Category Archives: Library

Library to encourage children to read through playing summerlong Bingo game – Benicia Herald

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By Nick Sestanovich

Summer is a time for children to have fun without feeling pressured by the copious amounts of school work they received for the previous 10 months. As beneficial as this could be for students’ well-beings, it could have a negative impact on their enthusiasm to learn. Children who opt to forgo any form of reading over the summer might be less likely to read when school starts up again. Thankfully, the Benicia Public Library’s Summer Reading Program is back to make kids want to dive into a book or many during the year’s hottest months.

The Summer Reading Program has been a staple at the library for a long time, and it has gone through several different formats. Previously, kids ages 3 to 14 would get a prize for reading 100 different books over the summer and writing down the titles. In other summers, kids would write down the amount of time spent reading. According to Allison Angell, the library’s head of youth services, the program will be doing Bingo cards which would not only encourage children to read but also go out into the community.

Source: Library to encourage children to read through playing summerlong Bingo game

Local libraries to hand out free comic books Saturday – Times Herald

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By Times Herald staff

Local librarians will channel their inner superhero this weekend during Free Comic Book Day.

Six library branches in Solano County will give away free comic books to children and adults beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The effort is part of a nationwide movement to promote the art form of comics.

The day first came into existence in 2002 to coincide with the opening of ‘Spiderman’ the feature film. Since then, it has grown to include more than 3,000 retailers and locations in more than 30 countries. The following are participating branches of Solano County Library: Fairfield Civic Center Library, Fairfield Cordelia Library, John F. Kennedy Library of Vallejo, Rio Vista Library, Springstowne Library of Vallejo and Suisun City Library.

Source: Local libraries to hand out free comic books Saturday

Solano foundation gets grant from Kinder-Morgan’s charitable arm – Daily Republic

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By Daily Republic Staff

The Kinder Morgan Foundation has made a grant of $5,000 to the Solano Community Foundation’s Education Plus! Grant program, the local foundation announced.

The Solano Community Foundation uses its Education Plus! Grant program in support of grade-level reading and math programs to address education as a root cause of poverty, according to a foundation press release.

The foundation funded nine programs in Solano County public schools during the past year. Education Plus! Grant program funds were used last month to support an early childhood literacy project for the Solano County Library, the release said. That grant enabled the library to acquire early literacy stations for each of its eight branches, according to the release.

via Solano foundation gets grant from Kinder-Morgan’s charitable arm.

Library offers tutoring assistance for students – Daily Republic

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By Kevin W. Green

Struggles with homework have returned for many children now that schools are back in session, but the Solano County Library offers several options to help students keep up with their studies, according to a library press release.

“We have wonderful volunteers who kids are happy to see each week at library branches for help with their homework,” Bonnie Katz, Solano County Library’s director of library services, said in the release. “We back that up with online tutors that can help students anytime, anywhere. It’s all free.”

Live Homework Help is a service powered by Tutor.com that provides online, on-demand tutoring from 1 to 10 p.m. every day, according to the release. Tutors cover all subjects, from elementary writing assignments to work in calculus, statistics and physics, the release said.

via Library offers tutoring assistance for students.

Path of children’s author that of a butterfly’s – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Back To School Night tonight at Alamo Elementary in Vacaville will be slightly out of the ordinary, in a literary way with a scientific aspect.

When groups of parents file past informational tables outside the multipurpose room on the South Orchard Avenue campus, they will not only meet librarian Lucy Thomas and learn how the library works but also they will meet volunteer library assistant Dalene Sovine and learn about her new children’s book, “The Path of the Butterfly,” which was illustrated by the school’s custodian, Karl Van Loo.

If they wish, the parents can also buy the 24-page book, a work based on a true account out of now-retired Alamo kindergarten teacher Val Gardner’s class. It costs $15, with $3 of every sale donated to the library.

via Path of children’s author that of a butterfly’s.

New $5M Vanden library sparkles on TUSD’s first day – The Reporter

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By Richard Bammer

Freshly scrubbed children were trudging with bulging backpacks to Foxboro Elementary, seventh-graders in skinny jeans or Raider Nation T-shirts learned the layout of Golden West Middle School, and Vanden High students, new or returning, were also excited to be back on campus after summer break, meeting their new teachers.

But for some Vanden students, the first day of the 2015-16 academic year in Travis Unified was marked Wednesday by another first, something they will remember perhaps for years to come: walking into a new $5 million, 10,000-square-foot library, sure to be a popular place to gather, talk, and work before, during and after classes.

via New $5M Vanden library sparkles on TUSD’s first day.

Vanden High celebrates new library – Daily Republic

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By Bill Hicks

After a long period of figuring out services to cut due to budget constraints, the Travis School District did something different Wednesday afternoon: The district opened something.

More specifically, district officials gathered at the Vanden High School campus for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the $5 million, state-of-the-art library, just in time for the start of school next week.

“It’s been 10 years in the making,” said Superintendent Kate Wren Gavlak. “Everyone that’s worked on this knows it’s been a project of love.”

via Vanden High celebrates new library.

District, staff rue lack of librarians in schools – Daily Republic

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By Susan Winlow

Superintendent Kris Corey said Thursday night that there is a huge need in the Fairfield-Suisun School District’s libraries.

Her comment came on the heels of a presentation on the state of the district’s libraries by Amanda Carter, coordinator of instructional media center and libraries, during the regularly scheduled board meeting.

Accompanied by a handful of teacher librarians, they touched on several topics brought to light in an annual assessment and report, particularly the dearth of elementary school librarians who were eliminated during the economic downturn, leaving about 11,000 young students with no librarians.

via District, staff rue lack of librarians in schools Daily Republic.

Schools library assessment shows areas of concern – Daily Republic

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By Susan Winlow

Board members will hear an annual assessment and report regarding the condition and use of school libraries when the Fairfield-Suisun School District governing board meets at 6 p.m. in open session on Thursday.

Staff reports state that the evaluations occur in the following areas: accessing and staffing, total number of books in the collection, number of books per student, amount of funding, and special programs that encourage reading and library use.

via Schools library assessment shows areas of concern Daily Republic.

E-rate Program Modernized – Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education)

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SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson applauded a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today that marks a major step toward preparing students for the global economy by expanding Internet access for schools and libraries.

The FCC voted today to modernize the E-rate program and boost support for wireless connectivity for schools and libraries. This action is designed to expand wireless access, make E-rate dollars go further, and deliver faster, simpler, and more efficient applications and other processes. Known formally as the federal Schools and Libraries Program, E-rate established a surcharge on long-distance telephone bills in 1997 that provides discounts to assist schools and libraries in obtaining affordable telecommunications and Internet access.

“Our schools, society, and economy thrive on interconnectivity,” Torlakson said. “Today’s action will not only help narrow the digital divide among students, but also help us reach and teach every child so they will be prepared for the world that awaits them.”

via E-rate Program Modernized – Year 2014 (CA Dept of Education).

Guest: Students and tutors thrive in librarys homework help program – The Reporter

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By Kevin Tolly

If we lived in a perfect world, one of the things we would find there would be a place each week in the library where the library offers young students free help with their homework.

In this perfect world, librarians would go out to the high schools and recruit the best student to come back and help younger kids who are struggling with math and English and science. Imagine the benefit. Imagine how motivated the elementary aged kid would be when week after week, a high school student takes time out of their day and talks to them about school.

Parents wouldn’t have to argue with their kids about homework, students grades would improve, mentoring relationships would form between the high school and elementary school kids.

via Guest: Students and tutors thrive in librarys homework help program – The Reporter.

What Does the Next-Generation School Library Look Like? | MindShift

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By Luba Vangelova

At a time when public libraries are starting to offer everything from community gardening plots to opportunities to check out humans for conversations, some school libraries are similarly re-evaluating their roles and expanding their offerings.

Case in point: Monticello High School in Charlottesville, Virginia. When librarian Joan Ackroyd arrived there four years ago, she found an environment very different from the “engaging, creative, fun” elementary and middle school libraries to which she was accustomed. “Its library was none of those things,” she recalls. “It was a traditional, quiet research space.”

Ackroyd decided this wasn’t optimal. “People no longer have to come to a library to get information,” she says, “so the library has to get people coming in for different reasons. Students need somewhere to socialize, create things and collaborate.”

via What Does the Next-Generation School Library Look Like? | MindShift.

Vallejo students aim to write first chapter in school library – Vallejo Times Herald

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By Lanz Christian Bañes

Mare Island Technology Academy, Vallejos oldest charter school, doesnt have a library.But thats about to change, according to three freshmen at the school.

“Our goal is to get everyone to start reading more,” Beatrice Lopez, 14, said.

Beatrice, along with William Baumgardner, 14, and Regina Grajo, 17, formed a group in teacher Tyler Grinbergs leadership class. He charged them to think of a project that would better the community.

The three settled on creating a Little Tiny Library, based on the Little Free Library concept.

“You take a book, but you leave another book,” William said.

via Vallejo students aim to write first chapter in school library – Vallejo Times Herald.