School Libraries

Must schools ban 'gateway' books, too?

Submitted by Blake on May 9, 2012 - 9:59am

Must schools ban 'gateway' books, too?
"There have been few challenges in Tennessee school districts recently. Apparently, our schools have been doing yeoman’s work in pre-screening their assigned reading, weeding out any book that might challenge the narrow definitions of good taste, and avoiding the expensive and unseemly task of removing a title from class.

But the Sumner County action does raise an interesting question in light of Tennessee’s new mandate on sex conversation in schools. The legislature has said the only approved approach to sex is that only married men and women should have it; so, what to do about these books in school libraries?"

Topic:

Books

School Libraries

Censorship

D.C. cutting school librarians

Submitted by Blake on May 4, 2012 - 10:38am

D.C. cutting school librarians
At a time when D.C. public schools is pushing hard on literacy education to increase the number of students who can read proficiently, officials are proposing to cut funding for dozens of school librarian positions for the 2012-13 academic year as a cost-cutting move .

Topic:

School Libraries

Libraries

Why does James Patterson care about our kids’ reading habits?

Submitted by Blake on April 30, 2012 - 3:12pm

Why does James Patterson care about our kids’ reading habits?
At this point, rowdy adolescents clutch their free copies of Patterson’s young adult novel Maximum Ride and listen intently as he gives a prescription for success in writing, or, beyond that, life.

"You have to have a dream; you have to have passion. And I strongly recommend you have a back-up dream. You have to have focus. Outline, baby. Before you write anything, outline."

He tells them to write down the coolest story they know. The sentences might not be any good, but the important thing is to get the story down – polishing can come later.

Topic:

School Librarians becoming a rare breed in TX

Submitted by Blake on April 30, 2012 - 8:53am

Librarians becoming a rare breed

Brian Rosson, one of the Human Resources directors with ECISD, said during the past two years, the district has really felt the repercussions of what he called a statewide librarian shortage. The Texas Education Agency has specific qualifications that a librarian must have, and according to Rosson, the most challenging qualification to meet is a master’s degree in library science.

“What we’ve seen over the last five years are less and less people going back to school for a degree in that,” Rosson said. “And there are only a few universities in the state that offer that degree.”

Topic:

School Libraries

Librarians

School employee busted for topless photos in the library

Submitted by Blake on April 27, 2012 - 8:02am

School employee busted for topless photos
A Fresno Unified employee is out of a job after she snaps scandalous photos of herself inside the school library.

The Homan Elementary School library tech is out of a job after those pictures they later surfaced.

Parents at Homan Elementary just found out about the situation after CBS47 started asking questions.

Topic:

School Libraries

D.C. School Librarians Face An Uncertain Future By: Jessica Gould

Submitted by Lee Hadden on April 9, 2012 - 10:32am

Topic:

School Libraries

Public Radio had an article this morning about school libraries in Washington, DC. They write: Earlier this spring, the D.C.

Nova Scotia Board axes all school librarians

Submitted by Blake on April 9, 2012 - 10:06am

Nova Scotia Board axes all school librarians
"We’ve had it," said Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, after learning late this week that every librarian in every school under the Chignecto-Central regional school board will be out of a job on June 30.

"It’s like taking the food out of a cafeteria — what will they do without librarians?" Jessome asked during a telephone interview Friday.

[Edit, that's Nova Scotia not Ontario. I always confuse the two, they're so similar]

Topic:

School Libraries

Libraries in schools keeping up with times

Submitted by Blake on April 4, 2012 - 12:48pm

Libraries in schools keeping up with times

Today, students sit at computers, read Kindles, work on netbooks, and browse online databases for the information they need. The high school library is no longer just a room with books on a shelf. It is a multifunctional space meant to unite a community and aid the creative and innovative learning and teaching process.

Topic:

School Libraries

School District Told to Replace Web Filter Blocking Pro-Gay Sites

Submitted by birdie on March 26, 2012 - 8:46am

CAMDENTON, Mo. — Students using the computers at Camdenton High School here in central Missouri have been able to access the Web sites for Exodus International as well as People Can Change, antigay organizations that counsel men and women on how to become heterosexual.

But the students have not been able to access the Web sites of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or the Gay-Straight Alliance Network.

They have been able to read Bowers v. Hardwick, the 1986 Supreme Court ruling that upheld a Georgia statute criminalizing sodomy. But they have been blocked from reading Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 Supreme Court ruling that held that laws criminalizing sodomy were unconstitutional.

They have been given access to scores of antigay sites, but not to those supportive of gay people.

A clear-cut case of censorship? Actually, not so clear. “These filters are a new version of book-banning or pulling books off the shelf,” said Pat Scales of the American Library Association. “The difference is, this is much more subtle and harder to identify.”

Topic:

School Libraries

Legal Issues