Library Facebook Page Up and Running

Image via WikipediaThe library's new Facebook page has been up for a week now and we are adding info to it regularly.
You don't need to remember a complicated URL to find it, just search Facebook for Bessie Chin Library and it will come up.
There is a lot of information on the page including library mission, hours of opening, photos of library art and events, links to other library social networking sites like Twitter and our blog, Library Leaves.
"Like" us and you will receive regular updates.
We know there are privacy issues with Facebook but your privacy will never be compromised with our page. Students cannot currently access Facebook from school computers but they can generally access it from home and from their smart phones.
Keep up with the latest news and resources in the Library by using the BCL Facebook page regularly.

Martin Luther King Birthday is a Day of Service

Cover of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monday is a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the famous civil rights leader of the 1950s and 1960s. Starting in the mid-1990s, the day has been a national day of service. Martin Luther King, Jr., who once said: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'" It also reminds me of President John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech, given almost 50 years ago, in which he said: "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

What will you do this weekend to celebrate the legacy of these two American heroes?

"The national Martin Luther King Day of Service was started by former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, who co-authored the King Holiday and Service Act. The federal legislation challenges Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen action volunteer service in honor of Dr. King. The federal legislation was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 23, 1994." -- Wikipedia

The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, the President's national call to service initiative. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems.

Related articles

• Martin Luther King Day: Celebrations And Service In LA (huffingtonpost.com)
• 25th Anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Will Unite Americans in National Day of Service (prweb.com)
• "The National Constitution Center Honors Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 17: Craft-Making, "I Have A Dream" Speech Recitation And More" and related posts (uwishunu.com)
• Carl Lewis: Dr. King's Dinner Conversations (huffingtonpost.com)

Why Do They Keep Telling Me to Use Quote Marks in Google Searches?

Image via WikipediaCute video about searching in Google. Have you ever felt this way helping someone find something online?
Patience, patience, ...

Related articles

• 10 Simple Google Search Tricks (thesocialmediaguide.com.au)
• How do you limit the number of results given by search engines (wiki.answers.com)

A Slice of Life in the Library

I made this Animoto video last year for a Board presentation but still think it's pretty neat.

What do you think?
Ask the librarian if you'd like to learn to make something like this video.

My YA 2001 Wish List

Image by Pesky Library via FlickrThis post from Daniel Kraus on the Booklist Book Blog is a funny, poignant look at the current status of young adult literature.

What do you think? Are you fed up up unrealistic romantic heroes, vampires, novels-in-verse, lack of adults, first-person narratives, and so forth?

What do you (or don't you) like about the current fiction scene?

The Hub: Your Connection to Teen Reads

Here is the description of a new blog developed by the Young Adult Library Services Association. One neat thing about The Hub is that you can add your own comments to the reviews, including video reviews. 

Recently reviewed books include Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli, Jane by April Lindner, and The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

Take a look.

"The Hub is the literature blog for YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association.  You can learn more about YALSA here.

The mission of The Hub: Your Connection to Teen Reads is to provide a one-stop-shop for finding information about teen reads, including recommendations for great teen reads, information about YALSA lists and awards, book trailers and other book-related videos, and best of the best lists.

Content is created by librarians and teens, with a particular focus on YALSA’s booklists and book awards, book related projects, literacy and reading, and authors.   The Hub Member Manager and Advisory Board members regularly review comments on the site to guarantee appropriateness."

"We embrace the fact that reading can mean reading a traditional book in a new format (iPad, Kindle, etc.) or reading a story written in an untraditional way (for example, entirely in text messages).  And we especially embrace that the internet connects millions of readers every day and provides thousands of ways for people to share their thoughts about what they’re reading, log what they read, connect with authors, become an author, and more.

We hope you’ll visit The Hub daily for a peek into what the online world is saying about YA books.  You’ll find fresh original writing about what teens are reading, book reviews, introductions to other YA lit blogs, podcasts, videos, and more."

New in the Teen Health and Wellness database

Happy New Year from the Rosen Online team! 

We hope you're beginning 2011 in good health and wellness. 2010 was a banner year for Rosen Online. We updated and expanded Teen Health & Wellness to include:

• Instant translation into over 50 languages, including Spanish and French
• Videos throughout, including student-created PSAs
• Over 50 new articles
• Social bookmarking and RSS feeds
• Site optimized for smartphones
• New promotional and outreach tools⎯redesigned posters, bookmarks, and access cards

The "It's Your Cause" Video Challenge begins in February! Looking for the perfect project for your students? Consider having them create public service announcements (PSAs) focusing on an issue about which they're passionate. Their PSAs could become part of Teen Health & Wellness and their message heard by teens around the world! For more information, visit teenhealthandwellness.com/static/videochallenge.


If you need help logging in to any database please ask the library staff!

Public Domain Day 2011

Public Domain Day 2011 was January 1st. 

Remember that just because a work has gone into public domain it still needs to be cited properly in any new work you create.

A note from the Wikipedia article about Public domain:

According to Bernt Hugenholtz and Lucie Guibault the public domain is under pressure from the "commodification of information" as items of information that previously had little or no economic value have acquired independent economic value in the information age, such as factual data, personal data, genetic information and pure ideas. The commodification of information is taking place through intellectual property law,contract law, as well as broadcasting and telecommunications law.[31] The undermining of the public domain, and in particular limitations and exceptions to copyright by contract law is also an issue frequently raised by libraries, and library groups such as International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

Kindle Book Loaning Enabled

Amazon has announced a new program of lending its Kindle books. Following Barnes & Noble's lead with its Nook e-book reader, Amazon now lets users "lend" books for 14 days to others even without a Kindle. While the book is on loan the original owner can't read the book.
Not all books are available for lending. Publishers and authors need to authorize such use. Books which are available are noted as being Lending: Enabled in the product details.

Remember: if you order from Amazon from the library's website the library gets a small percentage of the total.

Anything's Possible When You're in the Library

From California to Kaiping: A Video by Bessie Chin's Nephew, Casey Chin

Casey Chin, Bessie Chin's nephew, made this video about his search for his Chinese heritage, including his grandmother, Lily Chin, an immigrant from Kaiping, China.
Our own Bessie Chin is featured in several interviews about her mother and her life in the United States.

Watch the full episode. See more ViewFinder.

Project Gutenberg eBooks Available from Library Catalog

A member of the school librarians' listserv recently forwarded a message from Valerie Horton of the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC) and we have decided to take advantage of the offer.


CLiC created a project to clean up the most popular MARC records from Project Gutenberg called eDiscover the Classics. They identified the top 500 or so downloads and cleaned up those records and made them available to other libraries.

Since that time the records have been further enhancemented by Douglas County Libraries and University of Denver.

Valerie says to "please consider these MARC records a gift to the library community!  The more patrons think of libraries as a source for content for their Kindles, Nooks, IPads, MP3 players, etc - the better!"


These records are now searchable from the library catalogs of the Tam Unified HSD.


BTW, many more ebooks are available in the catalog by searching for call numbers starting with ADE. These are available through Adelaide University (Australia) and include a great number of books about the early exploration of Australia as well as many classics of British and American literature.


Need help accessing the catalog or finding these materials? Ask your teacher librarian.

Updates from Congressional Digest Debates Online

The January 2011 issues of Congressional Digest, The Bush Tax Cuts:Weighing the Costs of Short- and Long-Term Economic Recovery: Should the Bush Tax Cuts for Upper Income Americans Be Allowed to Expire?, Supreme Court Debates, Illegal Workers:State Efforts to Enforce Immigration Law: Is the Legal Arizona Workers Act Preempted by Federal Immigration Law?, and International Debates, Water and Sanitation: The UN General Assembly Votes on a New Human Right: Should the UN General Assembly Approve the Draft Resolution Affirming a Human Right to Water and Sanitation? are now available at the Congressional Digest Debates Online Web site (formerly Pro & Con™ Online).

Log in now to download the issue in PDF format, browse the table of contents or conduct a full text search.  Once logged in, simply click the blue Download Latest Issue link in the left column on the homepage.

If you've forgotten how to log in, ask the library staff for help.