The Daring Librarian

Shamelessly I will report on this - Why S hameless ? (capitol S) Because, of course, this is the answer to my every fevered redheaded dream to be nominated for a special Superhero lunchbox ! So just even reporting it makes me feel all squirmy & excited & dreaming of it! And of course if any of my dear gentle good readers think ...no..even I can't go that far! (let's try subliminal persuasion) Librarian League of Superheros I do fervently believe - like the Justice League - there are MANY Superhero Librarians out there! We are a Tribe! And some of them have even blogged about this exciting contest! I have been a superhero fan (Go Marvel & Stan Lee!) since I was a kid! And Beyond! Who are Your Librarian Superheroes? My Librarian Superheroes are part of the Big Red Machine ©iansinger ie: Joyce Valenza & Shannon Miller ! Two librarians who are my compatriot at arms, my right and left hand chickies and perpetual inspirations....two librarians who invigorate the...

Hi, My name is Gwyneth and I use Wikipedia every day. There, I said it. Somehow that's pretty freeing! Wikipedia is NOT a dirty word. We're doing a disservice not teaching our kids HOW to use it and how to cite it...as in - ummm selectively & with forethought. Sadly, I don't believe teachers & college professors are ready to wrap their mind around or admit recent studies that show: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica. Much like the Internets in general, (or the Googles, or the Facebooks, or the Twitters, or the YouTubes) many educators look upon Wikipedia with suspicion, sometimes derision, and occasionally with fear. But who are we kidding? It ain't goin away folks! The Wikipedias are here to stay...It's an Internet Wonder of the World! And for gosh sakes, it comes up top 3 in just about any Google search you do. What? Ignore a good entry for a query? Really? Can you admit, you use it, too? So....How do we teach kids to use it? Teaching Wikipedi...

Tomorrow morning I leave for Chicago. I've never been there and I'm SO excited. I'm honored, humbled, floored, & flattered (and frankly gobsmacked!) to have been asked to come to the School Library Journal’s 2010 Leadership Summit ! As the summit starts today I think I can safely announce why...and it makes me squirmy, happy, and strangely bashful to do so! GAH! 20 days ago I got this email out of the blue... "On behalf of Gale, part of Cengage Learning, and School Library Journal, I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected as one of five people to attend SLJ ’s Leadership Summit as part of the Cengage Learning / SLJ New Leaders program. The Cengage Learning/ SLJ New Leaders program is designed for school librarians who are new to the profession, and have already displayed leadership within their building, district and/or state; are advocates for students, libraries, and 21st century learning; and are actively engaged in sharing and colla...