Growing Pains

OK. I am taking a professional development course offered by a colleague in the Brookline Public Schools -- a well-organized, interesting course on Web 2.0 -- the interactive web. I am finding it quite hard to learn the ins and outs of wikis, RSS feeds and related media. I keep telling myself it is good to be challenged, right? It is good to be a student struggling with concepts and skills. I hope I can persist and learn new things! Wish me well. I hope to be able to envision ways to use these new skills as a librarian, and to support good use by students and other teachers.

The technology learning curve for those of us working in libraries -- particularly over the span of the past two decades -- has been enormous. Can you believe that there were few computers in libraries, no email, and our catalogs were drawers full of cards? My early courses in library science and technology dealt with overhead projectors and cassette players, not video data projectors, podcasts, Smart Boards, PowerPoint and blogs! What huge changes there have been. I feel privileged to have been on the scene as unprecedented technology transitions have taken place, though I have hardly felt like a pro. Sometimes I have been led kicking and screaming into a new technology use; other times I have relished mastering a technique that makes a task smoother and more accurately completed. I definitely view technology as a great tool -- a means to an end -- and I enjoy it for that reason: it helps me do the work of a librarian and organize the details of life more effectively. Other people may enjoy using computer technology as a hobby or pleasurable recreation; more power to you. Maybe things will change for me someday, but I am not there yet!

We the People Freedom Bookshelf

The Lawrence School library was lucky enough to win a group of classic books with the theme of freedom, a central concept in our nation's history, through writing a proposal to the National Endowment for the Humanities. The NEH periodically sponsors "We the People" Bookshelves (the newest is "The Pursuit of Happiness," described on its web site at http://www.neh.gov). The books from the Freedom Bookshelf are now on display in the library, and here is an annotated list of titles for your interest:

GRADES K-3:
SAM THE MINUTEMAN by Nathaniel Benchley
As the Revolutionary War begins, a father and son must fight to defend their liberty.
THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES by Paul Goble
A young American Indian girl realizes her dream to live free among the horses she loves.
PAUL REVERE'S RIDE by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A patriot races to warn his countrymen of danger at the onset of the American Revolution.
THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT by Beatrix Potter
A little rabbit tests the limits of his freedom.

GRADES 4-6:
THE HOUSE OF DIES DREAR by Virginia Hamilton
A ghostly presence surrounds a house that was a way station on the Underground Railroad.
BEN AND ME by Robert Lawson
Benjamin Franklin’s times and achievements are recounted by his mouse, Amos.
TO BE A SLAVE by Julie Lester
Men and women who endured slavery provide powerful testimony of life without freedom.
THE COMPLETE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA by C. S. Lewis
These stories of an imaginary land convey lessons about the struggle against oppression.

GRADE 7-8
FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury
A man discovers the liberating power of the written word.
ACROSS FIVE APRILS by Irene Hunt
One boy comes of age as his brothers fight on opposing sides in the Civil War.
THE WITCHES OF BLACKBIRD POND by Elizabeth George Speare
A teenage girl clashes with the way of life in Colonial Connecticut.

Search For Delicious

This week Lawrence School students and parents gathered at a family's home to talk about Natalie Babbitt's book The Search For Delicious. While Babbitt is most well-known for her book Tuck Everlasting, my hope as a librarian is that people will read her other books as each is a gem. I also recommend the audiobook versions of her stories. Babbitt herself narrates The Search For Delicious (with other actors portraying villanous Hemlock, Medley, the Queen, the Prime Minister and others); the story is very easy to listen to and captivating. The Brookline Public Library has a terrific collection of audiobooks for listening pleasure! The link to the Minuteman Library Catalog is http://www.mln.lib.ma.us.