Massachusetts School Library Association
Member Portal:
​Join/Renew/Directory
​
  • Home
    • Spotlight Archive
    • MSLA Constitution
    • About Us
  • Membership
  • Conference
  • Resources
  • Advocacy
  • Awards
    • Judi Paradis Memorial Grant
    • MSLA Awards Archive: History of Awards >
      • 2023 Awards Pictures
      • 2019 Awards Pictures
      • 2018 Awards Pictures
      • 2017 Awards Pictures
      • 2016 Awards Pictures
      • 2015 Awards Pictures
  • Bookmark Contest

Why are the Civil Rights Books in the 300s instead of the 900s?

2/15/2022

8 Comments

 
Gillian Bartoo is the District Cataloger for Cambridge Public Schools in Cambridge, MA.  

Why do books about the struggle for civil rights in America end up in social sciences (3XX) rather than history (97X)?  The same way lots of books end up in “weird” places in school libraries: the original cataloger followed the rules for assigning Dewey call numbers. The most basic rule is that you catalog to describe the content of the book and to fit that content into an imaginary library of all published knowledge using the scheme Dewey laid out. It means catalogers don’t consider the intended audience, the context in which a work might be used, or where any given individual might expect to find it shelved. Often, this does not bode well for small, specialized libraries such as our school libraries which carry books with simplified content that caters to a young and still intellectually developing patron group. ​

Read More
8 Comments

Hanging out at Carlisle School

5/7/2016

0 Comments

 
Ellen Brandt is a librarian at the Blanchard Middle School in Westford, MA
and a winner of the MSLA Web Seal of Excellence

On Friday,  February 26, 2016, Maya Bery and the Northeast Area MSLA hosted a very successful get together at the Carlisle School.  The focus of this “Local Events by Local Members”  was “Collections and Resources”.
8 school librarians gathered at the Carlisle School to discuss “Ditching Dewey,”  share ideas, tour an exemplary library (as it transitions to exemplary Learning Commons), socialize, and enjoy dinner together.
Maya described her experiences with re-organizing her nonfiction collection into genres and also with transitioning from Library to Learning Commons. She demoed a couple of new technologies; turning herself into a human Keyboard with a MaKey MaKey (courtesy of Watertown Free Public Library) and cruising our table with a programmable Bee-bot.

Read More
0 Comments

    Forum Newsletter

    Co-Editors
    ​Luke Steere and Michelle Fontaine

    Michelle is School Librarian at Epstein Hillel School in Marblehead; Luke is School Librarian at  Wilson Middle in Natick

    Click to set custom HTML

    Categories

    All
    AASL
    Academic
    Advocacy
    ALA
    Authors
    Book Bans
    Book Challenges
    Book Trailers
    Cataloging
    Censorship
    Column
    Conference
    Copyright
    Culture
    Databases
    Dewey
    Digital Citizenship
    E Books
    E-books
    Elementary
    ESSA
    Ethics
    Evaluation
    Graphic Books
    Graphic Novels
    Inquiry
    Leadership
    Learning Commons
    Legislation
    Literacy
    Maker Space
    Nonfiction
    Orientation
    Picture Books
    Planning
    PLN
    President's Remarks
    Professional Development
    Reading
    Research
    Science
    Secondary
    Social Justice
    Standards
    Technology
    Union
    Volunteers
    Weeding

    Archives

    February 2025
    May 2024
    February 2024
    October 2023
    May 2023
    February 2023
    October 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022
    October 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    May 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    April 2015

    MSLA Forum Past Issues:
    January 2015
    April 2015
    ​
    2002-2015 MSLA Forum
The Massachusetts School Library Association  works to ensure every school has a school library program that is fully integrated at all grade levels across the curriculum and has a significant and measurable impact on student achievement….Read more…..and Learn more about MSLA

Picture
Contact MSLA:
Emily Kristofek, Office Manager/Event Planner
P.O. Box 336. Wayland, MA 01778
[email protected]
​
508-276-1697 

Massachusetts School Library Association. All Rights Reserved.  Copyright 2025.