Tag Archives: Programming

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

100 Things Kids Will Miss (if they don’t have a Teacher Librarian in their School)!

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Some rights reserved by eyllom
Some rights reserved by eyllom

April is a month long celebration of school librarians and their programs!

Use this list as a proactive way to share the merits of school library programming and staffing sometime this month. The list is taken from Standards for the 21st Century Learner by the American Association of School Librarians, suggestions from members of the American Association of School Librarians, and students in the school libraries of the United States. Released by Dr. Nancy Everhart President, American Association of School Librarians May 19, 2011.

Tip: This list would be good to keep on hand in case you need to defend the existence of the media center in the future too!

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Universal Preschool and the Achievement Gap!

CapitalMugs.Rob Shenk
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Recently the President’s speech called for universal preschool programs. He went into detail about the achievement gap among children as young as age 3. Nine states and the District of Columbia fund universal prekindergarten programs for 4-year-olds, and most states fund some preschool for low-income families.

Does it surprise you that the benefits of receiving preschool programming are best measured in how much better kids do as adults? Can universal preschool close the achievement gap? Read more at The Washington Post (2/13)

School Media Specialist

Apply Today for a $4,000 National School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming!

The ALA Public Programs Office is now accepting nominations for the 2013 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award for Exemplary Humanities Programming. School libraries, public or private, that served children in any combination of grades K-8 and conducted humanities programs during the 2011-2012 school year are eligible. Applications and award guidelines are available at www.ala.org/jaffarianaward. To be considered, nominations must be received by the ALA Public Programs Office by December 15.

The award consists of a $4,000 honorarium and a plaque. Additionally, the winning program will be promoted as a model program for other school libraries on www.ProgrammingLibrarian.org, a library programming resource center. To be considered, applicant libraries must have conducted a humanities program or program series during the prior school year (2011-2012). The humanities program can be focused in many subject areas, including but not limited to social studies, poetry, drama, art, music, language arts, foreign language and culture. Programs should focus on broadening perspectives and helping students understand the wider world and their place in it. They should be initiated and coordinated by the school librarian and exemplify the role of the library program in advancing the overall educational goals of the school.

To help you find inspiration for your application, ALA Public Programs Office and ProgrammingLibrarian.org present an online learning opportunity especially for school librarians:

Who Are We?: An award-winning humanities program model for school libraries

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

4:00 p.m. CDT

Francis Feeley, school librarian of Inter-American Magnet School in Chicago, Ill., and winner of the 2012 Sara Jaffarian Award, will present his winning model for humanities programming in the school library. The program, titled “Who Are We?” challenged seventh- and eighth-grade students to explore the individual and collective behavior of human beings in the past and present in a series of quarterly research projects. Following the presentation, Feeley will discuss elements of his award application that lead to his selection, and give tips to prospective applicants to help get their applications started. Registration for this event is required, and can be found at: http://www.programminglibrarian.org/online-learning/who-are-we-an-award-winning-humanities-program-model-for-school-libraries.html.

With questions, please contact the ALA Public Programs Office, publicprograms@ala.org or 800-545-2433 x5045.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist

Central Minnesota History Day @ SCSU Recap!

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January 22, 2011 was Central Minnesota History Day at the Miller Center Library, and it was a smashing success! This was the third year SCSU has hosted this event, and we had 97 participants. In all, we had six schools attend. This year’s History Day Theme is Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures, and Consequences.

The students received detailed research instruction, handouts, and assistance from SCSU librarians, interns, Minitex, and the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) staff. MHS provided guidance on project creation, structure, appearance, and what makes a History Day project great! MHS also had a sample History Day project on hand from last year. Instruction was provided on such topics as: using the Minnesota Digital Library www.mndigital.org, accessing and utilizing SCSU’s many primary source databases, using the ELM Databases, and the SCSU online catalog. This instruction was invaluable, and really got students moving in the right direction.

Throughout the day, CMLE staffers provided assistance with checking out materials and requesting interlibrary loans. In all we checked out 109 materials – ensuring that students in the central Minnesota region have the primary and secondary sources that they need to create a successful project. In addition, Patricia assisted with research questions, provided a nice welcome during the opening session, helped set up the breakout rooms and lunch, and worked to ensure that the day ran smoothly.

 We were happy to see such a great showing and hope to welcome these schools back again next year… and, we’d also love to see you, too! Please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmle1/ to see Central Minnesota History Day @ SCSU in action!

To learn more about National History Day, please visit http://www.nationalhistoryday.org/. To learn more about the research day at the Miller Center, visit http://research.stcloudstate.edu/page.phtml?page_id=344.

SCSU is looking forward to hosting the annual Central Minnesota History Day Regional competition on March 19th, 2011. The event is expected to bring students to campus to compete for prizes, such as monetary awards, continuing on to the state competition, and scholarships.