Media matters A newsletter for people who care about Library Media programs. April 2007 Volume 5, Number 9 National Library Week April 1521, 2007 This year's theme is "Come Together @ your library." The American Library Association (ALA) and hundreds of libraries throughout the country are hosting special programs and events to celebrate the contributions of our nation's library media centers, media specialists, librarians and library workers, and promote library media use. The ALA's Public Information Office (PIO) is in the process of promoting National Library Week to members of the press, and they would like to hear about how your library plans to celebrate. Event information can be entered online, and will be made available to press members and the community at large. Please enter your event information via the National Library Week page at http://www.ala.org/pio/nlw, click on "share your story here." Entered information will post within 24 hours. Inside this issue: National Poetry 2 Month Donna Washington, 2 Storyteller Wow! Barbara! 3 Silver City Open 4 House Happenings 5 Kennesaw State 6 Literature Conference Wow! Rebecca! 8 Congratulations To 8 Stacey Wow! Tony! 9 Teen Lit. Day 10 Stress Tips 12 Calendar 14 Georgia gets an a From Education Week: March 29, 2007 For the second year, Technology Counts 2007 grades the states on their leadership in three areas that have long been at the core of the report: access, use, and capacity. Leading the nation this year is Georgia, which receives a score of 96 and earns the only A. South Dakota and Virginia also receive high marks, with A-minus grades. The District of Columbia is at the other end of the spectrum, with a score of 63 and a grade of D. Nevada, Rhode Island, and Oregon also receive D's. Also for the second consecutive year, the 2007 report includes state-by-state profiles with details about each state that are available exclusively online at www.edweek.org/go/tc07/str. The entire report is online at www.edweek.org/go/tc07. PAGE 2 MEDIA MATTERS GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 1970 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Phone: 404-657-9800 Fax: 404-657-6822 E-mail: jserrite@doe.k12.ga.us Judy Serritella We will lead the nation in improving student achievement. Check out this wonderful storyteller I recently met at the CSAC conference in Macon. Donna Washington's website is: www.donnawashington.com Her contact and background information can be found on her webpage. National Poetry Month In 1996 the Academy of American Poets declared April National Poetry Month. In honor of the event, you can sign-up for a new poem to be sent to your e-mail inbox every day in April. A poetry celebration is not complete without Shel Silverstein. Visit his website to watch exclusive Shel Silverstein animations, play games and read poetry. Keep your students in the know about poetry by bookmarking the Glossary of Poetic Terms and The Life and Works of Famous American Poets on all your classroom computers. Check out more helpful information at: http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/news/NewsItems/inside.htm VOLUME 5, NUMBER 9 PAGE 3 Barbara Hallstrom celebrates 50 years in education with a surprise reception Juanita Buddy snaps a picture. Barbara is escorted in to the reception on the arm of the assistant principal of Canby Lane Elementary School. Barbara Hallstrom surrounded by past and present DeKalb Library Media Specialists . PAGE 4 MEDIA MATTERS You are cordially invited to attend the 2006 Exemplary Library Media Program Open House at Silver City Elementary School 6200 Dahlonega Hwy. Cumming, GA 30040 Friday April 13, 2007 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Presentation at 10:00 and 1:00 Melissa Johnston, Media Specialist 678-493-5962 ext.350205 mjohnston@forsyth.k12.ga.us Directions http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/130820720124847700/map/view.asp?A=372&Q=291532&C=69089 VOLUME 5, NUMBER 9 PAGE 5 Happenings around the state Event Profits Go To School Library Morrow Elementary School, a Clayton County School, had a phenomenal turnout on the evening of February 13th at their Book Fair. The fair was held at Barnes and Noble on Mount Zion Road. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, students, parents, and teachers purchased special books and gifts for their loved ones. But, it was the exceptional student performances and the Read Aloud sessions that drew in the lively crowds. Ms. McLeod, art teacher, began the evening with a reading of "Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti" by Gerald McDermott, where she helped students examine the art work of the Ashanti people portrayed in the book. Mrs. Lee Casey, principal, engaged students in the exploration of Valentine's Day in a book by author Mercer Mayer. Ms. Giselle Escobar, media specialist, regaled the audience with a reading from a very popular book "If You Give a Mouse A Cookie" by Laura Numeroff. Ms. Foley-Lane, music teacher, spent weeks working with the students on their performances for the evening. Audiences were entertained by K- 5th grades through song. Fourth and Fifth graders blew away the competition when they sang the song "The Heart of America." One lucky fourth grader won a $20 gift card in the evening's drawing. Barbara Bird, of Barnes and Noble, was very impressed with the turnout stating it was the best they have had for a school in a long while. Book Fair sales exceeded all expectations! Morrow Elementary will receive a portion of the proceeds to purchase new books for their own Media Center collection. Most importantly, it is the students of Morrow who benefit from this experience and from a library media center full of new books. Written by: Ms. Giselle Escobar Media Specialist Morrow Elementary Please share your success stories with your colleagues. Retiring? New baby? TOTY? Let us know. Send an email to jserrite@doe.k12.ga.us The Georgia Children's Literature Conference in Athens is right around the corner. April 20-21. Hope to see you there! www.coe.uga.edu/gcba/ PAGE 6 MEDIA MATTERS Kennesaw state university annual conference on literature for children and adolescents Jim Aylesworth was a featured speaker at the 2007 conference and had everyone enthralled as he sang and told his stories. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor mesmerized the audience with her stories. Danny Schnitzlein, author of The Monster who ate my peas, had everyone laughing at both his presentation and luncheon speech. Keven Lynch, fourth grade teacher in Cobb County, was also a speaker who drew rave reviews. VOLUME 5, NUMBER 9 K e n n e s aw conference PAGE 7 Rebecca Amerson had an excellent presentation on NoveList and had an overflow crowd. What a wonderful resource on GALILEO. (See page 14 for an article by Karen Minton on NoveList) Gail Hendrix's presentation was entitled Mixing it up! Books, Curriculum, and Technology. Fascinating and well done! Georgia Peach Award for Teen Readers Committee also presented at the Kennesaw Conference. Julie Hatcher, Kathy Pillatzki, Heather Newman, Ellen Zander, Susan Hawk, Amy Golemme, Sarah McGhee, Connie Hanes. Not pictured: Sadie Mattox, Verely Dotson, Jesse Demana. PAGE 8 MEDIA MATTERS Congratulations Rebecca! Rebecca Amerson of Woodstock High School in Cherokee County was recently named by Governor Perdue to the Georgia's Historical Records Advisory Board. The Governor felt that Rebecca's background would be an asset to this important board. Check out this site: http://www.dm.ucf.edu/~dbooktalk/new_site/ America's only statue of Charles Dickens graces Clark Park in Philadelphia, just off the University of Pennsylvania campus. More congratulations! Madeline Isabella Buckalew daughter of Stacey and Greg Buckalew was born at 12:15am on March 23rd. Stacey is the Media Specialist at Marietta Center for Advanced Academics. Baby Madeline weighed 7 pounds,14 ounces and was 18 and 1/2 inches long. Mommy and baby are doing fine. I have a feeling that this baby will be read lots of bedtime stories! VOLUME 5, NUMBER 9 PAGE 9 Tony was recently featured in his local newspaper. Congratulations Tony. 03/06/07 By Sarah Tebo / Young Romans Editor For Tony Pope, a schoolhouse feels like a home. The McHenry Primary School media specialist literally grew up in schools; his parents were custodians at Johnson School, and they brought him along as they did their work. Too young to be in class, the young Pope would spend his days in the school library. "I guess it was meant to be," he said. But by the time he was in college, Pope had decided to pursue a career in business, specifically in marketing. "I didn't like business classes," he recalled. "They were stifling me." So he made the decision to go into education. Linda Mitchell, a former teacher and media specialist, was a big influence, he said. "She was so enthusiastic about reading," Pope said. Pope enjoys passing on his love of books with the students at McHenry, who range from pre-kindergarten to third grade. "That's the best time to catch them," he said. He also likes getting to work with all 300 students and 80 staff members at the school. "Each day is different," he said, and he can do a lot for the school with help from parapro Tammy Randolph. Pope said he finds it especially rewarding when a student comes back to visit after leaving the school; according to other McHenry staff, it's not an unusual occurrence. And Pope is touched when they remember a lesson or activity he planned. "You never know what kids are going to remember," he said. Pope has been at McHenry for 18 years; he's never worked anywhere else. Early in his career, his goal was to return to Johnson Elementary, his alma mater. That job and a few others have become available through the years, but Pope has chosen to stay at McHenry. It just feels like home, he said. "This is where I feel I'm meant to be." TONY POPE Position: Media specialist, McHenry Primary School Years in education: 18, all at McHenry Education: Model High School; Floyd College; Bachelor of Science degree in early childhood education, master's degree in library media and specialist degree in library media, University of West Georgia PAGE 10 MEDIA MATTERS ALSA celebrates the first-ever Support Teen Literature Day as part of National Library Week CHICAGO - The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), is celebrating the first ever Support Teen Literature Day on April 19, 2007. Support Teen Literature Day will be celebrated in conjunction with ALA's National Library Week (April 15-21, 2007). Librarians all across the country are encouraged to participate in Support Teen Literature Day by hosting events in their library. The purpose of this new celebration is to raise awareness among the general public that young adult literature is a vibrant, growing genre with much to offer today's teens. Support Teen Literature Day also seeks to showcase some award-winning authors and books in the genre as well as highlight librarians' expertise in connecting teens with books and other reading materials. Many of these activities can be featured throughout National Library Week or simply featured on Support Teen Literature Day. Support Teen Literature Day also will be the official launch of YALSA's 2007 Teen Read Week initiative, which will be celebrated October 14-20, 2007, with the theme "LOL @ your library." The humor theme is meant to encourage teens nationwide to make time to read something light and entertaining just for the fun of it. "Since about one in every four library users is a teen, Support Teen Literature Day is the perfect time to plan a program specifically for teens," said Judy Nelson, YALSA President. YALSA has compiled a list of activities, display ideas, and contests to help librarians and Teen Advisory Groups celebrate Support Teen Literature Day. Display Ideas: Read-a-like Lists/Displays: Connect teens to teen literature with read-a-like lists: If you liked this book, try ________." Ask teens to submit their recommendations. Highlight YALSA Award-Winning Books and AV. Create a display highlighting the YALSA Award-winning books (www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists) and Support Teen Literature Day. Teens 4 Libraries: Help teens create and film public service announcements about their local library to air at local schools or on the community public access channel during National Library Week. Make sure they talk about the teen literature offered at their library. Teen Flash Mob: Work with your Teen Advisory Group to plan a flash mob on Support Teen Literature Day. Ask teens to gather in a public place at a certain time. The mob activity could be reading, appearing as a favorite book character, or holding a sign like "Support Teen Literature" or "got a library card?" After the mob disperses, host a Flash Party at the library. Be sure to take pictures of the flash mob and submit them to the local paper. VOLUME 5, NUMBER 9 PAGE 11 Teen Open House: Work with your Teen Advisory Group to plan an open house at the library on Support Teen Literature Day. Work with the local schools to make a special effort to invite teens who are not regular library users. Consider organizing transportation for teens who may need it. Provide refreshments and prizes. Ask a local band to provide entertainment. Be sure to display new library materials, and make sure everyone who attends gets a library card. Drawings and Contests: Teen Choice Award: Organize a favorite book drawing. Have teens drop their name in a box with their favorite book title listed. Have a drawing on Support Teen Literature Day, April 19, for winners. Ask local businesses to donate prizes. After the winner is announced, compile all the favorite books into a brochure or display. Adult Flashback Award: Invite adults to enter a drawing where they list books they loved as teens. Ask local businesses to donate prizes. Create a display or brochure featuring the titles. Teen Reading Contest: Invite teens in school English classes and at the library to compete all week to see which one can read the most pages or minutes. Keep and announce a daily tally to heighten the competition. Ask local businesses to donate prizes for the winners and announce the winners on Support Teen Literature Day. Teen Road Show: Go where the teens are. Ask your Teen Advisory Group to help you plan an event on Support Teen Literature Day at a local mall, community center, fast food restaurant, etc. Secure a venue, and then decide what activity to hold, such as a read-a-thon or poetry slam. Be sure to have some high interest library materials on hand for check out as well as applications for library cards. YALSA believes strongly that teens deserve the best, yet many libraries have inadequate numbers of trained staff and resources to address the needs of teens. According to information from the U.S. Census Bureau, there will be more than 42 million teens by the year 2008 (Projections of the Total Resident Population by 5Year Age Groups and Sex with Special Age Categories: Middle Series: 2001-2005. Population Projection Program, Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Furthermore, studies indicate that teens are reading less often and fewer of them are obtaining critical literacy skills. More than 60 studies have been done since the 1970s that link increased student achievement with access to well-stocked and professionally staffed school library programs. To address these issues, YALSA's mission is to advocate, promote and strengthen library service to teens, ages 12 through 18, as part of the continuum of total library services, and to support those who provide library service to this population. For 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, films, and audiobooks for teens. For more information about these events or for lists of recommended reading, viewing or listening for teens, go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists. For more information about YALSA, please contact us via e-mail, yalsa@ala.org; or by phone at 1-800-545-2433 ext. 4390. PAGE 12 MEDIA MATTERS Are you stressed? A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it." If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden." "So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can." So, my friend, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while. Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life: * Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue. * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them. * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. * Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker. * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague. * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it. * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others. Continued on next page PAGE 13 MEDIA MATTERS * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time because then you won't have a leg to stand on. * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late. * The second mouse gets the cheese. * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live. * You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person. * Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. * We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box. *A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. From one media specialist to another More great free materials for teachers from Thomson Gale! Their free things change each month. I love the desktop wallpaper download....no surprise there! http://www.galeschools.com/womens_history/ Rebecca Amerson Woodstock High School Cherokee County Got a great tip that you want to share? Send it to: jserrite@doe.k12.ga.us VOLUME 5, NUMBER 9 MEDIA MATTERS Creating Reading Lists with NoveList and Book Index with Reviews Karen Minton In Jon Scieszka's Summer Reading Is Killing Me!, three boys encounter Long John Silver, the Wild Things, and other literary characters in the skewed world of a summer reading list come alive in a dreadful way. If you want to add this book to a reading list you are creating, it's easy to do with NoveList's Personal Lists feature. Using this feature, you can create as many separate lists as you want and add titles easily. You can save the lists over time and add or delete titles as you wish. You can e-mail any of your lists to others. If you have a topical bibliography, such as "Vacation Mysteries," you can set up a search alert searching for relevant titles and be notified by e-mail when a book that matches your search criteria is added to the database making it easy to keep the list current. NoveList also includes already-completed thematic and genre lists on many topics and appealing to different age groups from pre-K to adult. Click on the School Resources tab in NoveList K-8 for "Grab and Go Lists" that focus specifically on the topics that students, teachers and librarians have asked NoveList staff to cover. Click on the "For Readers" tab for annotated book lists and read-alike lists. For non-fiction titles, Book Index with Reviews, while not as robust a readers' advisory tool as NoveList, has many of the same features including the saved list and search alert features. Both NoveList and Book Index with Reviews include limiters to help refine searches, including parameters for Lexile ranges, grade levels, number of pages, Dewey number, and more. While in NoveList or BIR, don't forget to look up your own next read. Who Knew? Lazy Susans are named after Thomas Edison's daughter. He invented the Lazy Susan to impress a gathering of industrialists and inventors. April 2007 GaDOE Library Media Services Sunday 1 1700: April Fools tradition popularized. Monday 2 1513 : Ponce de Leon discovers Florida 1805 : Hans Christian Andersen is born Tuesday 3 1860 : Pony Express mail service begins Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 4 5 6 7 1928 : Maya 1859 : Darwin 1917 : U.S. enters 1770 : William Angelou is born sends first three World War I Wordsworth is 1968 : Dr. King is chapters of The born assassinated Origin of Species to his publisher 8 9 1974 : Hank 1939 : Marian Aaron sets new Anderson sings home run record at Lincoln Memorial 10 11 1906 : The Gift of 1970 : Apollo 13 the Magi is launched to published moon 12 13 14 1961 : First man 1997 : Tiger 1818 : Webster's in space 1981 : First Woods wins first AmericanDictionary major. How old of the EnglishLanguage is printed launching of the was he? 1909 : Eudora Welty space shuttle is born. What did she write? 15 16 1865 : Lincoln is 1789 : Washing- pronounced ton leaves Mt. dead. Where Vernon for his was he when he inauguration was shot? 17 18 1790 : Benjamin 1989 : Chinese Franklin dies students protest 1961 : The Bay of against Pigs invasion government begins 19 20 1775 : The Ameri- 1902 : Curies can Revolution isolate radium begins 1995 : Truck bomb explodes in Oklahoma City 21 1816 : Charlotte Bronte born 22 Birthday of poet William Jay Smith: 1918. 23 24 25 26 27 1564 : William Shakespeare born. When did he die? 1940 : Sue Grafton is born. Who is she? 1719 : Robinson Crusoe is published 1859 : Ground broken for Suez Canal 1986 : Nuclear 1521 : Magellan disaster at Cher- killed in the nobyl. Where is Phillipines Chernobyl? 28 Birthday of Lois Duncan. 29 30 1854 : First Afric- 1789 : The first an-American presidential college inauguration chartered. Where is it? March S M TW T F S 123 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 May S M TW T F S 12345 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of things within as on the state of things without and around us. Charlotte Bronte.