November 25, 2009
I am a long-time Vermont librarian now working at Cairo American College in Cairo, Egypt. As part of my job, I sometimes travel with students on school trips. Below is a description of one such trip. (My husband John and I had spent an October weekend relaxing at a glamorous resort hotel in [...]
The VSLA Fall, 2009, conference was held at Brattleboro High School in October. Our morning speaker was J’aime Foust, author of Dewey Need to Get Organized (my answer to that question would be “yes!”). J’aime encouraged us to make a pie graph showing the most important things in our life, then make another pie graph [...]
This year, for the first time, our Art Teacher Kate Townsend and I sat down with the Red Clover books to select one for a collaborative approach. Our goal was to reach 4th and 5th graders in a more meaningful way. At Dothan Brook I do the Red Clover program with the 4th graders. This [...]
Young writers and readers at St. Francis Xavier School in Winooski were recently treated to a visit from children’s book writer Jamie Gilson, author of twenty funny and nationally acclaimed books for elementary school age students. The visit was organized by School Librarian Kathleen Finn.
Students in grades 2 to 5 at St. Francis Xavier [...]
Greetings from the Essex High School Library Media Center!
Interested in some new ideas to help promote the Green Mountain Book Award? It’s difficult to get students to read beyond what’s required of them for class. We have been trying to get increased participation for years and came up with a new plan. We created a [...]
During the next two years, UVM will be unrolling professional development opportunities for School Library Media Specialists in practice. The courses will concentrate on topics that are loosely defined as “Contemporary Issues,” and are geared to practical application of emerging technologies and new guidelines for Library Media Programs. The courses will be offered online and [...]
Internationally recognized as an authority on medieval Cistercian architecture, Dr. Terryl Kinder recently spoke to students at Rice Memorial High School in a special visit sponsored by the Friends of Rice Library and supported by a grant from the Paul Post Foundation.
Kinder’s presentation discussed how the Cistercian monks evolved from their Benedictine roots and [...]
If it’s January… it’s time to plan the Summer Reading for Kids list again! VSLA is looking for volunteer contributors to compose this year’s tips for terrific tantalizing summer reads. Traditionally, we divide the list into Picture Books and Easy Readers for K-4, Grades 5-8, and Grades 9-12, with a contributor or team providing 10-15 suggested titles [...]
Poetry Outloud Contest
One of our favorite and best-attended events in the library this past semester was the poetry declamation contest initiated and planned by the English Department in honor of a former faculty member, Graham Newell. It was held on Parent’s Night, which brought more parents than usual to the library. Over ten English classes [...]
On December 30, Sue Furry-Irish and Sue Monmaney met with Ed Barry of VITA-Learn to finalize plans for a joint VSLA/VITA-Learn Spring 2010 conference, to be called “Dynamic Landscapes 2.0: Synergy at Work.” This exciting 2-day conference will be held at Champlain College May 13th and 14th, building upon the successful Dynamic Landscapes Conferences of [...]
Last month I ran a contest where I raffled off a New Moon poster from the New York Times that I had laminated. Each student filled out slips with his/her name and the title of the book they were currently reading, and dropped it in the box. I ran it for about two weeks and [...]