SLIA: First Monthly Posts

In keeping with a blogging tradition, here are monthly first posts from December 2011 to January 2011, along with first lines from each post.

December 2011 - Reading List for Teens: Just today I finished putting together a list of recommended reads for teens.

November 2011 - Picture Book Month: Picture books are for all ages!

October 2011 - 19th Children's Month @ the NLP - Photos from the Opening Ceremonies of the 19th Children's Month at the National Library of the Philippines.

September 2011 KISS Bookreview - I have been reading.

August 2011 Books for My Birtrhday - August is my birthday month.

July 2011 Lolo Jose: Nagbabasa, Binabasa - It is July and the PBBY will spearhead the celebration of National Children's Book Day on 19 July 2011.

June 2011 Filipino Librarian: Jocelyn Ladlad - While in Baguio for a conference last month, I was billeted in a cottage located at Teachers Camp.

May 2011 Repairing and Restoring the Noli and the El Fili - The Germans! They are here!

April 2011 Tales From the 7,000 Isles Book Cover

March 2011 On the Wings of Literacy - Been riding on the wings of literacy the past few weeks and here are some pics to share with you!

February 2011 Loving Books and Libraries in the Time of ICT - January is done.

January 2011 The Games We Play: RPG Metanoia Movie Review - You know you've seen a good movie when you talk about it with great interest hours after having watched it.

On Libraries Going Digital

I am re-posting an opinionated comment by Rey Llenor on a post I did last 1 December 2010 on Reading as a RIGHT. I chose to respond but will wait for next year to post it up in the blog. For the meantime, read on and do comment if the spirit prompts you to!

Rey Llonor
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 12:43:00 AM

I love libraries as much as I love reading. But, library for me is not just an enclave of reading materials. More so, reading is no longer a monopoly of print materials. You can do the same reading sense with the use of modern gadgets.

For me, the primary function of a library is an information center. What if, you could get the information you need at the comfort of your home? Years ago, it's possible if you can afford to buy an Encyclopaedia Britannica worth thousands of pesos. I myself dreamed of having a set in our home. Unfortunately, we couldn't afford to have even the cheapest one (a segunda-mano). I believed I'm not the only one who grew up without an encyclopedia at home.

But, time has changed. When I was tasked to handle Britannica Online division here in the Philippines, I introduced the Britannica Online Virtual Library Card (vCard). In itself a complete library with five major Britannica references, 840 e-Journals and e-Magazines, over 6,500 eBooks and Original Source documents, over 6,800 downloadable videos and animations and more at price that even an ordinary labourer can afford to pay for his family use (actually it cost just the same a two McDonald's meals),

So who said that we need to have "functional libraries" when we can afford to have one with the vCard?

In fact, my advocacy is against print materials. Imagine if you are to give a piece of book in every Filipino student of 17 million, how many trees are you going to cut down to create papers? For every ton of paper, you need to cut down 17 trees! We're experiencing the impact of it with the flooding of our country.

I maybe wrong with this thinking for print materials. But let's face it, an iPad or Kindle could handle thousands of ebooks or digital references which could save thousands of trees against printed ones. God bless us all!

Maligayang Pasko!

Library Signages

Found some good ones via Tully News Info.

Picture! Picture!

Quickie Reviews: Study Skills for Teens

The holiday season has been wicked! The blog's been sleeping for weeks. Here's a list of book reviews in brief. I have taken this from my list of recommended reads in the library. Hoping to blog more the coming days since school's out on Christmas break.

a. Your Guide to Effective Studying by Jenny King - King shares six steps to becoming a better student. She helps readers establish a focus at the start of the academic year -- setting goals and keeping track; following through and reflecting on progress, failures included. Time management, good nutrition and a stable support system are added to the list as strategies to keep in becoming a better learner.

b. Study Skills for the the International Baccalaureate by John Tomkinson - Comprehensive in scope and coverage, the readers will find the book useful in all aspect of studies under the IB umbrella. Tomkinson orients the student to imminent success and possible failure in academics. So he warns IB students: BEWARE! Surfing the web can be addictive. You may find yourself wasting valuable time following up irrelevant leads.

c. Study Skills in English by Michael Wallace - For teachers who teach university bound students and students who are SERIOUS at attending university, the book covers topics on reading varied academic texts; taking notes (yes, even with a laptop, this is an essential skill!); using library resources; taking part in discussions and managing time. Includes task assessment worksheets for teacher and student, assisting them in charting progress and otherwise.

Some websites worthy of your time on this topic --

For teachers and parents who wish to help and support their teenagers become independent learners, Kids Health discuss positive learning.

A document to download on tips and techniques on studying better.

We can teach our teens to think. We can teach them to study too!

Children and Climate Change

The 2nd Asian Children's Museum Conference drums up the issue of climate change and its effect on children.



From the website of Museo Pambata -- Feb 2 to 4, 2012 Join our 2nd Asian Children's Museum Conference! Global warming has many causes and only one solution: YOU! Join us as we bring speakers from all around the world to discuss how we and our children can help Mother Earth in the fight against climate change. Visit www.museopambata.org/acmc for more details. Early bird rates apply until December!

A PBBY Christmas!

Last night was PBBY's Christmas Party at Nina Lim-Yuson's place. She's been hosting the parties since forever. And though I did not stay on, missing the raffle, gift exchanges, the paella, I got a lot of teasing from friends in the industry.

I think that's what made PBBY last this long. And we're counting!

The History of Social Media

How did social media Begin? Bit Rebels has an article and a graphic to illustrate its genesis.

A Reading List for Teens

Just today I finished putting together a list of recommended reads for teens. It was fun! Here's what I culled out of the fiction collection -

Grade 9

1. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by MT Anderson
2. Names Will Never Hurt Me by Jaime Adoff
3. Psyche in a Dress by Frances Lia Block
4. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
5. Once Upon a Time: Belle by Cameron Dokey
6. Rumble Fish by SE Hinton
7. Turtle’s Paradise by Jennifer Holm
8. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin*
9. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
10. Slam! by Walter Dean Myers
11. Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck*
12. Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
13. Quiver by Stephanie Spinner*
14. Quicksilver by Stephanie Spinner
15. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

And some more...

16. Firebirds: An anthology of original fantasy and science fiction edited by Sharyn November
17. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
18. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
19. Beastly by Alex Flinn
20. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Grade 10

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee*
2. The Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
3. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Patterson*
4. A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt
5. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
6. Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet by Kashmira Sheth
7. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
8. Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones*
9. Spacer and Rat by Margaret Bechard
10. Green Witch by Alice Hoffman
11. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
12. Speak by Laura Halse Anderson
13. Zorro by Isabel Allende*
14. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
15. Forever by Judy Blume

And some more...
16. Casa Azul by Laban Carrick Hill
17. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
18. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
19. Dr. Franklin’s Island by Ann Halam
20. Misery by Stephen KIng

Grade 11

1. Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
2. Sula by Toni Morrison
3. Bel Canto by Ann Patchet*
4. The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
5. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
6. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel*
7. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway
8. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway*
9. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
10. Siddharta by Herman Hesse
11. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury*
12. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
13. The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
14. White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
15. 2001: A Space Oddysey by Arthur Clarke*

And some more...
16. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
17. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson Mc Cullers
18. Over a Thousand Hills I walk with You by Hanna Jansen
19. Atonement by Ian McEwan
20. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

* Personaly recommended by the the librarian.

The sixty titles were pulled out from the shelves and placed in a different shelf that is more visible to students, teachers and other members of the learning community. My basis for selecting the titles are curriculum, students' interests as observed from their information behaviors and a general knowledge of the teens' developmental stage. While it's been fun preparing this, what excites me more is the feedback the library will be getting from its intended reader. If it works, then it can be carried on. If not, rethink and set new strategies for teens to continuously read.

The 2nd National Children's Book Award Best Reads for 2012 Rules

The National Book Development Board and the Philippine Board on Books for Young People present the 2nd National Children's Book Award Best Reads for 2012 Rules

Children’s Book, Definition 

A printed and bound volume that explicitly states it is for children and/or young people, hereby understood to refer to those falling within the ages 0-19 years. These include works like fiction (e.g. storybooks, young adult novels, fantasy, science fiction), non-fiction (e.g. poetry, biographies/autobiographies, developmental books, reference books, board books, bath books, pop-up books, how-to books, etc.), picture books (wordless or otherwise), graphic novels or comic books expressly labeled for children. At this time, the awards do not cover electronic books or textbooks.

Eligible Book

A book is eligible to be nominated and considered for the NCBA if it is:

a. Published in the Philippines with a corresponding International Standard Book Number (ISBN) by an NBDB-registered publisher within the two (2) years preceding the year of selection (e.g. if the year of selection is 2020, then an eligible book must have been published in 2018 or 2019). This year, books published in 2010 and 2011 will be accepted;

b. Authored by a Filipino citizen;

c. Written in Filipino, English or any other Philippine language specifically included by the PBBY and the NBDB for a specific year;

d. Released to the public in the eligible year as stated in 2 (a) hereof, proof of which shall be any of the following, proof of which shall be submitted with the nomination:

i. Delivery receipt/s to a bookstore, or a dealer/jobber, or any similar entity that has the ability to distribute books to the public;

ii. A donation to a school or library, which need not be formally accepted in an instrument by the beneficiary. It is enough that the donation is received, acknowledged and/or certified by the beneficiaries of said donation in writing;

iii. Distributed in book stores or entities that sell the book, including online distribution, proof of which should be provided;

iv. Produced/printed by a book facility/entity, as shown by a document that said book has been produced in quantities consistent with the act of publication. It is, however, understood, that the specific number of copies shall not be part of the criteria to determine the books to be selected for the Awards.

Nomination

Anybody whether publisher, author or illustrator may nominate a book for the NCBA, as long as the person or entity is registered with the NBDB as a publisher, author or illustrator. The nomination form duly accomplished and signed by the nominating party shall serve as the official letter of nomination and shall be submitted to the NBDB at the address below together with the books, at one form per nominated title. The number of copies to be submitted for consideration will be based on the number of judges plus one copy each for NBDB and PBBY. This year, there being five (5) judges, the number of books to be submitted shall be seven (7).

The Executive Director
National Book Development Board
2/F National Printing Office Building
NIA Northside Road, Bgy. Pinyahan
Quezon City

Subject: The National Children’s Book Awards

After documenting the submissions, the NBDB shall submit nominated books directly to the members of the Board of Judges.

Selection of Awardees

a. The BoJ shall select a maximum of ten (10) titles from all the nominees, without any further ranking the titles, to be proclaimed as the recommended reading titles. The BoJ, on the other hand, is not obliged to select any minimum number of recommended titles, should it not find any nominee deserving of recommendation.

b. Each selected title shall be given a trophy during the NCBA awarding ceremonies. In addition, a citation shall be written by a member of the BoJ about each selection. This citation shall be read aloud during the awarding ceremonies.

Nomination forms can be downloaded from the NBDB ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nbdb.gov.ph) and PBBY (www.pbby.org.ph" www.nbdb.gov.ph) and PBBY (www.pbby.org.ph) websites. Deadline for submission of entries is on January 31, 2012.

The 2nd National Children's Book Awards

NBDB now accepts nominations to the 2nd National Children’s Book Award

The National Book Development Board (NBDB) is now accepting nominations to the 2nd National Children’s Book Award.

On July 2012, the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Philippine Board on Books for the Young (PBBY) will present the 2nd National Children’s Book Award, giving honor to the 10 best books for children and young adults published during the years 2010 and 2011.

All publishers, authors and illustrators are invited to submit their nominations. Deadline for submission of nominations is January 31, 2012. For the full copy of the rules and to download the nomination form, go to HYPERLINK "http://www.nbdb.gov.ph" www.nbdb.gov.ph

During the 1st National Children’s Book Awards held in 2010 six books were chosen as the Best Reads of 2010. From a total of 131 books nominated: Araw sa Palengke (Adarna House) written by May Tobias-Papa and illustrated by Isabel Roxas; Tuwing Sabado (Lampara Books) written by Russell Molina and illustrated by Sergio Bumatay III; Can We Live on Mars (Adarna House) written by Gidget Roceles-Jimenez and illustrated by Bru; Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub (Bookmark) written by Russell Molina and illustrated by Jomike Tejido; Tagu-Taguan (Tahanan Books) written and illustrated by Jomike Tejido; and Just Add Dirt (Adarna House) written by Becky Bravo and illustrated by Jason Moss.

Picture! Picture!

Librarians for Preschool & Primary Grades

I found this great link in the Scholastic website that is useful when introducing the work librarians do to younger children. It shows that librarians work with people and assists them in their use of books and the internet. Story time is given importance as well as the feedback which librarians need from readers and users of the library. It goes to show that readers services does not end at the circulation table.

Early on, children can be introduced to the roles that librarians play in the learning community. This would aid in strengthening their concept of books, reading and literacy and that, a librarian is in the middle acting as conduit, support agent and teacher. This builds up to developing a library culture in the long run.

Readers services is a marathon. Starting it young and following through the higher grades, moving up to high school and then college is a long haul. This is the essence of children's library services - to address their literacy and reading needs as early as possible.

Mga Libro Lang Yan (Those are just books)

So here's how I got my copies of Tales From the 7,000 Isles.

I presented my parcel's receipt. Followed the line to the receiving area. Paid forty pesos and waited until the clerk brought the box out. One guy examined my parcel note.

Guy 1: Naka-adress sa school (Parcel note is addressed to the school).

Guy 2 examined the box. Looked at me and took the parcel note from Guy 1.

Guy 2: Ibigay mo na. Mga libro lang yan (Release the parcel. Those are just books).

I lifted my box of books and went out the post office happy that I didn't pay a big amount of tax but a bit dismissed at the clerk's reaction.

Library Designs to Die For

Source: http://lspaces.tumblr.com/

From John Williams, Australia

From Jennifer Nannery, 189- Washington Heights NY

From John Williams, Australia

Librarians as Online Content Curators

I have heard and read about curating online content late last year via blograrians who attended the annual American Library Association Conference. Another interesting topic discussed in the conference was that of transliteracy. That would be for another post. Plus, there's 21st Century Literacy to think and ponder on (though AASL - the Association of American School Libraries, has published a set of standards. In Manila, we are still struggling with Information Literacy and its application in library services and programs).

While curating online content may sound like a new invention for the librarian, it is very much similar with organizing information, a task librarians are so adept at. It is also another way of archiving.

Over the past few weeks, I've been exploring curating online content and it is not only done by librarians. Then again, since the likes of us are in the business of information service, I find it relevant to learn more about online curating. For starters, Librarienne has written about it. Karen Bonanno a librarian from Australia curates online. I am subscribed to her School Library Advocacy. What a way to be updated! Subscribing to her curated feeds is one of the many simple ways to grow professionally.

The New Zealand Library System has started a web curating tool. Scoop It! crawls the web for your online curating. Robin Good emphasizes the value and authority one can derive from online content curating. The tools and the-how-to-do-it tips are available online. As for me, I'm starting and experimenting on curating, applying the technology in library work.

Let's see where it will end up!

PLAI Announcements

Thanks to David Cabanero, PLAI PRO, for sending these useful links! Now that the PLAI Congress is just around the corner, it would be great if we could all pitch in, lend a hand a do our bit to spread the news.

To download the National Book Week Poster, please open this: NBW Poster

For the PLAI Congress 2011 invitation, please download from this: PLAI Congress invite

For the PLAI Congress 2011 program, please download this: PLAI Congress Program

All interested librarians who would like to attend the "Librarians Day, please check this: Librarian's Day

To join the PLAI Facebook, this is the FB site:PLAI Facebook Site

To be updated with the PLAI activities, check this out: PLAI Blog

To know more about PLAI, please visit us at: PLAI Website

PLAI National Congress 2011: Libraries for Progress

The Under-used School Library

This is a response from Coralie Clark's article on the under-used school library in the International Baccalaureate Program. Written in 1995, it is a prophetic article that has great relevance in this day and age. Thanks to Stacey Taylor for the link!

Librarians face many challenges and concerns as technology changes and the learning landscape spurs many and varied pedagogical paradigms. Flexibility, competent communication skills and creative management strategies are required of the librarian. Thus, continuing professional growth is necessary to adapt, survive and thrive in the profession. Relevant to this is the formulation of action research or evidence based practice in the library.

Some evidences that a librarian can use are the following:

a. Circulation statistic and report. This would generate information on the profile of readers and their information behavior which could later indicate strong and weak areas in the collection.

b. Teacher and school librarian partnerships. Such collaborations must be documented, reflected upon, evaluated and become sources of theory development that will further enrich the practice of the profession. The participation of teachers in the selection and acquisition of library resources is one partnership that carry strong evidence that libraries are well utilised.

c. Identified library services that answer Independent research, reading and use of library resources. What library services, traditional or Web 2.0, answer the information needs and behavior of students, teachers and the learning community at large?

d. Community related activities. Other than internal library functions, there should also be opportunities for the librarian to join consortiums and forge interlibrary loan conditions with libraries in the community.

A saying from the olden days, no man is an island, is so befitting for this generation's librarian.