LISNews: Librarian News

Charles Davis writes: "This One Says, secondary school pupils in Britain spend less time reading than almost any others in the world, according to a study published yesterday.

However, they do well in international literacy tests for 15-year-olds because they spend more time browsing
through magazines, e-mails and websites - and enjoy it more than reading books.

An international study of test results for 43 different countries by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development revealed only four countries in the world had a lower percentage of girls reading for two hours
a day or more. The UK figure was 3.5 per cent.
"

Jen Young spotted a look at Home Schooling From The NYTimes.
They say online education is only just beginning to spread to the lower grades. There are fewer than two dozen virtual elementary and middle schools nationwide, in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio and a few other states. Some are run by for-profit companies like K12, which has 7,000 students nationwide, or Sylvan Ventures, based in Baltimore, which teaches 400 students in kindergarten through eighth grade through its Connections Academy subsidiary. Others are operated by state education officials themselves.

Bob writes "A nice one from Ohio where Perry High School’s 24-member Student Council wants to help stock the shelves of a library, destroyed by arson nearly a year ago.
They’re donating $4,000 for new library books, DVDs and cassettes. At the end of each school year, the students give a gift to the school itself, Warstler said."

"Sex, drugs, and other "problems of the month" persist as subjects of Young Adult books, but, according to booksellers who recently spoke to BTW, the YA field is growing more fantasy, getting more fuzzy about labeling, and appealing to more adults."

"It's gotten edgier," said Valerie Lewis, co-owner of 24-year-old Hicklebee's in San Jose, California. "The line between adults and young adults is thinner than ever."

"Instead of hinting at sexual situations, books are more explicit and detailed, she noted. YA stories used to refer to kissing until dawn. What was implied is now more explicit in detailing what went on until dawn." (from Bookselling this Week)