Scholastic Book Fair, planning box arrives

Among this past week’s highlights: the Scholastic Book Fairs planning box arrived at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. Just a few more weeks, and the library will be transformed into a bookstore for the duration of fair. I’m looking forward to the book fair and accompanying “Literacy Week.” And I appreciate the hard work of the many volunteers that make these events possible.

Bullying, a cultural ‘norm’ that I hope to eliminate

As I’ve previously mentioned, I am taking a child development course, and this week, the class has been discussing the influence of culture on children.

Asked what value or cultural practice that we would like to eliminate, my answer is that I’d like to eliminate bullying in all spheres of society.

Love of libraries, a value that I hope to pass on

In our class discussion of “culture,” we were asked this week, what aspects of our culture do we want to keep alive by passing on to the next generation? My answer is that, through my work in a school library, I hope to instill a love of reading in the young people I serve. I hope to create library “repeat customers,” and encourage students’ lifelong learning through support and use of libraries. This directly hearkens back to the benefits I’ve gained from libraries, and what I consider the “advantage” of being raised by a person who considered it important that I be given access to the library.

Cultural upbringing, its effect on who I am today

A class discussion this week asked me to consider a way that I was influenced by my cultural upbringing. What came to mind for me were my mother’s efforts to bring me to our local library, and to take me to live performances.

Escuelas charter del SRCS: solicitudes para lotería

(En español / In Spanish)
Desde el Boletín de noticias del Santa Rosa City Schools para enero 2019: Se aceptarán solicitudes para la lotería para Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts, y las otras escuelas charter del distrito, entre el 15 de enero y el 15 de febrero del 2019.

(En inglés / In English)​
From Santa Rosa City Schools’ newsletter for January 2019: Lottery applications for Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts, and other district charter schools, are being accepted from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15, 2019.

My name: personal stories, and significance

In my first discussion for the Child Development course I am taking at Santa Rosa Junior College, I was asked to introduce myself by sharing the story of my name.

‘Aru Shah and the Song of Death’ by Roshani Chokshi

Aru Shah and the Song of Death is author Roshani Chokshi’s second book in a four-book series, or “Quartet.” This story continues a mythology-based adventure that began with Aru Shah and the End of Time.

As this second book opens, it immediately drops readers into the action.

Aru Shah and her friend Mini are the reincarnated souls of demigod brothers, the Pandavas, from Hindu mythology. In this new installment, they meet another girl, Brynne, who is also a reincarnated Pandava. (There were five brothers in all, so it makes sense that in future offerings, two more Pandavas will be introduced.)

Putting aside their initial antagonism, Aru and Mini have to work with Brynne and a classmate, Aiden, to recover a bow and arrow that was stolen from the god of love. This was a fun story, due to be published in April under the “Rick Riordan Presents” imprint. I think this book will definitely appeal to readers of mythology-based fantasy.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinion expressed is my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

OverDrive: more than 274 million titles loaned in 2018

In 2018, libraries loaned-out more than 274 million digital resources through the OverDrive platform. That’s according to a post dated Jan. 9, 2019, via The Digital Reader. The post cites statistics from an end-of-year report released by Rakuten Overdrive. “The company now supports over 43,000 libraries and schools worldwide, including 65 public library systems that each loaned over 1 million digital books to readers in 2018.”

Sonoma County Library: Ann Hammond appointed director

Ann Hammond. Image credit: Sonoma County Library

Via the Sonoma County Library blog: Ann Hammond has been appointed new permanent director for the SCL system. SCL has been without a permanent director since mid-2017, when former director Brett Lear stepped down. Tracy Gray, Jaime Anderson, and Susan Hildreth served as interim directors.

Cyber-bullying: Lawsuit based on product liability

A man has filed a harassment lawsuit against the Grindr dating app (as reported via NBC News). The claim is based on consumer protection from dangerous or unsafe products.

Matthew Herrick is claiming that he was harassed via the Grindr app, through a former partner creating fake profiles that impersonated Herrick. “The alleged harassment continued for months, even after Herrick obtained a temporary restraining order against Grindr that required the company to disable the impersonating profiles.”

Online bullying is concerning to me, through direct experience. When I worked as a journalist, I was “trolled” by anonymous commenting. In my writings, I argued that comments should be tied to a registered account.

More recently, I became the unwilling audience to a campaign on Facebook to deliberately “shame” another person. I wondered then, and continue to wonder now, how we can move beyond an impulse to humiliate people and destroy their lives and careers?

Currently, people have little recourse if they’re subject to online bullying, because a “free-speech” law protects companies from liability for content that is posted by “third-parties.” But this could change if Herrick is successful with his lawsuit.

In the words of David Ingram, reporting for NBC News: “[Herrick’s] lawsuit alleges that the software developers who write code for Grindr have been negligent, producing an app that’s defective in its design and that is ‘fundamentally unsafe’ and ‘unreasonably dangerous’ — echoing language that’s more typically used in lawsuits about, say, a faulty kitchen appliance or a defective car part.”

Speaking as someone who strongly believes that bullying is not “free speech,” this case intrigues me for possibly holding companies responsible for abuses their platforms facilitate.

‘Art Lab for Kids: Express Yourself!’

This is a book I’d very-much like to add to the shelves at my school library. Like its title suggests, Art Lab for Kids: Express Yourself! presents a series of “Labs,” or projects, in a variety of artistic endeavors: drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, and paper-based.

Each project includes a materials list, a description or prompt, and step-by-step instructions.

From its introduction, the book seems written with adults in mind, e.g. parents or educators, who would assemble an artistic space and offer the projects as lessons — but the way the projects themselves are presented, I think that older children could also explore them independently. (Some techniques, like using a cutting tool, are meant to be performed under adult supervision.)

Disclosure of material connection: My taxes support local libraries’ acquisition of this and other resources. I consider the access I enjoy to be a “priceless” return on my investment.