Easing back in

Sorry, I just can't get serious after break.

Awful Library Books was just named a Favorite Blog of 2009 by PC Magazine. It's one of my favorites too (even though sometimes it cuts a little close to home).

Here's an idea for a Computer Literacy 2 project. It only took these guys 440 hours to create this Lego version of a shoot 'em up sequence from The Matrix.



When people ask me why I use Twitter, I tell them it's to be alerted to great stuff like this. Which can actually be true.

Of libraries and biblioburros

Today is the last day of school before Thanksgiving break. I'm madly thankful for lots of things. This video reminds me of how thankful I am for libraries:



Much of the world first learned about Colombian teacher Luis Soriano and his "biblioburro" service after the New York Times published an article with this great title: "Acclaimed Colombian Institution Has 4,800 Books and Ten Legs."

Find out more about the biblioburro project and how you can help at Ayoka Productions.

(Thanks, Jessamyn!)

We are all about Web 2.0 in these parts

Maybe we're not the first on the block, but we get there eventually. You can now become a fan of the University Laboratory High School Library on Facebook. We're just getting started with the content, but be sure to click on the RSS/Blog window to keep up with our blog posts and Twitter feeds. Speaking of Twitter, you can follow us there too. Major props to Daniel W. for writing the javascript so those updates show on our home page.

What's next for us? World-wide domination, of course.

They are just too cute

Freshmen in the library. Who couldn't love them?

Do you oil your war machines or do you feed them?

The guys at Unshelved alerted me to the publication of Scott Westerfeld's new book, Leviathan, which features some pretty amazing illustrations. They got him to record the following plug:



I like the full trailer, too (except for maybe the smarmy narrator voice).



I am so sold. All you kids are going to have to fight me for it when it comes in.

What the signs tell us

Today, they tell me how much I love this place.


Look at all the names of this year's NaNoWriMo participants! Okay, it's our hall bulletin board, not a sign.


Yes, parents will be hosting a Diwali "tasting" tomorrow, nom, nom. If you really squint, you'll see the "CITATION NEEDED" note following "Free food has always been the best thing ever according to everyone."


This one is pretty self-explanatory.


A little self-esteem builder from Operation Beautiful on the bathroom mirrors (at least in the girls' bathrooms - can't speak for the boys').


In a stall. A pencil hangs at the end of that curly ribbon.


And a staircase promotion for the upcoming student-faculty dodgeball match that will raise money for the Habitat for Humanity chapter in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

The Wonder Wheel, and other amazing goodies

I've just returned from the great experience of being with "my people" - yep, about 2,500+ school librarians from all over the nation. Perhaps the high point for me was the "smackdown" session during which some of the most notable tech experts in the profession (aided by plenty of input from tech experts in the audience) gave quick demos of the latest and greatest examples of Web 2.0 tool use in school libraries. Fortunately, it's all archived on the smackdown wiki, giving us a chance to go back and try to explore how we might use some of these tools in our own settings. My special job during the smackdown was to be the timekeeper. Each group of experts was given precisely 12 minutes in which to show their stuff. I was ready for the challenge, though, because I brought along assistant principal Sue Kovacs' Whistle of Power. It gave me the confidence (and the piercing shrieks) I needed.

One of the coolest things I saw was Google's new Wonder Wheel (why, WHY, did I not know about this??). I'll let Google guy Adam explain it:

Time to recharge

I really should start recording the RifRaf meetings. Unlike other book clubs, this one doesn't pick a single book to read and discuss. Instead, a (supposed) theme is picked each week, and tends to run along the lines of "Characters who shouldn't have (or should have) died" and other such speculation. Today, folks seemed to be fascinated by the idea of popes and the supernatural (involving zombies and their ilk). I have no idea why. So next week's theme will delve into this mystery - for a good five minutes, anyway. A more concrete proposal emerged, perhaps inspired by NaNoWriMo, which was to collectively write a novel in a brand new mashup genre: "zombie pirate robot vampire alien French Pope romance." Can't wait to read the ARC.

It's conference season for me right now. Last week I attended the Illinois School Library Media Association annual conference in Springfield. Tomorrow I leave for the American Association of School Librarians National Conference. I'll be blogging for them, so this little corner of the blogosphere will be quiet until I get back next week, recharged and ready for more zombies.

So, who's playing this year?

The Online Gargoyle wonders if it can be called a "50K race in... writing?" Yes, it's time for National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. We've had a pretty good record of participation in it, and this past September a few Uni students even garnered some nice mentions for their efforts in School Library Journal.

Here's the deal. Please let us know if you are participating this year and we'll put your name up on the "NaNoWriMo Hall of Fame" bulletin board outside the library. Easy.