Summer Reading

"Outside the New York Public Library" by dmcordell

Our local newspaper ran an article today about a nearby public library and its summer reading program.

Evidently one young man has won prizes for the last five years because of the number of books he completed as part of a reading challenge. While the children's room aide applauds this accomplishment and sees no problem in continuing the competition, her director wants to change the procedure to give every child a chance to win by entering participants' name in a random drawing.

Each woman makes some valid points:

"Casey [the library aide] said everyone in the club is on a level playing field because all begin and end the same day and all have the opportunity to read as many books as they wish...My feeling is you work, you get it. That’s just the way it is in anything." 

An opposing viewpoint comes from Gandron, the director, "Tyler 'hogs' the contest every year and he should 'step aside.' Other kids quit because they can’t keep up."

I am a very fast reader. As a child, I could have easily bested my peers in this type of contest - but I read because I loved it, not for praise or prizes. When reading now, I sometimes have to consciously slow myself down, to savor language and grasp nuances.

Some of my school library students devoured books, showing up many times during the week to select new titles. Others were plodders, slowly working through their reading selections. There is room in the world for both approaches to literature, especially when it comes to reading for pleasure rather than solely for information.

Are reading contests beneficial to students? Would a book club be a better choice...or would that seem too "schooly"? I'd be interested in learning how other librarians approach this issue.

The Reader

In honor of Children's Book Week, the recently-ended National Poetry Month, and my birthday, I'm sharing this poem, written by Richard Wilbur.

Although my methods of accessing literature have expanded, I will always be a reader.

The Reader

She is going back, these days, to the great stories
That charmed her younger mind. A shaded light
Shines on the nape half-shadowed by her curls,
And a page turns now with a scuffing sound.
Onward they come again, the orphans reaching
For a first handhold in a stony world,
The young provincials who at last look down
On the city's maze, and will descend into it,
The serious girl, once more, who would live nobly,

The sly one who aspires to marry so,
The young man bent on glory, and that other
Who seeks a burden. Knowing as she does
What will become of them in bloody field
Or Tuscan garden, it may be that at times
She sees their first and final selves at once,
As a god might to whom all time is now.
Or, having lived so much herself, perhaps

She meets them this time with a wiser eye,
Noting that Julien's calculating head
Is from the first too severed from his heart.
But the true wonder of it is that she,
For all that she may know of consequences,
Still turns enchanted to the next bright page
Like some Natasha in the ballroom door—
Caught in the flow of things wherever bound,
The blind delight of being, ready still
To enter life on life and see them through.

—Richard Wilbur

"October 1948" by dmcordell

"Me and my Kindle" by dmcordell

SLJ Leadership Summit 2010: The Future of Reading

Last week, I attended my first SLJ Leadership Summit. Here are some of my impressions, thoughts, and, of course, photos.


The location: Although I've passed through Chicago many times, this was my first real visit to the city. Without much time to sight see, I did manage to walk around a bit, exploring the stores on the Magnificent Mile and snapping pictures of the amazing skyline.



The people: re-connecting with my Tribe was, as always, a joy. But, on a broader scale, it was wonderful to be at a conference where everyone had a similar focus and a common vision regarding the profession of librarianship and the importance of both books and technology in libraries. This wasn't a print vs. eBooks crowd: speakers and attendees engaged in a rich dialog regarding the necessity of many tools to enhance and enrich the library experience of the students - and teachers - that we serve. It truly was a summit for Leaders.



The presentations: Keynote speaker Stephen Abram set the tone by considering "The Future of Reading in 2020." Although he envisions changes, it's more of an evolution than a revolution, with librarians not just participating but leading. Abram concludes by assuring us that "It gets better. Librarians can help."



Student Voice was represented at the Summit by students from University Laboratory High School, accompanied by their librarian, Frances Harris. These articulate young people shared some insights about their life as readers. All of them had been read to by their parents, as children; their favorite genres are sci fi/fantasy; finding the time for recreational reading is a problem, due to packed schedules; all prefer print books, though they might consider eBooks for college texts (price is a definite issue).



Members of the Carnegie Council for Advancing Adolescent Literacy shared data pertinent to this topic, then discussed their recommendations for adding value to eReaders for classrooms and libraries. This list is still in draft form, and contains important points that need to be considered by both educators and developers: for example, the Council wants devices to have multiple capabilities that can be enabled or hidden by the librarian/teacher depending on student needs. In response to audience feedback, Council members agreed to incorporate strong language regarding the key role of librarians as leaders in the adoption of new reading technologies.



Author Patrick Carman talked a little about his personal relationship with books, then demonstrated how he enhances his stories with interactive features that turn the reader into a co-creator of the narrative. Trackers, for example, is "told through a collage of videos, text, and websites." It is not merely a book that you read; it is a world that you experience.



Caldecott-winning illustrator Paul Zelinsky walked us through the evolution of his newest picture book, Dust Devil. Although Zelinsky would appear, on the surface, to take a more traditional approach to books and reading - and was passionate in expressing a preference for print - his presentation included both electronic and "steampunk style" tools.



There was much more to hear, discuss, and ponder at the SLJ Leadership Summit. Many of the sessions were taped, and School Library Journal will be sharing archives on the conference site, as they become available.

Thanks to the corporate sponsors, and School Library Journal, for offering this opportunity to convene, connect, and construct.


My photos of the conference are here. The SLJ Summit 1o group can be found here.

It's NOT a Book...But It's Still Reading

While browsing the ALA fall graphics catalog, my attention was captured by a poster version of this trailer for It's A Book





It would appear, from the contents of the catalog, that the ALA equates reading for pleasure with the use of a physical book. The few computers pictured on posters or bookmarks were seemingly being employed for "research."

Although I'm a lifelong lover of printed books, I've just ordered a Kindle to use while traveling, fully anticipating that this device will increase my recreational reading rather than reduce it.

Are there lurking Luddites in the ALA organization? Shouldn't we be encouraging our students to read in any and every format?

Isn't engaging with literature what counts?


If any of you have the READ software, I'd love to see some posters of staff and students reading text via iPad, Kindle, laptop, or any other electronic device.

Old Friends

"The first time I read an excellent work, it is to me just as if I gained a new friend;
and when I read over a book I have perused before, it resembles the meeting of an old one." -Sir James Goldsmith


A few years ago, I proctored a New York State English exam that incorporated the text of Richard Wilbur's The Reader in one of the questions.

In this poem, Wilbur describes the experiences of a young woman who is "going back, these days, to the great stories That charmed her younger mind"

She sees their first and final selves at once,
As a god might to whom all time is now...

But the true wonder of it is that she,
For all that she may know of consequences,
Still turns enchanted to the next bright page
Like some Natasha in the ballroom door—
Caught in the flow of things wherever bound,
The blind delight of being, ready still
To enter life on life and see them through.

During this holiday season, enjoy your new books, but also take the time to revisit some old favorites. Read them with fresh eyes, share them with others. While searching for meaning, you are searching for self.

"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age,
as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight." -Robertson Davies

"I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little farther down our particular path than we have yet got ourselves." -E. M. Forster

"What's a book? Everything or nothing. The eye that sees it all." -Ralph Waldo Emerson




"Reading Giovanni Battista Niccolini, National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC)" by takomabibelot

Holiday Reading

Inspired by a Tweet from Leslie Edwards, Cathy Nelson blogged her holiday reading list.

As a (sort of) retired lady, I'm not under the time constraints faced by working teacher-librarians. I can, and do, read as the mood strikes me. Since I access and process so much information daily via the internet, my recreational reading tends to be fiction.

In addition to a little holiday book collection that I revisit each year,



I have in my stack:



The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Death narrates this tale of Liesel Meminger, a child who learns to steal books because she finds comfort in words during the horrors of World War II.




Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

Despite her untimely death, Bibi Chen "joins" her friends on a trip to China and Burma.






The Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith

In addition to the popular No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency stories, Smith is the author of this series featuring Scottish philosopher (and sometimes detective) Isabel Dalhousie.






Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Rumor has it that Santa is going to bring me this steampunk adventure set in an alternative world on the cusp of WWI.





Anyone else care to share their stack?



"To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful,
ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry." -Gaston Bachelard



"Christmas Books" by dmcordell

Spring Cleaning

"Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe


Spring made its presence felt today in upstate New York, and we scurried to take advantage of the sunny skies and (relatively) warm temperatures.

Since next week is Spring Break in our part of the country, I'll have some long-anticipated free time. I need to do some cleaning.

There are always those mundane domestic chores to complete. Although I'm not particularly good at housekeeping, the idea of a more organized environment is very appealing, and I can't wait to fling open windows to air out rooms and linen.

I also need to rejuvenate my body, with outdoor rambles and lighter, simpler meals.

Can't neglect my mind: Kim Cofino shared her vacation reading list; here's mine

• "All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well" by Tod Wodicka. This first novel was written by a graduate of our local HS and has received a positive review in the NY Times.
• "Saving Fish from Drowning" by Amy Tan. Love all of her books, with their mix of mystery and fantasy.
• "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Promised Intrepid Teacher that I'd read this story of "One man's mission to promote peace...one school at a time". Got tired of waiting for an interlibrary loan and bought my own copy.
• "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi. Clay Burell has urged/challenged us to study Vladimir Nabokov’s "Lolita". Amusingly, the original work is not available in Target (I'll need to visit a more sophisticated venue - wonder if eyebrows will be raised when I use my teacher discount card?) but the Nafisi account of teaching "forbidden Western classics" was. Is there some cosmic irony in this?

A rather ambitious program, I know, but entirely doable, if I "neglect" Twitter and Google Reader for a while.

Which brings me to my next cleaning task. I've been favoriting Tweets that mention potentially useful resources, emailing myself key posts from GReader, and signing up for new tools to try out (Aviary, Diigo, and Gimp, to name a few). Sorting through this cyber cache might be too large a project to take on right now, but perhaps I can begin advance planning for the much longer summer vacation.

There are postings to write and school units to plan.

Perhaps most importantly, there are people to connect with, in person and online.

It's quite a bit to tackle in a single week. There are no penalties if I don't get to everything. But there are definite rewards for cleaning and stretching and growing however and wherever this occurs.


"Measure your health by your sympathy with morning and spring. If there is no response in you to the awakening of nature --if the prospect of an early morning walk does not banish sleep, if the warble of the first bluebird does not thrill you --know that the morning and spring of your life are past. Thus may you feel your pulse." -Henry David Thoreau


“light sweeping” by Shnnn

Once Upon a Time Lasts Forever

"Joyous Space" by Orin Optiglot

“‘Thou shalt not’ is soon forgotten, but ‘Once upon a time’ lasts forever.” -Philip Pullman
(1996 Carnegie Medal acceptance speech)

Even though school has been in session now for more than 5 months, some of our youngest students are still finding it difficult to settle down in one spot and focus on a story. The colorful cushions we purchased to carve out a dedicated area for reading time have not been an unqualified success. There are moments when I feel like I'm trying to manage a wiggling tangle of puppies!

Yesterday, I decided to share with my younger grades a beautifully illustrated version of a classic fairy tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. For contrast, I grabbed a shabby old copy by another author. The pictures in the second book were clumsy, at best, but they clearly showed all the basic elements of the story: characters, setting, plot, etc.

For all the glory of the new book, the students were most captivated by the older version, not because of any virtues of the volume itself, but because I used different voices and gestures to "tell" rather than "read" the story. Some of the children obviously had heard the tale before, but not all of them. They didn't care that my narrative had a few bumpy spots: for the length of that re-telling, the entire class was engaged, quiet, and as good as gold.

What lessons did I learn from my totally unanticipated success?

• determine what your audience responds to and utilize it
  
• don't assume that "new and improved" is necessarily better
• children haven't changed and storytelling as an art retains its magic
• step back from technology for a bit and remember the power of traditional "tools"

I'll be dusting off my flannelboard and browsing our collection for old favorites. The little ones have taught me well.

“Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an early form of participation in what goes on. Listening children know stories are there. When their elders sit and begin, children are just waiting and hoping for one to come out, like a mouse from its hole.” -Eudora Welty

Grinning Inside

“Joy is the feeling of grinning inside.” -Melba Colgrove

There's been a lot of blogging lately about the Kindle, and I can see that this electronic device has many positive attributes.

But it will never be able to duplicate the experience of sharing a beautifully illustrated, rollicking picture book like my new favorite, "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More" (Karen Beaumont), with a class of enthusiastic first graders.

When a classroom teacher tells you that the kids sang the story to her as soon as they returned from library time, you know you have a hit on your hands.

The digital world is wonderful, but there is still a time and a place for books.

"Then I thought of reading - the nice and subtle happiness of reading ... this joy not dulled by age, this polite and unpunishable vice, this selfish, serene, lifelong intoxication." -Logan Pearsall Smith