Today was the final day of the conference. Report below on today’s activities.
- More than Two Books and a Website
Presenters: Leslie Blatt, teacher-librarian, Orange HS, and Geoff Thieke, Thomson-Gale.
Presentation of use of databases, ebooks, podcasts in library learning. Useful discussion. RDistrict has many reference set ebooks from Thomson-Gale. Interesting uses of podcasting by Thieke. Gale website (?) has podcasts of the White House weekly addresses and other broadcast info. Kids have iPods – this is another example or providing learning resources in the ways our students live and learn. Register for Warlick podcasts for education. Use the vast array of digital audio out there for student learning.
2. Pick of the Decade: The Best Books for Children Grades K-8
Presenters: Bonnie Kunzel, young adult specialist New Jersey State Library, and Susan Fichtelberg, children’s librarian Woodbridge Public Library.
Length: 1 hour
Another incredible, amazing and wonderful hour listening to Bonnie and Susan talking about good books. There is nothing to say but that you have to be there. 56 books in one hour! Indipensable help for librarians who need to match kids with good reading. My absolute favorite part of every NJ conference. We’ll miss you Bonnie!
3. Best Book for Young Adults 2006
Presenters: Bonnie Kunzel, young adult specialist New Jersey State Library; Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Librarian, Library for the Blind and Handicapped; and Kim Paone, supervisor of Adult and Teen Services, Elizabeth Public Library.
Same indispensable and thoroughly enjoyable book talk, this time on the best in young adult fiction from 2006. Presenters talked 50 YA titles in one hour. The best reviews, live!
4. Keynote address: Chris Crutcher, young adult author very popular in RDistrict, talked about his work as a family and child therapist and author for young adults. He discussed how he developed the characters for his book Whale Talk and read from his autobiography Life on the Mild Frontier.
