Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows SPOILER ALERT!!!

I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm not in tears at the moment, but I definitely was when a certain sweet person/creature died. There were some surprises, but many things were foreshadowed in the previous books. I think it is a fitting ending to the series, although I was worried that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were wandering around aimlessly. The book was definitely very bleak in tone, especially in the middle!

Neville didn't kill who I thought he would, but he was very instrumental in the last battle. I am trying not to say too much for those who haven't yet read it. I'm glad it ended as it did, although I would have liked more detail there. I'm also glad Harry found out the truth about Snape. All I know is that there is no way I could have been as brave as Harry. He is very noble, and loving, and a true hero.

Even though I'm tired I think I might start rereading it. Somehow I can't go to bed just yet. Of course, now that it's over, it's a matter of what happens now. I wanted the book to finish because I wanted to find out what was going to happen, but now the magic is over. For good, and forever. Thanks J.K. Rowling, it's been incredible.

Mischief managed.

Harry Potter

Okay, it's been forever since I've posted. Sorry, it has been summer vacation after all.

I have reread all the Harry Potter books, watched the movies (seen #5 two times), and I am now ready for the most amazing literature event, the release of Harry Potter #7, the Deathly Hallows. I will be dressing up and attending the party tonight. And then, my diet coke and chocolate are ready to keep me awake all night reading. I don't intend to fall asleep without knowing the answers to these two questions: Does Harry die? and is Snape good or bad?

My prediction is that Snape is really good, why else would he not kill Harry at the end of Book 6. But I do think that he will die, probably in saving Harry. I could be wrong, it has happened before, but... I also want Harry to live and get back with Ginny. I do have this awful feeling that J.K. Rowling might kill him off though. I have the kleenex ready just in case. My husband is hoping that I won't spoil the ending for him if he hears me crying.

I'm also betting on Neville to get Bellatrix Lestrange. He has a great line in the movie, when Bella asks him how his parents are he says that they're better now they are getting avenged. He has come a long way in the series, and I really want to see him grow up and become a force to be reckoned with. As for Hermione and Ron, they will FINALLY get together (although I really can't see what Hermione sees in Ron, I think her and Harry make a better couple but Harry does have Ginny). And hopefully the Dursleys will realize how mean they are to Harry and will regret it. I'm not sure what I wish for Draco, he did refrain from killing Dumbledore, but he is a huge git as Harry would put it. He may be redeemable but his father definitely isn't. And will Dobby have a role at the end? I hope so, I like Dobby.

In less than 10 hours I will have the book in my hand and I'll be starting to find the answers. It's been a great time reading about Harry's world. I really don't want it to end. Maybe if I keep rereading the books and rereading and rereading...

Stay tuned for the answers to my predictions. But don't check until you've read Book 7 yourself, because there will be spoilers! Until tomorrow!

Florida Teens Read Winner

The winner of the Florida Teens Read for 2006-2007 has been announced, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I haven't had a chance to read this novel yet, mainly because copies never stay on the shelf long enough for me to grab one! It (and the sequel, New Moon) have been extremely popular at our school.

The list for 2007-2008 has been posted at http://www.floridamedia.org/teensread/teensread.html
I've already read two of the titles, Just Listen by Sarah Dessen and Sold by Patricia McCormick. I have my reading list for the summer now. How about you?

Superintendent's Ultimate Readers Award

We had our Superintendent's Ultimate Readers Award ceremony and breakfast on Friday. This award is for students who have read a minimum of 15 books from August to April. We had 50 students receive the award, and they read a grand total of 1255 books combined. Congratulations!

Superintendent Acevedo hand out the award certificates, and then we all were treated to a wonderful breakfast in the cafeteria. See, reading does pay off!

End of School Year

Well, we have less than a month until school year 2006-2007 is finished. Of course, that means inventory will be starting soon. Every year I say that if I stopped buying new books, I'd have less to inventory, but I keep adding new ones!

All books are due in by the 16th of May. If students have any obligations, they need to be taken care of before Prom this weekend. Inventory will be starting the week of May 21st, so we'll be closed to classes then. The computers will still be available and we'll remain open at lunch. Thanks for understanding.

73 days to HP7!

Countdown to Harry Potter

The local bookstores are selling Harry Potter #7. I will be attending the party at Hooked on Books in Islamorada, from 10pm until 12:01 when the book is distributed. Hooked on Books is also donating a portion of all proceeds from sales of HP and the Deathly Hallows over opening weekend to the Coral Shores Media Center. If you haven't yet purchased your copy, come get sorted and drink butterbeer at Hooked on Books!

79 days and counting...

National Library Week

I'm a little late to be posting seeing as National Library Week was last week. We celebrated with a trivia contest, which turned out to be a lot of fun. I posted the questions in the LMC window and also had them on the announcements. The week started off slow, but we had 45 students participate in Thursday's question. Way to go! The questions (and answers) are as follows:

1. What is the website address where our online resources (netTrekker, Britannica and the databases can be accessed? (www.keysresearch.net)
2. What is the title of the Coral Shores Media blog? (CSHS Hurricanes Media Bulletin. Points to everyone who is currently reading this!)
3. What was Mrs. Delgado's favorite book as a teenager? (Gone With The Wind. Thanks to everyone who said Harry Potter, but unfortunately I'm not that young)
4. What degree do you need to become a librarian? (Masters of Library Science)

Thanks to everyone who participated. Our daily winners were: Dustin, Alex, Ian, and Mimi, who each received a gift card to Cover to Cover books.

The trivia contest was popular, so we'll try to do something similar next year, and maybe add more contests in the future. Let me know your ideas.

...86 days and counting the hours...

Shameless self promotion

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share with you my latest article, this one was written for FMQ (Florida Media Quarterly), the magazine for Florida Association of Media in Education. http://www.floridamedia.org/fmq/fmq.html is the link, and the pdf file of the magazine is available at the bottom of the page. My article was on switching over to the secondary school, and tips a media specialist should know. Working in a high school is very different from elementary and middle. I like all the age groups, but working with teenagers definitely requires a different mindset! Read the article and let me know what you think.

Also, 93 days, 12 hours and 42 minutes to Harry Potter #7. I can't wait!

Age of our collection

I spent the remainder of my funds last week. And in the process, I learned something about our collection. Portions of it are very old! I thought I'd check the ancient history section to see what was currently on the shelves in order to determine how many new volumes to purchase. The majority of books were as old as I (if not older). So, I get distracted and decided to do some weeding. One hundred books later, the ancient history section and the rest of the 900s (history and geography) looked much better and needless to say, I purchased 2 new sets of ancient history instead of the one I was originally planning on.

Weeding is something that many library media need to do, but don't always make it a priority (myself included). To ensure a dynamic, relevant, attractive collection adding new titles and weeding old no longer appropriate titles is necessary. Our collection age is currently 1992. The majority of our students are younger than the average age of our books. Do you think this helps to make books interesting or worthwhile? And my school is not alone. Collection ages for some of the other schools in the Keys range from 1989 to 1994. It's not surprising that students are turning to technology because they think that books are obsolete if this is what they see in their schools.

As for Coral Shores, our science and social science sections are in very good shape, so I'll be looking through the arts, literature, and reference for outdated materials. My goal is to get our collection age younger than many of the students, although it may take several years of weeding and ordering new books for that to happen. At least the students will see more current, attractive, and accurate books on the shelves!

Testing

It is FCAT time. I can hear groans from teachers and students all around me. Although I am not a fan of standardized testing, I can see the need for assessment. But there seems to be continual testing! And of course, the media center is closed whenever there are tests. I joke that when this school was built they forgot to add testing rooms.

It is a compliment that the media center is used the most for testing because it is the most comfortable and inviting room, and students prefer testing in here. I also realize that the administration doesn't have much of a choice. I get displaced or teacher's classes get displaced. (Hence the need for specific testing rooms!). There just seem to be so many days of testing that force us to shut down. Students and teachers are upset because they cannot use the resources. Sometimes I feel that people don't realize the media center is a classroom too, one for the entire school. And when it is closed, the entire school is affected.

So, let's stop testing our students so much, and start promoting wonderful research projects and reading instead. I believe that will be more important in the real world.

Beka Cooper by Tamora Pierce

Tamora Pierce has done it again. She is the author of great fantasy novels with very strong female characters. The Alanna series is the first in the kingdom of Tortall, with Wild Magic, Protector of the Small, and the two Trickster books also based there. Beka Cooper Book One: Terrier is the first in a planned trilogy which takes place 200 years before Alanna in Corus, the capital city of Tortall. Beka is just starting her job as a Provost (similar to police) guard, otherwise known as Dogs. She is working in the Lower City; streets of slums and thievery. Assigned to two veteran Dogs, she is eager to learn all she can. Beka has a gift (or curse), she understands the spirits carried by pigeons, and the voices carried on the air by dust spinners. From them, she hears about mass murders and the unknown villain known only as the Shadow Snake. When the Dogs are unable to fully investigate, Beka knows that she cannot let the common people suffer, and joins forces with her new ruffian friends.

Pierce excells at creating heroic characters that are real. Beka makes mistakes and suffers from shyness, which hampers her ability to make friends and perform all duties of her job. The secondary characters lend needed humor to the book, and help carry the story along. There is a lot of action and enough magical elements for fantasy lovers. It was a treat to read about the early years of Tortall, and I'm looking forward to the next book

Filters

Before I begin, let me remind you of my liberal leanings here, so don't be too surprised when I come out against filters. Also remember, my students are highschoolers, I do believe some filters are appropriate for elementary students.

I not only write (or try to write) this blog, I also enjoy reading the many blogs that are out there about libraries, books, and technologies. Many of my colleaques provide links to wonderful resources that would be very helpful, if I could access them! There are some worthwhile vieos about technology and libraries on YouTube, but my district (or the state) blocks YouTube and other Web 2.0 sites. I am also unable to read some blogs, including my own last week! I tried to show a student this blog and he was going to help me upload a podcast, but it was blocked by Websense, the state filter. It was very frustrating, needless to say.

I agree that there is inappropriate material on the Internet. I also agree that many of our students should not be viewing this material. However, in the library at least, our job is to provide information. Many students have given up researching in here because they cannot find the information online that they need due to the filters. I have heard many students say that they will just do all their research at home, and then they want to fool around the rest of the class and distract their classmates who are actually working. We have the opportunity to educate our students on proper searching and evaluating of websites, but that opportunity is lost when many sites are blocked. Instead, we lose credibility with our students because we are not part of their world.

We also need to bring parents and the community on board. Many communities cooperate and teach street safety to children. It is time for us all to cooperate and teach online safety to our children and teenagers. We do not prevent children from playing in the park or going to the mall, instead we teach them not to talk to strangers and to look both ways before crossing the street. Let's do the same for online safety. I-Safe is a program our district is using (check out www.isafe.org ) which has many great resources for online safety. We need to trust our students for them to have trust in us.

The web is here to stay. There are many wonderful sites and tools for communication and collaboration available that are easily adapted for educational use. Let's learn how to do that, instead of refusing to see their value.

Thanks for listening.

Harry Potter 7

Harry Potter 7; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released on July 21st! I can hardly wait. A student came down to tell me the news yesterday at lunch. Everybody here knows that I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. Maybe it's the Hogwarts banner hanging in the Media Center, the Harry Potter movie poster hanging in my office, the Harry Potter soundtrack I play occasionally, or the fact that I dressed up as Prof. McGonagall at Halloween.

The entire Harry watching community has been waiting to find out when the final book in the series was being released. The rumors were that it would be in July, which is also when the 5th movie (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, July 13) is coming out. We can get our HP fix all at once! The rumors are flying about who is going to be killed off, whether Snape is good or bad, if Harry is actually going to die! I feel that Voldemort definitely has to die, and I think Snape is another candidate there. I still think that he is acting as a double agent. And will Harry get back with Ginny? There are so many questions to be answered that #7 is going to be huge!

I haven't preordered it yet, although I received the email from Barnes and Noble. I have never been to a Harry Potter party at midnight when the book is released at a bookstore, and I would like to do that for once. With HP6, I had to wait until 2:00pm when the book was finally delivered. I could have read it twice over by then! I hope the Keys bookstores are doing something so I can start reading right at 12:01!

169 days and counting...

Awards

I have been anxiously awaiting the announcement of the Printz (Excellence in Literature Written for Young Adults) and the Alex (10 Best Adult Books that Appeal to Teen Audiences) which were announced at the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting on Monday. I was hoping that the Book Thief by Marcus Zusak would win the Printz, and it recieved the honor award. The winner was American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang. John Green, An Abundance of Katherines; M.T.Anderson, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Pox Party; and Sonya Hartnett, Surrender, were the other recipients of Honor Awards. You can see the press release with the entire list of award winners at http://ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=News&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=146679

As this is my first year at a high school, I need to catch up on previous Printz winners. I am familiar with the authors, and have read several of the books, especially those that were also appropriate to middle school. This year, I enjoyed reading Octavian Nothing which is a book that makes the reader think about what freedom, liberty, and the right to an education really mean. And I loved the Book Thief. I have read it several times and cried each time. It is about a girl who goes to live with a poor foster family in Germany during World War II. She comes to understand the power of words and the will to fight against oppression. We have both of these titles in the library media center, and I am ordering the others. I'll let you know when they arrive!

Ordering new books

I just finished one of my favorite tasks as a school library media specialist, purchasing new titles. It's also extremely frustrating because I want every good book, and unfortunately my budget does not allow that.

Purchasing new books is a delicate juggling act. I try to balance the student's wishes for fun fiction with award winners and great literature. The curriculum needs must also be met with books available for research and class purposes. It doesn't help that book prices have skyrocketed. My history teachers need books on ancient civilizations and decades throughout American history. The average price of these books is $35 each. Ouch! Fiction prices have greatly increased too, thanks to the phenomenal success of Harry Potter at $29.95. So, the lack of funds greatly decreases my spending spree. Oh well, I don't have the shelf space available for every new book anyway.

I was able to order some new graphic novels and manga titles which will help my little graphic collection immensely. Manga fans are very passionate about their favorites, and everyday I hear requests for more. I added biographies of scientists and philosophers for my science and social studies teachers, and more general fiction. My huge nonfiction order will be finished shortly. I'm searching all the best book lists for great adult fiction titles for teenagers so I can add those titles as well. Once these titles come in, they will be on display so they can be easily seen and checked out. Can't wait!

The American Library Association is announcing the 2007 award winners on Mon., Jan. 22. Visit ala.org for more info. I am hoping that the Book Thief by Marcus Zusak will win the Printz, it is an amazing book.

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading

Today is the last day of school before our Christmas/Winter break. I'm looking forward to attacking my huge pile of books that I want to read. I have 33 books on my bedside table to read, 3 of which I've already started. I pick up different books depending on my mood. Somedays I'll be interested in reading non-fiction such as history or education, another day I need a good British mystery such as P.D. James. Young adult books and children's books are always on my list, especially good fantasy stories. I had been proud of myself for bringing my large pile under 20 titles this fall, before I attended FAME that is and purchased many more. Now, I have to decide which books to bring to Canada to read over the holidays. My husband gave me 3 books for Christmas (we opened our presents early so we don't need to take them up north)so those books will probably go in my suitcase.

Many students have been in here returning books and taking out new ones to read over the break. It's been great to see the large piles of books some are taking out to ensure they have enough reading material. It will be a very busy day on Jan. 9 when these books are all due back.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a great holiday. I'm looking forward to hearing about the books everyone has read, and I'll have some to talk about as well.

Organizing by Genres

Okay, I must like making more work for myself.

I had been thinking about rearranging the fiction section of the middle school area at Plantation Key School for the last couple of years. Now that I'm at the high school, I have liked the idea even more. Most students come in and ask for a book "just like this one". I have noticed that, like many adults, teenagers prefer to read one genre. Bookstores already know this, and they shelve their wares by genre with sections for mystery, romance, fiction and literature, history, graphic novels, art, health etc.

Coral Shores has an interesting layout of shelving. Due to study rooms and windows, the shelving is broken into many different sections, with fiction along three outside walls and the non-fiction stacks in the middle of the room. With fiction books being so spread out along the far walls, it is sometimes difficult to find the books. (Of course, more signage would help, I'm going to look into signs that hang from the ceiling as there is little wall space).

The moment that really got me thinking about this was at the FAME conference. While attending the Teens Can Read workshop, one of the presenters discussed how she had rearranged her Media Center and circulation doubled. Although worried about information literacy and teaching students who to find books, I realized that students would still be practicing these skills in order to find the location of the books. The teachers questioned thought rearranging the library would be a good idea, as did most of the students.

Now, I need to decide what genre to place each book in, order labels and apply, change the books in the computer, and rearrange the books. That should keep us busy here in the library for quite a while. Oh well, I like to be busy!

The Library Media Center

Here is a picture of the Coral Shores Library Media Center. We have approximately 13,000 books, 17 computers, 3 OPAC stations, magazines, books in Spanish, and we have started a Graphic Novel collection (see previous posts). The school building is only 4 years old, so everything is nice and new.

Florida Teens Read again

Congratulations to Anna who read all 15 of the Florida Teens Read titles. There are several students who are close behind her!

I just finished Alt. Ed. by Catherine Atkins. Good story about a fat girl who learns to stick up for herself. After getting in trouble and almost expelled, she is asked to attend a session with 5 other students afterschool once a week. Her Alt. Ed. session teams Susan up with the boy who was bullying her, a cute jock, a Christian cheerleader, a gay boy, and a girl with a bad reputation. Susan isn't getting any support from her widower father, and her brother is never home. Can she survive 12 weeks of Alt. Ed?

Off to the next books on my list...

Florida Teens Read

If you're not familiar with the Florida Teens Read program, I'd suggest dropping by any high school library media specialist or looking here for more info, http://www.floridamedia.org/teensread/teensread.html. This is a great program, only in its second year. It builds upon the Sunshine State Young Readers Award offered to grades 3 through 8. The format is very similar, students read a minimum of 3 books (out of up to 15 nominated titles) and then vote for their favorite in April.

So far I've read 8 of the 15 titles for this year, and have enjoyed every one. I'd have to say my favorite at the moment is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, a heart wrenching story about a 13 year old girl whose sister has a rare form of leukemia. Kate is going to die if she doesn't receive a kidney transplant, and Anna is a perfect match. Anna was actually conceived in order to be a donor for Kate, and now, after 13 years of giving up platelets and bone marrow, she has had enough, and sues her parents for medical emancipation of her own body. But if she wins, Kate will die.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer has been VERY popular here. I haven't read it yet because I never have a chance to grab it! As soon as it comes back, someone checks it out again. Alex Flinn has another book on the list, Fade to Black, and she is always a popular Florida author. The Printz honor book Fat Kid Rules the World surprised me, it was a touching story about two troubled kids who want to help the other by forming a punk rock band.

I'm off to grab another book from this list, talk to you later!