COLLECT + CONNECT

During the month of July 2020, fifteen school librarians from around the state participated in a book study facilitated by the SD State Library. The book?  Passionate Readers: The Art of Reaching Engaging Every Child by Pernille Ripp. Laura Kelly, the Children & Youth Services Coordinator at the SD State Library, enrolled in the course and she kindly wrote about her experience. ...from Laura Kelly I have worked at the South Dakota State Library (SDSL) for the past two years. I serve 110 public libraries in South Dakota which include combination school/public libraries.  I help librarians provide literacy programs for children, teens, and adults. One way I am able to serve others is by actively participating in continuing education as a learner. I started my career in education teaching reading as a Title I teacher in North Dakota and then I transferred into an elementary school librarian teaching position. I taught for a total of ten years and then transitioned into the p...

Like a Bitmoji classroom, a Bitmoji library is a virtual replica of a real library. This article,  Educators Turn to Bitmoji to Build Community and Engagement , covered much of what you'd need to know before embarking on your own Bitmoji project. Click/tap the image below to view my project that reads more as a Bimoji wall than a Bitmoji library/classroom. That's the cool thing about this concept - it can be whatever you want because it's really just a fancy hyperdoc . Speaking from personal experience, this project was somewhat time-consuming . You will also need to have decent Google Docs skills to not get super frustrated. BUT.... it's a fun way to improve your digital literacy skills while also supporting your work and your patrons. A Bitmoji library/classroom can be a creative way to deliver information and resources to your patrons or lessons and concepts to your students. It's also a way to differentiate instruction and allow for deeper learning. Access  an e...

The library at John Harris Elementary in Sioux Falls, SD is now home to a book vending machine  named Inchy. The Argus Leader published an article that highlighted the machine’s tie to literacy at John Harris Elementary. I reached out to teacher-librarian Stefanie Hage with the hopes of gathering more details about this fun addition. Perhaps, you'll be inspired to acquire your own machine or perhaps you'll take away one of the neat embedded ideas that make this a dynamic addition to the library and to school-wide literacy efforts. Read on to learn more from Hage: Inchy came to be when a teacher found the idea and our principal, Mrs. Dobberpuhl, shared it with me. From there, s everal staff members started collaborating to bring this idea to our school.  We spent a lot of time developing a plan to share and engage with students and staff. Together, we designed posters, made video clips, and created codes for cracking that gave clues to students. We also worked togeth...

For a week each September, school libraries and other types of libraries celebrate National Banned Books Week. The week spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and in schools. Each year plays on a different theme and this year's theme was “Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark: Keep the Light On.” ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/bannedbooksweek/ Check out this article from the Brookings Register  about how high school teacher-librarian Jean Kirschenman worked with another educator to teach students about topics such as censorship, democracy, and the freedom to read. Spoiler alert: a cool breakout room activity was involved! brookingsregister.com Of course, this subject doesn't start and end in one week, to learn more about the topic of banned books and censorship visit  ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom webpage. ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/bannedbooksweek/