It's been fun, but...

BookGerms is moving to Edublogs.
Click here!
Why? Well, look there for a post in the near future that explains all. Hope you'll come along!

My vote for the 2013 Newbery Medal

 Who is Lying?

Is it Georges' new friend Safer, a strange but compelling boy who spies on birds, Georges himself, and a suspicious man living in their apartment building? Is it Georges, who finds himself lying to his father and other adults as he tries to learn spying tactics as instructed by Safer? Several people are spying, some are lying, but more importantly... why?

e-books Arrive @ AC Library

Collection Development Philosophy

For Interested Faculty

How to decide what to purchase for our starter e-book collection? Well, the first consideration is availability. I'm sorry to say that many authors I searched are just not available yet. Although disappointing, there are many wonderful titles with which to start and I have faith in the products. Baker & Taylor, as a library book supplier for many years, has long-standing relationships with all the best publishers. I'm confident that the selection will improve quickly and dramatically; they are adding publishers and titles every day. 

The Blio e-reader was developed by Ray Kurzweil who has worked on text-to-speech technology for decades and in conjunction with the National Federation of the Blind. Many of the e-books available on Blio are text-to-speech enabled, provided one purchases a "voice" for one's device. Some e-books even come already narrated, so that you receive essentially an e-book and audio-book in one. I've tried out the "Heather" voice and it sounds pretty good. An especially nice feature is how each word is highlighted as it is read aloud.

Which brings us to the e-books I am purchasing with lower school in mind. The text-to-speech feature should prove very useful with our emerging readers. I have been looking for popular titles that teachers could borrow on an iPad for students to read (and/or listen to) independently as part of their reading workshop program. Since the graphics are gorgeous, I am also looking for picture books and illustrated nonfiction that complement the lower school curriculum, which could be projected for the whole class to enjoy together.

For middle and upper school (and probably some older lower schoolers) I am focusing on popular new and classic fiction that students would want to read on their own devices. For grades 6 through 9, I can be confident that they have a device on which to read, so I will select with that audience primarily in mind.

For faculty, I am looking for both popular and critically acclaimed fiction and nonfiction that have potential interest for upper school readers, as well. The focus is on recreational reading here, not research. (We have other fantastic electronic resources for that.) 

So, faculty, what you like to read, or what you recommend to your students, is paramount. I am making my choices based on what I already know about you and our students as readers. But I cannot express how important it is to get your feedback. If you are happy to find a particular author, title, or genre in our new collection, please let me know so that I can expand that area. If you can't find what you want, please let me know that, too. I will try to acquire what you need or let you know why I cannot.

Thank you for being interested enough to read this post. I hope you'll find something you enjoy!