The Library of Michigan has awarded 28 AAPS Libraries a certificate of completion for meeting the Qualified or Exemplary status of the Measurement Benchmarks for Michigan School Libraries for 21st Century Schools (SL21). To earn this recognition, the libraries demonstrated their competence in three categories for school library program evaluation: Teaching for 21st Century Learning, Building the 21st Century Learning Environment, and Leading the Way to 21st Century Learning.
“I am proud that our libraries were recognized for the collaborative work of our educated teachers and supportive administration in providing services deemed ‘qualified” or “exemplary’ by the Library of Michigan,” said Jennifer Colby, AAPS Secondary Library Services Department Chair and Huron High School Librarian. “By focusing efforts on these key areas, our libraries have shown a strong commitment to information literacy and student achievement.”
Based on the benchmarking concept of the QSAC (Quality Services Audit Checklist) used by the Library of Michigan for public libraries, SL21 is a voluntary management standards program that assists K-12 libraries by setting benchmarks in the areas of instruction, student achievement, technology, facility, staffing, budget, instructional materials, curriculum development, school improvement, community engagement, advocacy and additional applicable areas of instruction and engagement in the educational community.
SL21 benchmarks are updated on a three year schedule so certified libraries remain at the forefront of excellent service to their students and teachers. For more information about SL21, visit http://www.michigan.gov/SL21.
Elementary School Libraries
Our school libraries are buzzing all year round, but especially during March, celebrated nationally as Reading Month.
A2 Steam is celebrating reading month with a book scavenger hunt throughout all the grade levels, an Author Visit from Philip Stead, an instore fundraiser at Schuler's books ( Schuler flyer), and middle school genre bingo. On Thursday, March 20, the library will be hosting their First Annual Multicultural Literacy Night thanks to a generous grant from the Karen Thomas Foundation.
This year Allen is WILD ABOUT LEARNING, so their Reading Month theme builds on this by focusing on animal habitats! Different grade levels are decorating the hallways like rainforests, oceans, deserts, etc. The library is offering "habitat bags" that can be borrowed that include informational and fiction books. As a school, they are sharing the picture book Except Antarctica by Todd Sturgell and doing a school scavenger hunt for the characters. There are other fun activities such as a weekly shredded book competition, a read-at-home challenge that can earn students a new book, spirit days, a Vocabulary Parade, a visit from the Howell Nature Center, and a WHO WOULD WIN assembly where students will square off with their teachers (dressed as wild animals) in a series of games..
Bach Elementary kicked off the month with a visit from children's author Supriya Kalker. Students will also be participating in a school wide game of Clue to solve who stole a book from the library, which book they took, and where they hid it around the school. Throughout the month, clues are sent to classroom teachers with puzzles for their students to solve and six books are passed around between the classes for teachers to read. Hidden in those books are also clues. At the end of the month, classes will submit who they think the suspect is, which of the six books was taken, and which of the six rooms the suspect hid the book. The school will have a big reveal in a closing assembly at the end of the month. In addition, the staff made a fun music video called RDG (a parody of APT) to celebrate and promote reading. Click here to view the video!
Burns Park welcomed Caldecott Award winning author and illustrator, Phil Stead to the school for an entire day. All month long, students will enjoy picture books that will travel the building and rotate through the classes. They call this the “You’ve Been Book’d” program. All of these books are written and/or illustrated by Phil Stead. The school will also host a Scholastic book fair and participate in the annual read-a-thon pajama afternoon, which is always a highlight of the month. Burns Park, and several other schools, including Logan, Carpenter, and others, all have fun digital calendars of engaging reading-related activities, too (click on the image below to view the activities).
At Carpenter, students and staff are participating in a story book tissue box decorating contest, where members of the school community of all ages are decorating tissue boxes based on their favorite stories. They’re also hosting a bookmark design contest, a Scholastic book fair, and a spirit week, including shirts with words.
At Eberwhite, students are participating in themed door decorating activities by classroom and working with parent volunteers to make it happen. They’re also enjoying a Masked Reader Read Aloud Swap, (where students try to guess the mystery readers--click on image below for details), Drop-Everything-and-Read days, schoolwide jokes shared over the intercom, and dress up days. Dress up days include dressing like a book character, shirts with words, and pajamas.
King students are also joining in on the Reading Month fun with “You’ve Been Book’d” - a schoolwide collaborative writing activity. All of the classrooms are coming together through their love of reading and writing by passing around one picture book for everyone to enjoy to inspire a collaborative writing experience. A special bag will be traveling throughout the school, containing the book Also an Octopus by Maggie Tokuda-Hall. After each class reads the book aloud, they work together to complete a collaborative writing activity, with each class adding one sentence to the story. By the end, they’ll have a unique and exciting tale that everyone helped to build.
Clague students will be marching into reading madness by voting for their favorite graphic novel series in the tournament of books. The most popular 16 graphic novels series will enter the bracket and only one title will win. Each week will begin a new elimination round until we reach our winning title. Students earn a chance to win a prize each week, just for participating.
Forsythe students will celebrate reading by engaging in a suggested daily reading activity on the March Reading Calendar (click on the calendar image to the right). Students can also choose books without seeing the cover from the Don't Judge a Book by its Cover display. There will also be the opportunity to design a bookmark, which will then be laminated and given out in the library for other students to use.
The Huron High School Library will be offering "Genre Bingo" for students to play during March is Reading Month. Students can get a Bingo card from the library to keep track of their reading during the month. Students will "play" by checking out books from the library, Sora, their teacher's collection, the public library, and/or their own book. The focus is on fiction genres, but any type of book counts! Students can turn in multiple "winning" cards by Friday, April 4 to enter for a prize. "Complete" cards with all 9 squares stamped will be entered for a special prize.
Every time a Pioneer High School student is "caught" reading a book for leisure (not a class assignment), the student receives a blue coupon that is placed in a raffle. Each week there is a raffle drawing for a cookie treat. At the end of the month, there is a grand prize raffle drawing for $75. See flyer below for details!
I grew up in Flint, Michigan, the child of a proud UAW family. I have a younger sister who owns a coffee shop in North Carolina. I graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in Health Science and spent some years wondering what I wanted to do with my adult life.
My husband applied and was accepted to the Doctorate program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and we moved in 2008 in his pursuit of his PhD. While he was in school, I decided that I should go back as well. I enrolled in the Education Certification program at Guilford College, a small Quaker college in Greensboro, NC. It was a transformative experience.
I became a classroom teacher and found joy in the work I was doing. My husband completed his PhD and we moved to Columbia, SC for his first job working at the Drill Sergeant School at Fort Jackson. I taught 3rd grade, then moved into a reading intervention position. In this job, I found the true magic of books and the real power of reading. After 2 years, my husband took a job back in North Carolina at Ft. Bragg working with the Green Berets.
Upon returning to NC, I began job searching. I attended a job fair where I met a Principal who changed the trajectory of my professional career. She was unable to offer me any classroom teaching jobs, but she needed a school librarian. She thought, based on our conversations, that I would be a good fit. She explained that I needed to obtain a Library Science Degree, but could work while pursuing it. I had wanted to go back to school, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to study. This fortuitous meeting guided me to what I do today.
I was accepted in the MLS degree program at East Carolina University (GO PIRATES!) and really found my footing as a student. I loved learning. I graduated with my Masters in Library Science from ECU in December of 2018. Those years are a blur as I became a mother to my son, Jack in the second semester of graduate school; the same semester I learned MARC records, of course!
In 2019, my husband was offered a job back home in Michigan and as the parents of a two year old, we thought it best to get home and be closer to family before our son enrolled in school. We decided to live in Ann Arbor for job opportunities and for our son to be enrolled in AAPS. We long to live in a diverse community, and Ann Arbor was just that! We purchased our home in Ann Arbor October, 2019. I started working in AAPS December, 2019.
I love swimming, running, and working in my garden. I am passionate about responsible research practices, citations, and empowering my students to be thoughtful users of information. I am also passionate about the IB curriculum, and I have enjoyed working in the IB frameworks at Pattengill.
Why are school libraries so important?
This question is hard to answer because it is so multifaceted. I think libraries are so important to schools because they serve as true spaces of autonomy. Students, at any level, come to a library to pursue their choices and interests. They can find resources to relate to, to see themselves in, to experience the lives of others, to learn facts, to grow and challenge their current understanding of their world. Libraries grant choices. They provide safe spaces to learn, think, and collaborate. They encourage critical thinking. Every student deserves access to their library AND access to their librarian.
Favorite websites?
I LOVE history!! The Library of Congress is such a cool website to visit (https://www.loc.gov/). It is a treasure trove of information!! I also enjoy Nat Geo Kids (https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history).
How can a parent encourage their kids to read more?
I think providing children with access to many different types of books is an integral aspect of encouraging kids to read. With younger students, the simple act of opening a book and “getting to know it” can be so impactful! Taking a picture walk allows children to make inferences & observations of the illustrations that can engage young readers before they have the ability to read.
Also, sitting down to read to/with kids helps develop an ability to comprehend stories, experience cultures and beliefs different from their own, experience different vocabulary words, and see characters who are alike or different from themselves. Books can help develop empathy…which the world simply needs more of.
Reading with a child can also alleviate anxiety about reading while modeling joy in reading. Access to many different kinds of books helps children engage in different formats of text that aligns with their interests. My own son, who just turned 8, has always loved to hear stories, but was a reluctant independent reader. However, he has recently found a real love of reading through the series Dog Man, a graphic novel. He is now reading independently each night ON HIS OWN!
.
What is the most rewarding part of your work?
When I watch students research and discover information for themselves. I tell my students that I provide them with the tools, but they put the tools to work. I enjoy watching my students ask important questions and having the ability and drive to seek the information for themselves. It is an absolutely wonderful and rewarding part of my job. For this set of skills, I believe, will serve them lifelong. A person who has the ability to critically think, ask important questions, and seek reliable information to draw their own conclusions is what gives someone true independence.
How do you envision libraries in the future?
I believe libraries will take on an important role in information acquisition. People have easy access to endless amounts of information at their fingertips at all hours of their life. However, without proper skills or knowledge, people are susceptible to bias, misleading, or inaccurate information. I think libraries will continue to serve as safe spaces to seek information and ultimately combat the miss and disinformation that we are facing currently.
