2011 APA book cover design winners

Among the children and young adult book cover winners at the 2011 Australian Publishers' Association awards, you can find:

Best designed children's cover of the year

Best designed children's fiction book

Joint winners of the best-designed children's nonfiction book

Best designed children's picture book

Best designed children's series

Best designed young adult book

Best designed secondary education book

See all the awards, adult and children's, with the authors/designers and all on Fancy Goods, the Bookseller and Publisher magazine's blog here:

http://www.fancygoods.com.au/fancy-goods/2011/05/20/2011-apa-book-design-awards-winners/

It's interesting to see what gets industry awards like these; they're not always the ones the kids grab first. I'm sometimes hugely disappointed in book covers - the blurb sounds promising but the cover just ain't gonna grab the customers.  We get some great ones, but others (if I know that what's inside is worth the work) I'll do my best to hand-sell; but I can't hand-sell everything, and covers certainly matter.

One book I wish someone would re-issue with a modern, appealing cover is a teenage fiction book called, "A time to love, a time to mourn" by Paige Dixon (which I think was originally published with a title like, "Will you cross my golden river?".  It's a superb, well written family story, an unsentimental tearjerker - I still have a copy in the library, but it's a hard hard sell, so dated does the cover look.  Any publisher listening - ???

Congratulations to all those involved in the books above.

Cheers

Ruth

A Glog of school library links

Now and then I take a squizz at the blog stats, and look at the ways people find Skerricks - via Google, or Google Reader, or Twitter, or Bing, or Unknown...

And a little while ago I came across this source:




Which gives you a whole bunch of useful school library links. Thanks for including my name (and thus Skerricks!).  If the above doesn't work for some reason, here is the original link:
http://edu.glogster.com/glog.php?glog_id=14697435&scale=100

Cheers

Ruth

Free images for education

If there is a better list of images for educational use (that are free) than the one assembled and blogged on Edubeacon, let me know.  But I suspect not.  Don't forget to share this one with your teaching colleagues.

Cheers

Ruth

Outfitting a teacher librarian for the 21st century

If yesterday's blog entry was lowering to your spirits, here's an alternative view: Joyce Valenza on the skills needed by a teacher librarian in the 21st century:
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/888448-312/fully_loaded_outfitting_a_teacher.html.csp

Always handy, lists like these, so you can give yourself pats on the back for the stuff you know and new directions to explore in the things you haven't yet tried.  Doesn't just apply to teacher librarians either, but all teachers...

Cheers

Ruth

[headdesk!], then blushes and says Thank You!

Better late than never...

Thank you for whoever nominated (and voted for) Skerricks in the 2010 Edublog Awards!

Very kind of you, and most appreciated.  To be selected for the shortlist in such august (international) company (go read that list for some fabulous library/librarian blogs!) is a great honour.  That page will link you to the winners and the nomination list (Dopey Dora here didn't realise until, like, now, like, when it's all over and finalised!! - although mid-December last year, the end of term and the school year, was a tad busy...).

Cheers

Ruth

Historical Facebook: and more links that you thought possible.

The wonderful SLAV blog, Bright Ideas, has a brilliant entry today about how to use the format of Facebook (not the site itself) for a biography task; and links to a freely-available template.

Find it here.

Another blog that is a constant cornucopia of wonderful links is Anne Weaver's Reading Power.  Just toddle over there regularly and you'll find roundup after roundup of links, ideas, inspiration.  She's the blog I've featured on our school's (internal) staff blog this week.

Find Reading Power here.

Will Richardson (Weblogg-ed) offers in his most recent blog entry some thought-provoking and challenging ideas about Unlearning Teaching.  Worth reading and thinking about, and talking about with colleagues.

These blogs are in my blogroll (over in the right hand column).  Don't forget to check this regularly, as it shows the most recent entry for each blog - always something good to be found there.

Tagxedo (tag clouds With Style) was one of the Web 2.0 tools I mentioned at the WeSSSTA conference presentation I gave last night.  I've been amused to see the Sydney Morning Herald use Tagxedo to create graphics related to the election - eg. the party leaders' launch speeches.

Cheers

Ruth

Top 10 customer service skills for library staff

From this terrific blog entry at The Learning Round Table, A Collaborative Learning Experiment: Top Ten Customer Service Skills for Library Staff:

1. Greet every customer
2. Be aware of non-verbal clues
3. Listen
4. Restate the problem or question
5. Be empathetic
6. Provide alternatives to “No”
7. Reserve judgment
8. Get (back) to them as soon as possible
9. Follow your gut instinct
10. Thank them for using the library

Trust me.  Go and read the entire article.  Then (as I did) pat yourself on the back for what you do; and work out what you can do better, or start doing.  One to share with all library staff.  From a customer's point of view, that list is the service you'd like to get, isn't it?

And is this customer service replaced by the internet?

I think not.

Cheers

Ruth

Libraries and librarians as sponsors of literacy

An excellent slideshow presentation from Buffy J. Hamilton.

Libraries and Librarians As Sponsors of Literacy

View more presentations from Buffy Hamilton.

Plenty of food for thought, for teachers as well as teacher librarians.  Found via Twitter.

Cheers

Ruth

The happy life of teacher librarians visits New Zealand

At the King's High School in New Zealand, Mrs Schaumann is certainly enjoying the happy life of teacher librarians - I chuckled at the delightful entries in her blog about the Tuesday lunchtime tradition in her library, and what happens when a teacher gets hold of a useful website (with printables) and a pair of scissors...
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Her blog's over there in my bloglist, if you would like to keep an ongoing eye on it (as I do!).
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Yay for the happy life of teacher librarians everywhere!
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Cheers
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Ruth
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Post No. 401

Just thought I'd note that in less than two years this blog is up to 400 posts.  Not bad going!  Given that I only dip my toe in the many possibilities for school libraries and teacher librarians, it's mindboggling to think how much is out there to discover and deploy.
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It's also rather nice to think of all those ideas shared rather than hoarded - just  lovely to think of other schools trying some of the ideas from here, of the kids enjoying them and the TLs enjoying the kids' pleasure/success/progress and the changes in their libraries.  It can only be good.  Thank you to all who read, comment and share ideas.
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I'm guessing most of you have come to this blog over time.  I went back to look at my first entry, back in February 2008, and it's still apt:

Whaffor?

I keep tripping over useful stuff on the net that's worth a) having in one spot so *I* can find it again and b) having in one spot so others can find it if they wish to.

Being a teacher librarian is a great job. It's changed so much in twenty-coughcough years, but it's still a great job. Just not enough time to sit and drink Diet Coke and read the newspaper, like people seem to think you do, but hey, every job has its cliches.

(Dang, I'm working the bun and glasses thing today - only it's too hot to not have your hair out of the way, and the glasses are a genetic gift from Grandpa. Can't win 'em all...).

So welcome to my virtual office. Pull up a pew. Post a comment. Share useful things you've found that I can add here for other teacher librarians. But bring your own Diet Coke...! And if you were in my real office, you could dig into the jellybean jar. Jellybean diplomacy is damn fine stuff.
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I went to Ikea this evening, and there are SO MANY ideas there, lots of them inexpensive, that school libraries could use.  No, I'm not paid anything by Ikea: that's an unsponsored observation from a long-time fan of their design creativity and often ingenious solutions.  The latest catalogue is out and you can browse it here.  One of the 'co-workers' at Ikea told me that they had 25,000 people through the Rhodes/Homebush Bay [Sydney] store last Sunday - by gosh that's a lot! (glad I wasn't there then!).
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Cheers
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Ruth
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PS.  Yes, I did buy a couple of things for school this evening.  Surely you're not surprised?!

If you like this blog (or another school library one)....

...then you might like to toddle over here and see if you feel inspired.  It would be fraffly encouraging to 'umble blogwriters, toiling away to bring the light of knowledge etc to the world.  Or in the case of this particular blog, hoping to entertain and inform you while entertaining and informing myself with the happy life of teacher librarians.

Cheers

Ruth

The human strengths of libraries

From this wise, thought-provoking blog entry by Kathryn Greenhill:

I think our strengths over large ubiquitous sites like Amazon, Google and Wikipedia are – or should be:

• our deep, human knowledge of the people in our community who use us 
• our deep, human knowledge of people in our community who do not use us  
• our deep, human knowledge of the specific information resources needed by our community  
• our deep, human knowledge of how our community wants to find and discover information 
• our deep, human knowledge of locally produced information  
• our human ability to provide many different services to the same individual by our knowledge of them as people 
• our human ability to anticipate desires and to delight our local community  
• our buildings as a social hub for our local community

 Some of my own thoughts: the kids who come in to say hello, or who want someone to say hello to them.  The kids who want to share the book they love, the thing that's happened, something they've made, something to be celebrated or mourned or shared or asked about.  All the body language and tone of voice stuff that's not the exact words being uttered, but how they're being said, and maybe why, and therefore how we might/could/should react.  The place our library can have in the school's community and events (I'm just gearing up for our regular contribution to Spirit Week at the end of this term).  All those corridor/hallway interactions with staff that can lead to more in relation to the library.
 
I love how blog entries like this one from Kathryn Greenhill help me to think about my work, and how to do it better.  Go read the whole thing.
 
Cheers
 
Ruth 

The future of libraries

While it's written from the point of view of academic and public libraries more than school ones, Kathryn Greenhill's blog entry here has a lot of food for thought on the future of libraries, synthesizing input from a number of sources. (She's one of the authors of the Darien Statements I blogged about a few days ago). 

If you don't follow her blog, Librarians Matter, I'd recommend it - it's over on the right in my blog roll, so when you come by to read Skerricks, you can check out what's on other blogs of related interest too.

Cheers, Ruth

DIY inservice on culling/weeding

The CREW method - Continuous Review, Evaluation and Weeding - is one way to keep your collection current, your shelves appealing and your library effective.  If it's a while since you thought in depth about your collection development procedures in relation to weeding - or if you just want an update - then try the CREW: A Weeding Manual for Libraries.  Bunch of good ideas there to think about and apply in your library.  I've been culling away at our collection this last while, and the shelves look the better for it.

Shane at Bundy High had some good thoughts about culling recently - read more here.

Cheers, Ruth

Create Readers: NZ book blog

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Read more here.  It's also in my bloglist on the sidebar, so you can see the latest entry there.

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Cheers, Ruth

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"5 things I didn't think I'd be working on when I decided to become a librarian"

This is the title of this entry on the Libraries Interact blog, in which the author, inspired by another blog entry, muses on the changes she's seen in her chosen profession.

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So the inevitable question: what would my five things be?

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And I get a little bit stuck, because I know that there are all sorts of new things - computers, and how everything I learned how to work in Educational Technology in the early 1980s is irrelevant now.  The internet is here, and hypertext.  Software that can do things I never imagined.  All sorts of things. 

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And yet, hurrah and hurray for the things that are still here.  The utter delight of sharing books with kids.  Seeing that kid in the corner, curled up reading, lost to the world and caught by the words.  The chance to make a difference in the lives of kids, to give them opportunities, to help them learn, watch them learn, learn from them, whatever the information source or topic.  The opportunity to work with staff, in the library and in the wider work of the school, as part of that enterprise.  I never thought anything but that each year would bring new books to enjoy; and every year has done so (thank you, authors!).

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And, to be even-handed, the other things that haven't changed in over twenty years, either.  No, there is no eating or drinking in the library.  Please put your rubbish in the bin.  Yes.  That bin.  Yes, it's there.  Red.  Quite easy to see.  Isn't it.  Thank you.  Quiet down please.  Yes, I'll see if I can solve that technical problem for you.  Yes, the book is still overdue.  Actually, you can check the due date.  We stamp it in every book.  See? There.  Yes.  OK.  Bring it back tomorrow.  Stop running, this isn't the Olympic stadium.  OK, both of you be silent and I'll listen to you one at a time so we can sort this out.  Where's your uniform note for those shoes?  Yes, I can lend you a pen/paper/eraser/pencil sharpener/etc.  Line up, please.  Bags on the rack, books out, get yourselves ready.  Sit down there, please.  There.  I'll speak with you in a moment.  Photocopier jammed?  Be with you in a tic.  What information were you hoping to find?  Ah, Mr/Ms/Mrs X, how can I make your life better?

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Sound familiar?  (I borrowed the last one from Jerry Maguire - one has to be careful with tone, but it's a GREAT line, used properly.  People just shine when they know you care.... or grin when they know you care AND think you're tossing a line their way. (When I reread that italic section, I wonder if Joyce Grenfell's famous line just summed it all up: George, don't do that).

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So five things?  Can't do it right now.  But the article's food for thought on where I am now, and where things might go, and all the stuff that doesn't change while kids are kids and growing up.  And I'm grateful that in the state and system in which I work, a teacher librarian is still found in every school and kids can benefit from what we uniquely offer.

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Your thoughts, or your five things?

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Cheers, Ruth

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The YouTube is audio of Joyce Grenfell's nursery sketch including "George, don't do that".  If you haven't heard it before, or for a while, treat yourself.  Part of the joy is never precisely knowing WHAT George is doing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oom2EPuNPv8

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If you build it...

Just as a snapshot of this blog in the middle of its second year... (if you click on the images you'll be able to see larger versions).
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People from everywhere!  Thank you!
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Total counter: 24,721.  13 Bloglines subscribers, 8 Blogger followers.
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319 blog entries. (Dunno how many words...!)
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It's fascinating to see how an online presence is established - how people find this blog, how many, which posts have been most popular.  And then the challenge is to keep it fresh and engaging.  My first audience is me - I'm recording what catches my attention, for any of a number of reasons (amuses, intrigues, provokes...) as part of the terrific, fascinating, sometimes frustrating, always challenging and so often rewarding profession of being a teacher librarian in Australia in the early twentyfirst century. 
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And then, if this blog is useful to others, especially teacher librarians, that's great too.
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So thanks for dropping by - particularly if you're a regular - and see you again!
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Cheers, Ruth
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Tomorrow belongs...

...to work.  Or at least being back to work.  But judging by the upshot in visitors, some of you regulars were back at work today.  Hello!
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Had a nice moment today, as I was looking at the blog stats.  Alison over at The Story Space mentions Skerricks as her favourite TL blog, and lists it in her Librarian Idol list.  Woohoo!  Thanks Alison!  Always good to find another blog I want on my blog list over there on the right.  One of her blog entries is a great list of postmodern picture books.
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I've written up some entries for the coming days of term 2 - free things, wonderful things, and what we painted in the holidays...stay tuned.
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Do leave a comment if something's been useful, or you can add more info, or suggest a link, or otherwise add to the value this blog can have for others.
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So.  Term 2.  Winter.  Plenty on the slate, the school year in full gear.  But today I'm still on hols.  Tomorrow belongs to school (insert own musical accompaniment).
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Cheers, Ruth

Libworm: library search engine

Read more here.

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Skerricks in the world (thank you!)

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Ah, the Skerricks influence extends...(yesterday we had over 1200 page views - that's A-mazing!).  Here's a school that's running with the bookmarks idea.  Lots of ideas on the Salesian College blog - take a look.

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