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Volume
18 No.7
March,
2006
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CONTENTS:
FROM THE
PRESIDENT
the
"official" letter ----- Jim Tindall
FROM THE
MEMBERSHIP
1.
Summer Literacy Conference ------ Jim Tindall
2. OSLIS
Update ----- Patty
Sorensen
3. What's
in a name ------
Jenny Takeda
4.
Activities at Linus Pauling ------ Meg Miranda
5.
Numeroff Knock-off
------ Teena Seckler
6. Read
Across America Poetry ------ Linda Ague
7.
Region 1 & 4 Conferences ------ Debbie Alvarez
8.
Region 6 Conference
------ Allen Kopf
FROM
THE STATE
1. From
the Superintendent's Newsletter ----- Ed Dennis
2.
Letters about Literature ----- State Library
3. Oregon
Virtual Reference Summit ----- Jim Sheppke
FROM ALA, AASL
and BEYOND
1. Library
Grant Opportunities
----- Kathy Agarwal (ALAWON)
====================================================
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
FROM THE
PRESIDENT ---
Jim Tindall
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I have just read
Linda's request for newsletter news with solicitations for events like Read
Across America, Black History Month, and Women's History Month. The breadth of
her request is so indicative of our work lives and the full plates before us
every single day. My office and car and bedside table have taken on that
mountainous look. The hills intimidate me.
But spring is
quick approaching with our regional OEMA conferences, and I am looking forward
to the reinvigorating times I'll have to meet new faces and to hear new ideas.
Please consider attending your region's event and aid in the growth of OEMA.
The conferences welcome all and are a great way to get some empathy, some super
inservice, and a look inside a different school library.
The schedule
looks like:
Regions 2 and 3,
Springfield 25 February
Regions 1 and 4,
Milwaukie 11 March
Region 7, Madras
15 April
Region 6,
Hermiston 22 April
Region 5, Klamath
Falls 29 April
I look forward to
seeing you at one of these great events.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
FROM THE
MEMBERSHIP
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
1.
Summer Literacy Conference ------ Jim Tindall
Firmly believing
there is no such thing as too many reminders:
The OEMA, OLA,
ORA summer lieteracy conference material may be found at:
http://www.oema.net/conferences/OregonLiteracy2006/OregonLit2006.htm
Please consider
supporting this with your proposals to present and by attending this August 3-4
event in McMinnville.
2. OSLIS
Update ----- Patty
Sorensen
March is a
perfect month to begin conversations with your Public Library about how you can
help support their Summer Reading Programs. Their
audience is our students and their goal is to help support summer reading for
students. Perfect match! March right over to that phone or
computer and make that call or write that email today!
Looking for a
resource with a fabulous wealth of school library topics?
Check out the website: Resources for School Libraries at
http://www.sldirectory.com
In addition to the professional resources, there is a cute selection of
library jokes for your relaxing pleasure including:
What did the
book called "Chills" say to the other book?
"I feel
chills running down my spine!"
Do you know
how many librarians it takes to screw in a light bulb?
No, but I know
where you can look it up!
OSLIS
The OSLIS website
includes several links to ODE's Lexile resources as well as to EBSCO products
which are able to display lexile ratings for their online resources. If you need a reminder about how to
access lexiles in the databases, check out:
http://www.oslis.org/librarians/index.php?page=workshop
for the Three Ways to Apply Lexiles from EBSCO.
You might also
want to read
http://www.lexile.com/LexileCaseStudies/SouthFlorida.html for some useful scenarios about Lexiles'
use. At www.lexile.com be sure to use their online resource for
identifying the lexile numbers of books.
They have increased the number of books in their database
incredibly!
If you are trying
to understand the Lexile levels versus various publisher rating systems, be
sure to check out the document on OEMA's website at
http://www.oema.net/lexiles/ReadingLevelComps.pdf for a reading grade level comparison
chart from Harcourt.
3. What's
in a name ------
Jenny Takeda
Jenny
has been charing an ad hoc committee to look into the possibility of a name
change for OEMA responding to concerns that the OEMA initials contain no
reference to Libraries and makes it difficult to identify what we are
about. This is what she shared at
the last OEMA board meeting:
-"AASL_StateNames"
document is a list of state school library organization names from
Sept. 05
-The
overwhelming opinion of the roundtable that met at the fall OEMA conference was
that most non-library educators don't know what OEMA is
-OASL=Oregon Association of School
Libraries was a preferred name choice if we continue to discuss changing the
name of OEMA. It follows the AASL acronym and is inclusive of all library
staff.
If you would like
to weigh in on this didcussion let Jenny or any other board member know how you
feel.
4.
Activities at Linus Pauling ------ Meg Miranda
At Linus Pauling
Middle School we turn the library into a reading transport and we go to where
ever our books take us. I let
teachers (travel agents) pick up tickets (a different color for each period) to
pass out to passengers. Tickets
are limited to the number of chairs in the library. I take on the role of stewardess and dress in my blue suit
with a scarf at my neck. After
everyone is settled and we are on our way I serve each passenger a light snack
(pretzels) and a drink (soda). Before the bell rings announce that we have
begun our decent back to Corvallis and I pass around the cabin with a bag for
the trash.
For Black History
month one teacher had students report on people who made a difference. She created a PowerPoint presentation
with the picture of each students report.
As the student presented their oral report the person's picture was
projected onto the screen next to the student providing a strong
visual.
5.
Numeroff Knock-off
------ Teena Seckler
If You Give
Librarians a Book
If you give
librarians a book,
They will search
for a child.
If you
give librarians
a child,
They will want to
read aloud.
If you let
librarians read aloud,
They will want to
show the pictures.
If you give
librarians time to show the pictures,
They will want to
start an activity.
If you allow
librarians to start an activity,
They will need
all their props.
If you hand
librarians their props,
They will have to
act out the story.
If librarians act
out the story,
They will have to
put it on video.
If you tape
librarians on video,
They will share
it with the writer.
If you share
librarians with the writer,
They will want an
author visit at their library.
If you bring
librarians an author,
They will want to
collect a book.
If you give
librarians a book...
6. Read
Across America Day
------ Linda Ague
On the staff room
table when they arrive in the
morning - paper cup Seuss hats filled with M&Ms and piles of easy reading
books:
It's Dr. Seuss'
birthday
So Hip
Hip Hooray
Here's hoping you
have
Big Read-em-up
Day
The hat from the
cat
Is just brimming
with candy
To honor a staff
who
Think reading is
dandy
Pick your
favorist color
Match the book
you will read
Sharing stories
and chocolate
What more could
one need?
On the morning
announcements to encourage those staff members who might want to skip the
"reading thing". The
same poem appeared on the website for the parents to
read:
It's Dr. Seuss'
Birthday so take time to read.
About wishes and
nishes and burkles and sneeds.
Or just to
remember the rhyming we do.
We learned from a
man who said fishes were blue.
For reading is
magic as all wise folks know.
Climb into a book
and away we all go.
There is
treasure, adventure, and myst'ry indeed.
All the world and
it's wonder just for those who will read.
America's reading
in each school and state.
It's a right that
we fought for and now celebrate.
The library folks
hope you honor this day.
Share a book with
a friend - that's the very best way.
7.
Region 1 & 4 Conferences ------ Debbie Alvarez
Mark your
calendars! The OEMA Spring Conference for Region 1 & 4 is coming up
on March 11th! Here are the basics:
Time:
Registration from 8:30-9:00, conference will be 9-3:30pm.
Location: LaSalle
High School 11999 SE Fuller
Road Milwaukie, OR 97222
Directions
Available at:
<http://www.lshigh.org>http://www.lshigh.org
The Cost: $15.00
@ door - Breakfast Treats and Lunch are included.
There will be
wonderful vendors displaying their items through the day.
Two authors will
be presenting their books and discussing the process of getting them published:
Bart King, author of The Big Book of Boy Stuff and Teri Nowak,
author of
Bird in Hand. Also, there will be a presentation about Intellectual
Freedom/Book Challenges, What's New with OSLIS/EBSCO/Lexiles, and there will be
a panel on Battle of the Books!
We look forward
to seeing you there! Any questions? Please email us! Debbie
Alvarez at
<mailto:deborah_alvarez@beavton.k12.or.us>deborah_alvarez@beavton.k12.or.us and
Edith Fuller at
<mailto:efuller@pps.k12.or.us>efuller@pps.k12.or.us
8.
Region 6 Conference
------ Allen Kopf
The region 6
conference will be held April 22 at Hermiston High School. Current OEMA President Jim Tndall will
be presenting as will President-elect Allen Kopf.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
FROM
THE STATE
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
1. From
the Superintendent's Newsletter ----- Ed Dennis
In reference to
the Pendleton School District lawsuit against the state, "... school
funding isn't just a political question. It's also a legal question of whether
the state of Oregon is meeting its constitutional mandate to adequately fund
public schools. In Pendleton and in the law, compelling evidence suggests the
state of Oregon may be breaking the law."
Well it doesn't
exactly mention libraries so how can we make sure school libraries are part of
this conversation? Is your school
district joining the suit?
But look what
else is in the newsletter.....
Oregon
Literacy Conference 2006
!!!!!!
For the first
time ever, Oregon Educational Media Association (OEMA), Oregon Library
Association (OLA), and Oregon Reading Association (ORA) are collaborating on a
literacy conference.
For registration
information
<http://www.oema.net/conferences/OregonLiteracy2006/RegistrationForm.pdf>click here.
For more
information contact Shari Furtwangler
<mailto:shari.furtwangler@sps.lane.edu>shari.furtwangler@sps.lane.edu or visit
<http://www.oema.net/conferences/OregonLiteracy2006/OregonLit2006.htm>http://www.oema.net/conferences/OregonLiteracy2006/OregonLit2006htm
2.
Letters about Literature ----- State Library
The Oregon State Library is geeting
ready to announce the winner of this year's "Letters about Literature
winners. There are three levels for entries: elementary, middle and high school. Oregon had 1292 entries
and 95 semifinalists. Local
authors, library staff an supporters serve as the judges for our
Oregon semifinalists.
Oregon's winners will be announced at a celebration on April 3rd, at the State
Library, from 4:00-5:30 p.m. To
read more abou this remarkable contest, check it out at
http://oregon.gov/OSL/LD/aboutcenter.shtml.
3. Oregon
Virtual Reference Summit ----- Jim Sheppke
(summarized from
the state library newsletter)
On January 27
about 50 librarians from various kinds of libraries around the state gathered
at the U of O Knight Library to ponder the world of e-reference and L-net in
particular. Use is up and patrons
are happy. To quote Jim Sheppke
"Another highlight of the conference was a booklet that L-net Coordinator
Caleb Tucker- Raymond prepared with all of the positive feedback that the
service has received since its inception. It's very affirming to read comments
like, 'AMAZING! I was really stumped. Even Google produced no results. But the
Library did. Makes me
smile."' U of O Librarian Deb
Carver sees e-reference as the kind of forward thinking risk taking that will
be necessary for libraries to thrive in the future. If L-net isn't in your bag
of tricks yet, now might be a good time to explore the
possibilities.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
FROM ALA, AASL
and BEYOND
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
1. Library
Grant Opportunities
----- Kathy Agarwal (ALAWON)
1) Charles
Stewart Mott Foundation
The mission of
the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is to support
efforts that
promote a just, equitable, and sustainable society. One
of
the Foundation's
four program areas, Pathways Out of Poverty, seeks to
address reduction
in poverty rates for low-income people and communities
in the U.S. The
program focuses on improving community education;
expanding
economic opportunity; and building organized communities.
Outside the
Flint, MI area, home of the Foundation, grants are not
made
for local
projects unless they are part of a national demonstration
and
have clear
implications for replication in other communities. Letters
of
inquiry are
accepted throughout the year. For more information view:
<http://www.mott.org/>
2) American Honda
Foundation
The American
Honda Foundation supports projects in the areas of youth
and scientific
education. The Foundation defines "youth" as
prenatal
through
twenty-one years of age. "Scientific education" encompasses
the
physical and life
sciences, mathematics, and the environmental sciences.
The Foundation
provides grants for K-12 education, higher education, and
other nonprofit
organizations that focus on youth and/or scientific
education. Only
projects that are national in scope will be considered
for funding by
the Foundation. Application deadlines are February 1, May
1, August 1, and
November 1 of each year. For more information view:
<http://corporate.honda.com/america/philanthropy.aspx?id=ahf>
3) Gold
Foundation Extends Compassion to Hurricane Survivors
The Arnold P.
Gold Foundation has established the Katrina Assistance
Fund in response
to the Gulf Coast disaster. For
more information view:
<http://humanism-in-medicine.org/>
4) Improving
Literacy Through School Libraries Program
The purpose of
this program is to improve student reading skills and
academic
achievement by providing students with increased access
to
up-to-date school
library materials. For more information view:
<http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2006-1/021006b.html>