I've been linked! And on a more serious note...

Just happened to mosey on over to my blog stats this evening, and found that some folks were being referred here by another blogger who writes The Sassy Bibliophile.  Take a peek at her site for a perspective from a middle school circulation desk!

Now on to the serious stuff.  This week, I signed a petition started by some high school students in protest of thinly veiled book censorship in their district.  You can check out the petition and get more information here.  I don't go around willy-nilly signing every petition that comes across my Facebook feed or in my email inbox, but this cause means a lot to me.

Let me take you back to my childhood to give you some background on my reading values.  Books were my friends growing up as a military BRAT, constants in a world that literally

changed for me every 18 months to three years.  There were books that traveled with us, books that we got through book-of-the-month clubs, and there were bookstores and libraries--always libraries, found on military bases, in DoDDS overseas and public schools stateside.  I learned to look for my favorite books in each, hoping to make my global travels seem a bit more homey and secure.  

During all that traveling and growing up, I can never, ever remember having my reading choices censored.  In fact, I recall the opposite.  My mother's "mind candy reading" was Harlequin romances, and I think she had one in progress in every room of the house.  I don't recall every getting in trouble for sneaking a peek at those in my middle grade years!  Most of the "taboo topics" were shared with me through books, when my mom deemed me to be ready for them, be it the Readers' Digest Life Cycle Library or the paperback of The Thorn Birds.  When she handed me the latter (I think I was thirteen or so), I remember reading one steamy passage, then hunting her down and saying "You do know about this chapter, right?".  She just smiled and said something like "Keep reading, it's a good book--a bestseller."  My mom was right; it was a good book, more than just that steamy chapter that served to clue us in to the naivete of the character involved. 

And you know what?  Reading about sensitive topics did not make me want to run out and take unnecessary risks.  It did give me a preview to the complexities we face growing up, and  made me aware of choices that I might have to make.  I could learn from characters' mistakes, and when they overcame obstacles, I felt like I could, too.  I was lucky in having a fairly idyllic childhood, but I had friends who didn't, and books helped me to be supportive of their struggles because I knew if someone had written about it, they weren't just isolated issues.  They were helped by those books, too, for the same reason.

So it scares me when people can't see beyond the language, violence, or subject matter that they deem to be "inappropriate",  and can't grasp the lessons and comfort that can be gained from such books.  It worries me when they can't trust teachers and librarians to pick reading material for their students, and when they feel the students themselves can't be trusted to self-censor.  I know for a fact that many students can and do censor themselves, because I see it in my home, and I see it and encourage it in my library.   Not every book is for every reader, and comfort levels vary--and that's okay.  Removing books from shelves because they make one person uncomfortable denies access to other readers for whom the book may be a "perfect fit", just the thing they need to read to educate and empower themselves. 

One last note, lest this stir up any worries about choices I make for books in my workplace library.  I may be against censorship, but I am not clueless when it comes to choosing books that are age-appropriate for my elementary crowd.  I select books using several sources such as the state Bluebonnet and 2x2 lists, Kirkus reviews, curricular needs, and recommendations from students, teachers, and lit professors.  Serious coming-of-age topics are just that--coming of age--and most students will have the chance to read those books in their middle school and high school libraries....if they aren't pulled from the shelves by scared, distrustful adults.
***

P.S.  My advice to parents who are worried about their children's book choices--read the books, too.  Ask them about the passages which concern you, engage in booktalk with your child; you may be happily surprised at how well they interpret and navigate those details, and what they gain from them.  Wouldn't you rather they learn that now, in the safe confines of a book and your home, before they face the complex world they'll enter as young adults?  Keep on reading!

(Photo of PAHS courtesy of the school website,
 http://www.stut-hs.eu.dodea.edu/about/about.html )

Still breathing! My school life as a librarian

Just looked at the date of my last post, and oh, my!  It's hard to believe that this is already February 2014; the school year is flying by for this new librarian!  I am having SO much fun with my latest incarnation as a "book pusher".  But my job entails much more than booktalks and manning the circulation desk.  Here's what my typical day looks like:

• I greet my lovely assistant at the circulation desk.  She's always there before me, and has the computers booted up and set to the online catalog.  I log on to "my" circ desk computer and get the circulation program up and running, because we have a few kids who are in the library right at 715a to check out!
• Unlock my office door, get that computer up, unpack my bag, and set up the computers for the broadcast team that arrives at 725a.  We're joined by the IT support and music teacher who handle most of the technical/ directing side of the broadcast with the team in front of the camera; I assist the other team of students who are at the computers preparing for their next week's report.
• After broadcast, I get a few minutes to check emails, help students who wander in for checkout, pull materials for teachers, and handle scheduling issues, financial stuff, and answer any phone messages.  Sometimes I'll have a class that's making up a visit during this time, or I'm teaching a special lesson.
• Classes typically start arriving for their fixed visits around 845a.  On a slow day, we see eight classes; on a busy day, it can be eleven or more!  Kindergarteners get a storytime every week, with books off of our local Armadillo list or from the Texas 2x2 recommendations.  First and second graders get a story or lesson every other week, so that on their "off" weeks they can have a full half hour to browse the shelves.  Third, fourth, and fifth graders also get lessons every other week.  I tend to focus on library and information literacy skills with the upper grades.  I want them to be able to navigate any library they walk into with ease, for a lifetime!
• Tuesdays after school, I help host the fourth grade newspaper club.  Each edition team meets for one month, and this year we've published our newspaper using the Google S'more application.  It's colorful, and we can import pictures, videos, whatever the team imagines and writes up!
• Every Thursday, I meet with a group of fifth graders during lunch for book clubs.  It is one of my favorite things to do; we discuss the common book we just read, make text and life connections, and choose the next book to read.  
• Friday mornings start with school assembly.  I'm on stage right after the national anthem, and report on library news, give the "Shelf Elf" award to classes that have been exceptionally great in the library, and generally encourage reading.  This TERRIFIED me at first; getting up in front of 900+ people was not in my comfort zone!  It is getting easier, though, especially since I get such a good response to "Good morning, READERS!" when I step up to the microphone.
• The rest of my job is probably what you think it is--checking books in and out, finding books for students and teachers, ordering new books and supplies, coming up with library lessons, cataloging new materials, and managing the facility use and funds.  

I love my job.  I love that I get to promote literacy, and the enjoyment of reading, on a daily basis.  I truly believe that reading is at the heart of all learning and social/community engagement--it affects our school performance in all subjects, allows us to participate in social systems and our democratic processes, and facilitates career choices, global awareness and communication.  On an emotional level, it allows us to problem solve and deal with serious issues in the safe environment of a book plot--important skills to last us a lifetime.  I am honored to be given such a responsibility!

In defense of graphic novels

I was taught about the usefulness, accessibility, and impact of graphic novels during my master's program, and got to witness a bit of that effect in my classroom.  Now that I'm in the library, I was pleased to have three great graphic novel moments last week! I saw one student waiting in the checkout line with an Artemis Fowl book, and commented on how much I liked the series. He said he had read and liked the graphic novel, which is why he was checking out the book. (Yay!) Then another student came in who was reading Rick Riordan's 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and was bummed because the last book was still checked out. I asked if he had ever read the graphic novel for The Lightning Thief--he hadn't, and was happy he had another book to explore for the weekend. Then a teacher came in for her fairy tales we had pulled for her, and I asked if she had read 

Rapunzel's Revenge(Dean Hale, Shannon Hale, Nathan Hale); after booktalking it and suggesting how it could be used for enrichment/ critical thinking, she checked it out as well. Whooohooo!

Summer's slip-sliding away...

Yep, two days into August, and I can feel my summer days coming to an end...

I especially like Paul Simon's lyrics: "You know the nearer your destination/ The more you're slip slidin' away".  Those final days of summer break just zoom by in the blink of an eye, as I scramble to whittle away at the gargantuan to-do list I made for myself back in May, when I was dreaming of those days I would have under my command, setting my own schedule and answering only to myself...

Well, that's only partially true.  Teachers know that summer is more of a "catch-up" time than one of relaxation.  Catching up on needed appointments, networking with other teachers, finding new resources for the classroom, finally getting to read for fun and learning (because how can we teach that reading is fun unless we do it ourselves?).  Yes, I had the occasional free day, but there was still laundry and cleaning and shopping.  And napping...oh, how I love my summer naps!

So I didn't get the crochet projects finished.  I didn't do as much professional reading as I would have liked (but I have done a lot of reading for fun!).  We did have a garage sale, and I have gone into my new library a few times to get my bearings and get to know some of my new colleagues.  I've attended two more trainings and went on my first leadership team retreat.  I even managed to get my daughter and I refitted for new retainers, and I have a decent tan line from swimming a bit.


And yes, I'm still reading!  I've got three books on deck now:  one on women's health (nonfiction), a grownup novel, and I'll be starting Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein as soon as I post this blog.  I still have a few free moments at my disposal, and what better way to spend them, than with my feet propped up and my nose in a book?  Read on, my friends; summer's not over yet!   

Hello, again! How are things going?

Just so you know, I was shocked, too, by the date on my last post.  May 3rd--what?  I could have sworn I had posted something since then!

Well, I had--on my professional blog.  And it was pretty big news, too--I got a job as a librarian!  You can read the details and my first feelings about it there.  I'm still getting used to the idea that I am now a librarian; my son is helping by reminding me at least once a week, usually couched in a witty comment (he's getting good at those, being fifteen and all).

So, what else have I been doing besides getting a new job?  Well, since the last post, I have:

• wrapped up another year of teaching, 
• moved my daughter back from college for the summer, 
• told everyone I knew that I get to be in a library next year,
• visited with the outgoing librarian,
• spent face-to-face time with friends,
• spent a lot of time on Facebook catching up with old friends,
• spent a lot of time on Facebook playing Candy Crush (omigosh, it's addictive!),
• read a LOT of other people's blogs, and commented on them,
• taken a lot of naps on the couch,
• totally rearranged my craft room shelves, and organized/ purged a lot of supplies,
• crocheted a bit,
• gone swimming in my neighbor's pool and walked along the hike-n-bike,
• gone to two workshops already,
• shuttled teenboy back and forth to appointments and horn lessons,
• been READING BOOKS!!

Yes, I have been allowing myself to slip into book comas here and there this summer.  I spent an entire day reading Gone Girl (a grown-up bestseller), picked up a couple picture books from the library including 

 Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break if You Want to Survive the School Bus, a Bluebonnet Book by John Grandits, and old fantasy from Ursula K. LeGuin, A Wizard of Earthsea.

I've read more than half a dozen books since June 1st, motivated by a group I formed on Facebook of like-minded friends who wanted to read more this summer and share reading experiences, too. We've posted intended reading lists, changed them based on each other's reviews and abandonment of books that just don't fit, and talked about our reading styles (I tend to skip around sometimes!).

Have I gone into a book coma every day? Heavens, no! Otherwise, all those other bulleted items in my list above wouldn't have gotten done. But I am reading at least an hour a day, which is more than I could manage most of the school year (though I'm anticipating reading a LOT more as a librarian!).

Any reading is good reading, in my opinion. So even if you have fifteen minutes waiting on your music lesson, or can't quite seem to fall asleep when you hit the pillow, or you need an excuse to avoid doing another load of laundry--grab that book, and READ! Oh, and have fun doing it, please...it IS summertime, after all!

 

    

Just call me Calpurnia!

So I FINALLY got around to reading my graduation gift!  It's been less than a year since I received it, so compared to some of the books in my Mt. Everest of a to-read pile, it had a lot less dust on the cover!

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly was just a hoot to read.  It was given to me by my friend and colleague Mary, who is a history buff and reader extraordinaire.  It's a used edition in perfect condition, signed to a Mister John Sexton by the author herself.  Jacqueline Kelly is a local lady, residing both in Austin and in Fentress, Texas, the location of the leading young lady of her book.  Ms. Kelly is also a transplant, hailing from New Zealand, with several degrees to her name.  You don't become a lawyer AND a physician without some love of knowledge and learning, and she communicates those through the main character, Calpurnia Tate.

Calpurnia is an 11 year old girl living in rural Texas, fifty miles from the Austin capital, in 1899.  The middle child of seven, and the only girl, she is a nature-loving budding scientist before her time.  Luckily, she has a grandfather who is a member of the fairly new National Geographic Society, and he supports her efforts in forging a new path for herself.  There isn't a "pat" ending to the book, but you just know that Calpurnia is destined to be a scientist and explorer in her own right.

I connected with Calpurnia in two ways.  First, I am a lover of learning.  In school, I loved reading, biology, algebra, and art.  I couldn't decide what field I liked best, which is one of the reasons I became a teacher!  The other connection I made was with the snow scene in the final chapter.  I had a hard time coming to terms with adult responsibilities when I turned eighteen, until a freak snowfall in March 1984 in El Paso changed my mind.  I don't want to give too much away!

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is a lovely read, especially for teachers of girls and of science.  If I was in a general ed fifth to ninth grade classroom, it would certainly be on my read-aloud list.  If I were a science teacher, there are passages I would certainly share with my class to spur their curiosity and observation skills.  As a history teacher, it would be a good start to a discussion of gender role expectations of that period as compared to the present.

A big thumbs-up for this book, and an even bigger thank you to Mary for giving it to me; it's a keeper!

A little of this, a little of that

Ooops, I've been reading, but forgetting to blog about it!  I finished a book a couple of weeks ago, and read a picture book right after...and immediately began thinking of connections between the two.  (We ask students to do this all the time--try and make connections between books they've read.)




The "grownup" book I finished is called Reluctant Pilgrim: A Moody, Somewhat Self-Indulgent Introvert's Search for Spiritual Community, by Enuma Okoro.  It's about a well-educated, well-traveled, deeply spiritual woman looking for a church community to call home.  I'm fascinated with people's spiritual journeys, particularly those of women, and this book called to me with her story.  It wasn't a fast read for me, but it was enjoyable and thought-provoking.  Ms. Okoro and I share similar religious backgrounds, so I was able to connect with the book in many ways.  

After I finished Reluctant Pilgrim, I read one of my latest purchases, Lemony Snicket's   The Dark, illustrated by the award-winning Jon Klassen.  Laszlo is afraid of the dark, and tries to keep it at bay...until one night, it visits him in his room.  What happens next is an explanation of why we need the dark, and an unusual way it helps Laszlo.  With Klassen's trademark spare illustrations, the story opens the door for lots of discussion about the dark and other scary things that trouble children.

Both Reluctant Pilgrim and The Dark talk about the light and dark; the former, in the spiritual sense, and the latter, the stuff that hides behind doors and curtains.  In both books, knowledge comes from darkness, and we know what light is because of the dark.  Both Okoro and Laszlo come to terms with the dark, whether it's the dark night of the soul that Okoro finds herself in at times, or Laszlo's literal darkness; both don't seem so scary anymore, since the light is always a step, or night, away.  

I didn't plan to read these books together, but I'm glad I did.  It was like reading the Cliff Notes on a tough classic novel after poring over the unabridged edition; the picture book put the grownup book into perspective.  What a lovely coincidence!