Monday, September 17, 2007
Human Resources for Results: The Right Person for the Right Job (book)
Expanding on the PLA Results Series, Goodrich and Singer offer a strategic approach to the human resources function in the library. The book focuses on a variety of possible projects and how to staff them, allowing each library to decide where and when to focus its attention. Packed with practical tools, this hands-on guide includes a familiar case study that illustrates how the information can be applied, along with workforms to help collect and organize the data needed for making informed HR decisions.
The Academic Library and the Next Gen Student: Making the Connections (book)
As students embrace new Web 2.0 technologies like MySpace, YouTube, and RSS feeds, libraries also need to take charge. Inspired by work-practice studies of students and faculty conducted at the University of Rochester, this visionary guide maps potentially vibrant futures for academic libraries.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Banned Books (book)
Doyle, R. P. (2007). Banned books. Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Banned Books Week is coming up September 29-October 6. This is a very well organized book with good information for planning Banned Books Week booklists and activities. Contents include an annotated list of 1,724 books that have been challenged and/or banned, notable First Amendment court cases, quotes on the First Amendment, suggested activities, annotated bibliography of First Amendment Resources, and suggestions for dealing with concerns about library resources. This book has extremely useful indexes for looking up things quickly by title, topic, or geography. So if you want to find out what books were challenge and/or banned in Oregon just look it up in the index. Suggested activities are briefly described, they are not lesson plans. Some are simple like having kids make a poster for their favorite banned book, others are more complex like staging a mock trial. There are activities appropriate for 1st-12th grade.
The Teen-Centered Book Club (book)
Kunzel, B. & Hardesty, C. (2006). The teen-centered book club: Readers into leaders. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. "STARRED REVIEW Seasoned young adult librarians, Kunzel and Hardesty, have assembled an indispensable and comprehensive guide that covers all aspects of successfully facilitating adolescent book clubs in public library settings, from the first to final meetings. Middle and high school library media specialists will also garner much valuable information from this title....Numerous strategies and tips are offered to target, understand, and serve these youths such as ideas for recruitment, marketing, online components, icebreakers, relationship building, discussions participation, and behavior management. Young adult librarians are shown how to demonstrate the value of book clubs by using a combination of three assessment tools: anecdotal data, focus group insights, and statistics. In addition, a variety of book club models, book titles, discussion questions, reproducible handouts, and references are furnished. Highly Recommended."-Library Media Connection
A Passion for Print (book)
Mahood, K. (2006). A passion for print: Promoting reading and books to teens. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. "High school and YA librarians will be delighted with the practical information and ideas in this title, but it's even more useful for smaller public libraries hoping to improve their appeal to teens. Beginning with research on reading, Mahood moves on to merchandising principles; developing teen collections, spaces, and Web sites; and finally to booktalking, readers' advisory, and events scheduling. The author's enthusiasm and experience, coupled with citing current studies, other professional books, articles, and Web sites, make her suggestions appealing and attainable. She provides everything from lists of YA genres to easy design principles for displays to suggestions for questions to ask for better readers' advisory. More photos would have been great, but this is a book that can make a difference in the library tomorrow!"-Booklist/Professional Reading