A New Year in the Library

Mount Prospect Library is at the heart of the school, and reading is at the heart of learning.  Here is the library preview that was shown to students in grades 4 and 5.  I've asked your children what kind of students they want to be this year.

Click below to watch the Mount Prospect Library video slideshow on Youtube.

What Parents Should Know

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) has among its stated goals:  addressing issues, anticipating trends, and setting the future agenda for the school library profession.

There is a parent section to their website that you may find of interest.  You may be surprised at what librarians do and what roles libraries can play. 

Check it out!  Click here to go to AASL and the parent resources.

Your Teacher Librarian

We all think we know what librarians do. After all, we've all been in libraries and checked out books or even asked the occasional reference question.

Aahh, but do you really know what's going on behind the desk and behind the scenes in school libraries across the country? Take a look at the graphic below for an in depth look at today's librarians. Click on the weblink to see a larger image and to get more interactive with the topics.

http://yourteacherlibrarian.wikispaces.com/Are+You+Ready%3F

The Magic Garden

"A book is like a magic garden carried in your pocket." This old Chinese proverb pops up from time to time, most recently last fall in a Public Television episode of Sherlock Holmes. Whether it actually is a Chinese proverb I cannot answer from the resources at hand. Surely you know "I heard it on TV" or "I found it on the Internet" are no guarantees of absolute truth.

Old proverb or not, I love the image of a book as a magic garden. That bit of enchantment when you are lost in a good book is hard to duplicate with other media. I spent part of the vacation rereading a favorite book: Jane Austen's Persuasion, the last of her novels. Then I watched the film version. Need I say which was more engaging, compelling and wholly captivating?

The wonderful thing about reading is that the reader partners with the author to create the scene of the book. The reader's imagination is an integral part of the process. You're only a couch potato if you're looking at a screen. If you and your children are reading for pleasure or information, you brains are firing on all cylinders. What better resolution for 2011 than to read more? What better family activity than reading every day to enjoy each other's company and expand everyone's horizons?