When Friends Recommend Books To Read

Because I was in a reading slump for months now, I posted a request for book recommendations over on Facebook and Twitter. Within minutes, friends sent their replies! Now I have enough titles to consider and acquire until the year ends.

I am sharing the titles I got from book lovers and readers in social media.

1.  Immaculate, Everything, Everything and Little Fires Everywhere
2.  Circe and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
3.  Verity by Colleen Hoover
4.  Mary Russell Mysteries 
5. Sorcery and Cecilia
6. Stargirl 
7. Love, Stargirl.
8. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
9. Wonder by RJ Palacio
10. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver 
11. Becoming by Michelle Obama.
12. America is Not in the Heart by Elaine Castillo
13. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
14. The Last Unicorn
15. Insurrecto
16. Good Omens
17. American Gods
18. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
19. Spinning Silver
20. The Bear and the Nightingale 

From this list, I picked Uprooted by Naomi Novik. The female lead character narrates the story. It is a  first person point of view that is interesting, strong and convicted. The book was published in 2015 and if not for friends, I would have missed this wonder of a story. I will be posting my review, of course! 

3x3: Joseph Marmol Yap’s Top 3 Best Reads of 2018

Librarians are expected to read. We may be too busy running a library, but one way to escape reality is by reading. 

Before the two movies came out, I grabbed a copy of the books and read them. 

1. Love, Simon - A story of a closeted young man who found himself comfortably talking to a stranger in an online world thru email because they have the same situation. Eventually, he fell in love with Blue, his 'email-pal'. The story gave hope to teens in accepting who they really are.

2. Crazy Rich Asians - This is a love story between an Asian couple who are bound to conquer an American lifestyle. It depicts how Chinese families value their wealth and luxurious life. The Chinese familial culture is highlighted in this book.

Finally, when the John Newbery Medal was awarded to Erin Kelly in 2018, I was curious and found out we have a copy of her book in the library. 

3. Hello, Universe - Is a story of a young boy with a Filipino background. The story infuses Filipino folktales as told by the grandmother. It's a children's novel that tackles bullying and friendship. 

So here it goes, my three book recommendations from 2018. You may have missed the movies, but you can always find a copy of the book in your local bookstore or library.

Joseph Yap, is a Pinoy librarian currently based in Kazakhstan. He is one of the reference librarians of Nazarbayev University Library.

He is the Secretary of the Special Librarians Association, Asia Chapter.

3x3 is a series of blog posts that features three books each with a review of three sentences long. For the month of January, the blog is featuring Filipino Librarians and their top 3 best reads of 2018.
Read the first post here.

Abstract: The School Librarian As Literacy Leader

I am scheduled to speak at the 6th Rizal Library International Conference on Friday, October 23, 2014. I will be sharing the paper I wrote about school librarians and literacy.

This is the new abstract of the paper.

The School Librarian as Literacy Leader

Abstract

The 21st Century presents plenty of opportunities for the school librarian to assume leadership roles. One of these roles is that of a literacy leader. As a literacy leader, the school librarian can influence members of the learning community, particularly its young readers, develop a lifelong love of books and reading. By planning and implementing a variety of literacy programs appropriate for them, the school librarian contributes to the literacy skills development of young learners. The school librarian further supports the learning goals and objectives of the school in this manner.

This paper fleshes out the scope of literacy leadership functions that a school librarian is capable of doing. The school librarian as a literacy leader creates and communicates a vision of literacy to teachers, the school leadership and parents, and follows through with the techniques and strategies for it to become a reality. School library standards, academic papers and research based articles are used to amplify this leadership role thus, making the school librarian a valuable member of the learning community.

Five school librarians are interviewed to provide examples and models of literacy programs implemented in their respective libraries. These school librarians are involved in planning and implementing literacy programs in their school libraries. Networking and collaborating with students, teachers, staff, school leaders and parents make a big difference in fulfilling literacy leadership roles. Assessment and evaluation, tracking of students’ literacy growth, and budgeting are identified as challenges and areas for improvement. In conclusion, a school librarian is a literacy leader when he or she lives out a genuine love for reading and believes that lifelong learning is not a set of skills to be mastered but a philosophy to be actualized.

School Librarians as Literacy Leaders: Abstract

This is the abstract of my paper that got accepted in the 6th Rizal Library International Conference.