This archive was originally posted at serrc.org/schoollibraries
September 29th – In This Issue…
Alaska. Dept. of Education “McGrath, Alaska, Territorial School, fall 1932.” ASL-MS146-04-28B-2
SAYL News in Brief
BrainPop and Brain Pop Jr are Here to Stay!
We are pleased to announce that BrainPop and Brain Pop Jr are being kept as SLED databases for FY 2017. We owe the retention of these two resources to the spirited and successful defense of Online With Libraries (OWL) funding that freed up grant funds to continue these two popular K-12 resources.
A few notes about BrainPop and BrainPop Jr:
- MyBrainPop, which allows you to group classes of students is NOT available in our statewide subscription and the vendor refuses to give it to us.
- You will always see “Log in” in the upper right hand corner of the initial BrainPop screen – ignore that and browse direct to a movie. If the movie box is replaced with a request to log in, call 1-800-440-2919 if you do not know the SLED Databases ID and password.
- The statewide subscription to BrainPop and BrainPop Jr Do not include games NOT produced by BrainPop but are featured in the their GameUp section.
Enjoy! (Daniel Cornwall, Friday Bulletin, 9/16)
Is your School Eligible for Free eBooks?
“Open eBooks is an app containing thousands of popular and award-winning titles that are free for children from in-need households. These eBooks can be read without checkouts or holds. Children from in-need families can access these eBooks, which include some of the most popular works of the present and past, using the Open eBooks app and read as many as they like without incurring any costs. The goal of Open eBooks is to encourage a love of reading and serve as a gateway to children reading even more often, whether in school, at libraries, or through other eBook reading apps.” (Open eBooks)
Open eBooks Eligible Alaskan Schools
Big Library Read Begins October 13
“The next Big Library Read will be kicking off October 13, and the YA title chosen in our survey by readers, librarians and teachers is This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp. Told from four perspectives over the course of 54 harrowing minutes, the students of a fictional high school (Opportunity High) struggle to both survive and understand why one boy started shooting at 10:00 am. This is Where it Ends is a #1 New York Times bestseller, a Publishers Weekly Bestseller, a Barnes and Noble Top Pick and an ABC Best Book for young readers.”
If students are in an area with access to the Alaska Digital Library, This is Where it Ends will be available for unlimited checkout from October 13-27, 2016. Families outside an area serviced by a state-funded library can access OverDrive through Juneau Public Library’s free Alaska Mail Services (application required).
School Librarians Are Labeling Controversial Books, But Could That Help Students? (Bustle)
A Mom’s Plea for Library Books Brought in 15,000—And Transformed Her Small Town (Yes! Magazine)
Librarians Get Their GAME On (American Libraries)
AkLA Accepting Program Proposals.
The AkLA 2017 conference planning committee is now accepting program proposals for the upcoming annual state conference in Ketchikan in February 2017. Program proposals should be submitted by Sept. 30 [TOMORROW!], and submissions will receive a response from the planning committee by Oct. 31.
For more information about the conference and the fun, friendly community of Ketchikan, please go to the website.
Scholarship, Grant, and Award Opportunities
Closing October 1 – Penguin Random House Foundation Library Awards for Innovation. $1,000 – $10,000 plus $1000 in PRH books to public libraries (or school libraries serving the capacity of public libraries) “creating innovative community-based programs, which encourage citizens to participate and support reading initiatives that connect libraries with their community.”
Employment Opportunities
Librarian, Birchwood Elementary – Anchorage
Media Specialist (District) – North Slope Borough
Assistant, Library/Media, Central Middle School – Anchorage
Additional and up-to-date information at Alaska Teacher Placement
Training and Continuing Education Opportunities
Webinars are no cost and run approximately one hour unless otherwise noted. Opportunities not fitting your schedule? Many of these webinars will later be available as archives.
Tuesday, October 4th, 7am: Texas High School Librarians Create College Ready Students (Texas State Library and Archives Commission)
Tuesday, October 4th, 11am: Teen Programming: A Mover & Shaker’s Recipe for Impact and Success (WebJunction)
Tuesday, October 4th, 3pm: Your “Principal” Partnership: Communicating Library Program Success (AASL)
Wednesday, October 5th, 11am: Meet the Makers: Makerspace Tips and Trends (edWeb)
Thursday, October 6th, 11am – 2 pm: Library 2.016: Libraries of the Future (Library 2.0)
Tuesday, October 11th, 11am: Engaging Reluctant Middle Grade Readers (SLJ)
Thursday, October 13th, 7am: Trends in Teaching Information Literacy (Library Connect)
Additional and up-to-date opportunities at the Library Development Training and Continuing Education Calendar
As Seen on Alaska School Librarians Facebook
A roundup of resources shared and questions asked on the Alaska School Librarians Facebook group. This is intended to give readers the chance to access resources at work if Facebook is filtered. Only timely questions, announcements, and links to non-Facebook resources are listed here.
9/28 – My friend, Kieran Fanning, wrote The Black Lotus, which Scholastic picked up and is publishing in the US this month. The coolest part is that Kieran honored me with a mention in his book’s “Acknowlegements” section… Can you believe it? I’m just a lil’ ol’ librarian! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2dvriCi8oc
9/29 – When you order magazines, do you order individually or do you use a vendor like EBSCO. If a vendor, who do you use (I’m not excited about the service I get from EBSCO and am looking at options). Thanks
Almanac
Banned Books Week continues through October 1st.
October is Filipino American History Month, Italian American Heritage Month, Polish American Heritage Month, LGBT History Month, and Health Literacy Month
October is also National Reading Group Month and the month of the Global Read Aloud
October 1st – 8th is Alaska Book Week
October 5th is World Teachers’ Day
October 9th – 15th is Teen Read Week
October 16th – 22nd is National Friends of Libraries Week
October 18th is Alaska Day. State Library is closed.
Something You’d Like to See in SAYL Mail?
To share news, success stories, resources, and opportunities, please contact Jared Shucha. The next issue will be October 13th. To get SAYL Mail updates sent to your inbox, request a subscription to the AkASL listserv and ask a colleague to do the same!