Some of the students (and parents) may have noticed that the number of graphic novels and comics in the Robinson collection has increased since I began my tenure as the Library Media Specialist. I'm a big fan and advocate of graphic storytelling. That's why I'm so excited to be attending (with my soon-to-be 6th grade son) Graphic Guise: Books Undercover on August 20th. The guests are amazing: Bob Boyle (Hugo and the Really, Really, Really Long String), James Burks (Gabby & Gator), Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), and Dan Santat (Sidekicks). You can find more information about them here.

If your child enjoys reading graphic novels, and especially if their reading has benefited from graphic novels, I really encourage you to attend this event. Kids will get to meet and interact with the artists and try their hand at illustrating and storytelling. Parents can learn how to effectively use graphic novels as a literacy tool.

The group organizing the event, Bridge to Books, is made up of local people interested in children's literature and literacy; they're teachers, librarians, book bloggers, booksellers, and of course, readers. The event is being organized on a volunteer basis and we'd love to see people spread the news about this sure-to-be-amazing event.

Please purchase tickets by August 13. Hope to see you there!

In preparation for next year's library theme, Read Around the World, I'm asking students to send postcards from their summer travels. Regardless of where you're going (Africa, Palm Springs, the beach), please let Ms. Yukari know where you are, what you're up to, and what you're reading.

Send postcards to: Robinson Elementary Library, 80 Morningside Drive, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 or email pictures from your travels to [email protected].

MBUSD summer reading lists are now available: you can download .pdf versions here, access them from the mbusd.org site (scroll down toward the bottom of the page for the icon), or read more about  summer reading here.

Remember, for the elementary grades, these suggestions are for optional, pleasure reading. For middle and high school students there are required summer reading texts. Please check the mbusd.org site for grade-level lists.

The Robinson Library is not sponsoring its own summer reading program; instead, Ms. Yukari encourages all Riptides to sign up for the public library's summer reading program. This year's theme is One World, Many Stories. You can sign up in person at the Manhattan Beach public library beginning June 27 or sign up online at summerreadingLA.org.

Destiny is now live on the internet, which means the catalog of all seven MBUSD campuses can be searched from any computer with internet access. You can directly access the Robinson library catalog here.

In the near future we hope to make personal library account access available to students and parents.

Congratulations to fourth graders Hillary R., Kyra W., and Olivia H. for designing the winning library logo! Expect to see it all over library correspondence next year.

Get in on the fun of March Madness, library style! There are two brackets you can participate in: Super Circulators and Battle of the Kids' Books. You can pick up your bracket in the library or print one from the attachment below. Brackets are due back to Ms. Yukari by Friday, March 25 (I am at a training that day so leave your brackets on my desk or ask Ms. Joni in the office to put it in my mailbox. Thank you.)

• For the Super Circulators, you need to guess which books have been checked out the most this school year.
• The Battle of the Kids' Books is actually a competition held online between 16 of the very best books for young people of the year, judged by children's books authors. (I've obscured the sponsor name in the logo above because competition has already begun at the website.) Some of the books are for older readers (middle school) and we don't actually have many of the books at the Robinson Library. This is a guessing competition; choose your "winner" by just looking at the titles.

At the encouragement of Mira Costa's teacher librarian, Mrs. Lofton, I became a member of the California School Library Association (CSLA). The organization's members work toward "enriching student learning by building a better future for school libraries." 

With so many school districts facing fiscal hardship, libraries are often on the chopping block. But school libraries (and the staff who support them) are an essential part of a well-rounded education. CSLA is currently advocating for better understanding and support of school libraries through the  California Campaign for Strong School Libraries. You can do your part by vocalizing support for your school library to your school's administration, the district's administration, and your state legislators. Another way to support CSLA is to purchase items from the Library Store and wear your gear with p

The California School Library Association advocates for all students to have access to:

• A full time, certified teacher librarian and a full-time paraprofessional working as a team. This allows the teacher librarian to collaborate with classroom teachers in co-designing instruction which incorporates information literacy into the curriculum. 
  Measurement: The national average is one school librarian to 856 students. California’s average is one librarian to 5,240 students.
• Lots of carefully selected books, databases, and other learning resources. Resources must reflect the school curriculum and the research and recreational reading needs of the students.
• Measurement: The national average is 22 books/student. 
• A program which provides instruction and activities for students to use the research process in finding the information they need. Measurement: The American Library Association (ALA) has created nine information literacy standards that are best taught when embedded in content-area standards-based units of study through collaboration between the site library media teacher and classroom teachers. Is your library media teacher routinely practicing collaborative teaching? California state content standards are infused with independent reading as well as information literacy. Is your teacher librarian promoting reading for purpose as well as for pleasure?
• Technology, including hardware, software, and networking that form a virtual library without walls linking students to the world of information, a cybrary that fully supports the school curriculum, 24/7.
• Measurement: Do all schools in the district have access to the same level of technology-based resources? How do your school library eResources compare with other school districts’ eResources? 
• Its doors open before, during and after school hours, with liberal circulation policies. This means access to the school library, its resources, and staff. 
• Measurement: Compare the number of hours your elementary, middle and high school libraries are open. Compare your district to others.

[updated March 18: The district libraries are updating the library software program beginning today; the data migration should occur during the weekend and the new system set up early next week. Librarians will be attending training next Thursday and Friday, March 24 and 25. Due to this training the Robinson Library will not open until 10am on Thursday and will be closed all day on Friday.]
[updated March 3: Many thanks to the Board of Trustees for approving the purchase of the new Follett Destiny software!]
The school district is very close to having the purchase of a web-based library management system approved by the School Board. All six library media specialists and the high school teacher librarian have been meeting monthly with Ms. Gerger, the district's Teacher on Special Assignment, to discuss and decide the merits of upgrading the library OPAC (online public access catalog) system. By upgrading to Follett Destiny, our students, staff, and parents will be able to access all district library holdings online. The web-based interface will promote library-to-classroom-to-home learning. If the purchase is approved at the March 2 board meeting, the new system will be implemented in mid-March and functionality should be available by late-March.

One of my favorite events of the year as a librarian is the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association's annual Children's Books and Literacy Dinner. This was my third year attending and it was fabulous for a number of reasons: all of the district library media specialists and the high school teacher librarian attended, author Eve Bunting sat at our table, I picked up quite a few books and had them autographed, and I got to meet a twitter friend in person (Alyson Beecher, principal of San Rafael Elementary School).

I think the highlight for the MBUSD library staff was sitting with Eve Bunting. She is nothing but gracious and kind. I met her for the first time at the 2009 SCIBA dinner and she was generous enough to pose for pictures with Mrs. Snively (Grand View librarian), Mrs. Kalenik (MBMS librarian), and myself. This year was no different (see pictures below). Mrs. Jones (from the Pacific library) asked Mrs. Bunting how many books she's written; according to Mrs. Bunting, her husband keeps track of the number but she thinks she's written about 280 books, with seven more in the works this year!

During the dinner several authors spoke about their most recent book or how they became authors. The night was emceed by Young Adult (YA) and picture book author Cecil Castellucci, and the guest speakers were YA author and National Book Award winner Judy Blundell, middle grade authors Brandon Mull and Dr. Cuthbert Soup, and YA author (and high school teacher) Andrew Smith. Cecil even sang a song about how great children's literature is!

Publishers gave away books by the authors in attendance. After the dinner we're given an opportunity to get our books autographed. Experienced dinner attendees come prepared with their own bags because we receive so many free books. I even saw a lady pulling a folding cart on wheels! 

I picked up a copy of every book, ranging from picture books to middle grade fiction to young adult fiction. A few of the books I received will go into the Robinson collection. (Sorry, I paid to attend this year's dinner so I'm keeping most of the books.) Many of these books aren't for sale yet, giving attendees (and their students and children) a chance to read books before they hit shelves.

<-- Here's the stack of books I brought home. Pretty impressive, isn't it? My son was particularly excited about Brandon Mull's new book, A World Without Heroes (Beyonders Book 1), which I had Mr. Mull autograph for him. I also had two pictures books autographed for my daughter.

I can't wait for next year's event ... I'm also considering attending the SCIBA children's literature brunch in the fall (Sisters Grimm and NERDS author Michael Buckley will be there!).

[edited February 28, 2011: Congratulations to Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann for their Oscar win! The American edition of The Lost Thing (the book) is included in Lost and Found: Three by Shaun Tan, which goes on sale tomorrow.]

Two children's books adapted for the screen are nominated for this year's Best Short Film (Animated) Oscar: 

Australian author and illustrator, Shaun Tan, is nominated for The Lost Thing, which is based on his 2005 picture book by the same name. 

You can view the film here. 

The School Library Journal website has an interview with Mr. Tan posted about the book and film.

[photo from the lines and colors blog]

The Gruffalo, a British picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, is also nominated. 

The 30-minute film was broadcast on BBC1 (in the UK) during Christmas 2009.


[photo from The Telegraph website]

Thank you to Betsy at the Fuse #8 Production blog for the information!