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Written on: July 21st, 2010 in Blog Posts
Every summer, Delaware’s public libraries welcome schoolchildren to an exciting and educational series of activities, programs, and performances designed to bridge the gap between the end of one school year and the beginning of the next. Summer Library Reading Programs are very common across the US- in fact, this type of program has existed for more than a century in one form or another- and attempt to combat what Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has described as the “devastating impact” of summer slide, in which the average student loses the equivalent of almost a month of instruction during the summer break from structured educational activities, with disadvantaged students disproportionately affected (click here for more details.)
Dominican University received a research grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and partnered with the Colorado and Texas State Libraries on a three-year, evidence-based investigation into the impact of summer reading programs on student acheivment. You can read the executive summary below, but to summarize the summary, the researchers found that participation in these programs increased children’s scores on standardized reading tests and that their teachers reported increased confidence and participation in classroom activities overall on their return to school.
The full report is available at this link: The Dominican Study: Public Library Summer Reading Programs Close the Reading Gap.
Written on: July 20th, 2010 in Blog Posts
As I’ve noted before, one of the great perks of being a librarian and being able to go to professional conferences is the opportunity to get sneak peeks at some of the great soon-to-be published books, and the chances to rub shoulders with your own literary favorites. June’s American Library Association conference in DC was no exception, with hundreds of informative workshops and sessions- and between sessions, opportunities to hear from authors and to stand in long lines to get autographs.
I outsourced this final responsibility to my daughter Lucy, because I had a packed schedule and because so many of the authors in attendance were kids and young-adult fiction writers, and there were some of Lucy’s favorites in attendance. I think that meeting and talking to authors is an incredible opportunity for book-loving children- the notion that the creation of magical, imagined worlds is an accomplishment of apparently ordinary people and one ultimate expression of the ordinary, tangible skills that are being accumulated and polished during the mundane routines of school and homework.
Rebecca Stead, who has two incredible books for young adults (top left with Lucy) was lovely, and Lucy also had a couple of encounters with Laurie Halse Anderson which left her very excited. At the conference, Anderson presented her new historical novel Forge, which will be published in October and is a sequel to her very well-received Chains. Forge continues the story of runaway slave Curzon as he encounters General Washington’s army at Valley Forge- you can find out more about this great book (Lucy devoured it in a couple of days, and it is a doorstop) at this LibraryThing page
Written on: July 20th, 2010 in Blog Posts
New additions to the Delaware Library Catalog’s downloadable e-audio books this week:
Other new e-audio books can be seen at this link.
Written on: July 19th, 2010 in Blog Posts
UPDATE: this version of the catalog is now “live” since August 20th 2010
With the pending arrival of the New Castle County public libraries scheduled for September, it’s an ideal time to update and upgrade the online aspect of the Delaware Library Catalog (OPAC, in library-ese). This next generation online catalog introduces upgrades that will make the catalog richer and easier to use.
You can “test-drive” the new OPAC at this link: http://ilstest.lib.de.us. Let us know what you think! You can start a conversation in the comments section below, or email us at: feedback@lib.de.us. Your current Kent, Sussex, or Wilmington library card and PIN can be used to log in to review the advanced services, and New Castle County library card holders accounts are also loaded into this test environment. REMEMBER! This is not the most current library card account data for you, and you can’t ACTUALLY place holds or receive email updates from this site!
Written on: July 15th, 2010 in Blog Posts
This brought me back from my current blogging hiatus. With the American Library Association Conference now over, and work progressing nicely on the upcoming New Castle County libraries migration to the statewide catalog, blogging is back on the radar! Now, over to Old Spice guy:
Written on: July 7th, 2010 in Blog Posts, Informal learning, Learning, Reading, Reviews
What is it about Summer that has us all running in a thousand directions? To the point where we even shirk our blog posting responsibilities? Doesn’t it feel like Summer thumbs its nose at introspection anyway? That it tosses out a giant *raspberry* to serious reading? Well, maybe that’s a good thing.
During my hiatus from here, I tackled the manual for my camera. And, explored Contemporary Landscape Photography: Professional Techniques for Capturing Spectacular Settings and How to Photograph Absolutely Everything. I followed link after link in my current near-daily diet of photo-storytelling blogs. And explored the National Geographic Image Collection. I really read my subscribed-to magazines. And explored Fancy Nancy and the Sensational Babysitter. I really read non-subscribed-to magazines with English Breakfast tea and super-fresh oatmeal raisin cookies at Barnes and Noble. And, I explored Tea and Crumpets: Recipes and Rituals from Tearooms and Cafes. And since it IS Summer, I explored Tomato: a Fresh-from-the-Vine Cookbook. Summer heaven. Summer reads. How about you?
Written on: June 21st, 2010 in Blog Posts
This week, Governor Markell signed into law revisions to Delaware’s Children’s Internet Protection Act. The goal of the revisions were to enhance the opportunities for libraries to take advantage of new technology while maintaining a high level of protection for children based on their parents preferences. Click here for an earlier discussion of this legislation with links to the text of the revisions.
Governor Markell discussed the changes in his weekly video address, which you can view below. We’re grateful for his recognition that public libraries are “critical hubs in our communities…places to gather, but most importantly, places to learn,” that are characterized by “great librarians, happy to help,” and which play an important part in helping users “expand economic opportunities.” Libraries now have new tools from the legislature and administration to help them continue to provide excellent access to information while safeguarding children’s safety and parental rights.
Written on: June 20th, 2010 in Blog Posts, Learning, Reading
“Slow Reading” has been in the news recently. Thomas Newkirk, Professor of English at New Hampshire University, was featured in wire stories such as this one about how slowing down the pace of reading improves children’s comprehension and mastery. You can read the original article by Newkirk through the libraries’ subscription databases at this link (with your library card number and PIN, but his conclusion seems attractive:
Not all our reading, nor all our students’ reading, can or should have this depth. We read for various purposes. But some of our reading should have such depth, inefficient as that might be.
There is real pleasure in slowing down. We can gain some pleasures and meanings no other way. The term taste applies to both literacy and eating. And to taste, we have to slow down. Schools need to take a stand for an alternative to an increasingly hectic digital environment where so many of us read and write in abbreviated messages.
Written on: June 18th, 2010 in Blog Posts
Every month, the Delaware Library Catalog receives new titles from our partnership with NetLibrary. They provide a wide range of unabridged digital audiobooks which can be downloaded directly from the library catalog in a variety of formats. The titles below are some of the most recent MP3-format titles from our subscription, which can be downloaded direct to a wide range of portable audio devices or copied to iTunes:
Click on the link above to connect to the listing in the library catalog, and then click on the chain (weblink) icon to download the title from NetLibrary. This previous posting includes instructions on using the service.
Written on: June 16th, 2010 in Blog Posts
I’ve posted before about my friend Lauren, globetrotter and voracious reader. For the past several weeks, she’s been on location in a very remote and beautiful recovery site in the Vietnamese highlands- battling aerial leeches, exploring temples and VC tunnels, and always reading, reading, reading. No internet or WiFi in this part of the jungle, so Lauren was sure to pack enough books to last the assignment:
I am just about to close my box o’ stuff so we can palletize it tomorrow but not without giving you a list of the books packed in it: Selected Stories of Franz Kafka... Paradise Lost and Other Poems by John Milton… Living the Wisdom of the Tao by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, and We Die Alone by David Howarth…
If you’d like to know more about Lauren’s reading list, click the titles above to search in the Delaware Library Catalog. I’d also asked Lauren to pose for a photo outside of a local public library, but she was going straight to the site. We’d love to know more about YOUR reading and library adventures, though! If you’re a Flickr user, we’d love to see a picture of you outside your public library- either your local library or one that you come across on your travels, wherever that is in the world. Upload a picture to Flickr and give it the delawaredivisionoflibraries tag. We’ll use the pictures to educate everyone about library services and to build support for your libraries at home.
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