Jim Morin Cartoon

MiamiHerald.com: 2010 July 24


Great library cartoon!

Hong Kong Book Fair Adds a New Element - Electronic Publishing

NYTimes.com: 2010 July 21

The Hong Kong Book Fair, which draws as many as 900,000 visitors annually, opened Wednesday with a new element: a section on electronic publishing. 

The weeklong event, the largest of its kind in the Chinese-speaking market, is still largely about selling print books, which are carted away in canvas sacks and rolling suitcases. But companies dealing in e-books and related media are trying to change that. 

Comic books offer boys a 'gateway' to literature: study

Vancouver Sun: 2010 July 22

Teachers and school boards should embrace comic books and graphic novels as a "gateway" literature, helping children transition towards more complex narratives and helping boys catch up with girls in reading achievement, according to a new study.

The study, released Wednesday by the Canadian Council on Learning, reveals how comic books help develop a child's ability to follow a sequence of events, interpret symbols, predict what will happen next and connect narratives to the reader's own experiences. Moreover, comics and graphic novels can help bridge the learning gap between boys and girls.

Electronic reading devices are transforming the concept of a book

latimes.com: 2010 July 18

Emma Teitgen, 12, thought the chemistry book her teacher recommended would make perfect bedside reading. Perfect because it might help her fall asleep.

Then she downloaded "The Elements: A Visual Exploration" to her iPad. Instead of making her drowsy, it blossomed in her hands. The 118 chemical elements, from hydrogen to ununoctium, came alive in vivid images that could be rotated with a swipe of the finger.

Teen Reading Club on Chopping Block

The Tyee: 2010 July 19

Six years and nearly 6,000 users later, the Teen Reading Club will close in September.

In 2005, the B.C. Library Association launched TeenRC, an organization that let book-loving teens escape the summer doldrums by sharing their love of books with others their age. 

Canadian children's book award nominees announced

CBC News: 2010 July 15

Watching Jimmy, a young adult novel by Toronto's Nancy Hartry, and A Thousand Years of Pirates, a nonfiction book by William Gilkerson of Mahone Bay, N.S., have each earned two nominations for Canadian Children's Literature Awards.

Nominations of writers from across Canada in five categories were released on Thursday by the Canadian Children's Book Centre.

The Medium Is the Medium

NYTimes.com: 2010 July 8

Recently, book publishers got some good news. Researchers gave 852 disadvantaged students 12 books (of their own choosing) to take home at the end of the school year. They did this for three successive years. 

New independent bookstore aims to fill gap left by Duthie

Vancouver Sun: 2010 July 8

A new full-service independent bookstore is set to open in Vancouver, rising from the ashes of Duthie Books, which shut down in February after 52 years serving the reading community.

Ria Bleumer, former manager at Duthie, and business partner Karel Carnohan will be opening Sitka Books & Art Ltd. in August just two blocks from Duthie's last location on West Fourth Avenue.

'Virtual explosion' of cheating in classrooms across Canada

'Vancouver Sun: 2010 July 8

Hiding math formulas under a calculator or stealing a glance at a classmate's test paper are now ancient ways to cheat as students across the country admit they turn to the Internet in a "virtual explosion of classroom cheating," a study reveals.

The FSA tests and learning

Times Colonist: 2010 July 8

Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid is right. The latest results from FSA tests assessing reading, writing and numeracy skills in Grades 4 and 7 show a need for improvement.

But it's disappointing that five years after the government committed to make B.C. "the best educated, most literate place in North America," the minister is not putting forward specific proposals or pilot projects to address the gaps revealed -- year after year -- by the tests.

Province must adequately fund school libraries across Ontario

northumberlandnews.com: 2010 July 7

Students and teachers at Campbellford's Kent Public School are all smiles recently after receiving word the school will have an extra $115,000 over the next three years to buy books and provide other literacy-related programming.

Libraries Fading As School Budget Crisis Deepens : NPR

NPR: 2010 June 24

Students who wished their school librarians a nice summer on the last day of school may be surprised this fall when they're no longer around to recommend a good book or help with homework.

AskAway's untimely demise

Times Colonist: 2010 July 3

Here's a quick question. Where do you turn to find an answer?

For the past four years, British Columbians have been able to get answers from a remarkable service known as AskAway. It pooled the efforts of public libraries across B.C., thanks to seed money from the provincial government, and put the collective reference desk at your fingertips six days a week.