spring/summer 2008 newsletter
DESCRIPTION
Formed in 1959, HVLA brings together librarians from independent K-12 schools in the Hudson Valley area.TRANSCRIPT
Recently, as the librarians at myschool frantically stuffed overduenotices into envelopes, worked onsummer reading lists, wrotereports on students for libraryclasses, tried to figure out asuitable charity for leftover booksfrom our second-hand book saleand got up every few seconds (orso it seemed) to help with printingissues, a wise beyond his years 4thgrader commented, "Gee, Ragan,no one really knows everythingthat librarians do." No kidding. Wemade it! Congratulate yourselves,take a deep breath and relax with agood book.
I do want to thank everyone whocame to HVLA's spring social (tourof NYPL and cocktails). We had alot of fun. For those of you whowere unable to attend, we hope tosee you at a meeting next year.(Next year is HVLA's 50thanniversary!) I especially want tothank Caroline Bartels forarranging the tour with Phil andAmy from the NYPL, as well asour gathering at The Cellar Bar.
Summer is here!A Note from Our President
Spring/Summer 2008
NewsletterHudson Valley Library Association (HVLA)
The HVLA webpage(http://www.hvla.org)!has beenupdated by Natasha Bartolf. Thenew information is in theMembers Only section. Theusername is member and thepassword is hvla. Under MeetingNotes: General, you will findhandouts in pdf form that weregiven out at the tour. We alsohave the member directory for2007-2008 up in pdf form underMembership Directory.
I want to welcome new boardmembers: Maria Falgoust,Rebecca Duvall and RhondaRigrodsky; as well as thank LorrieMillman, Caroline Bartels andSharon Sparrow for their manyyears of service on the HVLAboard.
Happy reading,Ragan
Hudson Valley
Library
Association
WEB:
www.hvla.org
Formed in 1959,
HVLA brings
together librarians
primarily from
independent K-12
schools in the New
York City, Long
Island, Westchester
and nearby New
Jersey and
Connecticut
communities. With a
minimum of formality
and a maximum of
benefit, members
meet three times a
year to discuss and
consider a wide
range of topics,
including evaluation
of books and reading
programs,
technology and
libraries,
information literacy,
and professional
development. An
active listserv keeps
us connected
between meetings.
Regardless of
Circulation, we love:
The White Darkness by
Geraldine McCaughrean.
Printz winner and a real
page turner!
Ragan O’Malley
St. Ann’s School
Brooklyn, NY
Peyton Place, an oldie but
goodie. Kids in the upper
division love, love, love
this title by grace
metalious and ours is so
ratty and dog-eared that I
have to get a new one
soon.
Caroline Bartels
Horace Mann School
Riverdale, NY
Middle School Recs
Feathers by Jacqueline
Woodson
Tamar by Mal Peet
Anna of Byzantium by
Tracy Barrett
Nothing but the Truth by
Avi
Upper School Recs
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
Three cups of tea by Greg
Mortenson
PAGE 2 OF 6
What recent titles
circulate most in your
collection?
Which book do you
root for regardless
of its popularity?
Our trusty listserv
reveals All.
Popular,
Schmopular!
MOST POPULAR
LOWER DIVISION
BOOKS
MOST POPULAR UPPER
DIVISION BOOKS
Water for Elephants
Guyaholic (Mackler)
Looking for Alaska
(Green)
Any book by Sarah Dessen
Suite Francaise
(Nemirovsky)
March (Brooks)
Pretty Little Liars
(Shepard)**
Magic Treehouse # 3 9
There was an old lady who swallowed fly guy (Arnold)
The Wedding Planner’s Daughter**
Clementine**
Gooney Bird Greene**
Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1 & 2**** Denotes Crossover Hit
MOST POPULAR MIDDLE
DIVISION BOOKS
The Cute Book (Aronzo)
The Name of This Book is
Secret (Bosch)
Mysterious benedict
Society**
Any Book by Mike Lupica
Dairy Queen (Murdock)
Does My Head Look Big in
This? (Abdel-Fattah)
Evermore (Zevin)
11/12/13 (Myracle)
Dragons of Deltora/
Deltora Quest (Rodda)
Bone Series (J. Smith)
Maximum Ride series
Spiderwick Chronicles
Young James Bond series
Peter and the Secret of
Rundoon (Barry)
Warriors Series
M
Cirque du Freak
PAGE 3 OF 6
2008 Association of Independent School Librarians Conference
By Karen Gray, Guest Editor
Librarian at St. Anne’s-Belfield School
Charlottesville, VA
During the last week of April I was in Toronto attending the annual AISL conference. One of the
most exciting parts of each conference is the time spent visiting independent schools in the host
region. This year the following five schools opened their doors to the one hundred participants
of the AISL conference:
Crescent School * Havergal College * Ridley College * York School * Bishop Strachan School
During the school visits and the associated programs and workshops, participants are given
opportunities to learn, reflect upon, and discuss information literacy. Below are what I consider
the most relevant conference threads:
Many schools are implementing Information Literacy classes for their freshmen. Andrew Parson
of the Packer Collegiate Institute teaches an eight-session IL class paired with classes in grammar
and study skills. Andrew, one of the school’s librarians, teaches the IL class, and teachers from
other disciplines teach the other two segments.
Several conference sessions covered school book clubs and all school reading events. Havergal
has an annual “All School Read” that begins in mid-November and ends with small group
discussions of the chosen text following their Christmas break. The girls vote for the book the
school will read based on student suggestions. I think we could easily incorporate a similar
program in both our Upper School and Middle Schools. I’d love to start a dialogue with any of
you that are interested in this idea.
The York School is an IB Pre-K-12 program with the motto, “A school where experience and
excellence go hand in hand.” Every year each of their 7th through 10th grade students participates
in Challenge Week. Students choose from approximately 9 activities. These activities are planned
around the premise, “Experiences Teaches.” Challenges range from spending the week working
with a local non-profit to embarking on a five day trip retracing some of the significant areas
covered by the Group of Seven a group of Canadian artists who painted the Algonquin Park
region.
Keynote speaker David Booth advocates redefining reading as an activity that embraces the
needs and interests of students. “Reading isn’t just about Dick and Jane or great literature
anymore: it’s about the internet, comic books, technical manuals, graphic novels, iPods and much
more.” I purchased a copy of his book Reading Doesn’t Matter Anymore: Shattering the Myths of
Literacy in which he tries to help teachers develop strategies for reaching “reading orphans, those
students who are loath or hesitant to attempt to read any printed text.”
Finally, every school I visited was a laptop school. Students brought their personal computers to
school. There were no computer labs or computer banks in any of the libraries. Wireless
connectivity was available throughout each school. Of course, each school had a sufficiently
sized technical support staff and tech support labs/stations where students could find constant
technical support.
“There were no
computer labs
or computer
banks in any of
the libraries.”
“It’s a very real time
experience and the
kids loved it.”
– Nancy Woodward
PAGE 4 OF 6
What was the most
rewarding project or
lesson you taught this
year? Our Listserv asked.
You answered. The
results are nothing short
of fascinating.
The Lost Boys
At Brunswick one of the mostrewarding stories I sharedwas THE LOST BOYS OF THESUDAN (with 4th Grade). Itputs the boys in touch withthe issues of our globalsociety and how a differencecan be made even in theworstof circumstances. At ahigher level some of the filmsabout this could be
used along with the book toinspire the students.
Joan Michie
Brunswick School
Greenwich, ct.
Steal This
Lesson
The Lost Boys
At Brunswick one of themost rewarding stories Ishared was THE LOSTBOYS OF THE SUDAN(with 4th Grade). It putsthe boys in touch withthe issues of our globalsociety and how adifference can be madeeven in the worst ofcircumstances. At ahigher level some of thefilms about this could beused along with the bookto inspire the students.
Joan Michie
Brunswick School
Greenwich, ct.
Information Literacy
à la mode…
Using our Moodle CourseManagement System, I set up adiscussion forum for our two 6thgrade classes. After showing themthe YouTube video “AmazingPresident Facts” by Zach Scott, Ichallenged the two groups toverify the statements in the videousing the web and book resourceswe’d studied about this year. Theyalso have to successfully cite theirsources.
With a forum the teacher can go inand comment on the posts fromthe students, reminding them toadd quotation marks if they cutand pasted something or point outproblems with their citations. It’sa very real time experience andthe kids loved it. The students canalso comment, help, suggest backand forth to each other! The twogroups could not see each other’swork, which was essential becauseI promised the winning team icecream! I keep challenging themwith reminders that it may comedown to which team has been themost thorough, found the bestsources, or found more than onesource.
Nancy Woodward
Wooster School
Danbury, ct.
PAGE 5 OF 6
Steal This
Lesson, cont’dSTORY CIRCLES
I had great and unexpected success with thisproject, which can be adapted according todifferent stories, skills and age levels. This isabout as “messy” as I can get in the library butit was manageable with parent volunteers. Theactivity took several weeks to complete by theresults were stunning and the children lovedthe whole process.
Materials
Each child needs 2 unwaxed, white paper platesand a paper fastener.
Colored pencils
Crayons and watercolors
For adults: Rulers, Stanley knives and pencils
Preparation
Bottom plate: Divide the plate into 4 quartersby drawing 2 lines through the center. Do notdraw lines across about 1 inch of the rim.
Top plate: Cut a wedge-shaped hole out of oneof the quarters. Leave a finger-width of paperplate in the center of the plate for the paperfastener. Leave an inch of rim intact. You arebasically creating a “window” in the top platethrough which one picture in turn on the lowerplate will be revealed. I had parent volunteershelp with this. They used Stanley knives to cutthe plates.
Be sure to write the children’s names and classon the back of each plate before the childrenbegin the drawing and painting!
The Project
1. During the winter and over the course of threesessions, I read The Snow Queen (Susan Jeffersversion) to the 1-2 classes. We discussed thestoryline, the nature of the characters, and voicedour opinions about what we thought about theSnow Queen and the robber girl (were they good orbad? How did they change?), transformations ofcharacters, what had happened to Kai, etc.
2. I asked the children to choose 4 of their favoritescenes from the story (everyone chose differentscenes). The children first numbered the quarters 1-4 clockwise round the plate. They then drew thescenes in chronological order (going clockwise) onthe bottom plate. They left the 1-inch rim blank. Iasked the children to use colored pencils for thispart because they could draw more detailedillustrations.
3. I demonstrated the technique of wax resistpictures. Then the children used wax crayons towrite the title of the story and draw patterns on thetop plate. I emphasized that they would have topress down hard and make thick lines.
4. The following week the children painted over thewax crayon writing/designs using watercolors.
5. When the plates were dry, I joined the two platestogether using the paper fasteners. When you turnthe top plate one picture at a time is revealed. Thechildren could then retell the story in 4 parts for anaudience.
Sarah FeldmanPoughkeepsie Day School
Poughkeepsie, NY
A Warm Thank You to Jeff Alpi
From HVLA
Jeff Alpi is a sort of wizard quietly performing wondrous tasksbehind the scenes. He has been instrumental in keeping HVLA’sweb site afloat for years. Although silent on the list, he hasremained alert often reaching out to the board with advice orreminders to update. Last year, as our web site was so outdated,the board approached Jeff about cleaning it up and thankfully heaccepted and worked his magic again!
HVLA thanks Jeff for his continued support and guidance over theyears and wishes him many fine adventures down south. Yes, youheard it here- he is moving to North Carolina! We’re sure he’llkeep them on their toes there, too!
Loyola will certainly miss him dearly as well. He was first theirlibrarian and then their tech master extraordinaire. He began atLoyola in 1998 and joined the HVLA board in 1999 as themembership coordinator and then as an adjunct webmaster untilapproximately 2003 although unofficially he continued until2008. Thank you again for everything, Jeff!
Grazie, spacibo, danke and asante to those who participated in my listservpolls and shared their fabulous lesson ideas! A special thank you as well toour guest writer, Karen Gray for her eloquent contribution, and to ourcurrent board and Erin Heaton for their enthusiastic help.
Remember, folks – even when I’m gathering shells, my inbox is alwaysopen. If you have an idea or story you would like to share in our nextnewsletter, please email me at [email protected]
Natasha Bartolf
Communications Coordinator, HVLA
c/o Chapin Library
100 East End Avenue
New York, NY 10028
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