Monthly Archives: March 2014

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Barbro Lindgren, born in 1937, is a Swedish author of innovative and multifaceted works for children of all ages. Her body of work includes picture books, poetry, plays, and books for young adults. Since her debut as an author in 1965, she has published over a hundred titles, and her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. The Jury’s Citation reads: Barbro Lindgren is a literary pioneer. Using adventurous language and rich psychological nuance, she has re-invented not only the picture book for the very young but also the absurd prose story, the existential children’s poem, and realistic fiction for young adults. With perfect pitch, she presents to us both playful shenanigans and moments of bright joy, and the inscrutable nature of life and the nearness of death.

Barbro Lindgren’s stories are often humorous and always possess a uniquely warm tone of voice that speaks directly to the child, whether she is offering amusing escapades or more serious reflections. She has a singular capacity to remember and convey what it was like to be a child, and her seemingly simple style recreates atmospheres and moods that resonate with all her readers, regardless of their age.

Barbro Lindgren has an education in the arts and illustrated several of her own books, including her first book, Mattias sommar (Mattias’ summer, 1965), and the absurd tale of Loranga, Masarin och Dartanjang (1969), about a world where anything can happen. Sagan om den lilla farbrorn (The Story of the Little Old Man, 1979) marked the beginning of a long-lived co-operation with the illustrator Eva Eriksson. Their greatest success came with their series of picture books about little Max and the everyday adventures in the life of a small child. Meanwhile, in Mamman och den vilda bebin (The Wild Baby, 1980) a baby has adventures that are anything but ordinary.

More realistic works include the autobiographical series of books in diary form, Jättehemligt, Världshemligt and Bladen brinner (Big Secret, Top secret, Pages on fire, 1971-73). Here, the author portrays a young girl’s encounter with love and her existen-tial reflections about life. Death seems always close at hand, a theme we see again in the series about Sparvel (1976-79), which depicts the author’s life from age four until she starts school. Reflections on the meaning of life also appear in the fiercely original chapter books Vems lilla mössa flyger (Whose little hat is flying, 1987), Korken flyger (The cork is flying, 1990), and Vad lever man för (What-Are-We-Living-For, 2006), where worn-out stuffed animals are among the unusual cast of characters. Here, Barbro Lindgren finds humor even in a funeral, and refilling the stuffing of a toy elephant can bring it back from the dead.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) will be presented in a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall on June 2, 2014.

More information
Helene Andersson, Communication Officer
Phone: +46 (0)76 540 10 17
E-mail: helene.andersson@alma.se

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the world’s largest award for children’s and young adult literature. The award, which amounts to SEK 5 million, is given annually to a single laureate or to several. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading promoters are eligible. The award is designed to promote interest in children’s and young adult literature. The UN convention of rights of the child is the foundation of our work. An expert jury selects the laureate(s) from candidates nominated by institutions and organisations all over the world. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award was founded by the Swedish government in 2002 and is administrated by the Swedish Arts Council.

Secondary school library/information course in India

The Central Board of Secondary Education, Govt. of India, has introduced “Library and Information Science” as an
Academic Elective Subject in Senior Secondary Schools from the academic session 2014-’15 in classes XI-XII (Subject Code 079) on a pilot basis in some selected schools. One of the important aspects of this elective is to improve the education system for Library and Information Science at school level which may be equivalent to Diploma holders in Library and Information Science.The elective will import some of the basic of L.I.Sc to those who aspire to pursue higher studies in Library and Information Science.

The Course is defined with the following objectives:
1. To develop the basic understanding of theory and practical part of Library & Information Science among students
2. To develop knowledge and skill to pursue the subject for higher education in future; and
3. To develop basic skill to work as Library Semi Professional in the Library, if drop out after +2 Level.”

The Library and Information Science, an academic elective (Code No 079) would nurture the interest of students and expose them to the nuances of skills and approaches required in this field. The elective can be offered by students as one of the four elective subjects and also as an additional elective subject at senior secondary stage in combination with any of the subjects that are already available in the Scheme of Studies of the Board.”

The minimum qualification for Teachers in Library & Information Science is fixed as Master’s degree in Library & Information Science (M.L.I.Sc) from a recognized University.

See the circular here: http://www.cbseacademic.in/web_material/Circulars/2014/7_LIS.pdf
Here is a link to the report appeared on Amar Ujala on the subject.
http://kvlibrarians.grou.ps/blogs/item/introduction-of-%E2%80%98lis%E2%80%99-as-a-new-elective-subject-in-class-xi-xii

Multicultural children’s collections

Below are several ways of providing multicultural, multilingual collections to children and young people:

1. “Unite for Literacy” http://uniteforliteracy.com/
Their mission is as follows:
“Book Abundance is Our Vision: We picture Book Abundance where all children have access to plenty of books that celebrate their cultures and honor their home languages. We see a world where all children grow up learning the joy of reading. Our vision inspires our work. The impact will be infinite, wondrous and global in scale.
Picture Books are What We Do: We create Picture Book abundance by sharing our library with emerging readers everywhere. We provide BIG time abundance.abundant access. abundant languages.abundant books.”

2. Please note that the IFLA Section Libraries for Children and Young Adults has its own Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/IFLACYA which focuses on the development of library services for children and young adults
all around the world.

3. The newly launched Australian Children’s Poetry website focuses on (English) poetry for children
http://australianchildrenspoetry.com.au/ . This is a wonderful site. There is a poem for each day, which teachers can read to their classes. It also provides detailed information about different Australian poets who write for
children. You can join the blog free of charge. Today it published a list of children’s poetry sites in the UK and the USA.
http://australianchildrenspoetry.com.au/blog/

Does your country have special websites which are devoted to children’s poetry? If so, please contact Helen Boelens (boelen1@attglobal.net)

Educators and Common Core standards

A new report released by the National Center for Literacy Education reveals that educators across the US feel ill-prepared to help their students achieve the new Common Core State Standards in literacy. The report, Remodeling Literacy Learning Together: Paths to Standards Implementation, investigates the extent to which the professional expertise of educators working together is driving standards implementation. AASL members helped provide the data used in creating this report.

IASL Conference August 2014 in Moscow

Russian School Library Association (RUSLA) is happy to invite you to the 43rd Annual International Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL), incorporating the 18th International Forum on Research in School Librarianship, to be held in Moscow, Russia on August 25 – 30, 2014. Registration will be open on 12 March 2014, for more information, please, visit the Conference website: http://www.iasl2014.org

The theme for the conference is “School Library in the knowledge society: use of cognitive technologies, form creative person.”
We look forward to your reports and presentations, which should clearly relate to one or more of the Conference sub-themes:
•             School library as a cognitive resource for the development of education
•             New brands of school library: information culture and e-environment in the context of cognitive sciences development
•             School library on the map of cognitive future
•             School library in a rapidly changing world
•             School library as a forming center of personal information culture
•             The world of school libraries’ worlds: searching for harmony, intelligence, technology, culture
•             School librarian – an agent of change in modern educational approaches to teaching
•             New approaches in the all-life learning system of teacher-librarians

Proposals are invited from librarians, principals, teachers, educators, researchers, and others directly involved with the development or management of school libraries. Others who share an interest in advancing the field of school librarianship, including publishers, vendors, authors, illustrators, architects, psychologists, economists, and journalists, are also welcome to submit proposals.

Proposals for presentation should be one of the four types:
·         Workshops (90 minutes or 180 minutes) on a focused topic related to the conference theme, where participants are actively involved in the learning process. They may comprise small or large group discussions, collaborative activities and exercises, or opportunities to practice applying the concepts that are presented. Workshops are not intended to be extended lectures, but are hands-on learning opportunities.
·         Professional presentations (20 minutes each) on a topic related to the theme of the conference, which represent descriptions of programs, projects, activities, and/or innovations that are of relevance to a diverse audience and contribute to their professional development.
·         Research presentations (20 minutes each) on a topic related to the theme of the conference, which represent findings from investigations (either complete or in-progress, but not proposals) that would be of interest to an international audience.
·         Posters (a designated time will be set for presenters to display and meet viewers) of projects or research on a topic related to the theme of the conference.

At the Conference you will find interesting cultural program, warm welcome of Russian school librarians, school visits, trade exhibition of Russian and international literature for children and youth as well as media production.

In addition, we would like to know what kind of themes of Pre-conference workshops would be most interesting for you. Please, let us know if you have any idea and requests regarding these workshops. You can send your messages to rusla@rusla.ru or iasl2014@rusla.ru. We would to make the Conference program more interesting for our guests, therefore we promise to take into account all your wishes.

Moreover, in the context of this event RUSLA is glad to offer you a new initiative. We invite to the Conference the best school librarians from all over the world to take part in our event “School librarian of the year”. They could be current winners of your competitions for the best school librarian, or bright leaders of the school of librarianship in your country. At the Conference they’ll participate in the award ceremony and receive a decoration, stating they rank among the best school librarian of the world. Please note that we are waiting for only one candidate from each country.

In the framework of this event we would like to organize the exhibition of the best school librarians’ banners. All banners should be in English and demonstrate the candidates’ innovative projects and best practice. Each candidate prepares the digital model of the banner and sends it to us before 01 June 2014. We’ll print and hung all your banners in the Conference venue. It would be appreciated if you also could provide us short video about the banner’s content.

Besides, in the context of preparation for the Conference, RUSLA in partnership with Dr.Luisa Marquardt, Director Europe for IASL, would like to hold joint International Round Table for development of conception of European delegation’s participation in IASL Conference -2014 . This meeting will take place in Rome this spring and we would be glad to see all of you in the lineup for this event.

In any case, we are looking forward to your answer and would be very glad to receive your creative suggestions for the IASL Conference interesting realization.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Tatiana Zhukova
President of Russian School Library Association

ICT webinar

For the month of March Australia librarians have two hot topics that address the ICT general capabilities and curriculum inquiry skills.

12 March – Badge Your Way to ICT Competency
26 March – Mapping curriculum inquiry skills to a pedagogical framework

The ICT general capabilities from the Australian Curriculum outline key skills and competencies students require to become digital citizens. These capabilities have been designed to ensure students can confidently, competently and safely navigate an ever-increasing digital landscape for both educational and social needs. Iona Presentation College has developed an ICT Passport that maps and strategically teaches these skills within the curriculum. This system is being trialled in 2014 using a digital badging system. Badge systems are increasingly bei ng used as a monitoring and assessment tool to demonstrate competency across a range of skills. This webinar will describe how the passport system will be implemented and will show examples of products that can be used to create the badges.

When: Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Time: 8.00 to 9.00 pm Australian Daylight Saving Time
Register today at http://eduwebinar.com.au/webinars to secure your place at this webinar.

As a result of this webinar participants will:

  • have access to a Year 6-10 ICT Scope and Sequence as it relates to the ICT general capabilities from the Australian Curriculum;
  • examine how these ICT competencies translate into practical classroom skills;
  • examine a Year 7 ICT Passport that can then be used as a model for other year level passports;
  • examine a range of online badge tools; and
  • learn how to create online digital badges for use in their classroom using class badges.
  • Register now at http://eduwebinar.com.au/webinars to develop your understanding of how a badging system could be used in your school.

Mapping curriculum inquiry skills to a pedagogical framework with Karen Bonanno, Founder & Managing Director, Eduwebinar Pty Ltd on Wednesday, 26 March 8.00 pm to 9.00 pm ADST

Inquiry skills are strongly evident across the Australian Curriculum. In late 2012, Karen Bonanno was given permission by the authors of Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School, Carol Kuhlthau, Leslie Maniotes and Ann Caspari, to develop an open collaborative project with Australian teacher librarians to develop a scope and sequence tying the five kinds of learning to the inquiry skills and capabilities in the Australian Curriculum.

This webinar will build on the preliminary work that has already been undertaken over the last 10 months for the 4 core subjects (English, History, Maths, Science) and add in the recent curriculum additions of Economics & Business, Civics & Citizenship, The Arts, Technologies, Health & Physical Education.

The focus for the webinar will be on:

  • creating a skills scope and sequence within an inquiry learning framework,
  • identifying core essential inquiry skills across the curriculum that support sequential skill development,and
  • web tools & apps to help develop the skills with the students.Register at http://eduwebinar.com.au/webinars to secure your place at either of these webinars.