DEAR and Dedicated Reading Pairs and Groups

Thanks, Meredyth, for being so insistent that I return to this work. One follower is good enough for me!

I have been gone since DEAR. What happened? you might ask. On Monday, October 26, National School Library Day, I joined a group of TLs who trekked to Victoria to celebrate NSLD with MLAs. We were announced as guests in the gallery and heard talks about school libraries from Ron Cantelon and Diane Thorne. Some of us were able to meet with our MLAs as well.

Do they celebrate by dropping everything and reading? No, not exactly; the public would expect them to be hard at work. But I am sure you can imagine how surprised we were to find that rules for being in the gallery include no reading and no note-taking. I was asked to surrender my books! Sacrilege, don't we TLs agree, especially as we are there to celebrate reading and school libraries?

Meanwhile back at home, you were dropping everything to read in droves. I have reports and pictures to prove it. Most significant was MP reader/visitor Ujjal Dosanjh reading with Moberly students:

Way to go, Ms Kezar's class; this dedicated pair from Trudeau Elementary was viewed amongst the photos that accompanied the first report on DEAR in schools:

"Miss Hogwarts" and her dedicated pair of readers, PW students "caught reading" in the week-long "Did You Get Caught Reading?" contest and celebration of reading during National School Library Week, are pictured here:

Dedicated pairs were also reading at Trafalgar's new "learning commons" and doesn't it look nice and comfy.

Read the next post on how we promoted reading at the Legislature ...

October on the Move

Professionally, we have so much to do in October, what with DEAR (the annual BCTLA promotion of Drop Everything and Read), the BCTLA Champions of Literacy Conference in Richmond, and putting our school library programs on track.

The Bookmark (last print copy, celebrating fifty years of publication) has gone to press. Copies will be distributed at next week's BCTLA Chapter Councillors' meeting in Richmond. The Bookmark is now an online FREE publication to serve our members' needs. But we are finding remarkable benefits to having a universal presence as well. More on this issue is available on The Virtual Bookmark. Thanks to our fantastic editors Angie MacRitchie and Al Smith, hard at work to meet your needs in the Okanagan.

There's more going on in October:

• TLs are gathering parents as Friends, then inviting them and colleagues to the October 27 evening meeting at Tupper. Friends Of the School Library (FOSL) will be co-hosting an event for parents, educators, and anyone interested in school libraries and literacy. Please consider attending as it is bound to be interesting.
  
  

  Topic: Issues in Reading and Learning for Boys
  Presenter: Dhanook Singh, Secondary Teacher, VSB
  Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 7 PM
  Tupper Secondary School, 419 East 24th Avenue
  



• TLs, also, are considering how to attend the after-school symposium event at UBC's Ike Barber on October 26. Videogames, Virtual Worlds, and Real Learning. You may attend virtually as well.


• I am working on a workshop for the 2009 Richmond BCTLA conference, Champions of Literacy, with Pat from Gladstone; our topic is Plagiarism, and we ask, are we missing the mark? More information and registration for the conference, including its kick-off event at the new Richmond speed-skating Oval are found here.


• A small group of Vancouver TLs will be off to the Legislature in Victoria for National School Library Day, October 26, including me.


• There is a first meeting for the new mentorship model planning team this week. Next we will be asking for names of those new and nearly new TLs seeking mentors.


• SLRCCC (School Library Resource Centre Consultative Committee) meets on Monday morning. A 20-page report on the state of school libraries in relation to the strategic directions set out by The Haycock Report has been prepared and submitted for consideration by SLRCCC.


• Thirty TOCs will receive training in two sessions this week: Horizon and Daily Operations of the School Library.


• Promotion needed NOW! Your attendance is invited to the YSL online course on School Library Design. Contact me for information about BCTLA participation.

Check this out: Human books, you ask?

Parkland's librarian presents human books by Jeff Bell of The Times-Colonist, October 8, 2008. Shared via AddThis

And Meredyth is into vampire books. For her reviews, read the Late Literacy blog (link found in the sidebar).

Generally, despite the pace, all is well, legs are often better but weekends are imperative to recovering capacity, and I must say that I do look forward to November!

Maryann is back on Monday. Bless her!

Reading the Times ...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shopping in Abano Terme: Not sure they need a special day to say Grazie! Note
the Parma hams and other epicurean delights, and no turkeys here in September!

With Special Thanks to ...

• all of you for a clean start and your energy and enthusiasm for the work.
• Kim Turner for the clarity with which she helps make sense of "the books" in the Accounting for TLs 101 workshop this week.
• Kam for the Kidsbooks excursion where, all reports have it, much buying and chatting and sharing took place.
• Nanci Farrell whose place I was able to take this week to hear the remarkable educator Andy Hargreaves talk in Coquitlam about The Fourth Way, a direction in education that draws on the directions education has taken since the '60s and that offers inspiration and hope for educational change that respects the knowledge of teachers; Andy was also the keynote speaker at this year's BCTF Summer Conference. I am into the book now.
• our team in MLST and the wayward, ever-moving Maryann who might be entering a new decade in her thinking about life and work later this month.
• those who enabled five Vancouver TLs to journey to Europe this summer to affirm and enrich and provide momentum for the work of teacher-librarians.

Nope. Not Scaredy Squirrel! Book shopping in Ferrara en route to the IASL Conference,

lest you think we weren't the hardest-working TLs ever!

Readings ...

Getting into the spirit of professional development and October (school/library month), I pass along these readings:

• Things That Keep Us Up at Night: Joyce Valenza and Doug Johnson have an eye to the future. Read their SLJ article for October 2009. Seems we may be expendable if we don't attend to the shifting landscapes of learning. Hmmm! I think I said just such a thing on Monday night at the Secondary TLs' Department Heads' meeting. I think James Henri hinted at this point a year ago August when he came for our VSB Summer Institute, The Changing Landscape for School Libraries.
  
  What do Joyce and Doug suggest for teacher-librarians? In the face of rapid educational and technological change, with severe economic conditions forcing re-thinking about all aspects of schooling, we could, with just 14 changes in the way we conceptualize and undertake our work, sleeping soundly knowing that we have viable and meaningful "libraries" that meet the needs of the whole educational community.
  
  Thanks, Annabelle, for this timely reminder. There's sleep coming ... but maybe from exhaustion of just trying to keep the pace! The biggest nightmare, Valenza and Johnson remind us, will be not attending to the urgency for change.

• Tough Choices, Tough Times: This next reading is related, substantial, and predictive of important changes for the American education system which inevitably seems to impact our system in Canada.
  
  While acknowledging that it refers to the American labour force, our Italian connection and IASL Conference Organizer Luisa Marquardt of the Faculty of Education at the University of Roma Tre the Executive Summary from the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, suggesting it provides opportunity "for reflecting on the relationships about the poor/high quality in education/training and the quality of less/more skilled workforce. World class education for a world class economy is based on the combination of several skills and competencies (p.6) which contribute to building imagination, creativity, vision."
  
  I like the parts about re-thinking teacher compensation, meaningful assessments that are grounded in important learning, "second chance" learning, early childhood education, and resourcing schools for success. While I wonder about "contract schools," it is note-worthy that the NCSAW based its findings on research in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, and New Zealand.

• "Beyond the Stacks: The School Librarian in the Digital Age" by Cindy Long (NEA): An interview with a high school TL places things in perspective -- kids need to learn to think critically to find reliable information sources, they need to be digitally literate, and educators needs to be working with TLs!

DEAR: The BCTLA Executive won the Angela Thacker Memorial Award last year for its DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) campaign. Sylvia and I are very proud of this award and of our district's participation and support. Again, our Trustees and District Management have endorsed the initiative which is a wonderful thing.

Largely through the efforts of Victoria TL and BCTLA VP Advocacy Karen Lindsay last year and again this year, the momentum is picking up. Can Vancouver boast 100% participation on October 26, with every child and every member of the school/educational community dropping what he or she is doing to read for 20 minutes to celebrate school libraries and the joy of reading? Did every school get the lovely poster with photo by Kelowna TL Al Smith, our BCTLA publications guy? And we are awaiting word of Legislative participation this year so things are looking very exciting for this project.

Here's one TL's idea of a deeply engaging "authentic" DEAR project:

Parkland's librarian presents human books
By Jeff Bell of The Times-Colonist, October 8, 2008
Shared via AddThis

TL Studio 2 at Gladstone: Wednesday, October 14. Pat, Alan, Frances and I will be there with great anticipation of the many technology-related interests you will bring!


The Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable’s
Fall Breakfast with Gregory Maguire

Saturday, October 17, 2009UNIVERSITY GOLF CLUB
5185 University Boulevard
8:30 am. Registration & Book Sales
9:00 am. Breakfast

Dress code: Something Wicked!

Gregory Maguire is the author of more than a dozen novels for children and, to date, five novels for adults, including WICKED, the basis of the Broadway musical of the same name.

Word from Linda Dunbar is that there are still a few more seats. Call Linda at 604-822-8783 to reserve a seat and you can pay by cheque at the door, after reserving.

FOSL

I am sending out the most recent Friends of the School Library forms by email attachment. Note that there is a new location for submissions. There are also translations in progress. Watch for these. Our first event for our Friends will be held on Tuesday, October 27, and will celebrate National School Library Day and the critical role school libraries play in relation to student learning and enrichment.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Mine starts now.

There's Never Nothing to Do with School Libraries

This Weekend, It's Word on the Street

WOTS: Sunday at Library Square, 11 am to 5 pm. This is a wonderful annual Fall event where you can check out new titles, award-winning authors and spoken-word artists, book bargains, and more ... all for FREE. Who's there? Check here.

Fall Book Harvest, October 16

North Vancouver City Library's Annual Fall Book Harvest brings CWILLBC authors and illustrators, new titles, book prizes, displays, and the chance to meet children's favorites. 1:30 to 3:30 pm, 120 West 14th, North Vancouver.

Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable Fall Breakfast

Saturday, October 17: University Golf Club, 8:30 Registration: This year, meet Gregory Maguire, author of more than a dozen novels for children -- and Wicked for adults.

BCTLA Conference: Champions of Literacy

October 22-23: Richmond Olympic Oval and Richmond Secondary School. Keynote speaker: none other than Roch Carrier; a national treasure and a champion of Canadian culture. As a Canadian writer, he touched our hearts with books like La Guerre, Yes Sir! He was a director of the Canadian Council for the Arts from 1994 to 1997 and served as National Librarian of Canada from 1997 to 2004. Carrier is an ardent supporter of libraries and children's literacy.

The Thursday night wine and cheese will be at the Legacy Suite of the spectacular Richmond Olympic Oval so you can catch the Olympic excitement! Take a tour of this inspiring and innovative building and meet the Olympic Mascots! This year's themes are Imagination, Inspiration, and Information! Click on Venues or Presenters to get more details.
The main conference is being hosted by Richmond Secondary School, located at 7171 Minoru Blvd., Richmond BC, V6Y1Z3. There'll be exciting workshops, inspiring speakers and great literacy displays from a variety of vendors.

Register now!

DEAR, October 26

On Monday evening this week, Vancouver school trustees supported by District Management, unanimously supported a motion to endorse the annual Drop Everything and Read campaign in which, on October 26 National School Library Day, whole school communities drop everything and read for 20 minutes.

Under the guidance of BCTLA VP (Advocacy) Karen Lindsay, the BCTLA Executive successfully promoted this initiative to celebrate National School Library Day and were honoured nationally with the CASL/Angela Thacker Memorial Award. You should have received your poster for this year's event; it features a photo by BCTLA Exec member Al Smith from Kelowna.

Ideas for the celebration are wonderfully diverse. Last year's event featured prominent Vancouverites, authors, and school board officials reading to children. Then-Education Minister Shirley Bond got into the act as well, dropping what she was doing to read.

The support of our Trustees and District Management Team ensures our district's participation in this high-profile literacy promotion event. Many of our schools already have a daily sustained silent reading component. An added "celebration" of reading for National School Library Day, along with a vision that one day, all British Columbians -- all Canadians -- will "drop everything and read" to honour the importance of both school libraries and the importance of free voluntary reading remains before us. Ideally, all would include this reading daily as the research is clear: reading improves with reading and makes a significant difference in student success. For more, read Stephen Krashen, guru of free voluntary reading, in School Library Journal, 2006.

This event coincides with the IASL proclamation in 2008 that October is International School Library Month. This year's theme mirrors the 2009 Conference in Padua: School Libraries - The Big Picture.

Thanks, Jane, Val, et al, for your on-going and ready support. Let's get planning for the celebrations at schools and other education centres ....

Multivendor Display, November 4-5

Start planning for a half-day to peruse books from our various vendors at the Firefighters' Hall at Metrotown in Burnaby. Mark this on your calendar. New TLs are encouraged not to book for the first morning and to plan as well to attend Maryann's Selection and Acquisition workshop scheduled for the venue.

November 14-21, Canadian Children's Book Week

The Grade 1 (along with the children in their classes) TD Book Giveaway takes place during the TD-sponsored week, so plan now for this event. The books should be arriving in your schools this week. You can order kits. Check your numbers.

QUICK READINGS of INTEREST

Pass this blog or readings along to your administrator and/or staff and/or parents.

South African Children Push for School Libraries

Read about The New York Times article about the march of school children to remedy a failing school system for the least priviliged young citizens. “We want more information and knowledge,” said one young marcher for Equal Education who learns in an environment where access to school libraries and the desperate need for building repairs constrains students' learning.

Place Priority on Teaching Internet Skills

Kids may be more Internet savvy than ever before, but their ability to perform online research and evaluate Web sites remains weak. How can parents and teachers help? Read this.

Literacy Accountability in a New-Media Age

Paul Barnwell, in Education Week (September 22, 2009), points to the limitations of assessments that are "stuck on a notion of literacy that does not reflect the reality of our time." Our focus on testing students' understanding of print materials ignores the reality that they learn from new media and need to be able to read and think critically about text in relation to multimodal formats, that skills they develop can be transferred to understanding text in traditional formats, and that this is about empowering students. Writes Barnwell, "Unleashing and teaching media skills results in student empowerment. This is scary to some, who are comfortable sorting students by their ability to perform traditional literacy tasks.These same students might be effective media consumers and producers, but not according to our current accountability system."

At The End of the Week

I believe I am about to return to a life of normalcy. I am on my first day off today since mid-August. This weekend was the BCTLA Executive where we welcomed new members Michele and Chris, both of whom are perfect "fits" for this wonderful group.

This week as well some of us gathered to say farewell to the retiring "super" Chris Kelly; he has always been a wonderful participant in and supporter of our programs. Who can forget his readings about love at last year's Winter Tonic. I thanked him for "the party," as his leadership has been uplifting, thoughtful, and thought-provoking.

Meeting Reminders: We hope to see lots of you at

• Kerrisdale on Wednesday this week for TL Studio 1 (the season opener)
• Hamber on Thursday at 4 pm for the AGM of the VTLA
• for secondary TLs, the first meeting is on Monday, October 5, 4 pm, Hamber.

See you there!

Oh, DEAR ... and so we read!

Thank you, Minister Bond.
Education Report: 2008 October 31

and this Gold Star is also for Steve Mulligan for

drive-by readings at FIVE schools

on National School Library Day

and for his on-going attentiveness to school libraries --

Thank you, Steve, from all district TLs.

Vancouver schools took part in DEAR on October 27 National School Library Day with enthusiasm. Our Trustees and BCSSTA office staff read at 11 am, Education Minister Bond read at 11 am, colleagues at Learning Services and MLST were observed reading and eating "School Libraries: The Heart of Literacy" chocolate bars , and staff at The Vancouver Sun read too.

October 28, The Vancouver Sun:

Here's a "snapshot" of what you could have observed in our schools:

• Van Horne experienced a rare silence throughout the school
  
• Henderson featured some readers dressed as favourite storybook characters
  
• Trudeau readers with painted faces listening attentively as firefighters read to them
  
• Tillicum's “the reading train” ran down the entire central hallway, complete with whistle stops and loads of book-talking


• Mt Pleasant kicked off One Book, One Class for November and Steve Mulligan did two readings


• Weir's guest readers included Maryann Kempthorne, Angela Brown, Gary Little, Denise North, Steve Mulligan, and VPL children's librarian, Noreen Ma


• Carr students camped out and read in tents; Steve Mulligan appeared here too for a reading!
  
• Moberly invited Wally Oppal; see the picture with Wally Oppal (see blog, October 27) in the blog archives for October 27
  
• Gladstone has silent reading every morning; they read again in the afternoon and teachers were seen nibbling the same chocolate bars as were featured here in Learning Services and elsewhere (but then a student at Gladstone had designed them, so that made it okay to eat chocolate!)
  
• Tupper students got their heads into the brand new school library books
  
• Templeton stopped everything from 10:30 - 10:50 am, as agreed by Staff Committee, and it worked so well that a number of teachers will be incorporating a stop and read on a more regular basis

What's new?

Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable Hycroft Event - November 12, 6-9 pm, 1489 Macrae Avenue, just east of 16th and Granville. Light refreshments after the presentations. Street parking only.

Special Guest Kathy Stinson plus BC authors and illustrators will be presenting their
new children's books

BCTLA Forum posting by Val H this week has generated a flurry of commentary. Read: "Flip This Library: School Libraries Need a Revolution/School libraries need a revolution, not evolution," by David Loertscher in School Library Journal, 11/1/2008. The article begs the question, so how might this look?

My new Australian friend, Patricia Carmichael, whom I met at the IASL Conference, is presently working on her PhD at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. To see how this might look read a summary of a program that offers one version of a program that incorporates the notion of "learning commons" click here and scroll down to the last summary. Consider also that our local university libraries both have Learning Commons within their campus academic library programs.

James Henri suggested revolution to us in August; we need to focus on the teachers, he said, and if we see that the learning that takes place in school libraries is integrally tied to the needs of 21st century learners, we need to find ways that it can evolve with our leadership to better support the learning styles, experiences, and interests of our educational community, including teachers and students. We need to explore ways of building our programs on the "google" concept ... if they build it (the program, the curriculum, the learning landscapes), they will use it. What we have built needs to be carefully considered for nudging along the continuum or we risk being rendered obsolete.

Remember, we are at the start of a revolution and the outcome will be uncertain and it will be stressful along the way. But we most assuredly need to ask ourselves, is what we have been doing working? Is it the best way to serve our educational communities?

Multi-vendor Display and Chapters Workshop

This year's event seemed a great success. Those of us who enjoyed Chapters/Starbucks hospitality had a great opportunity to shop in "gaggles" and hone in on the real bargain-price items, as well as hot new reads for students. Maryann's workshop provided plenty of direction for program and collection building. There were more secondary resources than last year and will be more next year too. Wednesday seemed busier than Thursday, but everyone seemed to be very focussed and deeply occupied with that most challenging part of our job, shopping!

Workshop with Judith Comfort

A few of us "secondary types" spent late Thursday afternoon at Churchill with Coquitlam TL Judith Comfort exploring the possibilities of her approach to technology integration, a strategy she calls multi-level resource-based online learning. Click here and check out some of the Teaching Activities. The group is going to try some out together ... stay tuned for how we do. And thanks, Judith, for a very interesting afternoon. We were a keen audience.

7 from Greg Smith's Social Studies "Top Ten" List

Being Victorian. Welcome to Victoria BC circa 1858-1914! Visit this great new site with an innovative format and written for Social Studies

Green Learning. Comprehensive, fun and free lessons aligned to the BC curriculum and designed to help students participate in their own learning regarding today’s complex energy and environmental issues.

History of Quebec. Get to know La Belle Province a little better. This site has all the information plus great self scoring tests and tutorials.

History Wire. HW invites your perspectives, stories and opinions on the relevance of history in understanding current events, the importance of history education and much more.

Law Courts Education travels BC. The Law Courts Education Society of BC will hold 6 regional law workshops for teachers in early 2009. Kelowna, Prince George, Surrey, Coquitlam, Vancouver and Victoria. Contact Marylou Leung at marylou.leung@lawcourtsed.ca or call 604-660-9874 to attend.

Online Publishing for Social Studies Teachers. Check out Judith Comfort’s site on why, what and how to publish as well as a portal to other great Social Studies resources.

Women in World History. This unique site is full of information and resources to help you learn about women’s history in a global context.

Set an example: Read today

BY JANET STEFFENHAGEN VANCOUVER SUN
The Vancouver Sun
27 Oct 2008

Drop everything and read. That’s what librarians are asking British Columbians to do today at 11 a.m. to mark National School Library Day and deliver a strong signal to children about the importance of literacy. “The message it sends could be so...read more...

_______________________





The BCTLA Conference this weekend in Victoria was fantastic. Michele's thank-you speech was inspiring and would make each one of you proud that she is ONE OF OURS! I have to say, after many years of attending these, I heard not one single complaint about any aspect of this year's conference.

The three fantastic workshops I attended, after a session with the book and resource exhibitors, included Karen Lindsay on reading (the same Karen quoted in the newspaper this morning), Dr Barbara McNeil from U of Regina (on engagement and reading with some of our most reluctant), and Susan Juby of Alice, I Think fame (on being retrieved from the edges by a teacher-librarian who recognized in Susan a young woman with a spark of writing brilliance -- she is now Victoria Public Library's "pet writer"!).

The weather, food, accommodations, and company were also amazing. In other delightful aspects of my weekend, including getting caught in Victoria's annual Zombie March, I must thank Gwen and Sylvia for their help in promoting "promoting the new EBSCO-and-World Book multisector database bundle" -- on very short notice at the BCTLA Chapter Councillors' meeting on Saturday! It is very clear that Gwen loves eLibrary and the Culturegrams as well, and Sylvia uses World Book the most.

DEAR

Speaking of Gwen, our first DEAR report has just come in! Look who's reading today with Moberly students. Gwen emailed:

Wally Oppal just became a Friend of the School Library this morning. He also read a book on Divali to a Gr 5 class and talked about the importance of reading every ay. In fact hw suggested they read a novel every two weeks. He will observe DEAR.

Here's news from the mother-ship: Many of our colleagues arrived this morning to find a chocolate bar (thanks, Pat P, for this initiative) from Charlie's that has an attached reminder of National School Library Day and DEAR at 11 am; the chocolate bar reads: sChOOL Libraries -- The Heart (heart-shape) of Literacy. See the word COOL in "school"? I read A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, a book I have Sylvia to thank for ... I have tried several times to find it at Chapters.

Here's ESL Betty on the 4th floor preparing to read The Navigator of New York.

This afternoon, Deb Martel, VBE Aboriginal Administrator, and I headed off to the Coalition-sponsored afternoon celebration of Literacy and School Libraries at Carson Graham in North Vancouver. The Honourable Steven Point spoke to students about the importance of reading. Asked by one what reading had made a difference in his life, His Honour quipped, "Mad Magazine"! In a more serious tone, he talked about the gift of a book that influenced his decision to pursue a career in Law; he was given The Story of My Life by Clarence Darrow. Thanks to CG TL Jennifer Teiche and FN Educator Brad Baker for their organizing of this event. The Catering Class had prepared a wonderful spread. Exhibits included carving in progress and displays of an upcoming play written in-house and aboriginal "reads" from picture books to novels and non-fiction. I also enjoyed the afternoon of chatting with CG administrators Steve Garland and Ray Bodnaruk, as well as North Van TLs Felicity Eadon, Shelagh Martin, and Marilyn Aldworth ... oh, and commenting on the really good food with His Honour. What a treat to be invited.

From the Carson Graham website:

“This is a wonderful opportunity for so many of our students to meet such an inspiring and accomplished person,” says Jennifer Tieche, learning resource/teacher-librarian at Carson Graham. “The Lieutenant Governor embodies the pursuit of learning and appreciation of literature we encourage with our students.”

“We are grateful for this opportunity to showcase the importance of high-quality school library programs,” says Kathryn Shoemaker, chair of the B.C. Coalition for School Libraries. “National School Library Day honours the connection between student success and the essential work of school libraries to promote the freedom to read, foster inquiry and further knowledge.”

DEAR Press Release Today:

PRINCE GEORGE - Education Minister Shirley Bond celebrated National School Library Day Oct. 27 by taking part in the Drop Everything and Read challenge, issued by the B.C. Teacher-Librarians' Association.

"Our family loves to read and has always made it a priority. I am happy to 'drop everything and read' to celebrate national school library day," said Bond. "I have also invited my colleagues around the province to do the same thing."

B.C.'s teacher-librarians challenged everyone in the province to Drop Everything and Read for 20 minutes at 11 a.m. today.... "It's about encouraging young people to read and value literacy," said Karen Lindsay, vice-president of the B.C. Teacher-Librarians' Association. "Studies clearly show that daily silent reading improves vocabulary, spelling, comprehension and much more."

"It is also important to say thank you to teacher-librarians and other educators who work so hard to ensure our students develop a love of reading and excellent literacy skills," said Bond.

Hope you enjoyed today ... and, as DEAR unfolded at the VSB, there was great excitement all across the province as word spread about new ways this initiative was developed or promoted in BC. DEAR has really taken off this year, and we want to hear what your school has done to celebrate National School Library Day. You can report your school's activity using the comment function below (that would be the best use of this Web 2.0 tool) or email me!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

In case I haven't mentioned it, I am ever so thankful for my great TL and MLST colleagues here in Vancouver and promise to toast them all over the family turkey dinner. My work is enabled by being able to tap into the remarkable spirit of sharing the load, working collaboratively, learning about new tools and directions for school library programs, and focussing on the successes.

The DEAR Campaign

This week will be the time to begin to promote the Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) project in your school. Here's what you need to know:

On Wednesday evening October 15, our Trustees will consider a submission from District Management, in response to a request from the VTLA, to endorse DEAR. I expect to be able to confirm this endorsation by the Trustees on Thursday. Your administrators will all receive information at their Area meetings this week. Here's the history:

For many years, teacher-librarians have organized special school events to mark National School Library Day (NSLD) on the fourth Monday in October. This is the first year they are taking their celebration to the general public.

Many studies have shown that daily silent reading is a very effective way of improving reading comprehension, increasing vocabulary, improving spelling, and broadening understanding of others. When students choose what they want to read from a well-stocked school library or from home, when they have the time and space in which to read and are free of tests and assignments, even twenty minutes a day of independent reading can make a difference.

The Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) Challenge was tested in many schools across the province on National School Library Day last year. Hundreds of BC students engaged in silent reading from 11:00 to 11:20 that day, and the response was terrific: "You could hear a pin drop!" "Kids didn't want to stop after 20 minutes."

The Province of British Columbia has declared October to be Library Month. “B.C.’s libraries help British Columbians of all ages access the information and tools that they need to live, work and learn,” said [Minister] Bond. “Library Month is an excellent opportunity for all of us to recognize and celebrate these valuable public resources and the amazing people who work in them.” Minister Bond thanked the B.C. Library Trustees’ Association, the Public Library Services Branch, the B.C. Library Association, the B.C. Teacher Librarians’ Association, as well as all of the library staff and information professionals from across the province for the excellent services that ensure that the goal of making BC the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent is achieved.

Recently the BCTF announced its support for DEAR as a province-wide initiative and asked the government to proclaim October 27 as BC School Library Day. They have provided and distributed posters (which have been distributed to schools).

Teacher-librarians around the province, with support from the BC Teacher-librarians’ Association, have been promoting this event with district management, administrators, colleagues, parents, students, and trustees with a goal of 100% school and district participation this year!

The Vancouver Teacher-librarians’ Association had requested that District Management support the BCTLA initiative called DEAR or “drop everything and read” on October 27, National School Library Day. District Management is supportive and in turn, will recommend that the Vancouver Board of Education endorse the special school event “Drop Everything and Read" (DEAR) Challenge to mark National School Library Day (NSLD) on October 27 from 11:00 to 11:20 am or at some other appropriate time during the school day.

Share this news:

• Here's a couple of great resources for your Social Studies colleagues as we approach Remembrance Day: Passchendaele -- see also Charles Best Library Remembrance Day collation of resources.
  



• How do you like my new widget called Shelfari (see my shelves in the sidebar)? Thanks, Heidi, former literacy mentor and Learning Services colleague, now back in a school. Why not explore this new Web 2.0 tool and consider how this might be useful for adult and school-age book clubs. I am now reading Follett's second historical novel, World Without End. It could take a while for this fat book to hit my shelves!
  



• From my August email, I found John Goldsmith writing about another new Web 2.0 tool called Digital Book Talks (from the U of Central Florida and the Orange County Public Schools in Orlando): “Take a look at this high-tech variation [of booktalking]. After watching a couple of the booktalk video clips, it occurred to me that most of what I was seeing would be easy to replicate with a digital camera, a computer and a group of tech savvy students. The finished product would look great on a library website.” Victoria TL and BCTLA Exec member Karen Lindsay is enthusiastic about booktalking and this resource. “This looks very cool - and useful. I've signed myself up.”
  



• Karen also describes her TL-on-Wheels approach to booktalking in a school where students are not always prepared with a book for silent reading: “I do book talks every chance I get …. However, an ongoing problem is the small minority of kids who arrive without books, refuse to read, hate reading, etc. To help with that, I do a "books on wheels" thing about once a term. I pass around a sign-up sheet at a staff meeting early in each term. Teachers choose their slot and I load up a cart full of books I hope will appeal to a broad spectrum of students.
  
  "Then I take my show on the road …. In each class, I booktalk half a dozen books, and then let the kids have-at the cart. I have a remote scanner with me, and kids and teachers can sign things out on the spot. It's been pretty effective at getting the word out that the library has cool stuff for just about any taste and that we're willing to do outreach. This year, I plan to bring along my "Recommend a Resource to Reynolds" forms, so that I can gather student requests and suggestions at the book talks, too. When I have a new book that I know I want to recommend, but that I haven't read yet, I go to EBSCOHost's NoveList database for a plot summary. I use it a lot for acquisitions, too …. We all need as many arrows in our quivers as possible.”
  



• Are you or your colleagues concerned about the copyright issue for Canadian educators? On Thursday, October 23, 7:00 - 8:30 pm at the VPL Central Branch, Alice MacKay Room, why not attend the free public lecture, "Why Copyright? The Fight for Canada's Digital Future" with Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. This event is sponsored by the The Information Policy Committee of the BC Library Association as part of their conference, Jumpstarting the Public Sphere: Information Policy Issues for the 21st Century. Issues include net neutrality, media concentration, telecommunications policy, access to information, and intellectual property. Registration is required and closes October 22nd, 4 p.m., or when all seats have been reserved.
  
  Synopsis: In June 2008, the Canadian government introduced Bill C-61, new copyright legislation that closely followed the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The public response to the bill was both immediate and angry - tens of thousands of Canadians wrote to the Minister and their local MPs, leading to town hall meetings, negative press coverage, and the growing realization that copyright was fast becoming a mainstream political and policy issue. The "Canadian copy-fight," which includes many new advocacy groups and the Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook group that has over 90,000 members, has attracted considerable attention from the mainstream media, with many wondering how copyright had emerged as a contentious policy issue. This talk will assess both the legislative proposals and the Canadian copyfight experience in an effort to answer the oft-asked question, "Why copyright?”
  



• SSSHHH! Word has it that a Vancouver TL is to receive recognition at the BCTLA conference in Victoria for her work in school libraries ... and so it is really important for us to be there! Great online registration for this conference too.
  

OCTOBER is School Library Month

Very busy week ... but blog is done just before midnight!

Thanks to David and the Grenfell crew for the great "Let's do Lunch" session today. We ate sushi and reviewed the bevy of wonderful electronic resources that are much more readily available now that some schools have BCeSIS! Being able to work with an entire staff in this way was a real opportunity to promote teacher-librarianship as well as resources. In preparing for this workshop, I took my direction from Mary, Lorraine, Wendy, Linda ... and then phoned Sylvia at the last minute when the technology failed us. In case you didn't know, I can't believe how extremely fortunate I am to work with Vancouver TLs!

Also had a great day at the Surrey SFU campus this week where ERAC resources were the subject. Photos in the next blog ... Heather Daly from Coquitlam, our BCTLA president, and I took a quick lunch-time tour of the library of our dreams. And I wondered how many classes I would have attended at SFU Burnaby campus if the shopping mall had been two floors down by escalator. Quite the place.

One other highlight of the week was the Ministry webcast after school at Thompson. The focus on the topic of assessment for learning is both interesting and important to both teachers and teacher-librarians. The next webcast is scheduled for January.

This weekend will find me pushing to submit my summary of the IASL conference for publication in the upcoming issue of The Bookmark. I am re-writing the back-blog for publication.

Let's Celebrate in October!

There are lots of Pro D opportunities this month: check the Pro D Connections. Consider Accounting for TLs, eLibrary and Culturegrams (this week), or TL Studio. Refer TOCs to the 2-part Horizon/School Library training.

DEAR: Val H's blog offers all the materials and ideas you need to promote Drop Everything and Read on October 27 in your school. Thanks, Val.

Also, resources from the IASL for International School Library Month are available at School Libraries Online. Great posters and bookmarks, for example, and lots of ideas: As part of the celebration of International School Library Month 2008, you or your association can become members of the IASL. Why not celebrate school libraries by becoming part of a worldwide organization. Information regarding membership can be found on the IASL website (but I recommend you send a request to post-date your membership to January as presently memberships run for the calendar year).

From Rick Mulholland, a former BC teacher-librarian and currently Coordinator of the celebration for the IASL:

The ISLM (International School Library Month) committee is experimenting with ways to reach school library personnel. One way of doing this is to add another way for school library personnel to share ideas, links etc on school library celebrations in preparation for International School Library Month, the committee has started a blog. It can be accessed [here] .... As the subtitle says this is “A place for school library personnel to discuss International School Library Month. This blog is intended as a supplement to the main ISLM page.” Please contribute to this blog. Cheers, Rick.

Upcoming Events:

BCTLA PSA Conference: Mission Literacy: Teacher-librarians / Not-so-secret agents of change -- there's easy online registration and also a blog for information about the location, workshops, and related links.

Sarah Guilmant-Smith, Teacher-Librarian Helping Teacher & Curriculum Support in Surrey, has asked me to share this upcoming event with you:

Mike Eisenberg, of the "Big 6" information literacy program, is coming to Surrey's Focus Day for a day-long session on November 21, 2008. Details about registration can be accessed here at the Surrey website.

More Resources:

For great social studies links, click onto links on the BC Social Studies Teachers' Association Website .

From Linda Hof's Webbits a website to complement goals for sustainability:

Gapminder -- In London, riders on the Tube are reminded to "Mind the Gap". On this website, you are reminded to mind a variety of gaps, whether they be in income inequality or quality of health care. This website was created to promote "sustainable global development and achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals by increased use and understanding of statistics and other information." The site offers visualizations for questions like"Which country has the best teeth in the world?" and "Who gets what: Farm subsidies." Find such information under the "Latest News" area, and also check the videos, "Gapcasts," and world charts, or use your own own set of statistical indicators to create your own Gapminder-like bubble graph. It's a powerful tool. (Internet Scout Project 1994-2006)

From Alan Zisman:
Cyberbullying: new phenomenon or the playground gone online? By jtimmer@arstechnica.com (John Timmer)

A study of Internet using teens reveals that much of the cyberbullying they experience differs from their real-world experiences only in terms of the medium. To paraphrase von Clausewitz, cyberbullying may just be childhood by other means. "The authors feel strongly that the fact that real-world bullying strongly predicts cyberbullying and the parallels in behavior both suggest that cyberbullying may not actually be a distinct phenomenon .... These findings further underscore the continuity between adolescents' social worlds in school and online."

Also there's a new edition of the VSB publication "Responding to Cyberbullying" from Learning Services; your administrator probably received a copy. This might be an item for circulating from the school's Professional Collection.

In the News:

Books for the Elementary collections from Steve Mulligan will be arriving soon. In case you didn't see it, I am including the article this week on our now-retired colleague Susan Harman. It perfectly underscores the need for the continuing work of our Diversity/Anti-homophobia consultant extraordinaire. Has he brought lunch to your school yet? Thanks, Steve, on behalf of the elementary school library programs:

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A mother’s plea to keep her gay son from harm
PETE McMARTIN VANCOUVER SUN
The Vancouver Sun page B1
02 Oct 2008

Here we are today, 40 years after the Stonewall riots, 35 years after the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its official list of mental disorders, 30 years after Denmark became the first government to recognize civil unions...read more...

Tech Tags: The Vancouver Sun newspaper Westcoast News

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Globe & Mail (2008 August 20) Arts Funding Cut

The Tories are committed to cutting $44.8-million in spending on arts and culture by April of 2010, The Globe and Mail has learned. As criticism of recent cuts continues, ... details of several new cutbacks are emerging ....The most expensive of five new cuts approved in February was the $11.7-million Canadian Memory Fund, which gives federal agencies money to digitize collections and mount them online. Also chopped were the $3.8-million Culture.ca Web portal; the $560,000 Canadian Cultural Observatory; the $5.64-million research and development component of Canadian Culture Online; and the $2.1-million Northern Distribution Program, which distributes the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network signal to 96 Northern communities.

Funding to the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and the Canada Magazine Fund will also drop by $1-million and $500,000 respectively. July brought another round of cuts, a Heritage Department spokesman said, which included the previously reported $300,000 Audio-Visual Trust, the $1.5-million Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, the $2.5-million National Training Program for the Film and Video Sector and the $7.13-million Trade Routes, in addition to cuts and reductions totalling $3.4-million to the Stabilization Project and Capacity Building elements of the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program.

In August, you might have heard the outcry in response to cuts to Arts funding. Have you read any Atwood lately? Here's a little not-so-light reading. Margaret Atwood's recent volley in response to Stephen Harper's cuts to the Arts has set of a firestorm of response. Here's the link to her article in The Globe and Mail (Sept 24, 20008) for your consideration. In our role as stewards of Canadian culture, there is surely cause for us to be concerned.