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Collaborating to Run an Author Fest

10/22/2024

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Dr. Kip Wilson
Dr. Kip Wilson
Dr. Kip Wilson, Library Technician @ Concord-Carlisle High School

​How I worked with the public library to plan a Young Adult Author Symposium, free and open to all this November. ​
​​Young Adult Author Symposium
​will take place on
Saturday, November 16, 2024
10am-2pm at Concord-Carlisle High School
Libraries and Authors: A Winning Combination
Some of you may fondly remember the fabulous and wildly popular Boston Teen Author Fest, which was held annually at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and Cambridge Public Library for several years. As an aspiring YA author myself back in the day, I was most definitely a fan - I’d even hoped to be part of the festival one day myself if I ever got published. I loved the way the festival connected authors, readers, and the library in a trifecta of awesomeness.
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​Unfortunately, by the time I was published, the BTAF was no more. However, there were still some other great opportunities, one of which I’ve attended a few times now as an author (the Thurston Middle School Writers’ Conference in Westwood, MA). This event brings authors and students together in the Thurston Middle School library and classrooms during the school day for a series of writing workshops. 

With these beloved programs in mind, once I started my school library career, I hoped to have a hand in something similar. When I began working at the Concord-Carlisle High School library, head librarian Robin Cicchetti encouraged me to work with the likewise new Teen Librarian, Erick Gordy, at the Concord Free Public Library to see if we could pull something like these programs together. 
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​We began our planning in the fall of 2023 for the Young Adult Author Symposium (YAAS), which we’re launching this fall. A year of planning might sound like overkill, but we needed the lead time for writing grant proposals, figuring out permissions to use spaces, commissioning student artwork, and ordering swag. Probably not surprisingly, my favorite part has been reaching out to authors to see if they could attend. 
​In the end, we’re able to offer up two distinct programs: 
  • Writing workshops during the school day for 10 separate CCHS English classes featuring these fabulous authors (with support from a Concord Education Fund grant):
  • The Young Adult Author Symposium on Saturday, 11/16, featuring 12 local authors: Rebecca Caprara, Federico Erebia, Sara Farizan, Desmond Hall, Kendall Kulper, Rajani LaRocca,  Vanessa Lillie, Rebecca Mahoney, Marcella Pixley, Lisa Stringfellow, Susan Tan, Jonathan Todd.
    ​
The Registration is free and open to the public, and all programming is free to attend. 

​​YAAS will take place on
Saturday, November 16, 2024
10am-2pm at Concord-Carlisle High School
  • Wellesley Books will be on hand selling books
  • YAAS swag will be available for purchase 
  • There will be a lunch break with food truck offerings for sale.
  • A limited number of free bookmarks and autograph cards will be distributed to the first attendees.
  • The day’s schedule includes an opening panel, two breakout sessions, and a book signing.
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We hope to be able to run the festival again (hopefully with even more authors and programming) in coming years, but we need your help making it a success by getting the word out to your school communities. Please encourage your students to register and attend! 

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about launching your own author program at your school library, and good luck!
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Finding Your Way in the Library: Student-created Signage

4/10/2024

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Michelle Fontaine
Michelle Fontaine
Michelle Fontaine, Library Teacher, Marblehead
Epstein Hillel School, Marblehead
Finding Your Way in the Library: Using student-created library signage
This project is popular among the students, and they look forward to it when it's their turn. I like it because it adds color and energy to the library space.

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Cambridge School of Weston: ChatGPT and the Research Process

10/15/2023

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Jenna Wolf, Library Director
Jenna Wolf, Library Director
Cambridge School of Weston
is a day and 
boarding school in Weston, Massachusetts  for students in 
grades 9 - 12 + PG.​
Librarians are often at the forefront of considering new tools to aid in the research process; ChatGPT is just another example of a tool that we can harness to engage our students with inquiry. But is it useful? In what ways and contexts? How do students imagine it as just one of the pieces of equipment in a larger research toolkit? 

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READ posters

6/9/2023

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Anna Bognolo, Library Director
Eaglebrook School, Deerfield
Promoting reading with personalized posters.
​Each school year I try to come up with a new, fun campaign to promote reading on my campus (we are a boarding school). Past examples include “Bookface Friday,” “Name that shredded banned book” and a “Book Tasting.”

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Love is in the Air @ the Lynnfield High School Library Media Center

2/7/2023

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Janice Alpert
Janice Alpert, Library Media Specialist at Lynnfield High School
Blind Date with a Book...Speed Dating...Makerspace Chocolate-Making 
As a high school library media specialist, I am continuously seeking ways to spark excitement in high school students about reading, books and the library media center.  I strive to make the activities and displays fun, educational, and eye-catching enough to get them to avert their eyes from their phones and perhaps even pop out an airpod.

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Little Free Library at Lawrence Academy

12/6/2022

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Carine Aurelio, School Librarian at Lawrence Academy, Groton 
[email protected] 
Lawrence Academy is an independent day and boarding high school with an international and diverse community.   https://www.lacademy.edu/academics/mcdonald-library 
Little Free Library:
Building community, inspiring readers, and sparking creativity

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The Transformational Impact of Weeding

1/24/2022

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Allison Connelly, Marti Smallidge
Alison Connelly and Marti Smallidge. Ms. Smallidge is finishing her MEd at Salem State. She will start a contract position at Stoneham Middle School in January.
Alison Connelly, Librarian
​and Marti Smallidge, Library Intern
Stoneham High School
How a weeding project together with repurposed technology created a new and more functional meeting and learning space and increased the utilization of the library facility. 


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Virtual Escape Rooms: Another Tool in the Librarian’s Toolbox.

10/20/2021

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Sarah Feldman
​Sarah Feldman, Librarian
Gann Academy, Waltham
Last year, when access to the library was severely restricted due to our school’s health protocols, I needed to find a way to foster student connections with me and the library, provide instruction, and set up collaborations with teachers. One answer to this challenge came in the form of virtual escape rooms.

An escape room is basically a scavenger hunt, where, by solving clues, you move around a space until you can “unlock” the door and escape; a virtual escape room is a digital version of the escape room experience.

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Student Podcasting - Building Community

12/28/2020

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Luke Steere, Librarian
Wilson Middle School, Natick


Librarian Luke Steere and the students in the Library Advisory Committee used podcasting as an innovative way to build community and to reach out to students and teachers when the school pivoted to remote learning. 

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Bringing the Past to Life for Students

2/25/2020

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Allison Connelly
Alison Connelly
Alison Connelly
Stoneham High School Librarian


The Stoneham High School Library officially opened its "History Learning Lab '' this past January. We turned one of our old library storage rooms into a hands-on museum!  The History Lab is filled with artifacts from the time periods students are learning about in their classes, which is primarily the 20th century that includes WWI, WWII, Depression Era, Cold War, etc).  The museum is curated and overseen by me, the school librarian. The idea is that students will be able to touch and interact with these items, making history and the people who lived it more real.

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Messy Makerspace Sparks Big Thinking

1/17/2020

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Aaron Reuland
Aaron Reuland
Aaron Reuland, Library Teacher
C.M. Callahan Elementary School, Norwood


Two years ago, I decided to transform my library into a makerspace. It was the best professional choice that I’ve ever made. Students still check out books and learn digital citizenship but now we also build, tinker, play and code. We make a lot of messes! We (me included) make mistakes and we (hopefully) learn from them. I’ve received and purchased materials from grants and also scrounged cardboard and unused supplies from every closet and attic at school and at home.  I've spent summers building wind tubes and soldering circuits. It’s been hard, fun, work.  

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Revitalizing Your Library on a Budget

12/9/2019

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Patsy Divver
Patsy Divver
Millis Middle/High School
Patsy Divver, School Librarian


​With a little creativity, wise spending,  and organization, ​YOUR library can be brand NEW!  The Millis Middle/High school library definitely needed a change. When I started here in 2002, I updated the books but they hadn't been updated since.  The 8’ high shelves were out of place and we hadn't changed tables for about ten years.  The 30 year old rug had seen better days and the library was just not as inviting as it had the potential to be.  Other than a new cafe table, the space needed some work. ​

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Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School Makerspaces Inspire Students to Think and Create BIG!

11/5/2019

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Jennifer Gordon
Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School Librarian, Jennifer Gordon
Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School Library
Jennifer Gordon, Librarian


Think, Create, Make - Makerspace Challenges - Big and Small
A few years ago, our technology director came to me with a question : Had I ever thought about creating a Makerspace in the Library?  The answer was simple : yes! I’d already had the idea brewing in the back of my head, I just wasn’t sure how I wanted to work it into my schedule and my space.  I took a few months to tinker, do a little bit of research, and test out my plans with a couple of classes. Fast forward to now: my students have a variety of opportunities to THINK, CREATE, and MAKE! ​​

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New Collaboration Space Showcases Students

5/21/2019

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Three women are gathered next to one another.  The one on the left has long blond wavy hair and she is wearing an ivory colored turtleneck sweater.  The woman in the middle has shoulder length straight blond hair and is she wearing a tan shirt with a black cardigan.  The woman on the right has short blond hair and she is wearing a teal sweater with a striped print scarf around her neck.
Westford Academy Library
Suzanne Harde, Library Media Specialist
Christin Monaghan, Library Media Specialist
Sarah Sullivan, After-School Library Assistant


​Over the last few years the Westford Academy Library has undergone a physical transformation. Print resources were shifted to the periphery to open new spaces to allow students to collaborate more easily. 

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Building Fifth-Graders' Critical Thinking by Investigating Banned and Challenged Books at Hardy Elementary School

3/14/2019

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A woman with shoulder-length dark hair is smiling. She is posed against a wall with her arms crossed. She is wearing a camel colored vest and a light gray, long-sleeved top.
Hardy Elementary School Library Teacher Lisa Rogers
John D. Hardy Elementary School Library 
Lisa Rogers, Library Teacher
​

​
What? Harry Potter banned? Scary Stories II? The Lorax--challenged?
My students are outraged that someone would limit their freedom to read these favorites. Yet as we delve into the specifics, they become cautious. What about that masked man with a gun threatening a sleeping child in Steven Kellogg’s Pinkerton, Behave! What about the concealed nudity in Amy Timberlake’s The Dirty Cowboy—a book that first-graders find hilarious and but that fifth-graders find embarrassing?

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Freshmen Foundations Class at Minnechaug Regional High School

2/4/2019

2 Comments

 
A female-presenting individual with curly black hair is pictured in a car. She is wearing a black top.
Dr. Georgina Trebbe, Information Specialist, Minnechaug Regional High School
​Minnechaug Regional High School Information & Research Commons
Dr. Georgina Trebbe, Information Specialist 


​Each year, I especially strive for opportunities to reach every freshman. This year the opportunity came in the development of a new course.  Starting in the 2018-2019 school year, Minnechaug Regional High School introduced the Freshmen Foundations course. Similar to other Massachusetts schools, Minnechaug’s Leadership Team determined students needed to build strong and consistent skills to meet the necessary rigor and metacognition aptitude surrounding independent reading, writing, and researching. 

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Laker TV at Silver Lake Regional High School Library

1/9/2019

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A woman with short blonde hair is posed against a gray background. She is wearing a black top.
Linda Redding, Silver Lake Regional High School Librarian
Silver Lake Regional High School Library 
Linda Redding, Librarian


​From newscasts to sharing creative writing to weather reports, the Laker TV Studio provides an opportunity for students to go beyond being consumers of information to being creators of information.  Students gain experience using television production technology, as well as develop and practice reading, writing, speaking, and listening .skills. The Laker TV studio is a fully operational studio with equipment donated by PACTV.  

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The Westborough Public School’s Diversity Literature Collection

11/26/2018

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A woman with shoulder length brunette hair is smiling. The rest of her body is not really visible, but she is posed against a bookcase in the background.
Laura Beals D'Elia, Armstrong Elementary School Librarian
Laura Beals D'Elia, School Librarian ​
Armstrong Elementary School Library
​

It just so happened that 3 years ago when I started my position at the Armstrong Elementary School, the district also relocated the K-12 ELL Director, Maeve Hitzenbuhler, to the tiny office in my library. And it just so happened that I had been to enough of Judi Paradis’s ELL conference sessions about her relationship with her ELL staff that I knew that this was a good thing. And because we were so close to each other every day, it just so happened that Maeve and I began to talk about diversity, picture books, ELL students, and plenty of other interesting topics.

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Makerspace at McDevitt Middle School

10/23/2018

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A woman with curly dark hair is smiling. She is wearing glasses. There is a wall behind her.
Lucy Clerkin, McDevitt Middle School Librarian
McDevitt Middle School Library/ Ms. Clerkin's Tech Literacy Class 
Lucy Clerkin, Librarian 
Barbara Walsh, Library paraprofessional 

​
​When you have a library full of kids long before the start of the school day, it’s time to get creative, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. About three years ago, Library Teacher Lucy Clerkin and Library Paraprofessional Barbara Walsh, like many other library professionals, decided to build a MakerSpace. For us, that meant a space stocked with stuff mostly borrowed and found that we hoped would someday and somehow be transformed into something.

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Kicking off the School Year at Algonquin Regional High School

9/16/2018

4 Comments

 
A white female-presenting person with short, red hair is standing against a green-yellow background, wearing a beige top.
Kimberly Honey, Algonquin Regional High School Librarian
Algonquin Regional High School Library
Kimberly Honey, Librarian
​

​
And they’re off!  Every year I feel like the number seven horse charging out of the gate … the start of school is a frantic pace of get the library set up, supporting teachers, and jump starting all of the programming that you dreamed about over the summer.    Well, seven days in and my head is spinning, but the Algonquin library has been rocking. September is still young, but we have had wonderful opportunities to work with the English and History departments.

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5th Grade Student News at Greenlodge Elementary School, Dedham

6/6/2018

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Sarah Bickel
Sarah Bickel, Greenlodge Elementary Librarian
​Sarah Bickel, Librarian  
Greenlodge Elementary School Library 


​After many iterations of school announcements, we have found success (for now)! We have a great crew of fifth grade news reporters who create a weekly video called Greenlodge News. This has allowed the school to cut down on the length of morning announcements, and more importantly, gives fifth graders the chance to become news reporters! In addition to collaborating with peers to interview and write up news reports, produce a video product, and use a green screen, students are much more confident because of the experience!

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Banned Books Week at Stoneham High School

5/10/2018

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Allison Connelly
Stoneham High School Librarian Alison Connelly
Allison Connelly, Librarian  
Stoneham High School Library

​I thought I’d share my experience from this past fall on the expansion of our yearly banned book week display to include an activity.   We've been doing banned book displays for several years, and have invited teachers to bring their classes down to the library to take a look, but we’d never had a request to teach a class on banned books. I assumed no one had time with their jammed packed High School English curriculum to do it.

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Happenings at the Concord-Carlisle Regional High School Learning Commons

3/29/2018

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Three people are dressed up in Halloween costumes. The woman on the left side is dressed as a witch, the man in the middle is dressed as a ship captain, and the woman on the right is dressed as a cheerleader.
Robin Cicchetti, Assistant Librarian Max Close, and Assistant Librarian Lou Ann Franke in their Halloween costumes.
Concord-Carlisle High School Learning Commons
Dr. Robin Cicchetti, Head Librarian 


The Concord-Carlisle Regional High School Learning Commons is a busy place! For the past ten years we have conducted head counts once per block, and our data tells us that last year we hosted 65,718 student visits, not counting visiting class or before/after school activities. Our lively after school club program, overseen by library assistant Max Close, runs until 5pm daily.

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Graphic Novel Unit at the Fenn School, Concord

2/20/2018

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A woman with shoulder-length dark hair is posed against a blurred background of trees. She is wearing blue earrings, a black pearl necklace, and a magenta top.
Liza Halley, Library Teacher, Fenn School
Fenn School Library 
Liza Halley, Library Teacher
Sam Kane, Library Director 
​
Teaching graphic novels is a great passion of mine. The following is a brief overview of a graphic novel  unit  for fourth grade students at the Fenn School in Concord. What follows is an explanation of how the unit was structured, what I learned from the experience and tools you can use if you decide to try something like this in your own library.

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Robotics at Norwood Elementary School Libraries

1/13/2018

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A woman with curly brown hair is pictured against an outdoor background of trees. She is smiling and wearing a pale purple top.
Donna Miller, Norwood Public Schools
Norwood Elementary Schools
Oldham Elementary (Donna Miller) 
Balch Elementary (Lora Roberts) 
Callahan Elementary (Aaron Reuland)
Cleveland Elementary (Annmarie Higgins)

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