The Busy Librarian

The Busy Librarian

www.busylibrarian.com

Author:

Matthew Winner

School Librarian

Ducketts Lane Elementary School in Ducketts Lane, MD

Platform: Blogger

Audience: This blog is aimed at school librarians to share ideas and activities.

Frequency of Posts: Matthew has been blogging since 2010, and he usually posts two or three times per week.

Format/theme/loading: The site loaded quickly. The format is two columns with blog posts on the left and links on the right. The right column contains: Popular posts, archives, Shelfari, Awards the blog has won, and a short list of links to other blogs.

Navigation: From the home page, a reader could follow the blog in the traditional reverse chronological format or use the archives.  There are a few tabs across the top of the page to other sites that he is a part of: “Let’s Get Busy” podcast, his Tumblr, his Pinterest, SLM Shelf Challenge, and the Level Up Book Club.

Content of Posts: He posts about school librarianship professional development and networking, things that are happening in his library, lesson plans, and technology.

Strengths: I think Matthew is best when he’s posting about projects and activities that he’s doing in his library. He integrates video games and technology into many of his ideas. The Lets Get Busy podcast includes author and illustrator interviews that are incredibly interesting.

Weaknesses: While his posts do have labels, there is not a list of labels to choose from so navigation to posts about a particular topic is difficult. He does not include very many book reviews, and the ones he does include are mostly brief summaries. His writing style is not very conversational, and the tone is mostly factual.

Uses: A librarian could get ideas from this blog for activities to get involved with the larger blogging community. Matthew’s resume is impressive, and his articles and workshops would be interesting to explore for ideas.

Read Alikes:

• Abby the Librarian www.abbythelibrarian.com
•  The Daring Librarian www.thedaringlibrarian.com
• The Adventures of Library Girl www.librarygirl.net

Awards:

2013 Bammy Awards nominee – School Librarians

Top 50 School Library Blogs 2012-2013

2012 Edublog Award Nominee – Best Librarian Blog

2012 Edublog Award Nominee – Best New Blog

Calling Caldecott

Calling Caldecott

www.hbook.com/blogs/calling-caldecott

Author: Robin Smith

2^nd grade teacher

Nashville, TN

Lolly Robinson

Designer & Production Manager, The Horn Book

Education professor, Harvard University

Platform:  WordPress

Audience: The audience for this blog is teachers, librarians, or others who are interested in following the Caldecott race. The comments are very active with a wide variety of people who are interested in picturebooks.

Format/theme/loading: This blog is a part of the Horn Book site which runs similar blogs that follow the top contenders for the Newbery and Printz awards. The site loads easily and has a traditional blog format with the posts on the left and links to other Horn Book features on the right.

Navigation: The only way to follow the blog is by reverse chronological order. There are tags on the posts but there isn’t a list of linked tags.

Frequency of Posts: They post 2-3 times a week during the awards season – from September until January. There are infrequent posts during other times, but mostly the blog goes silent.  

Content of Posts: The posts are all about current picturebooks and evaluating their merits based on the criteria for the Caldecott award.

Strengths: Both of the writers have served on the Caldecott committee in the past, so they have a great deal of insight into the process. Some of the commentators also have a great of expertise, and the conversation is often quite lively. It is very interesting to see picturebooks evaluated using the Caldecott criteria.

Weaknesses: The lack of posting from February – September. I think it would be quite valuable for them to post on quality picturebooks during the month that they are published rather than waiting until September to start up the blogging process.

Read Alikes:

• Heavy Metal: A Mock Newbery Blog blogs.slj.com/heavymedal
• ALSC Blog: Association for Library Services for Children  www.alsc.ala.org/blog
• 100 Scope Notes 100scopenotes.com

Abby the Librarian

 

Abby the Librarian

www.abbythelibrarian.com

Author: Abby Johnson

Children’s Librarian

New Albany-Floyd Country Public Library in New Albany, IN

Platform:  Blogger

Audience: The target audience is public children’s librarians. Her purpose is summed up in this statement: “Helping and mentoring new librarians and library school students is a passion of mine and you'll find many of my posts written with that audience in mind. (I am still new-ish, so I remember how it feels to be just starting out.) I'm also a firm believer that all librarians benefit from the sharing of program ideas, program outlines, and general posts about how things are done at different libraries. I try to give you a slice of life at my library here.”

Format/theme/loading: The site loaded quickly with no major missing links evident. The format is a traditional block format with the actual posts in the center column, quick links to her labels on the left, and an archive with followers on the right.  There is a pink and white color scheme with a graphic background.

Navigation: There are a few ways to navigate the site: from the home page, a reader can follow in the traditional reverse chronological order with the newest entry coming first. There are also labels that can be clicked on if someone is interested in a particular topic or the archive if they prefer chronological order. Abby has also created tabs on the top of her blog for particular topics: Audiobook reviews, her “Reading Wildly” Program, “So You Want to Be a Librarian?”, and Storytime ideas.

Frequency of Posts: Abby has been blogging since 2007.  Until this year, she blogged very frequently, at least three times per week. This year she has not blogged as often. She is serving on the Newbery committee for 2015 so I wonder if this has affected her ability to post as often.

Content of Posts: The majority of her posts are book review posts and storytime ideas. She also has a series called A Day in the Life of a Children’s Librarian.

Strengths: The book review posts are excellent resources for collection development, including well-chosen read alikes. The Day in the Life series was very interesting as it showed the diversity in the job of a public librarian.  She writes in a very accessible way and offers great insight into her position.

Weaknesses: She doesn’t have any links to other blogs like hers or blogs that she follows so it’s not a great site for networking.

Uses: A library school student could use the “So You Want to Be a Librarian?” series to get insight into the process of becoming a librarian and learning about the position. The storytime ideas would be invaluable for someone who was looking to plan programming for younger patrons. The book reviews are excellent and would help with collection development as well as identifying appropriate books for students or patrons.

Read Alikes:

• The Daring Librarian www.thedaringlibrarian.com
• The Adventures of Library Girl www.librarygirl.net
• The Busy Librarian www.busylibrarian.com

Awards:

Quirky Library Blog Award

Ranger Rick

Title: Ranger Rick

Author: Various

Editorial Director:  Mary Dalheim

Published by National Wildlife Federation

Publications per year: 10 (monthly, except January and July)

ISSN: 0738-6656

Audience Ages 7-12, Grades 1-6

Summary: The classic children’s nonfiction magazine about nature and wildlife. It features nature photography and articles about animals. Most issues contain a craft or project, a cartoon/graphic story, and some activity pages including riddles. The magazine asks for kids to send nature riddles to the “Reader Riddles” page by email or postal mail.  Readers are also invited to send digital photos to a monthly photo contest.

Strengths: The photography in Ranger Rick is always stunning, especially the close-up animal prints. The articles feature many different animals and biomes that are part of most school curricula. The topics would be high-interest for many kids, including ESL or reluctant readers. There are no advertisements, which is refreshing.

Weaknesses: There is a not a great deal of content in the articles. Depending on the depth required, they might be a better starting place for a research project.  Depending on the article and the ability of the students, the readability could be a problem, and teachers should preview the material to make sure the article is appropriate for their classroom. In a library setting, the issues are flimsy and could easily be defaced. 

Uses: Magazines are an excellent choice for ESOL students, learning disabled students, and struggling readers. Animals are a particular interest of many children so this magazine would be a good choice for many reluctant readers as well. Teachers and librarians often recommend magazines for independent reading or DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time during school hours. For students who are writing research reports (CCSS ELA:W.7 Grades K-6), this magazine would be a great starting place for their research.  The issues also contain many charts, graphs, and other graphics that could be used as examples of text features (CCSS ELA:RI.8 Grades 4-6).  Science teachers could use the articles as high-interest additions to studies about particular types of animals, habitats, or biomes. Magazines also use different types of text structure that could be analyzed by students (CCSS ELA:RI.5 Grades 4-6). Art teachers could use the magazine as examples of superior digital photography. 

Awards: 

Parents’ Choice Gold Award

Periodical of the Year Grades K-5 Association of Educational Publishers.

Distinguished Achievement Award Winner Association of Educational Publishers 

Read Alikes: (all magazines)

·      National Geographic for Kids

·      Zoobooks

·      Click

·      Ranger Rick Jr. 

Other:

Website: http://www.nwf.org/kids/ranger-rick.aspx

http://www.nwf.org/Kids/Educators.aspx

Educator’s resources on their website, with a guide for each issue.