Electronic Newsletter of The Oregon Educational Media Association

Available on the website at <http://www.oema.net>

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Volume 18 No.8                                             April, 2006

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CONTENTS:

FROM THE PRESIDENT

the "official" letter ----- Jim Tindall

 

FROM THE MEMBERSHIP

1.  Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award ----- Jann Tankersley

2.  Region 6 Conference ----- Allen Kopf

3.  Lisa Williams chosen to present at IRA ----- Kelly Kuntz

4.  Library Promotions ----- Meg Miranda

5.  OSLIS APA Citation Maker  ----- Patty Sorensen

6.  Mock Student Election ----- Patty Sorensen

7.  Report from Regions 1&4  spring Conference -----Deborah Alvarez

8.  OEMA REGION 7 SPRING FLING ----- Pam Hankins

 

FROM THE STATE

1.  How to Check Items out from the Oregon State Library ----- Patty Sorensen

2.  From the Library Research Service (at the Colorado State Library) ----- Ann Reed

 

FROM ALA, AASL and BEYOND

1.  Poetry Month Resources ----- Kathy Agarwal

2.  Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Day is April 12 ----- Kathy Agarwal

3.  Celebrate School Library Media Month at your school ----- Kathy Agarwal

4.  Libraries Important to HS Success - Duh! ----- Kathy Agarwal

 

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FROM THE PRESIDENT --- Jim Tindall

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While we may be conservative or apolitical or radically militant in our personal politics, professionally we are of a more common ilk, thanks to the guiding direction of the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights. If this isn’t a document you’ve read recently, read on.

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

We are the keepers of the keys for our workplaces where we offer access to our stores of information and skills. We are members of a corps of discovery for which we guide our children and staff through terra incognito. By our work within the school and among the community we are developers of capital ideas. Because of the growing partnership between OEMA and OLA, I had the opportunity to recently attend the fiftieth anniversary banquet of the ACLU of Oregon. Thank you Janet Webster, for the chance to sit down with civil libertarians and politicians to discuss school libraries and OEMA’s work in creating thoughtful, imaginative, and responsibly skilled young citizens.

Long live the Library Bill of Rights! One way to celebrate this forceful advocacy for libraries is to attend the upcoming Oregon Library Association conference in Salem, April 5-7 in Salem. See details at:  http://www.olaweb.org/conference/  This event provides school library staff a great opportunity to rub elbows with our public and academic counterparts. I hope to see you there.

 

 

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FROM THE MEMBERSHIP

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1. Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award ----- Jann Tankersley

 

The new titles for the 2006-07 Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award contest are:

**The Birthday Pony by Jessie Haas

Grandma Aggie tries to help her granddaughter Jane and the independent pony Popcorn, who were born on the same day, become riding partners.

**Bronco Charlie and the Pony Express by Marlene Brill

Tells the story of Charlie Miller, who became the youngest rider for the Pony Express in 1861.

**Down Girl and Sit by Lucy Nolan

Recounts the adventures of dogs who think their names are Down Girl and Sit, as they try to keep the world safe from squirrels, the paper boy, and a creature named Here Kitty Kitty.

**Owen Foote, Mighty Scientist  by Stephanie Greene

Third graders Owen and Joseph have fun planning their science project for the Science Fair, only to have to change it at the last minute.

**Ruby Lu, Brave and True  by Lenore Look

Almost 8 year old, Ruby Lu spends time with her baby brother, goes to Chinese school, performs magic tricks and has adventures.

** Say What?  By Margaret Peterson Haddix

When their parents intentionally say the wrong thing every time Sukie and her brothers misbehave, the children fight back with their own wrong phrases.

**Shredderman:Secret Identity  by Wendelin Van Draanen

Fifth grader Nolan Byrd, tired of being called names by the class bully, has a secret identity—Shredderman!

**SOS file  by Betsy Byars

The students in Mr. Magro’s class write stories about their biggest emergencies.

 

2. Region 6 Conference ----- Allen Kopf

 

Blooming in the Library

OEMA's 2006 Region 6 Spring Conference

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Hermiston High School

 

The conference will feature QEM, New Citation Maker, Advanced OSLIS, RSS Downfeeds, L-NET, Easy Library Lessons, Battle of the Books, Vendors, Book Reviews and more.

Please join us for the best OEMA Region 6 Spring Conference ever!  You will learn about connecting curriculum to librarianship.  We will also share library stories and you can visit with colleagues. We will eat (breakfast), eat (lunch), and eat (snacks) and have a wonderful time. We may even eat a piece or two of chocolate.

Please register by April 10, 2006, online by emailing Allen Kopf - kopf@umatilla.k12.or.us.  You may pay the $10 fee at the door.  Directions to Hermiston High School will be sent when you register.

Please pass this message on to interested library workers in your area who may not have received this information.

 

3. Lisa Williams chosen to present at IRA ----- Kelly Kuntz

 

Lisa Williams, Chelalem Elementary School Library Media Specialist, will be presenting "America's Greatest Pastimes:  Book Clubs and Baseball at IRA in Chicago this spring along with one of her classroom teachers. Their symposium opens with a brief "Pre-Game Show" to introduce the concept of book clubs and set the rationale for choosing books on a topic both familiar and of high interest to readers.  Then we "Play Ball" with 5th grade teacher Sarah Dunkin explaining her book club unit on baseball books, using sports literature to feature personal, historical, and social issues, and making connections to her American history/social studies curriculum regarding issues of injustice and equality.  Sarah will explain the specifics for book clubs (selecting books, preparing for and teaching discussion, written response, extension projects) and demonstrate how she aligns book club strategies with her district and state standards.    

 

Elementary school librarian Lisa Williams will then present "Equipment Check: Teaming with the Librarian to Choose Books," discussing how she teams with classroom teachers to support reading instruction through book clubs.  She will explain the role of the school librarian in choosing books, accessing information to support teachers' use of sports literature as read alouds or book club selections, and creating lunch time book club in the library.

 

4.  Library Promotions ----- Meg Miranda

 

Here is a suggestion for beautifying your library and creating a memory helper at the same time.  Although I have a lovely new library, there is no wall space for posters so I found that the library looked a bit sterile.  I decided to scan the covers of some of my favorite books and print them four to a page (I use Publisher).  I laminate each page and cut apart the four pictures.  I then created a collage on the end of each fiction book case with the covers of the books located in that book case.  It serves as a reminder of books to recommend to students and brightens the library at the same time.

 

5.  OSLIS APA Citation Maker  ----- Patty Sorensen

 

Watch the OSLIS website for the April debut of the APA version of Citation Maker, then pass this resource along to your staff and students!  A BIG thanks to Victoria McDonald and Mary McClintock who worked hard on this OSLIS project in addition to Mark, the OSLIS webmaster who coded the whole thing!

 

6.  Mock Student Election ----- Patty Sorensen

Invite your Middle and High School teachers to participate in next fall's mock election by registering this spring. Several resources for this activity are at:

www.lwvor.org

http://www.lwvor.org/orstudentmock.htm

www.nationalmockelection.org

www.governmentguide.com

 

7.  Report from Regions 1&4  spring Conference -----Deborah Alvarez

 

Region 1 & 4 Spring conference was held at LaSalle High School on Saturday, March 11th, 2006.  

Conference Wrap-up Info:

Melanee Lucas showed us the changes to OSLIS, EBSCO, and Lexiles.

Author of The Big Book of Boy Stuff, Bart King talked about his experience with getting his books published and about his new book The Big Book of Girl Stuff.

Deb Wheelbarger, OEMA's Intellectual Freedom Chair, discussed how she has helped OEMA members with book challenges and may be able to support a librarian if you have a book challenge at your library.

At the end of lunch, Jim Tindall and Martha Decherd shared OEMA information and led a small discussion on the OEMA name/possible renaming.

Teri Nowak,the author of Bird in Hand, read a portion of her book and shared a short video about hummingbirds and information about her book.

Battle of the Books Presentation and Panel: A number of wonderful volunteers discussed and answered questions about how they organize and run their Battle of the Books programs.

Edith Fuller and I closed the conference by asking the attendees to complete the evaluations and drew/distributed door prizes.

Submitted by Debbie Alvarez, Region 1 and Edith Fuller, Region 4

 

8. OEMA REGION 7 SPRING FLING ----- Pam Hankins

 

For all library staff, both school and public, from Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, and Wheeler Counties (we're all in this together)

Friday, April 14th, 2006 at the Buff Elementary School Library

375 S.E. Buff St. in Madras, Oregon

8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Topics:  Change is constant, Basic Book Repair, Grant Writing, New L-Net software, Vendors, good eats, round-table discussion of our best kid programming ideas (things that work!), free books, prizes, etc.!

$15 registration fee to cover book repair materials and food

Make checks payable to OEMA Region 7 Spring Conference

RSVP so we will be sure to have sufficient materials and food by March 23rd by e-mailing Pam Hankins at phankins@fossil.k12.or.us or writing her a short note addressed to her at Fossil Elementary School, P.O. Box 287, Fossil, OR 97830

 

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FROM THE STATE

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1. How to Check Items out from the Oregon State Library ----- Patty Sorensen

 

The Oregon State Library in Salem is both a research and lending library.  It has a collection of school library materials related to many aspects of schools from Best Books to Reading to Storytelling to Materials for PE and Health Education to Character Education.  There may be some resources that would help support your school library activities.   Resources are in two categories.  One is for library use only and other materials are available to be loaned. Items that are marked as "available". If items are marked as "checked out" you can also request they be shipped to you as soon as they are returned. Items may be requested for inner library loan by faxing your contact information; name, title, address, phone number, etc. and the item requested:  Title, Call number to (503)-588-7119.  The item will be mailed to you for 28 days use.  Prior to the return date, you simply mail the item back to the State Library. 

To locate relevant resources from the Oregon State Library, head to

http://oregon.gov/OSL  On the lower left, click on Online Catalog.  This takes you into the search screen.  I did a search for "school library" under keyword and came up with over 600 entries from 1900+ to 2005.  Results are not listed by copyright date so you'll have to do some browsing or narrow your searches.   Here are three samples:

1---We recently purchased this one.  It is REMARKABLE!  Listening to this is like your own personal tutorial on how to strengthen your library.  It has lots of activities that you can alter quickly for use. I actually listened to it twice to be sure I caught all the good ideas. It also comes with a notebook full of great resources.  For large school districts, I would highly recommend this purchase for circulation amongst library teachers.  It is from the Bureau of Education & Research at www.ber.org or by calling 1-800-735-3503. 

(Stock # A-BLB-1053)  Cost was $89 + $9 shipping.

Author Berger, Pam

Title     21st century strategies for strengthening your school library program [sound recording] / by Pam Berger

LOCATION              CALL NO.     STATUS

OSL Main Oversize    027.8 Berge     AVAILABLE

Pub. info.        Bellevue, WA : Bureau of Education & Research, 2004

Descript'n        6 sound cassettes : [analog?] 33 cm. + 1 resource handbook

Note    "The best, current ideas for enhancing your school library program."--Container

Summary         Strategies for helping teachers meet instructional demands. Topics include how to build a library Web site, ways to support curriculum development and active learning, how to make the school library program the center of the school's instructional program, ideas for strengthening students' reading and writing skills, and how to network with colleagues

Subject            School libraries

            Media programs (Education)

            School libraries -- Aims and objectives

            School librarian participation in curriculum planning

            AUDIO-CASSETTE

Add author      Bureau of Education & Research

Alt title            Twenty-first century strategies for strengthening your school library program

 

2-Another new addition to the collection.

Author Toll, Cathy A., 1956-

Title     The literacy coach's survival guide : essential questions and practical answers / Cathy A. Toll

Click on the following to: Connect to http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0421/2004018814.html

LOCATION  CALL NO.     STATUS

OSL Main       428.40715 Toll            AVAILABLE

Pub. info.        Newark, DE : International Reading Association, c2005

Descript'n        184 p. : ill. ; 26 cm

Bibliog.           Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-173) and index

Subject            Mentoring in education -- United States

            Reading teachers -- In-service training -- United States

 

3--There was also an October, 1906, publication from the Oregon Library Commission.

Title     What the school library means

LOCATION              CALL NO.                             STATUS

OSL Special Coll                    371.64 Or32s, no.1  no.1-9                LIB USE ONLY

OSL Main                   371.64 Or32s, no.1  no.1-9  c.2         DUE 04-18-06

Pub. info.        Oregon : Oregon Library Commission, [1906]

Series  School circular (Oregon Library Commission) ; no.1

Subject            DEWEY OREDOCS

Add author      Oregon Library Commission

This resource has both a Library use only copy and one that is checked out to me right now.  Page 9 has a section titled:  Care of School Libraries.

"A county tax for school libraries of ten cents for each child of school age is required by law.  Books purchased from this fund must be chosen from the State list, the order forwarded to the county superintendent, and bought through the Oregon Library Commission, which has contracted for delivery of books to counties at a very low rate, made possible by purchasing in quantity and at one time.  The prices include delivery at the county seats.  The law requires school directors to select books between the first Monday of July and the first Monday of August in each year."

Life is a bit different now, huh?

 

2. From the Library Research Service (at the Colorado State Library) ----- Ann Reed

 

Are you considering adding a coffee shop to your library? Probably not but this is just one of the interesting studies on Field Initiated Studies page of the Library Research Service website, http://www.LRS.org/field.asp.

These reports are based on informal exchanges between practicing librarians, not sophisticated research; but, they provide useful information about topical issues facing libraries.

If you would like to be contacted via e-mail when new reports such as this one are available from the LRS, visit the LRS blog at http://www.lrs.org/blog/ and sign up for an RSS feed. (If you don't know how to do that, we also provide links to introductory information about web logs and RSS feeds.)

 

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FROM ALA, AASL and BEYOND

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1. Poetry Month Resources ----- Kathy Agarwal

 

Online Poetry Classroom

  http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/6

National Poetry Foundation

  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/ 

PBS poetry page

  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/poetry

Ideas from read. write. think.

  http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=478

12 famous American Poets, a class research project

  http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/brisas/sunda/poets/poet.htm

Lesson plans and activities from Education World

  http://www.education-world.com/a_special/poetrymonth.shtml

Poetry Teacher website

  http://www.poetryteachers.com

Poetry Month resources from Scholastic

  http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/k_2theme/poetry.htm

 

2. Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Day is April 12 ----- Kathy Agarwal

 

National D.E.A.R. Day is a special reading celebration to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority.

D.E.A.R. is a collaborative effort among National Education Association (NEA); National Parent Teacher Association (PTA); HarperCollins Children's Books; Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of ALA; and Reading Rockets.

The National D.E.A.R. Day partners are marking the 90th birthday of beloved author Beverly Cleary as the official event date, April 12th. Ramona Quimby is the program's 2006 spokesperson.

Find out more at   http://www.dropeverythingandread.com

 

3. Celebrate School Library Media Month at your school ----- Kathy Agarwal

 

Many school library media programs celebrate the month of April as School Library Media Month in conjunction with, and sharing the same theme as, National Library Week. This year's theme is Change your world @ your library

Get National Library Week resources at http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/campaign/nlw/NLW.htm

Learn more about School Library Media Month at http://www.ala.org/aasl/slmmonth.html

Access all of AASL's advocacy resources from http://www.ala.org/aaslTemplate.cfm?Section=aasladvocacy

Read about School Library Media Campaign @ your library at http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/campaign/schoollibrary/schoollibrary.htm

Read the ALA resolution "School Libraries and Librarians are Critical to Educational Success" at http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslissues/aasladvocacy/alaresolution.htm

Get the AASL Advocacy Toolkit at http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/toolkits/aasladvocacy.htm

 

4.  Libraries Important to HS Success - Duh! ----- Kathy Agarwal

 

CHICAGO - The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (the Partnership) issued a new national report today, "Results That Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform." (available for download at www.21stcenturyskills.org) The report designs a compelling framework for 21st century learning that focuses on the results that matter for today's high school graduates' success in the workplace of the present and future.

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), an active member of the Partnership, applauds the report's findings and considers school library media programs to be crucial to the success of high school reform.