Recently, as the librarians at myschool frantically stuffed overduenotices into envelopes, worked onsummer reading lists, wrotereports on students for libraryclasses, tried to figure out asuitable charity for leftover booksfrom our second-hand book saleand got up every few seconds (orso it seemed) to help with printingissues, a wise beyond his years 4thgrader commented, "Gee, Ragan,no one really knows everythingthat librarians do." No kidding. Wemade it! Congratulate yourselves,take a deep breath and relax with agood book.

I do want to thank everyone whocame to HVLA's spring social (tourof NYPL and cocktails). We had alot of fun. For those of you whowere unable to attend, we hope tosee you at a meeting next year.(Next year is HVLA's 50thanniversary!) I especially want tothank Caroline Bartels forarranging the tour with Phil andAmy from the NYPL, as well asour gathering at The Cellar Bar.

Summer is here!A Note from Our President

Spring/Summer 2008

NewsletterHudson Valley Library Association (HVLA)

The HVLA webpage(http://www.hvla.org)!has beenupdated by Natasha Bartolf. Thenew information is in theMembers Only section. Theusername is member and thepassword is hvla. Under MeetingNotes: General, you will findhandouts in pdf form that weregiven out at the tour. We alsohave the member directory for2007-2008 up in pdf form underMembership Directory.

I want to welcome new boardmembers: Maria Falgoust,Rebecca Duvall and RhondaRigrodsky; as well as thank LorrieMillman, Caroline Bartels andSharon Sparrow for their manyyears of service on the HVLAboard.

Happy reading,Ragan

Hudson Valley

Library

Association

WEB:

www.hvla.org

Formed in 1959,

HVLA brings

together librarians

primarily from

independent K-12

schools in the New

York City, Long

Island, Westchester

and nearby New

Jersey and

Connecticut

communities. With a

minimum of formality

and a maximum of

benefit, members

meet three times a

year to discuss and

consider a wide

range of topics,

including evaluation

of books and reading

programs,

technology and

libraries,

information literacy,

and professional

development. An

active listserv keeps

us connected

between meetings.

Regardless of

Circulation, we love:

The White Darkness by

Geraldine McCaughrean.

Printz winner and a real

page turner!

Ragan O’Malley

St. Ann’s School

Brooklyn, NY

Peyton Place, an oldie but

goodie. Kids in the upper

division love, love, love

this title by grace

metalious and ours is so

ratty and dog-eared that I

have to get a new one

soon.

Caroline Bartels

Horace Mann School

Riverdale, NY

Middle School Recs

Feathers by Jacqueline

Woodson

Tamar by Mal Peet

Anna of Byzantium by

Tracy Barrett

Nothing but the Truth by

Avi

Upper School Recs

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Three cups of tea by Greg

Mortenson

PAGE 2 OF 6

What recent titles

circulate most in your

collection?

Which book do you

root for regardless

of its popularity?

Our trusty listserv

reveals All.

Popular,

Schmopular!

MOST POPULAR

LOWER DIVISION

BOOKS

MOST POPULAR UPPER

DIVISION BOOKS

Water for Elephants

Guyaholic (Mackler)

Looking for Alaska

(Green)

Any book by Sarah Dessen

Suite Francaise

(Nemirovsky)

March (Brooks)

Pretty Little Liars

(Shepard)**

Magic Treehouse # 3 9

There was an old lady who swallowed fly guy (Arnold)

The Wedding Planner’s Daughter**

Clementine**

Gooney Bird Greene**

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1 & 2**** Denotes Crossover Hit

MOST POPULAR MIDDLE

DIVISION BOOKS

The Cute Book (Aronzo)

The Name of This Book is

Secret (Bosch)

Mysterious benedict

Society**

Any Book by Mike Lupica

Dairy Queen (Murdock)

Does My Head Look Big in

This? (Abdel-Fattah)

Evermore (Zevin)

11/12/13 (Myracle)

Dragons of Deltora/

Deltora Quest (Rodda)

Bone Series (J. Smith)

Maximum Ride series

Spiderwick Chronicles

Young James Bond series

Peter and the Secret of

Rundoon (Barry)

Warriors Series

M

Cirque du Freak

PAGE 3 OF 6

2008 Association of Independent School Librarians Conference

By Karen Gray, Guest Editor

Librarian at St. Anne’s-Belfield School

Charlottesville, VA

During the last week of April I was in Toronto attending the annual AISL conference. One of the

most exciting parts of each conference is the time spent visiting independent schools in the host

region. This year the following five schools opened their doors to the one hundred participants

of the AISL conference:

Crescent School * Havergal College * Ridley College * York School * Bishop Strachan School

During the school visits and the associated programs and workshops, participants are given

opportunities to learn, reflect upon, and discuss information literacy. Below are what I consider

the most relevant conference threads:

Many schools are implementing Information Literacy classes for their freshmen. Andrew Parson

of the Packer Collegiate Institute teaches an eight-session IL class paired with classes in grammar

and study skills. Andrew, one of the school’s librarians, teaches the IL class, and teachers from

other disciplines teach the other two segments.

Several conference sessions covered school book clubs and all school reading events. Havergal

has an annual “All School Read” that begins in mid-November and ends with small group

discussions of the chosen text following their Christmas break. The girls vote for the book the

school will read based on student suggestions. I think we could easily incorporate a similar

program in both our Upper School and Middle Schools. I’d love to start a dialogue with any of

you that are interested in this idea.

The York School is an IB Pre-K-12 program with the motto, “A school where experience and

excellence go hand in hand.” Every year each of their 7th through 10th grade students participates

in Challenge Week. Students choose from approximately 9 activities. These activities are planned

around the premise, “Experiences Teaches.” Challenges range from spending the week working

with a local non-profit to embarking on a five day trip retracing some of the significant areas

covered by the Group of Seven a group of Canadian artists who painted the Algonquin Park

region.

Keynote speaker David Booth advocates redefining reading as an activity that embraces the

needs and interests of students. “Reading isn’t just about Dick and Jane or great literature

anymore: it’s about the internet, comic books, technical manuals, graphic novels, iPods and much

more.” I purchased a copy of his book Reading Doesn’t Matter Anymore: Shattering the Myths of

Literacy in which he tries to help teachers develop strategies for reaching “reading orphans, those

students who are loath or hesitant to attempt to read any printed text.”

Finally, every school I visited was a laptop school. Students brought their personal computers to

school. There were no computer labs or computer banks in any of the libraries. Wireless

connectivity was available throughout each school. Of course, each school had a sufficiently

sized technical support staff and tech support labs/stations where students could find constant

technical support.

“There were no

computer labs

or computer

banks in any of

the libraries.”

“It’s a very real time

experience and the

kids loved it.”

– Nancy Woodward

PAGE 4 OF 6

What was the most

rewarding project or

lesson you taught this

year? Our Listserv asked.

You answered. The

results are nothing short

of fascinating.

The Lost Boys

At Brunswick one of the mostrewarding stories I sharedwas THE LOST BOYS OF THESUDAN (with 4th Grade). Itputs the boys in touch withthe issues of our globalsociety and how a differencecan be made even in theworstof circumstances. At ahigher level some of the filmsabout this could be

used along with the book toinspire the students.

Joan Michie

Brunswick School

Greenwich, ct.

Steal This

Lesson

The Lost Boys

At Brunswick one of themost rewarding stories Ishared was THE LOSTBOYS OF THE SUDAN(with 4th Grade). It putsthe boys in touch withthe issues of our globalsociety and how adifference can be madeeven in the worst ofcircumstances. At ahigher level some of thefilms about this could beused along with the bookto inspire the students.

Joan Michie

Brunswick School

Greenwich, ct.

Information Literacy

à la mode…

Using our Moodle CourseManagement System, I set up adiscussion forum for our two 6thgrade classes. After showing themthe YouTube video “AmazingPresident Facts” by Zach Scott, Ichallenged the two groups toverify the statements in the videousing the web and book resourceswe’d studied about this year. Theyalso have to successfully cite theirsources.

With a forum the teacher can go inand comment on the posts fromthe students, reminding them toadd quotation marks if they cutand pasted something or point outproblems with their citations. It’sa very real time experience andthe kids loved it. The students canalso comment, help, suggest backand forth to each other! The twogroups could not see each other’swork, which was essential becauseI promised the winning team icecream! I keep challenging themwith reminders that it may comedown to which team has been themost thorough, found the bestsources, or found more than onesource.

Nancy Woodward

Wooster School

Danbury, ct.

PAGE 5 OF 6

Steal This

Lesson, cont’dSTORY CIRCLES

I had great and unexpected success with thisproject, which can be adapted according todifferent stories, skills and age levels. This isabout as “messy” as I can get in the library butit was manageable with parent volunteers. Theactivity took several weeks to complete by theresults were stunning and the children lovedthe whole process.

Materials

Each child needs 2 unwaxed, white paper platesand a paper fastener.

Colored pencils

Crayons and watercolors

For adults: Rulers, Stanley knives and pencils

Preparation

Bottom plate: Divide the plate into 4 quartersby drawing 2 lines through the center. Do notdraw lines across about 1 inch of the rim.

Top plate: Cut a wedge-shaped hole out of oneof the quarters. Leave a finger-width of paperplate in the center of the plate for the paperfastener. Leave an inch of rim intact. You arebasically creating a “window” in the top platethrough which one picture in turn on the lowerplate will be revealed. I had parent volunteershelp with this. They used Stanley knives to cutthe plates.

Be sure to write the children’s names and classon the back of each plate before the childrenbegin the drawing and painting!

The Project

1. During the winter and over the course of threesessions, I read The Snow Queen (Susan Jeffersversion) to the 1-2 classes. We discussed thestoryline, the nature of the characters, and voicedour opinions about what we thought about theSnow Queen and the robber girl (were they good orbad? How did they change?), transformations ofcharacters, what had happened to Kai, etc.

2. I asked the children to choose 4 of their favoritescenes from the story (everyone chose differentscenes). The children first numbered the quarters 1-4 clockwise round the plate. They then drew thescenes in chronological order (going clockwise) onthe bottom plate. They left the 1-inch rim blank. Iasked the children to use colored pencils for thispart because they could draw more detailedillustrations.

3. I demonstrated the technique of wax resistpictures. Then the children used wax crayons towrite the title of the story and draw patterns on thetop plate. I emphasized that they would have topress down hard and make thick lines.

4. The following week the children painted over thewax crayon writing/designs using watercolors.

5. When the plates were dry, I joined the two platestogether using the paper fasteners. When you turnthe top plate one picture at a time is revealed. Thechildren could then retell the story in 4 parts for anaudience.

Sarah FeldmanPoughkeepsie Day School

Poughkeepsie, NY

A Warm Thank You to Jeff Alpi

From HVLA

Jeff Alpi is a sort of wizard quietly performing wondrous tasksbehind the scenes. He has been instrumental in keeping HVLA’sweb site afloat for years. Although silent on the list, he hasremained alert often reaching out to the board with advice orreminders to update. Last year, as our web site was so outdated,the board approached Jeff about cleaning it up and thankfully heaccepted and worked his magic again!

HVLA thanks Jeff for his continued support and guidance over theyears and wishes him many fine adventures down south. Yes, youheard it here- he is moving to North Carolina! We’re sure he’llkeep them on their toes there, too!

Loyola will certainly miss him dearly as well. He was first theirlibrarian and then their tech master extraordinaire. He began atLoyola in 1998 and joined the HVLA board in 1999 as themembership coordinator and then as an adjunct webmaster untilapproximately 2003 although unofficially he continued until2008. Thank you again for everything, Jeff!

Grazie, spacibo, danke and asante to those who participated in my listservpolls and shared their fabulous lesson ideas! A special thank you as well toour guest writer, Karen Gray for her eloquent contribution, and to ourcurrent board and Erin Heaton for their enthusiastic help.

Remember, folks – even when I’m gathering shells, my inbox is alwaysopen. If you have an idea or story you would like to share in our nextnewsletter, please email me at coolnatyb@gmail.com

Natasha Bartolf

Communications Coordinator, HVLA

c/o Chapin Library

100 East End Avenue

New York, NY 10028

PAGE 6 OF 6