As we approach the end of the school year, there is a lot on school librarians’ minds and to-do lists: collecting books, taking down bulletin boards, all the other duties as assigned, and if you have a budget or some… Read More ›
high school
Organizing High School Research Using Database Tools
High school students often get a bad rap. They’re accused of being lazy, wasteful, immature . . . the list goes on. Through my experience working with adolescents, however, I’ve found that what most people interpret as irresponsible behavior is… Read More ›
Read Alouds in Secondary School Libraries
Students sitting on the carpet in a semi-circle listening to a captivating story is what comes to mind when I think of read alouds. Unfortunately, this is a rare sight in secondary schools; why do we stop reading aloud as… Read More ›
Speed Dating with Nonfiction Books
It’s a never-ending dilemma: how to get overworked high school students to read for pleasure. Too often, teens associate reading with mandatory curriculum books. The Scarlet Letter, A Tale of Two Cities, Things Fall Apart. . . though some teens… Read More ›
3 Ways to Address the Black Lives Matter Movement in Your School Library
With the Black Lives Matter movement front and center in the news this summer, it is heartbreakingly evident we still have a great deal of work to do to heal racial issues in our society. Our students are absorbing… Read More ›
There’s no such thing as a library without a librarian soooo….#SaveOurLibrary
I was about to be another lost librarian in the Chicago Public Schools system when I got my dismissal letter a month ago. But my students surprised me with a “read in” protest at DuSable (three small high schools in… Read More ›