LISNews: Librarian News

Michael Buckley is the author of the popular children's books series "Sisters Grimm" and "N.E.R.D.S."

As he described his diverse life's journey at the eighth James V. Brown Library Author Gala in Williamsport PA, he finished with a serious message about the importance of the school librarian's impact on his impressionable young mind and how libraries are the "secret to America."

"It was like a lightning bolt," he said, of the inspirational spark provided to him by the librarian at the school in Akron, Ohio. He called her the single most important impetus behind his searching out other books, using his inherent comedic skills and eventually becoming a children's book author.

"She changed me overnight," he said, describing himself as a reluctant reader as a child who was force fed books such as "The Yearling" and "Little House on the Prairie," which were noteworthy works, but didn't help to invigorate his page-turning.

The librarian gave him a copy of "The Mouse and the Motorcycle: by Beverly Cleary, and it was anything but grueling.

The book was funny, full of adventure and most importantly - it was pointless.

"I thought, 'maybe there's another book like this,' " he said. He said he literally became a reader overnight.

Story from the Sun Gazette.

LIBRARY chiefs have been labelled “meanies” by children over plans to move a popular librarian in a London suburb from leading a reading group to a basement sorting job.

Youngsters gathered outside the Heath Library in Keats Grove yesterday (Wednesday) to demand that Paula Rundell is kept on in the same role.

It is understood Ms Rundell, who has barely missed a single Rhyme Time reading morning in 11 years, was told by library bosses last week she would be moved to a role at Swiss Cottage Library where she will be tasked with sorting through stock. The move comes into effect next week.

The switch is part of changes that will see around two-thirds of library staff across the borough being moved to different libraries. Report from the Camden News Journal.

In “Readers Reflect” author Numeroff reflects on receiving her first library card (photo of the author below).

I remember getting my first library card, not believing that there were so many books to choose from that I could bring home , read tall of them, bring them back and then takc out more again! Unfortunately, this was in the 60s and the library I went to only let you take out six at a time! I very quickly became a voracious. Some of my favorites were anything by Beverly Cleary, Lois Lenski, and, Marguerite Henry. But, the two books that made the biggest impact were STUART LITTLE, and, ELOISE!

The stories excited me so much that I tried to write my own book. The first one was about a horse called Trixie who went shopping in Macy’s. When I was 9, I KNEW I was going to be a children’s book writer, but didn’t think about paying rent! After I graduated from Pratt Insitute in Brooklyn, NY, I went to San Francisco for two weeks and stayed for seven years! In that time, I registered with a temp agency, got MediCal, got fired from a myriad of part time jobs, and, managed to write and illustrate nine books. I got $500,oo for my first advance!

It's becoming ever more critical day by day; today marks the beginning of Choose Privacy Week (School Library Journal).

“The point of Choose Privacy is to spark a nationwide dialogue of what privacy means to us, and what the privacy laws are today in the digital space,” says Angela Maycock, assistant director for ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

For children, protecting those rights is even more critical as young students often aren’t sophisticated enough to grasp what is appropriate behavior on the Web. School librarians can play a crucial role in helping to steer children towards tools they can use to protect themselves, say experts.

“Certainly we know young people are intuitively and naturally interested in social networking and other tools online,” says Maycock. “And so school librarians play a really important and critical part in this effort as they’re a starting gate in learning how to access information, and do it responsibly and safely.”

Yet how school librarians approach these lessons can vary, especially depending on a student’s age. A kindergartener may have a different understanding of cookies than a junior in high school and so teaching tools often need to start with very rudimentary examples and behavior models.