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We're All In This Together: Building Community in a School Library

Many arms, with hands touching in the center

As school librarians, we want our students and patrons to feel welcome in our space. We want to build community — and programming is a great way to do it.

The new American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Standards expressly address inclusivity in the standards with "Include," one of the Standards' six Shared Foundations. "Include" states that students, librarians and libraries will be able to “demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to inclusiveness and respect for diversity in the learning community.”

Star Wars Spelling Bee

Submitted by brussell on Thu, 2018-12-06 00:00

Library workers dressed up in Star Wars themed costumes

In honor of Star Wars Reads Month in October, our library held programs related to the iconic movies. We capped it all off with a Star Wars Spelling Bee at the end of the month, at 4:30 p.m. on a Thursday.

We picked specific words related to the movies and provided example sentences related to the movies to provide context. The event ended with a costume contest.

Junior Ambassadors Program

Submitted by harata on Mon, 2020-08-31 15:47

Photograph of Junior Ambassadors loading a bus of donated items to be sent to children in Haiti.

In 2015, the United Nations established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with the intent that these goals be met by 2030. In May 2019, the UN began an SDG Book Club for young people. The UN encourages young people to read the books that they hope “will inspire the children to help make the world a better place for everyone.” 

Welcome to School, I'm Your Zoom-brarian: Relationship-Building for a New Year

A woman holding a coffee cup smiling at a computer screen

As we look to fall 2020 and our start to the school year, one thing is certain: it will be like no other start we have experienced before. Many districts have already decided to begin the year virtually, and others are sure to follow. Districts starting with a hybrid model of mixed virtual and face-to-face learning will also face challenges that we have not yet encountered.

Tried-and-True Online Tools for School Library Programming

Picture of girl doing schoolwork on a computer.

If you've been on social media lately, you may have seen lists of educational resources offered for free or at minimal cost during the COVID-19 pandemic. These lists can be overwhelming, and many resources may not meet your school district's privacy guidelines. And what happens when the free resources are not free anymore? Can your library support the purchase that your students and teachers have come to rely upon? 

Resources to Support OER Programming in Your Library

students looking at computer

Last month, we talked about utilizing open educational resources (OER) in your school library programming, and we offered some simple suggestions for how to get started.

This month, we’re going to look at some resources you can utilize to find great openly licensed materials. We'll also share some programming ideas you can infuse with those resources. But first, we'll start by sharing our favorite OER resources.

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