Librarians and Civic Duty

Did you know that there were 17 new political parties/groups created since 2000? Some are more serious than others (US Pirate Party). Even so, this is one piece of evidence that there are many new political viewpoints out there, each with a devoted following.

American Third Position Party 2010
American Populist Party 2009
Modern Whig Party 2008
Objectivist Party 2008
America's Independent Party 2008
Independence Party of America 2007
Boston Tea Party 2006
Jefferson Republican Party 2006
United States Pirate Party 2006
Unity Party of America 2004
Citizens Party of the US 2004
Socialism & Liberation 2004
Workers Party 2003
United States Marijuana Party 2002
Populist Party of America 2002
America First Party 2002
Green Party of the US 2001
*Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States

With this changing landscape of political opinions, how do we educate our students to navigate the information put out by each of these organizations? One answer is Civic Classes. Civics teaches students how to become active participants of society. Utilizing a real world learning environment is the most effective way to get students engaged.

I have read that some school districts are cutting civics from the curriculum. Librarians have the perfect opportunity to infuse civics related lessons into library lesson plans.

What better way to teach information analysis skills than have students find the facts behind a political campaign ads?

How about teaching responsible reporting by having students report on local election candidates and issues?

IEP: Transitional Plan

Part of the IEP includes a Transitional plan. This plan is a road-map to guide the transition from k-12 schooling to the 'real world' for students. I recently started researching this part of the IEP process and have found many opportunities for the School Librarian to assist in the transitional planning.

My initial thoughts are that the School Librarian can be an invaluable resource to IEP coordinators writing these plans. Librarians are also wonderful resources for integrating programming that supports students ability to thrive after school. Here are several examples.

• Provide access to databases that list local company profiles that a student might be interested in working at. 
• Create a list of local/state/national resources for job training and job placement. 
• Utilize connections to local businesses and/or universities to host a career & college fair and take students on tours of these places. 
• Provide IEP coordinator with information on student strengths as they relate to skills learned and practiced in the library. 
• Provide students with a volunteer and/or work opportunity in the library. 
• Take students on tours of local public libraries and other public service offices. 

This concept certainly deserves more attention. All School Librarians should consider assisting teachers in developing transitional programming. What resources do you use in helping students prepare for the future?

NY Special Education Transition Requirements and Guidelines: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/transition/randg.htm

School Librarians and Special Education: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/knowledgequest/kqwebarchives/v36/364/364joneszambone.cfm

A summer filled with YA

I've been spending the summer catching up on my YA reading. Man, why wasn't I a reader back in my middle school days? Almost every book I've read this summer has characters that are shockingly similar to my 13 year old self. Here is a short list of my favorite summer reads so far.

I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan

I fell in love with the characters of this book. Sam and is brother Riddle represent the good in the world. Do you ever meet people and just know you can trust them with anything? I am lucky enough to know several people like this.

Despite loving the characters,  I felt the writing scratched the surface of the characters lives. My biggest issue with the book was the amount of pages wasted describing Bobby...on man, talk about a lame character. I guess, along with good people in the world, there are also those you want to keep at arms length.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick


I've always enjoyed historical fiction, but this book brought it to a whole new level. I can't believe I waited so long to 'view' this book! I am very curious to see how it translates to the big screen.

I know there are several historical fiction comics (Maus and Persepolis), but this books seems to fit into a whole new category.  








OK I've got to get back outside and enjoy the warm weather!

Communicating your worth

Everyday this week I have come home to news of teacher and librarian cuts. Librarian-ship is one of those careers that requires constant justification. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It challenges even the best of us to always look for ways to improve our craft.

Even though I am not currently working in a library, I would like to keep adding to the conversation that will keep libraries funded and sustainable.

I am a visual person, and believe that a picture can speak louder than words. I hope to put together some graphics to tell the story of the librarian.

Here is the essence of what I believe. Information Science and Technology Literacy lie at the center of education. Mapping out the art of how this works is the next step.

Search Engines with clout.

The Rochester Regional Library Council (RRLC) hosts a weekly Monday night professional development event. This week I went to a presentation on alternate web searches and found a few I really liked. Some are old, but worth a look! 


-http://www.findthebest.com/ - This website isn't a search engine per se, it is a 'comparison engine'. According to their About page, they were inspired by Kayak like comparison sites. What makes this website 'wicked' (channeling my Maine-iac heritage) is that they use primarily government data and information compiled by hired researchers. 


-http://www.qwiki.com/ - Multimedia informational storytelling. You really have to try this one out. Type in your query and the results present as an on demand multimedia presentation with a soothing female voice narrating the informational story. Try looking up your hometown and listen to its history. 


-http://www.wolframalpha.com/ - Computational Knowledge Engine. Sounds fancy, right? It is! It is almost like there are tiny librarians hiding in the internets supplying the results. What is really amazing is that wolfram mimics reference interviews. If you type in 'rock' the system will ask you what kind of rock you meant: 


'Assuming "rock" is a surname | Use as a financial entity or a word or a given name or earth science instead'


Reference 101, right? 


Then there is the results. As you can see, the results are very visual and easy to digest. 

Can't wait to see what these sites bring when they move from Alpha to Beta to the 'real thing'