In Bellview library, share favorite Dr. Seuss quotes

Bellview Elementary School will observe Read Across America Day on Monday, in honor of children’s author Dr. Seuss. In the Bellview library, I put up a sheet of paper from a newspaper end-roll. Staff, students, volunteers ... share your favorite Dr. Seuss quotes. I’ve started things out with a selection from The Lorax.

Cuesta College internship: Site visits resume

A selfie — “shelfie” — in the stacks: With the Medford teachers’ strike settled, I was able to resume site visits for my Cuesta College internship in Library and Information Technology. I helped out this week with textbook inventory at the Medford School District’s Instructional Media Center. Using a handheld barcode scanner, I worked from a list of textbooks and scanned the barcodes on each copy.

Cross-posted to the Facebook page of the Cuesta College Library/Information Technology Program

Meeting for Special Library District campaign

From Friends of the Medford Library comes an invitation to everyone who wants to assist with the campaign for a Special Library District, 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday in the large community room at Jackson County Library Services’ Central Branch Library, 205 S. Central Ave. in Medford. For more information, call 541-779-3246 or download a PDF of frequently-asked questions about the Special Library District from http://www.medfordfriends.org/.

Teen Crafternoon: Comic decoupage

Image credit: Ashland Teen Library Fans on Facebook

How would a pair of shoes look decorated with comic decoupage? Bring your own shoes and find out during the next Teen Crafternoon, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the teen department at the Ashland Public Library.

“Decoupage” involves decorating an item’s surface by applying paper cut-outs and coating it with varnish or lacquer.

Check the library’s online catalog or browse among 745.546 in your branch’s nonfiction stacks to look for books about decoupage.

Esther Mortensen, teen librarian, indicated that she also has a pile of magazines in her office if participants want other pictures to decoupage. Ashland library is located at 410 Siskiyou Blvd. For more information, call 541-774-6994.

Cuesta College is fully accredited

Here’s some of the best news that I had all week: the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges reaffirmed Cuesta College’s accreditation among California two-year colleges.

Oregon Battle of the Books: Partial list of titles for 2014-2015

While Bellview teams competed this past week in Oregon Battle of the Books, the statewide program released its partial list of titles for 2014-2015.

LinkedIn enables member blocking

The LinkedIn professional social network finally enables member blocking. In a post to the LinkedIn help center, Paul Rockwell, who heads up Trust & Safety, told LinkedIn members that “your concerns were heard loud and clear.”

To access the blocking function, hover your cursor over the downward-pointing triangle to the right of the contact button on the person’s profile. (Depending upon the degree of connection, the contact button might say “Send a Message” or “Send InMail.”) This will bring up a menu of several options including the ability to block and report.

‘Why Bedtime Reading Rules’

At the HarperCollins Childrens blog, a writer argues that a bedtime story is a quintessential part of a child’s bedtime routine. Among other reasons, it boosts brain power and sends a clear signal that bedtime is near to children who crave routine.

Oregon Battle of the Books: Bellview teams advance

Parent volunteer Nicole Gutrich posts updates on Facebook each day concerning Bellview school team standings in Oregon Battle of the Books.

At last update, six teams had advanced to the semi-finals: Battle Girls, Blue Dolphins, Extreme Readers, Hashtag 23, The Overlanders and Umbrella Snails.

‘The Last Newspaper Boy in America’

David family males have delivered the newspaper in Steele, Penn. for as long as the town has existed, with each boy taking over the route when he turns 12 years old.

On the eve of his 12th birthday, Wil David receives unwelcome news: the Cooper County Caller will end newspaper delivery to Steele.

Author Sue Corbett brings the perspective of a former youth carrier to her story of a town trying to survive hard times. Interwoven with Wil’s crusade to save the newspaper route is an effort by Steele residents to attract new business to the town’s closed hairpin factory.

Combine this with shady dealings at the county fair and Corbett’s novel is an exciting one. The title of each chapter cleverly mimics the newspaper headline-writing style.

Corbett, a journalist, accurately portrays the changing media landscape. When Wil researches articles online, the results are limited by paywalls.

And librarians may appreciate the library’s acknowledged role in bridging the digital divide: Wil conducts online research and checks his email on library computers.

Oregon Battle of the Books at Bellview

What a welcome sight on Tuesday, to see competing teams in Oregon Battle of the Books quizzing teammates in the Bellview library. Many of the teams were wearing matching shirts and looked simply fabulous as they ran questions. Best of luck to all competing teams. Represent Bellview — and your reading accomplishments — with pride!

‘Cat in the Hat’ hat has cat on it

Sewing helper Starfire and friend

Now, more than ever, the world needs this hat.

‘Cat Champions’ profiles young people who make difference in lives of cats

In Cat Champions, Caring for Our Feline Friends (Pajama Press, 2014), author Rob Laidlaw introduces young readers to “another world” of cats, beyond the experience of those fortunate animals who have loving owners.

“Pet cats can become lost or abandoned and must fend for themselves. Feral cats who have not been spayed or neutered give birth, producing more homeless cats, sometimes in large numbers. Neglected cats can become sick or injured. Animal shelters cannot find homes for all the cats they receive; many shelters destroy cats that are not adopted out quickly.”

New dictionaries in Bellview library

Barcoded, spine-labeled, ready for use: Bellview Elementary School has new student-friendly dictionaries, courtesy of Rotary Club of Ashland and the Dictionary Project.

The Best Dictionary for Students, according to the Dictionary Project, features more than 32,000 words with “simple, child-friendly definitions, plus pronunciation and part of speech.”

It also includes “information about punctuation, the nine parts of speech, weights and measures, five long words, Roman numerals, and a map of the United States.”

Shortly after I put the books out today, one was in the hands of a student. That’s what I love to see, anytime I add or recommend a book for a library collection.

‘Weird!’ ‘Dare!’ ‘Tough!’ Bullying from three perspectives

Image credit: Free Spirit Publishing

A case of bullying is told from the perspectives of the target, a bystander, and the child who initiated the bullying in Weird!, Dare! and Tough!, written by Erin Frankel and illustrated by Paula Heaphy (Free Spirit Publishing).

Miller: ‘Bring back shushing librarians’

“Bring back shushing librarians.” At Salon.com, Laura Miller points out that “Quiet study spaces for adults and children” is almost exactly as valuable as access to the Internet among library users who responded to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center.

Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice Award

My chief emphasis this week in the Bellview Elementary School library was to create poster and book displays for the Oregon Reader’s Choice Award, upper-elementary division, and Beverly Cleary Children’s Choice Award.

Medford teachers call strike

My internship in Medford is on hold during a strike by Medford educators that was called at 6 a.m. on Thursday. Medford School Distict 549C declared all Medford schools closed on Thursday, Friday and Monday.

‘Reading in the Wild’

Like its subtitle suggests, Reading in the Wild offers author Donalyn Miller’s “Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits.” With co-author Susan Kelley, Miller identifies five traits or habits of a lifelong independent reader.

The “Wild reader,” according to Miller, dedicates time to read, self-selects reading material, shares books and reading with other readers, has a reading plan and shows preferences. And while the co-authors write from a background of teaching elementary school children, I believe that older-grade educators, parents and library professionals will find this book of value too.

Cross-posted to the Facebook page of Jackson County Library Services

Oregon Reader’s Choice Awards: poster display

A poster and set of books promote the Oregon Reader’s Choice Award in the Bellview Elementary School library. I got the idea during a visit to one of the schools in Medford School District 549C.

Graphic nonfiction: Common Core resource

On a library internship discussion board, a classmate responded to my comment about sharing an appreciation for graphic novels with my internship coordinator.

My classmate pointed out that presenting different sides of an event, as was done with Gene Luen Yang’s Boxers and Saints, “seems like a great way to encourage critical thinking skills (that happens to align with the Common Core State Standards).”

My classmate added, “I think that teachers will need extra support over the next few years while they are transitioning to the new curriculum and the school media center plays an important role!”

UU World interviews EqUUal Access president

Nearly three years after the EqUUal Access Policy Committee created Accessibility Guidelines for participation of people with disabilities in UU congregations, UU World talks with Suzanne Fast, president of EqUUal Access. 

Cuesta College internship: Recent highlights

My Cuesta College internship has taken me to several elementary schools in Medford School District 549C in Jackson County in southern Oregon. According to the district website, its 14 elementary schools range in size from 150 to 630 students.

This man’s tie is now a scissors pouch

During the Ashland library teen department’s “Teen Crafternoon” on Saturday, I constructed a scissor pouch out of the end length of a man’s tie. I reinforced the existing seam that ran the length of the section of tie, and closed off the bottom. Once I turned it right-side out, I glued a length of trim around the opening and down the length of the pouch. Check out additional photos on Ashland Teen Library Fans’ Facebook page.

‘Welcome to the Autistic Community’

To your autistic librarian’s collection of resources for people on the autism spectrum, add “Welcome to the Autistic Community,” released this week by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and the Autism NOW Center.

The document is available as a PDF download from the ASAN website.

Available at reading levels suitable for adolescents and adults, the document “introduces newly-diagnosed Autistic people to the community and answers common questions they might have, covering topics such as legal rights and identity.”