Dear David,
I enjoyed reading your posting. I remember the excellent work which you did
last year at the IASL Conference in Abano Terme (Italy), when you helped
with many of the technical aspects of the conference and once again wish to
express the gratitude of the attendees.
Some years ago we had a beautiful exhibition in Haarlem (the Netherlands)
about the work of Eric Carle, his illustrations and the way in which he put
his collages together. I remember the enthusiastic, positive reactions of
the visitors to the exhibit (including many children) - they spoke about
their love of Eric Carle's stories (especially the hungry caterpillar).
There was also a space where children could make their own collages to
illustrate a story.
I realise that there have been some discussion about the content of your
original message to the list. I would like to point out that school
librarianship has many different faces - these faces include literacy,
curriculum, advocacy, vision, collaborative instruction, technology etc.
However, for me and I'm sure for many other school librarians, the basics
are the enjoyment of the visit to the library, the stories which the school
librarian reads, the help which pupils receive from this person in selecting
books which they hope to enjoy - these basic social aspects, in my opinion,
form the beginning of a love of reading and literacy. Of course, some toys
which children can play with (with their friends) in the library are always
welcome. In some countries, carefully selected toys can also be borrowed
from the library.
The vision of small children using a sterile digital library, or perhaps a
library where books are only available on E-readers or in other digital form
is abhorrent. A respected Dutch academic and educator described small
children sitting up straight behind PC's in the library, pressing buttons,
glued to the screen - she said they looked like little soldiers, who had
very little social contact with other children or adults.
My research has shown that here in many different countries in Europe some
school libraries have very few technical facilities - the budget does not
permit their purchase. However, trained school librarians use the simple
(perhaps old-fashioned) facilities to promote literacy and work to increase
the quality of pupils' education. The research clearly shows that the mere
presence of technology does not increase academic achievement.
My message is therefore that whenever possible, there needs to be a balance
between the old and the new.
Looking forward to more comments :-)
Best wishes,
Helen Boelens
ENSIL Foundation (European Network for School Libraries and Information
Literacy).
----- Original Message -----
From: "DiGregorio, David" <ddigregorio@TENAFLY.K12.NJ.US>
To: <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 10:52 PM
Subject: Take a lesson from the Eric Carle Museum!
This morning I visited the Eric Carle museum in Amherst Massachusetts -
they have a library within the facility and it is my strong opinion that
every elementary library should use this library as a model. NO
computers, no piles of technological junk like smart boards and the
like. Just clean shelves, white walls-simplicity and elegance - great
lighting! A seating area for reading and one large work table. And
toys- yes tactile wooden toys. So, as a person perhaps too well versed
in technology, I say to all you elementary librarians, bring all of that
technology trash to a dumpster, rid your libraries of all the junk you
can and make them into places where the youngsters will truly look
forward to visit. Buy some nice wooden toys - let them play - let them
read - read to them, get them away from keyboards and give them crayons
and colored pencils - teach them to write beautifully with a nib pen -
and for God's sake don't sit them in front of a so called wrongly named
Smart board!!! Also, make sure you visit the Eric Carle Museum!!
A word about the most laughable and entirely ridiculous phrase ever used
in education . . .
"21st Century Skills" - if I hear it one more time I'll consider a jump
from the George Washington Bridge!! How about kindness, good will,
usefulness, and all those really longed for human qualities.
David
David Di Gregorio
Supervisor of Library Media Services
www.librarymedia.net
Tenafly High School
19 Columbus Drive
Tenafly NJ 07670
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