New Jersey Library System Holds Mock ALA Awards

On Friday, January 11 the BCCLS  (Bergen County Cooperative Library System in New Jersey )Youth Services Committee held its annual mock awards program.  Reportedly after some spirited discussion, the following books were chosen.

Printz:

Award: Code Name Verity/ Elizabeth Wein

Honors: The Fault in our Stars/ John Green

        October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard/ Leslea Newman

Newbery:

Winner: Wonder/ R.J. Palacio

Award: Temple Grandin/ Sy Montgomery

       Splendors and Glooms/ Laura Amy Schlitz

       Same Sun Here/ Silas House

Caldecott:

Winner: Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad/ Henry Cole

Award: Extra Yarn, written by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Jon Klassen

             One Special Day/ Lola Schaeffer

(Thanks to Sharon Kalman for sharing this information)

How close  did the BCCLS Mock Awards come to the actual youth media awards of the American Library Association? You'll have to wait until January 28th, 2013  to find out.

2013 American Library association book and Media Awards

The Book and Media Awards of the American Library Association will be held on January 28, 2013 at 8 a.m. PT (11am EST) on Jan. 28, from the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. 

Webcast
Approximately 12,500 webcast viewers will join more than 1,300 onsite audience members for the 2013 announcements. Virtual seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis.  

Facebook and Twitter
Those that are not able to join the webcast can still follow results in real-time by logging on to the ALA Youth Media Awards Facebook page, or via Twitter by following hashtag #ALAyma.

Emancipation Proclamation anniversary

Today is not only the New Year, but also the 150^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Having just finished reading the new non-fiction young adult book, The Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty by Tonya Bolden, the significance of this day is greatly enhanced.

This is the history we never learned in school.

Bolden plunges the reader into the social and political climate leading up to the event, and the enigmatic character of Abraham Lincoln. She begins the book with a quote by Frederick Douglass, “We were waiting and listening as for a bolt from the sky…we were watching, as it were, by the dim light of the stars, for the dawn of a new day; we were longing for the agonizing prayers of centuries.”

Voices from contemporary participants and observers such as Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, John Charles Fremont, Harriet Tubman, Charlotte Forten, Sandy Cornish and many others are recounted.  (If you don't recognize some of these names their stories will become very meaningful to you after reading the book.) The text is delivered in an active, present tense similar to a news report, so that there is immediacy to all the events.  (Some may note that not much has changed, when the political animosity of congress members is described.) Illustrated with contemporary paintings, political cartoons and photographs, each with detailed captions, noting the social, political or ideological markers that may be lost on present-day readers, the visual literacy of the reader is greatly enhanced.

Lincoln is revealed in all his contradictory statements and philosophies, which illustrate his difficulty in coming to a decision which satisfied his moral, political, legal and constitutional views. Bolden inserts parts of the constitution and the evolving proclamation, so that the problems in coming to a consensus on a difficult issue can be understood.

 In the Epilogue, a measured yet personal examination of Lincoln and the proclamation is presented, which will be a spur to lively discussions and reflection in the classroom.

For the New Year, and for this anniversary, may teachers and students use texts such as these to create a greater understanding of our history.

2011 ALA Banned Books List

Celebrating Banned Books Week this week?
Read a Banned?Frequently Challenged Book!

2011 Most frequently Challenged Books

1.ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
Juv. M9975tt
Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

2.The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
(On order)
Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

3.The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
Juv. C7136
Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence

4.My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
(On order)
Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

5.The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Juv. A387a
Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group

6.Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Juv. N333
Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint

7.Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
PR6015.U9 B65 1999
Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit

8.What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
Juv. S 698w
Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit

9.Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
Juv. V9489w
Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit

10.To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
PS 3562.E353 T6 1995
Reasons: offensive language; racism

For more information see http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/21stcenturychallenged

NJ Education Commissioner Cerf comes to NJCU

Are you Interested in Education issues in New Jersey?


Attend the Public Hearing with state Education Commissioner Cerf ( with Senator Sandra Cunningham)

Monday, September 24, 2012, 5-8pm

Gilligan Student Union Building,

Multipurpose Room B
New Jersey City University
2039 Kennedy Boulevard
Jersey City, NJ 07305

Call (201) 451-5100 for more information
see also:
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2012/09/education_commissioner_chris_c.html
http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2012/09/cerf_to_discuss_education_in_j.html



An NJToday report on the meeting is available here

No current full text for ERIC-UPDATE

UPDATE from ERIC (8/20/12)
ED has approved for all full-text peer reviewed journals and IES publications to become available again. Our contractor is working to release these documents and we expect to have them on the site by the end of the week or early next week.

These will be the only documents available at this time due to privacy concerns about information contained in some of the collection. Although the documents in ERIC had been publicly available in ERIC microfiche for many years, the advent of the Internet has amplified the possibility that someone could make improper use of information in these ERIC documents.

We are seeking to restore access to the rest of the collection as soon as possible. Our number one concern is to ensure that any full-text documents we provide do not violate any individual's privacy. We believe that if any of us were to have our privacy compromised by an ERIC document, we would want the same consideration.

UPDATE 8/23/12
We have made all peer reviewed articles publicly available again—this is approximately 20,000 full-text articles. We are also in the process of creating a request process for individual records to be given priority in being returned to the site. ore information on that process will be provided in the next week.

UPDATE 9/6/12 (http://eric.ed.gov/pdf_availability.html)
We are seeking to restore access to documents as soon as possible. In order to restore access to ERIC, we have to check every document to see if it contains personally identifiable information. Due to the quality of many of the documents, a large portion of the search has to be done by hand. This is a large undertaking and we are in the process of hiring a team to help restore access in a fast and responsive manner. We hope to get this team in place by late September and releasing large numbers of ERIC documents by the end of October. We will continue to release documents after that point on a rolling basis.


To minimize the burden on our users, we will prioritize searching the documents that users request. If you would like to request a PDF to be returned online, please email ERICRequests@ed.gov with the record number (such as ED263102). Documents will be returned on a rolling basis and may take several weeks, but we are working as fast as possible.

Update 9/17/12 (excerpt)
We are seeking to restore access to documents as soon as possible. In order to restore access to ERIC, we have to check every document to see if it contains personally identifiable information. Due to the quality of many of the documents, a large portion of the search has to be done by hand. This is a large undertaking and we are in the process of hiring a team to help restore access in a fast and responsive manner. We hope to get this team in place by late September and releasing large numbers of ERIC documents by the end of October. We will continue to release documents after that point on a rolling basis.
http://eric.ed.gov/pdf_availability.html

No current full text for ERIC

ERIC Documents are no longer available in full text format since last week. This includes access through databases such as EBSCO.

The following message was sent out on April 15, 2012:
The full text documents for ERIC have been temporarily disabled due to a privacy concern. We apologize for the inconvenience and are currently working to isolate the affected documents and return full text access to users as quickly as possible. Please stay tuned to eric.ed.gov for an update on when they will become available again.

The reason for the unavailability is due to privacy concerns connected with some of the older documents. These issues were not suitably addressed when the documents were digitized.

According to messages, alternate sources of resolution of this issue are being sought.

The result is that there is no access to full text ERIC documents other than microfiche. The total lack of online digital access may hamper students and other researchers, especially as we are only a few short weeks from the beginning of the fall term. Some libraries have weeded their ERIC microfiche as these have been digitized, so this may be a burden  for researchers needing older documents.

12/12/12 is Museum of Mathematics Opening Day

On 12/12/12 the Museum of Mathematics will hold its opening ceremony. The museum is located in Manhattan at 11 East 26th Street, NY, NY. The event is by ticket only.

The museum opens to the public on December 15, 2012.

At the museum's website at http://momath.org/ , you can find links for  many different activities and events, including :

Math Encounters, http://www.youtube.com/museumofmathematics, videos of programs that were previously held:

• July 31-August 1, 2012 – The Topology of Twisted Toroids

• July 11, 2012 – Intuition Gone Awry: Puzzles that S-T-R-E-T-C-H Your Mind

• June 6, 2012 – Blown Away: What Knot to Do When Sailing

• May 2, 2012 – Shape Transformers: Forms That Fold Two Ways

• April 4, 2012 – Proofs from The BOOK: Putting Pieces Together

• March 7, 2012 – ABC Easy as 123

• February 1, 2012 – The Shape of Space

• January 4, 2012 – Revolution and Evolution in Math and Design

• December 7, 2011 – Five Balls, Two Hands: The Patterns of Juggling

• November 2, 2011 – Creating the Illusion of Life with Math & Programming

• October 5, 2011 – Mathematical Morsels from The Simpsons and Futurama

• September 6-7, 2011 – Fibonacci & the Golden Ratio Exposed

• July 6, 2011 – Points to Paints

• June 8, 2011 – Soap Bubbles and Mathematics

• May 4, 2011 – The Man Who Loved Only Numbers

• April 7, 2011 – Symmetry, Art, & Illusion

• March 3-4, 2011 – The Geometry of Origami

Math Mondays http://momath.org/home/math-monday/ ,a weekly column discussing fun, experiential, and puzzling topics in mathematics

Activities http://momath.org/home/activities/

Math Midway, http://mathmidway.org/, which looked like a lot of fun. You can see if it will be coming to a location near you!

(The Museum of Mathematics began in response to the closing of a small museum of mathematics on Long Island, the Goudreau Museum. A group of interested parties (the “Working Group”) met in August 2008 to explore the creation of a new museum of mathematics — one that would go well beyond the Goudreau in both its scope and methodology.)

Visit the sites and see what you think.

Jersey City Author Walter Dean Myers shares feelings about reading

Author and Jersey City resident, Walter Dean Myers recently was featured on PBS Newshour and shared his feelings about reading. The program shows him visiting his old school in Harlem and sharing some of his story and his love of reading with the students.Myers is the Library of Congress' national ambassador for young people's literature. ( Thanks to Fred Smith for sharing this with me!)

Cybersecurity Bill- Speak up today for Privacy

This week (today and tomorrow) the Senate is considering major cybersecurity legislation, S. 3414, that could let the  government collect your sensitive and personal internet  records. The bill is in flux and subject to change during floor  debate with “good” and “bad” amendments. Your calls can make the difference.  It is imperative that you call your senators now. For more information and a suggested call script, check out ala.org/cybersecurity. At that site, you can be directly connected to your senators by using our new advocacy tool, Mobile Commons. You can also find talking points and contact information at the Legislative Action Center. If you’d like to receive text message updates from the ALA on advocacy alerts, news, events and more, text “library” to 877877.  You can also sign up online at districtdispatch.com/textalerts See the American Library Association Advocacy Alert Page for more information http://www.capwiz.com/ala/home/

Free Comic Book Day is May,5 2012

May 5. 2012

What is Free Comic Book Day?
Free Comic Book Day is a single day - the first Saturday in May each year - when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE* to anyone who comes into their stores. *Check with your local shop for their participation and rules.

Check the website for information- http://www.freecomicbookday.com and the Find a Participating Store near you!

ALA Book Awards 2012

(Note- Starred books are in the Guarini Library, others are on order. )

Coretta Scott King:
Illustrator Award Kadir Nelson Heart and Soul:The Story of America and African Americans*
Illustrator Winner: Shane W. Evans Underground:Finding the Light to Freedom

Author Honor: Eloise Greenfeld Great Migration: The Great Migration: Journey to the North
Author Honor: Patricia McKissack Never Forgotten
Author Award: Kadir Nelson Heart and Soul*

Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Award: Ashley Bryan*
May Hill Arbuthnot Winner: Michael Morpurgo*

Pura Belpre:
Illustrator Honor: Samantha R, Vamos Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred*
Illustrator Honor: Monica Brown Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match
Illustrator Winner: Duncan Tonatiuh Diego Rivera : His World and Ours

Author Honor:  Xavier Garcia Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel:A Lucha Libre Mystery
Author Honor: Margarita Engle: Hurricane Dancers
Author Award: Guadelupe Garcia McCall Under the Mesquite Tree

Printz Award:
Honor:
Daniel Handler & Maira Kalman:Why We Broke Up
Christine Hinwood: Returning
Craig Silvey Jasper Jones
 Maggie Stiefvater Scorpio Races
John Corey Whaley Where Things Come Back

Newbery Award:
Honor:
Thanha Lai Inside Out and Back Again
Eugene Yelchin Breaking Stalin's Nose

Medal:
Jack Gantos Dead End in Norvelt

Caldecott
Honor
John Rocco Blackout
Lane Smith Grandpa Green
Patrick McConnell Me -Jane

Medal:
Chris Rachska Ball for Daisy

Complete list at http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/ala/american-library-association-announces-2012-youth-media-award-winners)

Newark educators, parents-Abbott Leadership Institute

The Abbott Leadership Institute Presents: Series 21  Moving Newark Schools Forward   With Community Power and Parent Leadership   

 

Series 21 Begins: January 28, 2012

 

The Return of Local Control of Newark's Schools to Newark's Citizens        

Where do we stand?

 

The Newark Public Schools (NPS) has been under state control since 1995. As a result the people can no longer determine the school budget, and the Board of Education was changed to an Advisory Board. In June of 2011, NPS's QSAC scores met the criteria for return of local control to Newark; the state says it will maintain control. The Coalition for Effective NPS and NPS Advisory Board both filed an appeal. What will the court decision mean for Newark, and how will it change the operation of the Board of Education?

Guest Speakers:

 Carl Sharif, Past President, Newark Board of Education

 Richard Cammarieri, Former NPS Advisory Board Member

  

Sat., Jan. 28th, 2012               

10am-1pm                                                                

Rutgers University-Newark                                                         

Conklin Hall Room 100                                                       

175 University Ave. Newark, NJ 07102        

All classes are free, and children are welcome. We eat, discuss the issues, and have fun! Contact Kaleena Berryman with Questions 973.353.3560 or kaleenab@rutgers.edu.  

About the Abbott Leadership Institute: 

The Mission of the Abbott Leadership Institute is to develop community leaders by empowering parents, students, educators and community advocates of Newark Public Schools with information about public school reform, and knowledge of effective methods of education advocacy and family engagement in schools. Since its inception almost ten years ago, the Abbott Leadership Institute (ALI) has been very successful in its strategy to establish a regular gathering place where people can discuss education policy and practices, as it relates to Newark and surrounding communities. ALI classes have grown from 20 participants in the first series (2002), to 323 participants in the 19th series (2011). Today, ALI classes are generally attended by parents, educators, high school students, college students studying to become teachers, political officials, Newark Public Schools Advisory Board members, community leaders (many of whom were NPS parents at some point in recent time), and city residents looking for ways to become involved in, or better understand, urban school reform.

 

Save the Dates!  ALI Series 21

All classes begin at 10am, Rutgers Newark, Conklin Hall

Jan 28th, 2012

Feb. 11th, 2012

Feb. 25th, 2012

March 10th. 2012

March 31st, 2012

April 14th, 2012

April 28th, 2012

May 12th, 2012  Graduation

Support School Libraries-Sign the Petition Now!

From Carl A. Harvey II , AASL ( American Association of School Librarians) President

Dear Friends -

I am writing to you today to share that this morning I have posted a new White House petition about requesting funding and recognition for school libraries in the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.  It is easy to sign the petition.   You will need to create an account (if you don’t already have one) to be able to sign the petition.
The URL for the petition is:
http://wh.gov/Wgd
We have until Feb. 4th to 25,000 signatures in order to get a reply from the White House.  I appreciate your support of school libraries.
Thank you,
Carl



For more information go to :
http://carl-harvey.com/libraryties/2012/01/05/white-house-petition-in-support-of-school-libraries-its-posted/

and read this:
http://educationservicesnews.blogspot.com/2011/12/start-holidays-right-support-school.html

Walter Dean Myers named National Ambassador for Young People's Literature

The January 3, 2012 issue of the New York Times reported that ..on Tuesday January 3, 2012, Mr.[Walter Dean] Myers, 74, will be named the national ambassador for young people’s literature, a sort of poet laureate of the children’s book world who tours the country for two years, speaking at schools and libraries about reading and literacy"

According to the New York Times article,January 3, 2012,  C1 of the New York edition with the headline: "Children’s Book Envoy Defines His Mission"
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/books/walter-dean-myers-ambassador-for-young-peoples-literature.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Mr. Myers is the third person to hold this post awarded by  the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and Every Child a Reader, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Children’s Book Council, a trade association for children’s book publishers. Katherine Paterson, young adult novelist, and children's author Jon Scieszka were previous holders of this position.

Mr. Myers, a young adult and children's author  highlights the lives of urban teens in many of his books. His books are often considered edgy due to their realistic situations and characters, but  also uplifting.

Mr. Myers will be touring schools and libraries in the next two years speaking about reading and literacy. As quoted in the article, Myers maintains that:
“I think that what we need to do is say reading is going to really affect your life,” he said in an interview at his book-cluttered house here in Jersey City, adding that he hoped to speak directly to low-income minority parents. “You take a black man who doesn’t have a job, but you say to him, ‘Look, you can make a difference in your child’s life, just by reading to him for 30 minutes a day.’ That’s what I would like to do.” 

Mr. Myers, a Jersey City resident, also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the M. Jerry Weiss Center for Children's and Young Adult Literature (http://web.njcu.edu/programs/mjwc/).

Start the holidays right-Support School Libraries!

Take Action

School Libraries and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) why YOU should care and what YOU can do!

The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations (ALTAFF) and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), along with the American Library Association’s Office for Library Advocacy and the Washington Office, is asking that every single person in the country who cares about libraries contact their U.S. Senators in Washington at 202-224-3121 or at their local offices in your state about the importance of including school libraries in the reauthorization of ESEA. Please let us know when you’ve made your call by emailing altaff@ala.org.
Background:  ESEA reauthorization, currently known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), will determine federal education policy for the coming decade.  The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee marked-up (voted out of committee) ESEA on October 20, 2011 without including school libraries!  While no date has yet been set for a Senate vote, the American Library Association believes that it may come up after January 23, 2012.
What It Means for School Libraries:  Ensuring that school libraries are included in ESEA reauthorization means that federal funding for schools would also include school libraries.  But, more importantly, having school libraries included in ESEA is a strong statement that school library programs are considered an important part of the learning environment.  This will make it harder for local decision makers to de-professionalize or cut school library services.
Why YOU Should Care:  As library supporters, it probably goes without saying that you value libraries at all levels.  But if you are not directly associated with a school library, it may well be that you really haven’t thought much about them and their contribution to every school, community, and even your own library!  Because of the pending vote on ESEA – which does not now include school libraries – it’s time for you to focus your library love on school libraries.
Studies have shown categorically that children who go to school without libraries and, importantly, school librarians, fare worse in academic achievement than those who have them.  Professionally staffed school libraries are a very small investment to raise academic achievement.  And we all know that kids who read succeed!
We all pay the price of the academic failure of our youngsters.  Crime rates, unemployment, social service costs, prison stays all go up when kids don’t succeed in school.  We pay dearly for that.  Not only are taxes higher as a result, but human potential is lost.
When school libraries are shut down or certified librarians are eliminated, public libraries and academic libraries also pay a price.  Children without access to instruction by school librarians will miss out on learning how to find, identify and use information appropriately.  Public libraries, community college libraries, and even four year colleges and universities see an immediate influx of new users (school children) when area school libraries are closed down. 
This means more materials and staffing are needed for public libraries (whose budgets are also being challenged across the country) and they often lack the curriculum-related materials the students need.  In addition, one of the greatest effects on the public library from underfunded school libraries is the demand from school librarians themselves and classroom teachers for materials to use in the classroom.    
When one type of library is threatened, all libraries are threatened.
What You Can Do:  It is imperative that every library supporter in the country call or email both of their Senators now!  Let them know that ESEA must include a specific authorization for an effective school library program.  Senators can do this by telling both Senator Tom Harkin and Senator Mike Enzi that they support including an effective school library program in ESEA.
In addition, we ask that you spread the word.  Ask your spouse, your friends, and your acquaintances to act now.  Facebook, twitter, and email about this.  Let’s start a school library movement!  Your voice counts – please use it on behalf of professionally staffed school libraries.
ESEA Talking Points

• Since 1965, more than 60 education and library studies have produced clear evidence that school library media programs staffed by qualified school librarians have a positive impact on student academic achievement.
• Spending for school library programs is the single most important variable related to better student achievement.
• At the elementary level, four out of five schools (over 80%) with full-time librarians had more students who earned proficient or above proficient test scores on the CAT5 tests for reading, language arts, and mathematics.  In schools with no librarian at all, only about half had more high-achievement students.
• At the secondary level, nine out of ten schools (over 90%) with full-time librarians had more students who earned proficient or above proficient test scores on the CAT5 tests for reading, language arts, and mathematics.  In schools with no librarian at all, only about half had more high-achievement students.
• Based on analysis from its first year of funding, 95% of local education agencies that received funding from the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program have reported increases in their reading scores.  In its second year of funding, grantees reported access during non-school hours increased in just one year from 30% in 2005 to 72% in 2006.
• This is the information age.  Our leaders are starting to understand it’s not enough for kids to know how to read – they must also be information literate.
• Family literacy activities are supported by 42% of public school libraries strengthening the entire network of support for student learning and achievement.
• Students visit school libraries almost 1.5 billion times during the school year – about one and a half times the number of visits to state and national parks.
• Funding for school libraries comprises a very small portion of a school library’s budget but studies show that the return on this investment in terms of student achievement is high. 

Call your U.S. senators today and ask them to include School Libraries in ESEA!

Tweet for School Libraries- Thursday-12/8/11 at 3pm

As Congress continues to work on appropriation bills for FY 2012, we want to make sure they keep school libraries in mind. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted out of committee a bill that included $30 million for literacy, at least half of which must go to school libraries. But the fight for this money is not over.

In order to keep support for school libraries going, we are scheduling another Twitter Bomb for Thursday, Dec. 8, at 3pm EST.

Please tweet the following message at both of your senators and your representative. 

INSTRUCTIONS

Below is an example of the tweet directed at Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana:

@DennyRehberg Keep $30 mil for #literacy and school #libraries in this year's federal funding!

To find out if your Congressional representatives are on Twitter and what their handles are, visit this website: http://classic.tweetcongress.org/officials/states.

If you find that your representative is on twitter, click their image on the left and that link will take you to his/her acct.

 

Once on your representative’s page, click the silhouette icon,  and enter the message in the field below the ‘Follow’ button.

If your representatives aren’t on Twitter yet, please tweet the message out anyway, to keep the echo chamber going.