School library resources

A collection of resources for school librarians.

These are resources that I use on a frequent basis, so this is partly to keep it all in one spot and partly to share it with anyone else who might be interested - from other librarians to parents wanting more information on books for their child. Enjoy!

Essential blogs

I read these blogs on a daily basis for information on children's and young adult books, the book industry, and librarianship.

A Fuse #8 Production
A fun, light-hearted blog about children's literature. Includes a book review on an almost-daily basis.
Pixie Stix Kids Pix
Book professional Kristen McLean reviews children's and young adult books months before they are released. And boy, most of them look fantastic!
Bookshelves of Doom
A highly readable (and funny) look at young adult books and industry news.
Stephen's Lighthouse
Stephen Abram is right into Library 2.0, so his blog contains some interesting studies and articles on a regular basis.
Bookninja
I don't know how these people find so much book industry information, nor how they have the time to do it, but I'm happy they do.
YALSA blog
YALSA (or the Young Adult Library Services Association) has a very informative blog on all things young adult.
PRHS Library Blog
Yes, this is a bald-faced plug on my part, but it is arguably an "essential" blog for me because I run it. (It's a weak argument, I'll grant you that.)

Email newsletters to subscribe to

Great to have these pop up in your inbox instead of having to remember to check them out every day/week/month!

Children's Bookshelf (Publisher's Weekly): A free weekly newsletter about children's literature. Includes links to starred reviews among other features.
Extra Helping (School Library Journal): Another great weekly newsletter from a book review publication. Includes "Hot Picks" on a certain topic and a feature article.
Teenreads newsletter: A monthly newsletter from Teenreads. I *love* the Chapter 1 previews that this site offers on many books.
Teen Online Book Club: Preview a YA novel a week in daily excerpts! By the end of the week you'll have read 2-3 chapters and may be hooked. I discovered "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein because of this newsletter and am now dying to read it.
New This Week (Librarian's Internet Index): I go to bed on Wednesday nights looking forward to the next morning because of this godsend. Comprised of 10-20 excellent sites, I invariably discover something that I may never have otherwise.

Book Vendors

Keeping in mind that I live in Canada, here are the vendors I use most frequently.

Orca Book Publishers: Orca publishes wonderful and very popular high interest/low reading level (hi-lo) books at very reasonable prices.
S&B Books: Another Canadian company that provides discounted books to schools and libraries.
Book CloseOuts: I love this site, for my own personal use as well as for purchasing for the school libraries. Heavily discounted books are available and inevitably arrive within 7 business days. I bought 7 hardcover picture books for my nieces and nephews for Christmas and only paid about $60 Canadian for the whole shebang - and we're talking books that retail for up to $24.99.
Amazon.com: What I really like about Amazon is that their book records have reviews from School Library Journal and other respected sources FOR FREE.

Web 2.0 tools

These are some web 2.0 tools that I use at work

LibraryThing: I use LibraryThing for my own use as well as at work. At work, I add any new books that come into the library to the school's LibraryThing account (free for up to 200 books) and tag them as I see fit. Then I can generate blog widgets to display a non-static list of titles and/or cover images of new books or books with a particular tag. It keeps the blog looking fresh and also lets people know what they can find in the library.
Del.icio.us: Del.icio.us is my new best friend - and I'm in the process of converting some of the teachers too! What it does is allow users to save websites (very easily done with a couple of buttons for your browser toolbar), tag them as you see fit, and anyone can access the collection of links from any online computer. I create bundles for different projects and just give the students the URL and off they go. They don't have to type in multiple URLs off a printed handout, they don't have to go through a major rigamarole if they want to do some work outside school, and I can add a site to the list without changing the URL that they have. It's a dream! Look at an example.

My favourite free internet resources

These are sites I often turn to in order to answer reference questions.

Perseus Digital Library: Wonderful resource for anything classical history. Includes full-text documents of translated ancient texts.
Librarian's Internet Index: Perhaps an obvious choice, but only because it's an excellent resource and (not surprisingly) both its searchability and browsability are outstanding. I subscribe to the LII "New This Week" RSS feed and inevitably add a site or two to my Del.icio.us account.
ERIC: Even when I select the "free full-text only" option I still find I get a good number of results.
Research Beyond Google: A great article that links to 119 resources out there other than Google.
Historica: A Canadian site, Historica includes the Canadian Encyclopedia and the culturally significant Historica Minutes. What Canadian can't immediately identify "Patrick, Patrick O'Neil!" or "That's why we changed the name of Pine Street to Valour Road"? Honestly.
CBC Archives: The Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) has an excellent archive of audio and video footage from many different events and eras. Great for history projects.
Solar System Exploration (NASA): The best solar system site I've come across, and from a very reliable source.

Library Corner columns

I have started creating a library column for the school newsletter, and I will share the most recent columns here.

Library Corner - February 2007

Did you know that many children experience a decline in reading habits in approximately grade 4 and/or grade 9? These are two major transition periods in literacy development: around grade 4 children progress from picture books and easy readers to novels, and around grade 9 they move from juvenile fiction into more substantial teen or adult fare.

During both transitions it is normal for children to fall back on reading material that is comfortable to them and easy for them to read, perhaps favourite picture books from their young childhood. This need not (and should not) be discouraged as it boosts their confidence to tackle newer, tougher books and materials.

You can help your child progress through these transitions by modeling and encouraging positive reading behaviours that include:

- Letting them see you read anything from magazines to novels, from the newspaper to cereal boxes.

- Reading aloud to your child should, in fact, continue until they are into their teens as it enforces the value of reading. You may want to consider borrowing audio books from the public library and listening to them with your child in the car or during the evening.

- Limiting computer and television use and designating time for reading also contributes to positive reading habits.

- Finally, ask your child questions about what he or she is reading and discuss what you are reading as well.

Suggested resources

An excellent resource is Paul Kropp's book How to make your child a reader for life (2000) which is full of tips and suggestions for you and your child.

Another fantastic book is Jim Trelease's Read-Aloud Handbook (2006) which has lists of books for every age as well as many tips and advice about reading aloud to your child.

Further information

Publisher's Weekly has an excellent article about reading declines in older children.

A Statistics Canada study found links between a child's early reading skills and later literacy success.

Since teen boys' reading in particular tends to decline, this article seeks out why and what can be done to help. Although it is aimed at school librarians, it contains information (and a book list) that is helpful for parents.

Miscellaneous links

A collection of links about literacy, librarianship, etc.

A Librarian's Lament: Books are a Hard Sell: A recent (Jan 2007) article from the Washington Post.
Teenage Boys and Reading: An interesting article from Teacher Librarian magazine about (three guesses...) teenage boys and reading.
Teen Book Video Awards 2006: Random House sponsored this contest for book trailers (like movie trailers) for young adult novels. Very well done!
Bookmoot: Books that Boys Like: A great list of books that boys enjoy. I vouch for this entire list.
Guys Read: Created by author Jon Scieszka, this website has great lists of books that teen (and younger) guys enjoy reading.
The Edge of the Forest: This monthly children's literature online newsletter provides reviews, author interviews, kids' picks, and other great features. A well-rounded publication by key players in the children's literature blogosphere.
Graphic Novels in Libraries: This is my lens on (three guesses...) graphic novels in libraries. It includes a number of articles and book lists as well as some of my favourite graphic novels for children.