I am copying below a list of library quotations I have compiled over the years. While this is not directly related to School Library Learning, I received a request from Jackie Siminitus, one of the creators of the program, to post them on my blog. Feel free to enjoy them.
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
-William James
Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century.
-S.J. Perelman
For books are more than books, they are the life, the very heart and core of ages past.
-Amy Lowell
Technology: opening minds with a new set of keys.
-Anonymous
The books that help you most are those which make you think the most.
-Theodore Parker
The newest books are those that never grow old.
-George Holbrook Jackson
Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught.
-George Savile
The end of reading is not more books but more life.
-Holbrook Jackson
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
-Henry Adams
Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital.
-Thomas Jefferson
Books are not men and yet they stay alive.
-Stephen Vincent Benet
Education is what you get when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get when you don’t.
-Pete Seeger
A book is a most delightful companion. It gives, and does not take.
-Moses Ibn Ezra
A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.
-Henry Ward Beecher
Without education, you are not going anywhere in this world.
-Malcolm X
Everything you need for a better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library.
-Jim Rohn
The librarian’s recipe for long life: keep breathing.
-The Frugal Librarian
Books have the power to make time stand still, retreat, or fly into the future.
-Jim Bishop
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.
-Harper Lee
Man is what he reads.
-Joseph Brodsky
He that loves reading, has everything within his reach.
-William Godwin
Every book must be chewed to get out its juice.
-Chinese Proverb
The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.
-Mary McLeod Bethune
Books are the door of escape from the forest.
-E.B. White
All books are divisible into two classes, the books of the hour, and the books of all the time.
-John Ruskin
What you don’t know would make a great book.
-Sydney Smith
What is reading, but silent conversation.
-Walter Savage Landor
Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.
-W. Fusselman
Freedom of the press only has real meaning if people know how to read.
-The Frugal Librarian
You don’t have to burn the books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.
-Ray Bradbury
The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests: just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes
As I read, my ears are opened to the magic of the spoken word.
-Richard Wright
A room without books is like a body without a soul.
-Cicero
If I couldn’t read, I couldn’t live.
-Thelma Green
Books are humanity in print.
-Barbara Tuchman
A book may be compared to a neighbor; if it be good, it cannot last too long; if bad, you cannot get rid of it too early.
-Rupert Brooke
That is a good bookwhich is opened with expectation, and closed with delight and profit.
-A. Bronson Alcott
Books are quiet. They do not dissolve into wavy lines or snowstorm effects. They do not pause to deliver commercials. They are three-dimensional, having length, breadth and depth. They are convenient to handle and completely portable.
-Anonymous
If the riches of the riches of the Indies, or the crowns of all the kingdoms in Europe, were laid at my feet in exchange for my love of reading, I would spurn them all.
_Francois Fenelon
Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some to be chewed and digested.
-Francis Bacon
No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.
-Lady Mary Montague
There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.
-Joseph Brodsky
What better book can there be than the book of humanity.
-Mohandas Gandhi
There are three basic rules about library research; unfortunately, no one remembers what they are.
-The Frugal Library
A real book is not the one that we read, but that read us.
_W.H. Auden
The man ho does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.
-Mark Twain
In the main, there are two sorts of books: those that no one reads and those that no one ought to read.
-H.L. Mencken
Books are not made for furniture. But there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes the home.
-Henry Ward Beecher
I am a part of everything that I have read.
-John Kieran
Doctors bury their mistakes. Lawyers hang them. Librarians put theirs on the book sale shelf.
-The Frugal Librarian
Our concern for the future can be tested by how well we support our libraries.
-Carl Sagan, Cosmos
The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites,it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.
-Elizabeth Hardwick
When the sun rises, nature wakes up; when a book is read, the mind is enlightened.
-Mongolian Saying
The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts: monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on.
-Clarence Day
My books are water; those of the great geniuses are wine-everybody drinks water.
-Mark Twain
After all manner of professors have done their best for us, the place we are to get knowledge is in books.
-Thomas Carlyle
Read in order to live.
-Gustave Flaubert
A library is thought in cold storage.
-Herbert Samuel
A library is a hospital for the mind.
-Anonymous
I think it is good that books still exist, but they make me sleepy.
-Frank Zappa
We are what we read.
-Richard Saul Wurman
Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.
-Mortimer J. Adler
To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
-Edmund Burke
To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.
-W. Somerset Maugham
Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled.
-Barbara Tuchman
A great book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted at the end. You should live several lives while reading it.
-William Styron
Librarian is a service occupation ... gas station attendant to the mind.
- Richard Powers
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Week 8, #19
After much anticipation, and forcing myself to carry out all the previous activities in order, I now have a LibraryThing account! What fun! Long before personal computers were invented, I went to a session on booktalking given by Joni Bodart at a California school library conference. One of the pointers she gave was to keep a written file of all the books you've read, with either your booktalk itself or enough detail to enable you to give an enticing booktalk to students. She told us that no matter how much you love a book, time and more books in your brain will be obstacles to your memory. Over the more than 25 years since I got that advice, I have filled old catalog drawers with the summaries of the books I've read, written on the backs of discarded catalog cards. I include call number, author, title, which library has the book, the month and date I read it and enough of a summary to help me give an effective book talk. Of course, since this file is pre-computer, there are no tags to help me find mysteries, "boy" books or any other category. Also, since my librarian brain decided to file by author, sometimes I have to search in the catalog to find the author of a book for which I can recall only the title. LibraryThing complements my file perfectly, but the best part is it connects me to others who have read the books I've read!
To start my file, I put in books I've already read, beginning with the book I just finished and loved, Honey, baby, sweetheart, by Deb Caletti. While I was reading it I drove everyone around me (usually my husband) crazy by laughing out loud often. Although there is some serious subject matter, the author's descriptions and tossed-off lines are little jewels. I also put in several other books that stick in my memory, since I'm writing from home and my "books read" file is at work. While some of my books are on other LibraryThing folks' lists, two nonfiction titles I included, The Hot zone and A Shining season, are not on anyone else's lists. Hmm, wonder what that means? My LibraryThing account name is elliege.
I also have an excel spreadsheet on my computer at work with books I want to read. In addition to author, title and call number, I have categories like World Lit, Easy reading, etc. I have a column to enter the month and date after I've read the book, so I can see what progress I'm making in reading it all. I can see importing this into my Zoho Writer account, created in a previous activity, so I can access it from any computer. I can also add these titles to my LibraryThing account with a "to read" tag, and find other readers who have already read them. When I took the LibraryThing tour, I learned that the limit for a free account is 200 books. That will force a decision as to whether I delete titles, or just go for broke by continuing to add and become a paid subscriber. I'd be interesting in hearing from others about what they decided to do when they got to the limit.....
To start my file, I put in books I've already read, beginning with the book I just finished and loved, Honey, baby, sweetheart, by Deb Caletti. While I was reading it I drove everyone around me (usually my husband) crazy by laughing out loud often. Although there is some serious subject matter, the author's descriptions and tossed-off lines are little jewels. I also put in several other books that stick in my memory, since I'm writing from home and my "books read" file is at work. While some of my books are on other LibraryThing folks' lists, two nonfiction titles I included, The Hot zone and A Shining season, are not on anyone else's lists. Hmm, wonder what that means? My LibraryThing account name is elliege.
I also have an excel spreadsheet on my computer at work with books I want to read. In addition to author, title and call number, I have categories like World Lit, Easy reading, etc. I have a column to enter the month and date after I've read the book, so I can see what progress I'm making in reading it all. I can see importing this into my Zoho Writer account, created in a previous activity, so I can access it from any computer. I can also add these titles to my LibraryThing account with a "to read" tag, and find other readers who have already read them. When I took the LibraryThing tour, I learned that the limit for a free account is 200 books. That will force a decision as to whether I delete titles, or just go for broke by continuing to add and become a paid subscriber. I'd be interesting in hearing from others about what they decided to do when they got to the limit.....
Week 8, #18
As I explore Zoho Writer, I have looked at the templates in particular. There are 5 resume templates available, designed for specific jobs in business. One, called Fresher, can be adapted for high school students to use either as part of a class assignment or when they are independently searching for a job. This feature is very useful, since the 4 resume templates that used to be on Word seem to have disappeared. Some of the other templates will be useful for a school: student homework schedule, student progress report and multiple choice test. I like the toolbar at the top of the writing screen, mentioned in the site introduction, that includes all the options, without having to select them under View.
The chief advantage of using Zoho Writer at my school will be to eliminate the problem students encounter when they create documents away from school using a different word processing software than our school uses. Since we have migrated away from students using floppy disks to carry their work to and from school, more of them are either using flash drives or email attachments to make their work portable. Even with their comfort at using computers to write their work (Do any of them even know what a typewriter is?), most do not realize the problems they will encounter when trying to open a document created in a different program than the one at school. At least several times a day I help students whose work looks like "Martian writing" at school when it was completely readable on the computer where it was written. Instituting a web-based application like Zoho writer would help eliminate these glitches. However, success depends on students having access to the internet away from school, which not all of our students have at their homes. So, while web-based applications eliminate the disconnect between various word processing programs, they do not level the playing field for those students whose home computer access, if any, may be limited to word processing only, without a printer and web access. They will still have to find internet-connected computers, such as those at the public libraries or a friend's house, but will be unable to write papers online in the middle of the night, a student tradition!
Another smaller glitch is that I read through the FAQ section, and discovered that Safari, one of the internet browsers on our school library computers, does not support Zoho Writer now in the beta version. We do have Firefox available for students in the library and it is supported by Zoho Writer, but this means students must be attentive to which browser they are using if they want to create accounts in Zoho Writer.
I also looked at the spreadsheet, presentation, meeting and other options available. I can see uses for the meeting option in particular at a school, sending the agenda and time specifics ahead of time without using any paper! Another way to be green!
The chief advantage of using Zoho Writer at my school will be to eliminate the problem students encounter when they create documents away from school using a different word processing software than our school uses. Since we have migrated away from students using floppy disks to carry their work to and from school, more of them are either using flash drives or email attachments to make their work portable. Even with their comfort at using computers to write their work (Do any of them even know what a typewriter is?), most do not realize the problems they will encounter when trying to open a document created in a different program than the one at school. At least several times a day I help students whose work looks like "Martian writing" at school when it was completely readable on the computer where it was written. Instituting a web-based application like Zoho writer would help eliminate these glitches. However, success depends on students having access to the internet away from school, which not all of our students have at their homes. So, while web-based applications eliminate the disconnect between various word processing programs, they do not level the playing field for those students whose home computer access, if any, may be limited to word processing only, without a printer and web access. They will still have to find internet-connected computers, such as those at the public libraries or a friend's house, but will be unable to write papers online in the middle of the night, a student tradition!
Another smaller glitch is that I read through the FAQ section, and discovered that Safari, one of the internet browsers on our school library computers, does not support Zoho Writer now in the beta version. We do have Firefox available for students in the library and it is supported by Zoho Writer, but this means students must be attentive to which browser they are using if they want to create accounts in Zoho Writer.
I also looked at the spreadsheet, presentation, meeting and other options available. I can see uses for the meeting option in particular at a school, sending the agenda and time specifics ahead of time without using any paper! Another way to be green!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Week 7, #17
Reading the suggestions and ideas on the California Curriculum Connections wiki demonstrated the wealth of talent and ideas participants in this program possess. I looked at several areas and will revisit them when I have more time to follow up on some intriguing ideas. Several contributors on the wiki section mentioned having book discussion groups for teachers and students, which is an idea I want to institute in my high school.
I got another idea while reading the list. During the last week, I had students interview me for a class project, wanting to know about events that have happened at our school in the 12 years I've worked there. While I have witnessed some major events, we have staff members and teachers who graduated from our school and came back later to work there, who would have the perspective of both students and staff. In addition, in the last 10 years many teachers who have taught at our school for 25-30+ years have retired. Creating a school history wiki would capture the personal memories of teachers, other staff and current and former students in a public forum that is accessible to all interested parties. Making it a wiki, rather than in print, allows us to enlist the participation of retired teachers and others who are no longer on campus regularly or who have moved out of the area. I can see this wiki becoming a rich source of school history that expands and enriches the annual school yearbook.
I got another idea while reading the list. During the last week, I had students interview me for a class project, wanting to know about events that have happened at our school in the 12 years I've worked there. While I have witnessed some major events, we have staff members and teachers who graduated from our school and came back later to work there, who would have the perspective of both students and staff. In addition, in the last 10 years many teachers who have taught at our school for 25-30+ years have retired. Creating a school history wiki would capture the personal memories of teachers, other staff and current and former students in a public forum that is accessible to all interested parties. Making it a wiki, rather than in print, allows us to enlist the participation of retired teachers and others who are no longer on campus regularly or who have moved out of the area. I can see this wiki becoming a rich source of school history that expands and enriches the annual school yearbook.
Week 7, #16
Having a passing acquaintance with wikis, I was glad to have the time and resources to learn about them more in depth. While the Library success wiki is for all types of libraries, I did not find as much as I had hoped that would be relevant for schools. I found the sample school wiki much more interesting, since it included classes, announcements, etc. Joyce Valenza's teacherlibrarian wiki, like all her work, has useful and direct applications for my job. I found the Very Cool Ideas and the Booklists especially useful. In addition, the organization scheme makes sense to me. I can see using and contributing to this wiki as a valuable supporting tool, so much so that I emailed Joyce that I would like to contribute to it.
The Book Lovers wiki is what I have had in mind for my school. Having the book covers on the screen with the comments adds a nice touch. I have had a goal of connecting students who like reading particular genres. Before the internet, one vehicle was to have written reviews in binders in the library, sorted by genre. Having computer applications that replace this provides more opportunities for interaction among the students, even though they may not know each other in person or have time to participate in a face to face library/book club. As a method of encouraging and supporting reading, wikis meet students online, where their comfort level may be an important factor in enticing them to contribute.
The Book Lovers wiki is what I have had in mind for my school. Having the book covers on the screen with the comments adds a nice touch. I have had a goal of connecting students who like reading particular genres. Before the internet, one vehicle was to have written reviews in binders in the library, sorted by genre. Having computer applications that replace this provides more opportunities for interaction among the students, even though they may not know each other in person or have time to participate in a face to face library/book club. As a method of encouraging and supporting reading, wikis meet students online, where their comfort level may be an important factor in enticing them to contribute.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Week 6, #15
Having read all the perspectives on Library 2.0 from the list, I found some were much more relevant to my practice than others. "Away from Icebergs" has several points that caused me to think about how school libraries have changed during my career, using technology to deliver better service and enable patrons to give feedback and suggestions. The notion of having print materials "just in case" patrons need them is a luxury I have never enjoyed, having to operate within the constraints of a public school library budget. In fact, having materials available for patrons online for which there would not be sufficient shelf space, has increased the amount of information students have at their disposal. Also, this format allows multiple patrons to use the same title simultaneously, which would never have been possible with print format. The point about "user education" is also especially pertinent to schools, since teacher librarians spend much time educating both staff and students about the most efficient and effective methods to use in searches. When I consider any database for purchase, I examine how easily a patron can use it successfully without any prior instruction. This factor goes along with another idea from the article about the "come to us" model. Since all our school library's online resources, databases and ebooks, are available for remote use, patrons who use them away from school must be able to find what they need, since help is not at hand. Certainly, advanced features can be explained at school, but basic searches must yield satisfactory results. Remote access bypasses the "come to us" model of service, enabling students and staff to do research outside library hours. In addition, as I tell students, they have no excuse for neglecting their research as long as they have access to an internet connected computer, since I hand out bookmarks listing the URLs, user names and passwords for remote access to all the library's online resources. Parents and teachers take great pleasure in this ability afforded their students.
A point from "Into a new world of librarianship" I appreciated is that Library 2.0 embraces Web 2.0 while using technology to enhance services. As school libraries began to automate, I met some administrators who believed that simply putting the library's catalog on a computer would automatically make students better learners, increase test scores and raise literacy rates. Teacher librarians must always choose applications and materials judiciously, not simply for the sake of using technology.
A point in the wikipedia article about Library 2.0 mentions how users can get involved in designing library services and take a participatory role. While students in every library where I have worked have offered suggestions that have led to more and better service, Library 2.0 exponentially increases the opportunity to do so, and adds methods for patrons to contribute content, a major shift.
A point from "Into a new world of librarianship" I appreciated is that Library 2.0 embraces Web 2.0 while using technology to enhance services. As school libraries began to automate, I met some administrators who believed that simply putting the library's catalog on a computer would automatically make students better learners, increase test scores and raise literacy rates. Teacher librarians must always choose applications and materials judiciously, not simply for the sake of using technology.
A point in the wikipedia article about Library 2.0 mentions how users can get involved in designing library services and take a participatory role. While students in every library where I have worked have offered suggestions that have led to more and better service, Library 2.0 exponentially increases the opportunity to do so, and adds methods for patrons to contribute content, a major shift.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Week 6, #14
As I looked around Technorati, I enjoyed searching using "School Library Learning 2.0" to find related sites. Some sites had all three words, while most had only one or two of the search terms. I enjoyed finding a few blogs that were specifically related to school libraries and Web 2.0 technologies. One was from a first year teacher librarian at an independent school who was running into roadblocks getting the students connected to the web. The problem was the school's technology limiting searches by students due to legal constraints. Another blog gave credit to teacher librarians for trying to teach up to date web 2.0 skills to students while hampered by lack of resources themselves.
I also looked around the basic Technorati web site, both on the home page and in various categories. I tried another search, using the tags Books and Reading, and found some interesting posts about books the writers are reading, have read, want to read, etc. Much of what I'm learning about tagging reminds me of the days (long ago!) when I had to catalog and classify all the library books myself, before this service was available from vendors. I would try to include all the possible subjects patrons would use, in order to increase the chances they would find the most useful titles. In many ways, tagging seems to be the electronic method of maximizing the number of online searchers directed to a related post.
I also looked around the basic Technorati web site, both on the home page and in various categories. I tried another search, using the tags Books and Reading, and found some interesting posts about books the writers are reading, have read, want to read, etc. Much of what I'm learning about tagging reminds me of the days (long ago!) when I had to catalog and classify all the library books myself, before this service was available from vendors. I would try to include all the possible subjects patrons would use, in order to increase the chances they would find the most useful titles. In many ways, tagging seems to be the electronic method of maximizing the number of online searchers directed to a related post.
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