School Libraries
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.
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 .
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."
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.
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.
Public Radio had an article this morning about school libraries in Washington, DC. They write:
Earlier this spring, the D.C. public school system distributed funding guidelines for the new fiscal year, and DCPS Chief of Staff Lisa Ruda says rising costs led to some tough decisions.
"At the end of the day, we had to balance our budget, and the library allocation at our smallest schools was one of the hard choices we had to make," she says.
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.
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.
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.
Matt de la Peña’s novel has been banned at Tucson High for containing “critical race theory.”