As  you put together your orders for next year be sure to check out school librarian Travis Jonker's Top 10 list for 3rd & 4th graders published here in School Library Journal. I know you'll have most of them but you might find one or two new titles to add. He provides a link to his list from last year and promises lists for the younger and older grades in the future so watch for them too.           Katie

Here is a timely activity you might be able to fit into your remaining time with students this spring. Peter Reynolds, author/illustrator of "The Dot" has generously created this template for Dream Seeds where students may collect their dreams. What a nice way to send them off for the summer, with some goals and aspirations to work towards!

                                    Katie

I was crushed to find out that the next round of proposed cuts to be delivered the school board on Monday includes the elimination of the entire Library Media Services department! I don't see how cutting LMS keeps the cuts "as far away from the classroom as possible." What a loss to the students to not have access to all of the kits maintained & circulated by LMS, not to speak of the online resources which now include over 500 ebooks! I sure hope I can report on Tuesday that the board decided NOT to take this extreme measure to avoid cutting class sizes.   Katie

We're so excited to roll out MackinVIA as an eBook portal containing ALL of our ebooks in one easy spot for students to access. The portal also has access to many of our online resources like TumbleBooks and PebbleGo.

Check with your school library for login and password access!          Katie

One of our own alumni, Lee Harris, shared this wonderful post with me at Book Riot on Spine-Label-Poetry. Great idea for maybe a contest, displays on your web page, on a bulletin board,  a way to use the camera function of the iPad to record creations, etc, etc. Elementary folks...this could be a great project at year end if you can convince the students to faithfully use shelf markers!! 
It's all I can do to not drop everything and go in search of poetry on my bookshelves!!!      Katie

The folks at EducatorsTechonology.com have shared a link to this great Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers poster from Tech & Learning. Handy to have. Please share with your teaching staff.           Katie

This great video, created by a Yavapai College student, explains why databases are so important for doing quality research. I'd recommend posting it prominently on your website.                                                                              Katie

Click here to see the Public Domain Review, a project of the Open Knowledge Foundation. It is a fascinating site, full of treasures in the public domain. The group monitors expiring copyrights and adds work daily.

                                                               Katie

If you're on Facebook I recommend you 'like' the School Library Journal page so you can get cool information like this -

School Library Journal
Did you know that Jackie Robinson starred in his own biopic? The 1950 film made at the height of his career, is in the public domain. Tips on how to teach with it on Connect the Pop http://ow.ly/k2Z36