Technically a Librarian

This article has just been published in American Libraries : Personal Branding for Librarians By Karen G. Schneider Distinguishing yourself from the professional herd It brings up an interesting idea on how librarians should brand themselves to better sell themselves to the profession but also warns about pigeon-holing yourself into a job you may not be qualified for or desire to work in. I am currently an Middle School Librarian. I was involuntarily transferred from the high school this year-they moved 6 out of 8 of the district's librarians. I wonder how branding would work with school librarians. This article is a very interesting read. I found it through LinkedIn, the professional site which may give it more weight.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/11/04/10communication_ep.h29.html?tkn=MSQFrvxJ9Qigz6ZCzzewv5s7jskhyBW98d%2BY If this passes-what a huge impact on education! Louisiana is trying to pass a law monitoring student/teacher communication. I don't know about you but I have my students email me papers that need to be converted, book reviews, etc. If they are doing research, I forward them article that might help. What a mess this will make! Hopefully legislators will think twice about this one.

Teach Yourself How to Be Happier Edutopia great article!

Our community is doing The Big Read-which is a partnership between the school district and the public library. The last Big Read we did was To Kill a Mockingbird. The school district librarians got together and chose elementary appropriate books that our high school students came over to read. We handed out bookmarks and discussed the book with anyone who wanted to listen. Books with a similiar theme were ordered for all the school This year our book is Love Medicine. The school librarians have been excluded from any of the events. There will be no books ordered. I asked what time the author would be visiting to receive a - What business is it of mine? (Well...I was thinking....books, authors, this certainly sounds like something the library supports.) How have we come to a pass when a community reading event is taking place and the school librarians are excluded?

There have been some great summer reading lists for teachers posted on LM_NET recently. Here is one that I thought was especially well done. I do wish they had included some YA literature as well though. Informational How Doctors Think-Jerome Groopman Best American Food Writing of 2007 The Art of Aging- Sherwin Nuland The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court- Jeffrey Toobin Eat, Pray, Love-Elizabeth Gilbert Girls of Tender Age- Mary Ann Tirone Smith Three Cups of Tea-Greg Mortenson Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil-Rodriquez and Ohlson The Glass Castle- JeannetteWalls The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan Ghosts Among Us by James Van Praagh The Zookeeper’s Wife-Diane Ackerman Mystery New England White- Stephen L. Carter Shoot Him if He Runs- Stuart Woods T is for Trespass- Sue Grafton Sweet Revenge- Diane Mott Davidson The Miracle at Speedy Motors-(Series- #1 Ladies Detective Agency-Alexander McCall Smith)

"Students at McLean High School in Fairfax County, Va., and the Tucson Unified School District in Arizona filed a lawsuit in October 2006 arguing that Turnitin.com committed copyright infringement when it stored digital copies of students' essays in its database." This case has finally been settled. The federal courts have decided that it is not against copyright to use these papers for comparison. The whole story is here . Very interesting! Especially if you are a school who uses turnitin.com!