Tuesday 27 August 2013

...we are livin' in a material world...


...and I am a m-m-m-material girl...oh yah, sing it! Oh you know that we are livin' in a material world and I am a m-m-m-material girl...(Madonna, 1984)

Last week I was at a new school in Peel. Another TL friend of mine told me I should check out the library....and while I really didn't care to at first I did. I mean, it's a library, right? Whatevs...libraries all look the same right?

Wrong. There was one thing distinctly missing from this library from what I could see....and that was books.

Ok...ok...call me old school. (nothing to do with the fact that I'm singing Madonna songs from the 80's). I am also fairly tech savvy and certainly not technology resistant. I am perfectly fine with most non-fiction texts becoming purely digital ....access 24/7....ability to annotate, collaborate, share...blah blah blah. I am OK with virtually eliminating half the books in our own school library. Oooh... envision the space and the lack of growing mold spores!

But I DO have a problem releasing ALL texts to the digital world. (also has nothing to do with the fact that I have no idea where my kindle is after vacation...if anyone finds it could you please return?) Sorry, @gcouros, while I do not encourage my kids to "smell" their books...there are other components to keeping some of our physical texts alive.

Reason #1 - Have you people never read any young adult dystopian fiction? What good are our computer files going to be when the world has been ravaged by the zombie apocalypse, mutant plagues and general world destruction? You can't access a computer when the cloud breaks down!!! And with no electricity! Books are old knowledge and what keeps us together! (and they're always stored in really neat places). I'm reading way too many YA novels if this is the first thing that came to mind.

Reason #2 - Have you ever run on a treadmill? Have you run outside? I illustrate my point further in the next paragraphs.

Reason #3 -I know this is going to sound wrong, but I still crave that "physical" connection I have with a book.  It's my literary version of comfort food ..or books. While I don't "smell" them... turning the pages physically, listening to the spine crack when I open the book (not a good thing, but I still love it), turning over the page to mark my spot....and yes, I can do all these things with my e-reader, but it's still not the same. And my secret guilty pleasure ... reading a book while eating Ketchup chips...you know when you get your thumbprints on the pages? Implants a memory of me always reading that book....of course MY book...not library books :) Sometimes for me it's the physical connection I get from reading a book that just can't be beat.

Reason #4  - There's  sense of pride or accomplishment I feel when looking at our library shelves. I can physically see all our books .... and mentally check off in my head how we compare to the Chapter's bookstore (and how many I've read). It's like how I feel when I look at a bookshelf I've built from IKEA...yes! I did that! When I look at my kindle...I don't get the same sense of accomplishment.

But who knows...maybe it's a generational thing? After all, I am a digital immigrant (or whatever that's supposed to mean) I still read to my kids using "real" books, but will they consider this a thing of the past?


How close to reality is this?


While there is a completely sound rationale for letting all paper texts go digital, I really, really hope that we don't.

Next week's topic:


...why I love listening to my cassette tapes on my Sony Walkman.

HA HA HA...just kidding. 

Really. I'm just kidding.


Friday 23 August 2013

WELCOME!

Here we go...here we go!

Goals for the library this year are the following:

1) Foster a love for reading, expand reading capacities and repertoires.
2) Build upon your information technology skills.
3) Model and instill good digital citizenship.
4) Knock all the other schools in Peel off their socks for participation for the "Forest of Reading" Program.

And of course...hold contests...initiatives....all that other fun stuff!

Two of my favourite reads of the summer:

1) Loki's Wolves by Kelly Armstrong and Melissa Marr.

Loki’s WolvesIf you're a fan of Percy Jackson, you'll love this book. It's basically the same idea as the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicle series, but with Norse Gods.
Thor, anyone? I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it.









2) Rush by Eve Silver

Rush (The Game, #1)Ever wish you were in a real life video game? (Sadly, not for me) Well, this is what Miki Jones finds herself in. She "dies" saving a young girl almost getting hit by a truck....wakes up and finds herself transported into a real life video game scenario fighting aliens that want to take over the world. Except she really isn't dead...once she completes her "mission" she's sent back to REAL Earth to live her life until she needs to complete another "mission". Of course there's a love interest, but it's tolerable. No "make me puke" romance like I AM NUMBER FOUR or TWILIGHT.




Well, that's all for today...until next week!