Channel Weekly
Vol. 8, No. 20, February 2, 2006

  1. UW-Madison SLIS plans centennial year celebration
  2. Refurbishing of school library media centers can lead to higher student achievement
  3. Resources and ideas to plan a celebration for Black History Month
  4. The digital divide study
  5. Website of the Week -- About U.S. Counties
  6. Calendar

1.  UW-MADISON SLIS CENTENNIAL YEAR CELEBRATION

The School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison kicks off its Centennial Year Celebration on Friday, February 10, 2006, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 232-235 of the Pyle Center (702 Langdon St., Madison, WI) with a forum on diversity and a reception honoring campus colleagues, area librarians and other friends.  The forum will share information on career opportunities in the field of library and information studies, address diversity issues in librarianship, and education for librarianship.

Diversity: Enhancing Our Learning Community will include presentations by Rhea Lawson, Director of the Houston (Texas) Public Library and LeRoy LaFleur, reference/liaison librarian at George Mason University, Virginia; and Tracie Hall, head of the Office for Diversity, American Library Association, in Chicago, IL. The program will also introduce an undergraduate internship program which is a cooperative venture of the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies and the UW-Madison General Library System.

2.  REFURBISHING OF SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA CENTERS CAN LEAD TO HIGHER STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Funding from the New York Life Foundation allowed Public Education Network (PEN) and its member local education funds (LEFs) in Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Tampa to update and refurbish library media centers in four high schools. This pilot program has invested in computer technology, revised collections, revamped library design, and extended hours of school library operation facilitating use before school, during school (including lunch hour), and after school.

The Revitalizing High School Libraries (RHSL) initiative has increased the number of students reading for fun as well as for class. Survey results suggest that students are talking more about books and reading with family and friends. These behaviors are strongly associated with higher reading and academic achievement.

Download the pdf article at http://www.publiceducation.org/pdf/Publications/High_School/Adolescents_Read2.pdf

3.  RESOURCES AND IDEAS TO PLAN A CELEBRATION FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Whether you're looking for information on current leaders in the African-American community, black celebrities and popular culture icons, the history of slavery, or biographies of history's most powerful and influential black leaders, these sites will help you find the resources you need:

Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Black History: http://search.eb.com/Blackhistory

Lessons to celebrate Black History Month: http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson221.shtml

Black History educational resources from teachervision.com: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/black-history-month/black-history/6602.html

Black History Month Lesson Plans: http://www.lessonplanspage.com/BlackHistoryMonth.htm 

Black History from Biography.com: http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/

Black History Month resources from ReadingRockets: http://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/blackhistory

African American World, by PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld

Celebrating Black History: http://www.time.com/time/reports/blackhistory

PBS series "African American Lives": http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/index.html

Culture & Change -- Black History in America: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory

4.  THE DIGITAL DIVIDE STUDY

School library media programs provide the necessary tools and hands-on experience for students with online and computer technologies. Such programs help address our nation's digital divide -- the gap between those who are proficient with technology and can use it successfully and those with little or no access and understanding.  A 2005 Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund study, "Are We Really a Nation Online?" looked at home computer and Internet use and found that the divide is deep along racial and ethnic lines.  Read survey report at http://www.civilrights.org/issues/communication/details.cfm?id=36098.

5.  WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

About U.S. Counties -- http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm -- This site by the National Association of Counties collects information on counties, such as county officials, courthouse addresses, county seats, cities in a county.

6.  CALENDAR

March 5-7, 2006 - Wisconsin Educational Media Association/Brainstorm 2006 Spring Conference, Wisconsin Dells

March 10, 2006 - Council on Library and Network Development meeting, Madison

March 21-25, 2006 - Public Library Association National Conference, Boston

March 28-31, 2006 - Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians, Stevens Point

April 11-12, 2006 - Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Advisory Committee spring meeting and public hearing, Madison

May 2, 2006 - National Library Legislative Day, Washington DC

May 3-5, 2006 - Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries meeting, Wisconsin Rapids

May 12, 2006 - Council on Library and Network Development, Platteville

June 22-28, 2006 - American Library Association Annual Conference, New Orleans

October 31-November 3, 2006 - Wisconsin Library Association, Wisconsin Dells

For more details about these and other meetings, see the WISDOM calendar at http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/wisdom.html and the BadgerLink and WISCAT training site at http://www.wiscat.lib.wi.us/pdf/Gates08282004.pdf.

For questions about this information, contact Roslyn M. Wise (608) 266-6439

Last updated on 4/4/2006 4:17:41 PM