Summer Reading

We all know the importance of encouraging students to read over the summer. Numerous studies show that students who read regularly over the summer continue to improve their reading skills and are better prepared for learning new skills when they return to school. Summer reading nourishes the brain, giving students the benefits of an increased vocabulary and a broader background knowledge which helps them form connections with new knowledge.

Recently I was part of a discussion with several other media specialists about the best ways to promote summer reading. We discussed a variety of programs, promotions and reading lists. Our experience has taught us that the greatest factor in getting kids to read over the summer is choice. When students choose what they read based on their own personal interests and curiosities, they are more likely to open a book over the summer, enjoy it and stick with it.

Below are some tips for promoting summer reading:

• Help students connect with the public library by forming a partnership between your school and your local public library. Encourage parents to take their children to the the public library where students may register for their own library card. Invite students to come to the media center to show you their library card and have their picture made. (See picture of "Ticket to Adventure" bulletin board below.)
• Don't reinvent the wheel. Several bookstores and public libraries already have summer reading incentives in place. Many of these offer students a free book when they complete a reading log. Share these promotions with your school and encourage students to participate.
• Provide book talks on a variety  of books or feature short video book trailers on your morning news show for several weeks before the last day of school. Be sure to include a variety of genres to appeal to a broad audience.
• Encourage staff to share their own excitement about summer reading. Take pictures of staff members holding a book they plan to read this summer for a special pre-summer bulletin board. (See picture below.)
• Keep it simple and remember: enthusiasm is contagious!

Pictures of students showing off their public library cards

Summer Reading: What are YOU reading this summer?

Read Across America

 Last week several elementary school media specialists and I met for a monthly informal professional gathering. We were each asked to share at least one thing that is working well in our media programs. We talked about data bases that work best with lessons for teaching our youngest researchers early research skills. We shared about collaborating with teachers, scheduling issues and how to go about managing clerical duties given that some schools will be loosing media clerks due to budget cuts. Of course you can't put a bunch of elementary media specialists together the first week of March and not hear enthusiastic stories of red and white striped hats, Cat in the Hat costumes, green eggs and ham for breakfast, guest readers, reading celebrations and activities such as making foot marks (instead of book marks) after reading Seuss's The Foot Book. I love Read Across America! And yes, there is a Cat in the Hat costume hanging in my closet.

You just can't make this stuff up... or can you?

CNN recently featured a story about Donald Leu, a University of Connecticut professor, who was able to convince students that an imaginary creature was in fact real. After directing his students to a website that features the pacific northwest tree octopus, students accepted that the creature was indeed real. Some even argued that the tree octopus was real even after he told them that it was all made up. After all, they saw photos of it on the internet, right? The University of Connecticut professor noted the need for students to be taught "online reading comprehension skills" and critical evaluation of sources. He went on to say that he did not feel the problem was necessarily a generational one, but that more critical evaluation skills are needed across generations. 

As a media specialist with experience as a classroom teacher and reading teacher, I consider the task of teaching critical evaluation and transliteracy skills (literacy skills across different forms of print and media including the internet and technology tools) one that should be shared amongst classroom teachers, special area teachers and the media specialist... with the media specialist leading the way. It is a huge task, but a manageable one if we are intentional about it.

Humdrum vs. Heartbeat

"You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence, and that's been the main reason for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians" ~ Monty Python


In the past two years I have visited a lot of different school library media centers (K-12) either as part of my field experience or as a substitute teacher. It always amazes me how each and every school library / media center is unique. I recently visited two very different high school media centers that were both built within a year of each other in the same county and boasted of beautiful rounded windows with lots of natural light, new materials and the latest in technology. They even had the exact same building design. But each space had it's very own feel... er... personality (if indeed a space can have its own personality).  For the purposes of this post and to avoid confusion, I'll call the first media center "Humdrum" and the second "Heartbeat." 
     Humdrum was crazy quiet throughout most of the day with little student traffic. It's stark white walls surrounded bookshelves, computers and a few tables with hard chairs. There were plenty of books and abundant workspace. It just didn't feel comfortable, like a jacket that's so tight you just can't wait to get out of it. There were no colorful book displays, no cushy furniture inviting you to sit down and stay a while. After only five minutes at Heartbeat, however, it became clear that Heartbeat is the heartbeat of the school. Students and teachers seemed to claim that space as community space. They obviously felt welcome and comfortable there as they gathered around the cozy sofas and cushy chairs. The eye-catching new book displays drew a lot of attention and started conversations. It didn't quite have the feel of Barnes and Noble but it was comfortable and welcoming. Students came in frequently before school, during lunch and between classes to check out books, work on group projects, use the computers and read magazines.
     Unfortunately, media centers like Humdrum often give media centers like Heartbeat a bad name. It is no secret that school libraries and librarians have a boring stereotype to either live up to or to prove wrong. Here's to proving them wrong! This is the 21st century! Libraries aren't what they use to be. The 21st century school library media center is an exciting place to be. It is the largest and most expensive classroom in the school. It is the center of the learning community. It is a place for reading, learning, discovering, collaborating, connecting and sharing. 

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Hard Questions

Considering current conversations about budget cuts in education nationwide, budget committees, school board members and administrators are beginning to take a closer look at the effectiveness of school media programs. Are they worth it? Are they making a difference in the education of today's students? Can school media centers operate without a certified media specialist? Do students really need all those books with the increase in digital books and resources that are available?

These are questions that bring great concern not only to current media specialists but to recent graduates in school library media (like myself) and those seeking  employment in the field (like myself). Many media specialist are also concerned about how the drastic budget cuts will affect their media budgets. The questions aren't going away and they must be answered. Some feel threatened by these questions. I believe now more than ever that media specialists have the opportunity to prove our worth and the value of school library programs.

Consider for a moment the technology, books and other media resources that are currently in place in most schools today. I believe that the true value in these resources is in how we use them. Without a trained staff in place to teach students and teachers how to use these resources, the resources are no longer valuable to the school. When informational resources are not available, it is our students who will ultimately pay the price. If we want our students to be competitive and successful in today's global culture, we must support them by making available current information resources and teach them how to use them appropriately. We need to be teaching them how to go about inquiry, how to evaluate informational sources, how to filter the information that they need, how to synthesize that information and how to share what they find in a responsible and ethical way. We need to be teaching students how to be safe and responsible with their digital imprints and online identities. And amidst all this technology, we need to be teaching them how to access and make use of print resources.

In addition to teaching these life skills, school media programs need to encourage students to read for pleasure. It has been said that readers are leaders. Students today have so many  choices to fill their free time. Now more than ever, educators need to be intentional in our efforts to encourage students to choose to read. We need to communicate effectively through social media and in person to get them excited about reading. Our media programs should include casual book discussions, book talks and book promotions as well as blog posts and web links about new titles including a variety of genres, interests and reading levels. 

Considering the conversations surrounding the recent school budget cuts, we simply can't afford to cut school library media programming or media specialist positions. While our schools continue to have increased class sizes and higher student-teacher ratios, state and national expectations for increases in student test scores and overall quality of education continue to rise. If we expect our students to succeed, we must support them and their classroom teachers through the school library media program.