6
December
2006
ONLINE CLASSES / COMING UP TALLER AWARD / ART-Y SCHOOLS? / NEVER TOO LATE / GREAT NEW BOOK?
ONLINE CLASSES FOR LIBRARIANS WHO SERVE TEENS YALSA, the Young Adult Services Association of the American Library Association, announces that, on December 15, registration will open for several online classes that YALSA is offering in February and March. Most of the classes last 6 weeks. Among the course offerings are:
- FINDING THE RIGHT BOOK FOR THE RIGHT TEEN AT THE RIGHT TIME
- NEW TECHNOLOGY AND NEW LITERACIES FOR TEENS
- OUTREACHING TEENS
- PAIN IN THE BRAIN: ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT AND LIBRARY BEHAVIOR
- POWER PROGRAMMING FOR TEENS
To find out more about these and other online courses, how to register, the tuition, and tech requirements, go to:http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/onlinecourses/info.htm
COMING UP TALLER AWARDS One of the questions the Alaska State Library receives most often from school and public librarians is: Are there any grants available for my library? This fall I have included news of at least one grant possibility in almost every e-newsletter. This week’s award is one from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities called the Coming Up Taller Award that provides a grant of $10,000 to “recognize and reward” outstanding after-school and out-of-school programs in the arts and humanities. The deadline for this grant is January 31, 2007. For more information, see http://www.imls.gov/news/2006/112906.shtm I urge Alaska libraries with something special to share to go for awards or grants like this one. You may feel like your library is small and far from the Center of the Library Universe, but small Alaska school and public libraries have won such national grants and awards as the U.S. Department of Education’s Improving Literacy through School Libraries, the National Endowment for the Humanities Prime Time Family Reading Award, Laura Bush Foundation Grants, NEH Bookshelf Awards, IMLS Leadership and Enhancement grants, and many more. Most recently the Anchorage Municipal Libraries and the branch of UAA in Homer were two of 72 national winners of National Endowment for the Arts BIG READ awards. Anchorage chose the Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451 and will be sharing their program with the state; Homer will focus on The Joy Luck Club and is planning to have author Amy Tan there in person.
ART IN SCHOOLS? Does your school principal go all out to create an active and vibrant art program in your school? Is there a principal in your district who is known for making art education happen in a big way despite all the pressures of NCLB? If so, the Alaska State Council on the Arts is looking for names and addresses. They would like our cooperation in finding some outstanding instructional leaders who have integrated arts into a wide range of school activities and curricula. If you know of someone who fits this description, please let me know, and I’ll pass the principal and school names along to Charlotte Fox, the director of the Arts Council.
IT’S NOT TOO LATE I am receiving more school library censuses every day, so don’t be shy or feel like you’ll be the only or last one. If you need one of those pesky forms, please send me an email and I’ll get another one to you. And who knows, you might even get a nice Red Lantern award if you are indeed the last to turn in your school’s form! And if the prospect of a possible award isn’t enough, just think: if you turn your completed in form, you won’t have to hear from me on this subject again! A big thanks to those who have returned forms to me this week and to Lynn McNamara of the Anchorage School District, who spearheaded a local effort!
GREAT NEW BOOKS? This week, rather than listing more of the new professional books that we’ve received here at the State Library in Anchorage, I am going to turn the tables and ask you to let us know what the best new book that’s arrived at your library this fall is. It doesn’t have to be a 2006 title, just something that you have read or library has just added. You can respond in this blog version by clicking on the grey number to the right of the #10 above. Cheers!
Posted: Books, Grants, School Libraries
29
November
2006
SAYL MAILNovember 30, 2006
NET SPEAK-UP / LAURA BUSH GRANTS / THANKS / PUBLIC LIBRARY REMINDER
To comment or respond to this blog, please click on the grey number next to Blogletter Number above.
NET SPEAK-UP DAY –
ALASKA INPUT WANTED
Here is a request from the American Association of School Librarians:
Now in its 4th year, NetDay Speak Up’s national online survey invites students, teachers, and parents from around the country to share their input in an online survey. The deadline has been extended with the survey remaining open until December 15, 2006 to allow maximum participation This is an opportunity for students, teachers and parents to participate in the national dialog about science, math, technology, and 21st century workforce skills. Learn more about NetDay Speak Up and how schools and districts can register and participate at <http://www.netday.org/speakup>.
The results of the surveys are shared with participating schools and districts so that they can use the data for planning and community discussion. In addition, the findings and data are used by local, state, and national organizations and government agencies to inform new programs and polices. Additional help is needed to get participation from the following states * AK, AR, HI, OK, DC, ID, MN, MS, MT, NH, ND, NV, RI, SD, VT, WV, WY, IA, WA, KS, UT, DE, NE, AL, ME, IN, NM, OR, and NJ. Please disseminate this information to these states so schools and districts to take part in Speak Up 2006. To preview the Speak Up surveys for students, teachers and parents go to <http://www.netday.org/SPEAKUP/speakup_surveys.htm>
LAURA BUSH GRANTS – Deadline 12/30/2006
Check this website for this year’s Laura Bush Foundation grants competition:http://www.laurabushfoundation.org/web2/index.htm Remember that this grant is intended for school libraries in areas with high poverty levels. The grants are for individual schools, not school districts, and are to be used “to update, extend and diversity the book collections” of the selected school libraries. It would be good to check the website now, because the deadline for asking the Foundation questions about the grant is December 20, 2006, and the deadline for your proposal is 10 days later. Several
Alaska libraries have been awarded these grants in the past.
THANKS
A big round of applause to the school librarians who have filled out their 2006 school library census forms already and appreciation to those of you will be turning them in this week. I keep getting new responses everyday. I think that the information will go a long way to helping us all be able to communicate about school library needs.
PUBLIC LIBRARY REMINDER
If you are intending to use the summer reading order form that you received in October, when you received your participation form, remember that the first deadline is this Friday, December 1. If it is not possible for you to order any extra incentives that your library needs for the 2006 GET A CLUE@YOUR LIBRARY statewide summer reading program, by Friday, the next deadline is January 1, 2007 for delivery in April of 2007. We have ordered basic kits for every public library that returned a participation form, so the order form is for any extras you want to purchase for your library.
If you are wondering where in the world your order form went because you want to order some of the great orange T-shirts to offer as prizes or thank-yous for volunteers, please contact Priscilla McAdara at priscilla_mcadara@eed.state.ak.us or call her at 1-800-776-6566 to get a replacement order form.
I may be traveling next week, so may not be able to respond to emails and phone calls promptly.
Posted: Grants, Public Libraries, Summer Reading, Technology
22
November
2006
You can add a comment by clicking on the grey number next to the number 8.
SURVEY REMINDER / SCHOLARSHIP REMINDER/ NEW GRANT FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIES / AUTHORS HONORED
SURVEY REMINDER
Thanks to all of you have filled out and returned a 2006 Alaska School Library Census Form. This information is not only useful for me, but it may be useful for you as well. The Alaska Association of School Librarians and the Alaska Library Association are working to propose a school library collection development grant to add to your library materials budget. Their efforts will be more effective if they can explain to legislators what the current situation with school libraries is, particularly the current per student expenditure on library materials. This information is not available statewide from any other source but from you who work in school libraries. So far the responses I have received for school library budgets have ranged from $0 (several) to $75,000 (a one-time federal grant). For those of you who haven’t sent me a completed form, I urge you to take a few minutes to fill one out. Please remember to indicate the name of your school and the number of students that you serve at the top of the form. If you won’t have time until next week after the holiday, that’s fine. Have a great holiday, and then take about 5 minutes to fill out the form when you return next week. If you no longer have the form I sent out last week, don’t be shy. Just write to me at the address below, and I’ll be glad to send you another one.
SCHOLARSHIP REMINDER I have been asked to remind you that if you are pursuing a masters degree or school library certificate, or if you know someone who is interested in doing so, you should check out the information at the AkLA/AkASL scholarship site at: http://www.akla.org/scholarships/index.html The deadlines for the two types of scholarships offered are both January 15, 2007. NEW GRANT FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIES “Where can I get a grant for my school library?” is one of my most frequently asked questions. As of this year, there is a new award program, the Sara Jaffarian Award, from the American Association of School Librarians. The award is for $4,000 plus a plaque to the selected school library that has conducted “an exemplary program or program series in the humanities.” The program should have been conducted in the previous school year with a humanities focus, which might include social studies, poetry, drama, art, music, literature, foreign languages and culture. “Programs should focus on broadening perspectives and helping students understand the wider world and their place in it.” Award rules and an application form are available at: www.ala.org/jaffarianaward and the deadline is February 28, 2007. Other awards available through AASL are to be found at: http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslawards/aaslawards.htmThe deadline for most of them is February 1, 2007. AUTHORS HONORED Earlier this fall, children’s book illustrator David Macaulay was honored with a “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for his works that “demystify the workings and origins of objects as mundane as a stapler and as monumental as a cathedral.”
More recently M. T. Anderson’s novel THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING, TRAITOR TO THE NATION, VOLUME ONE: THE POX PARTY (Candlewick Press) was named the 2006 National Book Award for Children’s Literature.
Anderson’s earlier work, FEED, was a finalist for the 2002 award.
Enjoy your holiday!
Posted: Grants, Scholarships, School Libraries, Uncategorized
