events, research, and sources.”

Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by Brandy Colbert
“In the early morning of June 1, 1921, a white mob marched across the train tracks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and into its predominantly Black Greenwood District—a thriving, affluent neighborhood known as America’s Black Wall Street. They brought with them firearms, gasoline, and explosives. In a few short hours, they’d razed thirty-five square blocks to the ground, leaving hundreds dead. The Tulsa Race Massacre is one of the most devastating acts of racial violence in US history. But how did it come to pass? What exactly happened? And why are the events unknown to so many of us today? These are the questions that award-winning author Brandy Colbert seeks to answer in this unflinching nonfiction account of the Tulsa Race Massacre. In examining the tension that was brought to a boil by many factors—white resentment of Black economic and political advancement, the resurgence of white supremacist groups, the tone and perspective of the media, and more—a portrait is drawn of an event singular in its devastation, but not in its kind. It is part of a legacy of white violence that can be traced from our country’s earliest days through Reconstruction, the Civil Rights movement in the mid–twentieth century, and the fight for justice and accountability Black Americans still face today. The Tulsa Race Massacre has long failed to fit into the story Americans like to tell themselves about the history of their country. This book, ambitious and intimate in turn, explores the ways in which the story of the Tulsa Race Massacre is the story of America—and by showing us who we are, points to a way forward.”

Fiction:
Saturday by Oge Mora
“In this heartfelt and universal story, a mother and daughter look forward to their special Saturday routine together every single week. But this Saturday, one thing after another goes wrong–ruining storytime, salon time, picnic time, and the puppet show they’d been looking forward to going to all week. Mom is nearing a meltdown…until her loving daughter reminds her that being together is the most important thing of all. Author-artist Oge Mora’s highly anticipated follow up to Caldecott Honor Thank You, Omu! features the same magnificently radiant artwork and celebration of sharing so beloved in her debut picture book.”

My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich by Ibi Zoboi
“Twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace Norfleet has lived with her beloved grandfather Jeremiah in Huntsville, Alabama ever since she was little. As one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA, Jeremiah has nurtured Ebony-Grace’s love for all things outer space and science fiction—especially Star Wars and Star Trek. But in the summer of 1984, when trouble arises with Jeremiah, it’s decided she’ll spend a few weeks with her father in Harlem. Harlem is an exciting and terrifying place for a sheltered girl from Hunstville, and Ebony-Grace’s first instinct is to retreat into her imagination. But soon 126th Street begins to reveal that it has more in common with her beloved sci-fi adventures than she ever thought possible, and by summer’s end, Ebony-Grace discovers that Harlem has a place for a girl whose eyes are always on the stars.”

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink
“A piercing, unforgettable love story set in Greenwood, Oklahoma, also known as the “Black Wall Street,” and against the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. Isaiah Wilson is, on the surface, a town troublemaker, but is hiding that he is an avid reader and secret poet, never leaving home without his journal. Angel Hill is a loner, mostly disregarded by her peers as a goody-goody. Her father is dying, and her family’s financial situation is in turmoil. Though they’ve attended the same schools, Isaiah never noticed Angel as anything but a dorky, Bible toting church girl. Then their English teacher offers them a job on her mobile library, a three-wheel, two-seater bike. Angel can’t turn down the money and Isaiah is soon eager to be in such close quarters with Angel every afternoon. But life changes on May 31, 1921 when a vicious white mob storms the Black community of Greenwood, leaving the town destroyed and thousands of residents displaced. Only then, Isaiah, Angel, and their peers realize who their real enemies are.”

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed
“Perfect for fans of The Hate U Give, this unforgettable coming-of-age debut novel explores issues of race, class, and violence through the eyes of a wealthy black teenager whose family gets caught in the vortex of the 1992 Rodney King Riots. Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer. Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids. As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson. With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?”

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood
“Andromeda is a debtera — an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. She would be hired, that is, if her mentor hadn’t thrown her out before she could earn her license. Now her only hope of steady work is to find a Patron — a rich, well-connected individual who will vouch for her abilities. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, she takes the job without question. Never mind that he’s rude and demanding and eccentric, that the contract comes with a number of outlandish rules… and that almost a dozen debtera had quit before her. If Andromeda wants to earn a living, she has no choice. But she quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, the reason every debtera before her quit. But leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option because — heaven help her — she’s fallen for him. Stunningly romantic, Lauren Blackwood’s heartstopping debut, Within These Wicked Walls, ushers in an exciting new fantasy voice.”

No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull
“One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother has been shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it. As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend’s trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters. At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark? The world will soon find out.”

Steve Kline at South Jr. High Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Steve Kline, Media Specialist at South Junior High School. Read more about our Extended Mini Grant Program.

Covid has impacted our students in many ways. Many opportunities and resources have been taken from or denied them in the past few years. The CMLE grant gave South Jr. High an excellent opportunity to leverage our District 742 1:1 program (in our case, Chromebooks) and gave students access to a wonderful resource, a subscription to the Comics Plus tool from Mackin.

Using their Chromebooks and the subscription purchased with the CMLE grant dollars, students now have unlimited, simultaneous access to thousands of graphic novels, manga, and comics all vetted and appropriate to their age level.

Distance learning substantially changed and impacted the way libraries operated and continues to influence how we work with and are being asked to serve our patrons. Whatever your opinion on digital resources is and the value they have, the need to build and provide access to digital libraries became more immediately pressing and happened on a much grander scale because of the immediate need distance learning created.

Digital libraries gave us the opportunity to provide resources to students remotely via their 1:1 device. Unfortunately, developing and maintaining a digital collection is expensive. Comics Plus allows us to provide high interest materials to students in a one-stop solution. Kids are excited when they see what is available to them. Better yet, they don’t have to wait until material or resources is returned – they can check out any resource in the collection at any time.

So, I want to thank CMLE for their mini-grant program. The grant allows us to fund our subscription to Comics Plus for another year. That is another year students will be able to access new and different resources that our library would not be able to purchase or provide. Thank you from the staff and students at South Jr. High in St. Cloud.

Mary Shaddrick at North Jr High Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Mary Shaddrick, Media Specialist at North Jr. High. Read more about our Extended Mini Grant Program.

If your library is anything like mine, graphic novels – and more specifically Manga novels – do not sit long on the shelf. Every day, some come back and more go out the door. Students wait weeks to get the title they want next. I enjoy seeing students excited about reading, but I want to give them the opportunity to create a graphic novel of their own. 

Thanks to the generosity of CMLE and the extended mini-grant program, students at North Junior High in St. Cloud will be able to create their own graphics novels.  With the grant monies, I purchased 10 copies of “The Master Guide to Drawing Anime,” 24 sketch drawing pads, 24 blank comic book template books, and 24 sets of art supplies for sketching.  When a student checks out the drawing how-to book, they get the chance to also get the chance to receive the free art supplies. Everything they need to create their own graphic novel. 

The second part of the project will take place when students finish their graphic novels.  The finished book will become part of our media center library collection.  Students will have the chance to be an author, and their peers will be able to read and view their creative works. My hope is that we will have a growing student-created graphic novel section. 

Thank you to CMLE for providing this grant, and I will definitely share the student-created artwork as it comes to me. 

Anna Hazzard Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Anna Hazzard at Liberty Elementary in Big Lake. Find out more about our Extended Mini Grant Program.

First of all, I want to give a huge thank you to the CMLE for accepting my mini grant submission! I am beyond excited and thankful!

   Here at Liberty we are a K-2 elementary school with over 700 students.  Each one of our students has a weekly library time to check out books with their class. My vision as the media assistant at Liberty is to create excitement around books, reading, and the library experience.  Why can’t the library be lively, fun, a little loud (sometimes), AND educational? 

   Every couple of months the Liberty library transforms into a newly decorated, interactive theme! This has been so successful and such an amazing way to create excitement around the different books we have in the library! The students have absolutely loved these various themes and always look forward to what’s next! Some of our past themes have been Rev Up with a Good Book, Camp Out, Once Upon a Time,  Back to School with the Characters We Love, and Snowmen At Night.

   With this mini grant we were able to purchase decorations, books, and activities to create our latest themed experience…Ms. Anna’s Gingerbread Land (as named by one of my students)! Not only will we enjoy these items now but they will also be reused for future events!!!

   When students visit the library every week to check out books they also get to enjoy this interactive gingerbread theme! They are having a blast with the larger than life decorations to take pictures by, themed special events/activities, and of course BOOKS!!!

   The joy that this grant has brought to the students of Liberty is one for the books!  It’s really something you have to see on the faces of the students as they walk into the library!

 It is truly magical!!! Thank you again CMLE!!!!