Summer Reading Suggestions

Just4U: Adult Summer Reading

The Walrus: Pick up and carry in your beach bag a copy of the July/August issue of The Walrus: it is "the only mass magazine in the country that publishes fiction in every issue .... The Summer Reading Issue will bring you the work of nine Canadian writers (“Canadian Studies,”) who were given a simple challenge: write a truly Canadian short story" (from Editorial by John Macfarlane).

NOTE: Zsuzsi Gartner, one of our wonderful FOSL reps whom we recognized with an award at our VTLA year-end dinner, crafted the response that spoke for school libraries during the recent VSB budget process. Her story, "Say the Names," is included in this issue of The Walrus. We can feel very privileged to have her speaking for Vancouver's school libraries.

Canada Reads: This year's book is Nikolski by Nicholas Dickner, translated by Lazer Lederhendler. But you could choose any one of the selected titles, including Good to a Fault, by BC writer Marina Endicott; Generation X by Douglas Coupland; The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy; and Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald, if you were looking for good Canadian fiction but didn't feel compelled to join in by reading the cross-country summer book choice.

CBC suggests you listen to the Between the Covers audio reading of Nikolski and check out the CBC Book Club's celebration of Nikolski. And join host Hannah Sung and other book lovers in the Book Club all year long.

Indigo's Top 100 List: choose one from the list of best books as determined in an online survey of Canadian readers in 2007.

Project Gutenberg's Top 100 eBooks: a list based on downloads

The Bookmark: The June 2010 (50:2) issue of this BCTLA tradition is now online and it's free! What are Living Libraries? What's New on the Net? How do you get a teen book club going? What's this about "convergence or confusion" about eBooks? What's worth reading in YA and children's literature? The answers are all here for your summer enjoyment.

VPL Digital Resources: now includes Best of BC Books Online; use your VPL card to access this pilot project of 1000 ebooks published in BC.

VPL Book Clubs: there's one for every reading and social need -- Reel Reads, World Authors, Online, Drop-in, Poetry, Summer Reading, One Book: One Vancouver -- or find out how to start your own.

Or plan to attend one VPL event this summer: the Book Lovers' Reading Circle starts July 3 and the Summer Book Sale is July 8.

VPL Recommends: Fiction &Literature (for Adults) offers loads of lists, including Staff Picks (June 2010). Something for every taste! If you prefer lists of recommended non-fiction, check here.

The list of lists of Fiction & Literature is long, including but not limited to Award Winners, Banned Books, Canadian Mysteries, CanLit, Delectable Reads, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels for Adults, Books Made into Movies, Life in Venice, Lusty Reads, Reading the City Series: Vancouver is for Readers, Manly Fiction, Vancouver Fiction, and Women’s Fiction.

4them: Kids and Summer Reading

TD Summer Reading Club: Destination Jungle

This online reading club is sponsored by TD, the Toronto Public Library, and Library and Archives Canada, its goals are to encourage and strengthen the habit of reading for pleasure to create life-long learners, as well as to increase children's reading skills and reduce summer learning loss.

VPL Summer Reading Club: Children ages six to twelve are invited to join the Reading Rocks! Summer Reading Club. Vancouver Public Library also invites school age children to join the Multilingual Summer Reading Club - read books in any language!

Chris Tougas, author and illustrator of Art's Supplies and Mechanimals has created the hilarious poster and reading record for Reading Rocks! Summer Reading Club. Members will receive a reading record, bookmark, and stickers to collect. Children can record the titles and authors of the books they read on the reading record. It's lots of fun and absolutely free!

This summer reading initiative is sponsored by the British Columbia Library Association and the Vancouver Public Library, with the assistance of the Public Library Services Branch, Ministry of Education.

VPL’s Summer Writing and Book Camp: Got the Write Stuff (August 9-13) is for 11-13 year olds and for 14+. It’s FULL already but there is a waiting list.

Keynotes include well-known YA authors Carrie Mac, Sarah Ellis, Polly Horvath, Susan Nielsen, and Meg Tilly. Also working with young writers and readers will be Maggie de Vries and Julie Burtinshaw. Get your teen or pre-teen writer on that waitlist now! This extremely popular summer camp is a bargain for $225. If you can't get your teen or pre-teen in this year, remember to look for this earlier next year.

VPL Recommends: Kids & Teens

Check out the great lists for your reading kids and teens.

Important News ...

From Pam at Waverly:

"Every Monday during the month of September, beginning September 8, teachers across Canada are invited to a complimentary cup of coffee at their local Starbucks coffee house. In order to receive their complimentary coffee, teachers are asked to provide proof of teacher status such as a teachers' federation card or school district badge, though any form of identification will be accepted. The Great Start for Great Teachers special offer ends Monday, September 29."

From Rick Mulholland for IASL and International School Library Month: "The International School Library Month committee is proud to announce the availability of the 2008 posters and bookmarks. These can be downloaded from the ISLM resources webpage. These posters were revealed at the 2008 conference and were well received by the delegates. The poster comes in two styles and two sizes. ISLM 2008 Flyer is approx 8.5 X 11 inches and the ISLM 2008 Tabloid is approx 11X17 inches.

ISLM 2008 Bookmarks -- Literacy and Learning at Your School Library [PDF 111 k]
ISLM 2008 Flyer [PDF 181 k]
ISLM 2008 Flyer [PDF 126 k]
ISLM 2008 Tabloid format [PDF 221 k]
ISLM 2008 Tabloid format [PDF 323 k]

These files can be downloaded and printed out to assist you in your ISLM 2008 celebrations."

Thanks, Rick.

From Karen Cordiner, somewhat retired and still a national force for TLs: "Thought that this bibliography builder might be of interest. It got good reviews on IASL." BibMe

From Karen Lindsay on BCTLA Forum: "This is very good news for teacher-librarians, who may have been contravening copyright in order to beautify their OPACs and webpages. Hooray for LibraryThing!" LibraryThing Releases One Million Free Covers [Library Journal]

From Linda Hof's (SFU) Webbits:

BC Teacher-Librarians' Conference:
Mission Literacy: Teachers and Teacher-librarians -
not-so-secret agents of change

If you're still undecided as to what to do on the Provincial Professional Development Day, make plans to attend the annual conference of the BC Teacher-librarians' Association at Spectrum Community School on October 24, 2008. It's not just for teacher-librarians, but for classroom teachers who want to learn more about literacy strategies, research skills and collaboration. The conference is preceded by an Author's Festival throughout Greater Victoria schools on October 23rd. The concept of "change" is key to this Conference.

Change is one of few constants in the work of educators, as teachers and teacher-librarians work together in many different ways to support literacy. Change in technology, change in attitudes, and change in expectations demand changes in pedagogy, and it's hard to keep up if you're trying to do it alone. Working together to change students' attitudes towards reading and learning opens doors and levels playing fields -- positively affecting students in school, beyond the classroom, and into their adult lives.

To register, click here.

Update on VSB TL Summer Institute

IT'S FULL!

There are now 40 registrants and a waitlist for the Summer Institute "The Changing Landscape of School Libraries" with visiting instructors James Henri, president of the IASL, and Sandra Lee. Great news, and I think this will be a memorable -- possibly pivotal -- experience for all of us.

Do you need some more summer reading, online?

Here is one writer's ruminations on

the "woeful" underrepresentation of librarians in classic movies

for the Turner Classic Movies site:

One of the Invisible Professions on Screen
Posted by moirafinnie on July 9, 2008

Just for fun!

Change to the Summer Institute ... Stay Tuned!

Another NEWS FLASH!

The latest breaking news on the VSB TL Summer Institute:
The Changing Landscape of School Libraries

THE INSTITUTE IS POSTPONED DUE TO HEALTH PROBLEMS
FOR PRESENTER HENRI IN AUSTRALIA

For the last-minute registrants, you who are still planning to register for the seven remaining places in the Summer Institute, you will notice that we have had to close off registration until further notice. For those who let me know today and earlier that they'd like to have attended the Summer Institute but on alternate dates, you can keep an eye on our Current Professional Development Opportunities link from the VSB webpage.

You have no idea how sorry I was to hear about James and to contemplate with Sandra how to work with James's instructions to re-schedule, given a concern for his health, and then to have to figure out how to make these changes. As soon as we have made a decision about this, we will put the notice here (scroll down to Teacher-librarians).

Here's the gist of the email sent out to the 23 already registered --

Hi all, and thanks so much for your interest in our Summer Institute. There is going to have to be a change as I have just received word that James has had a minor stroke; his doctor is not letting him travel until later in July.

I am working with Sandra Lee in Victoria to re-schedule or cancel this event. We are looking at the week of July 21-25 and also checking to see if James, who will travel from Vancouver to Victoria to Berkeley (IASL Conference) to PEI this summer before heading to Hong Kong and home to Australia, can stop en route from PEI in late August!

Cheques received are being returned at your request if you know you are unable to attend at these later dates. If you are willing to wait for new dates, delete Summer
Institute July 3-4 from your calendar, carry on with your summer plans, and await word later this week. You can still call me at 604-713-5016 or my assistant Diane at 713-5215 for the last week of June. I will be available by email (mekdahl@vsb.bc.ca) and I will be posting my summer school contact information for July.