Read a super article...

In the last issue of ALAN (The Assembly for Literature for Adolescents) Review, there was an amazing article which was the transcription of a speech given by author Laurie Halse Anderson (author of Speak, Prom, Catalyst, and Fever 1793) to a group of Arizona educators and I was blown away. Ms. Anderson is a great writer (I've loved everything she's written and we teach Speak in our English curriculum at Wyoming Seminary) but I was wowed by her sense of humor and deep insight into the heart of adolescents. She captured so clearly how the more genuinely caring adults that exist in teenagers lives, the more likely they are to weather the incredibly difficult situations that all teens face (I've never met anyone who has had an incident-free adolescence). No wonder her books kick butt.

On a different tack, I've been seeing articles about blogs everywhere, so I don't know if I'm just more aware because of my super class, or if it's synergy, but this is cool. There was an article in the latest edition of American Libraries (April 2005), a column in e-School News, and, of course, the cover article from the May 2, 2005 Business Week about blogs and business. Blogs, blogs, everywhere!!

Speaking of a link to the ALA, I was astonished to find out that an article I wrote last Spring had been published on the AASL website! I thought they had scrapped the idea, but it turns out that they did go ahead with it. Entitled "Independent School Library Media Specialists: State Certification Unnecessary" it outlines some of the reasons that state certification programs don't necessarily fit what independent school librarians do on a daily basis (yes, librarians - I don't know of any independent school that doesn't use librarian rather than library media specialist, which I understand the reasons for, I just think it's a silly name). I actually offered to argue the opposite side as well, considering that I do hold state certification as a Teacher Librarian in Massachusetts as part of my program via Simmons College. It's nice to be devil's advocate and I do totally see both sides of the picture. As always, the issue just rests with qualifications, namely that each school (public or private) insure they are getting an employee with the necessary background in library science and education. Enough said. I'm going to visit a great school tomorrow and tour their library, so I'll keep you posted!!