Readers, in Spite of School by Donalyn Miller

A great post on Readers, in Spite of School by Donalyn Miller

That Was Then….

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A great view of the change and evolution occurring in staffed school libraries in That Was Then….

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s “Learning to Read”

Very soon the Yankee teachers

   Came down and set up school;

But, oh! how the Rebs did hate it,—

   It was agin’ their rule.

Our masters always tried to hide

   Book learning from our eyes;

Knowledge did’nt agree with slavery—

   ’Twould make us all too wise.

But some of us would try to steal

   A little from the book.

And put the words together,

   And learn by hook or crook.

I remember Uncle Caldwell,

   Who took pot liquor fat

And greased the pages of his book,

   And hid it in his hat.

And had his master ever seen

   The leaves upon his head,

He’d have thought them greasy papers,

   But nothing to be read.

And there was Mr. Turner’s Ben,

   Who heard the children spell,

And picked the words right up by heart,

   And learned to read ’em well.

Well, the Northern folks kept sending

   The Yankee teachers down;

And they stood right up and helped us,

   Though Rebs did sneer and frown.

And I longed to read my Bible,

   For precious words it said;

But when I begun to learn it,

   Folks just shook their heads,

And said there is no use trying,

   Oh! Chloe, you’re too late;

But as I was rising sixty,

   I had no time to wait.

So I got a pair of glasses,

   And straight to work I went,

And never stopped till I could read

   The hymns and Testament.

Then I got a little cabin

   A place to call my own—

And I felt independent

   As the queen upon her throne.

A lesson plan for this poem can be found here.

Engaging teens with reading

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The National Library of New Zealand has an amazing array of tools that you can use to engage teens with reading. Please explore their website here, if you’re an Educator, Librarian, Parent or interested in helping our next generations become literate.

Diverse Stories: A Pathway to Developing Adventurous Year 8 Readers

This is a fascinating research project on Diverse Stories: A Pathway to Developing Adventurous Year 8 Readers

Reading For Them by Alicia Abdul

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My personal opinion is that if you want to be a Librarian you have to be a reader is reinforced here with Reading For Them by Alicia Abdul.

How diverse is your library?

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I’m very fortunate as the Library I work for has the most diverse collection, which supports teachers, and educators across Victoria. But I know only too well of Libraries that aren’t. Angela P. Dodson expands on the importance of diversity in Children’s Libraries with a thought provoking article.

Old fiddles can play good tunes: essential information literacy skills of the 1990s are those of 2020s

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A timely article looking at how information literacy skills are still relevant Old fiddles can play good tunes: essential information literacy skills of the 1990s are those of 2020s

Ten Ways to Get Reluctant Adolescent Readers Reading by Sherri K. Wilcox

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We all encounter folks who just find reading harder to enjoy, so this great list of Ten Ways to Get Reluctant Adolescent Readers Reading by Sherri K. Wilcox might prove a source of inspiration for you.

Tricks Librarians use to track books

A super handy article on  how to find a book by descriptions. It provides you with some tools to add to your work bag of tricks of the trade that all good library staff should be accumulating.