Public education is under 'serious attack'

Public education is under 'serious attack'

I try to stay positive even though public education is under serious attack. School libraries across the province are an endangered species.

In the past 10 years or so we have lost half the staff that supports special-needs kids in our school.

Cheriee Weichel Teacher librarian, Charles Dickens school, Vancouver

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Public+education+under+serious+attack/5851084/story.html#ixzz1gR3jvqv3

Literacy scores rise as reading fun drops

Literacy scores rise as reading fun drops: study

National Post: 2011 December 12

The report also cites school libraries as a "largely untapped resource" in terms of building students' enjoyment of reading.

"Unfortunately, the percentage of elementary and secondary schools with teacher-librarians continues to decline in Ontario," the report notes.

Mysterious Paper Sculptures

crafthaus: 2011 September 2

One day in March, staff at the Scottish Poetry Library came across a wonderful creation, left anonymously on a table in the library. Carved from paper, mounted on a book and with a tag addressed to @byleaveswelive - the library's Twitter account - reading:

Who cares about libraries?

Macleans.ca: 2011 August 29

“People have preconceptions about libraries, and many of them are just inaccurate,” says Ken Haycock, emeritus professor of the University of British Columbia’s library science school. “The reality is that use is increasing, in foot traffic and in circulation.”

Libraries are eccentric, changing and vital public spaces

National Post: 2011 August 6

He hasn’t said so explicitly, but Doug Ford seems to dislike libraries. The Toronto city councillor has lately made disparaging–and inaccurate–remarks about his city’s library system, which faces possible funding cuts and closures. By suggesting Toronto has too many branches, and then crowing that he would vote to shut down some “in a heartbeat,” Mr. Ford has offended bibliophiles everywhere. And Margaret Atwood is not amused.

The man who killed bookstores

Vancouver Sun: 2011 August 2

All right, coppers. You’ve got me. I did it. I killed Borders.

Not all by myself, of course. I had some help. A guy can’t kill a 399-store chain of bookstores and put 10,700 people out of work all by himself.

But I grew up Catholic, so if there’s guilt to be assigned, lay it on me. I’m used to it.

Yes, I sometimes buy books at Amazon.com. I’ll buy ’em at Costco or Target, too, if they’re cheap enough. I get a lot of books from the library. I haven’t bought a Kindle or a Nook or another ereader yet, but I’m thinking about it. I borrowed an iPad and used it to read the e-version of Edmund Morris’s Colonel Roosevelt.

In the fight for better literacy, comic books are teachers’ secret weapon

This Magazine: 2011 August 2

On a cold mid-February afternoon under overcast skies, a school bell rings. The halls of Toronto’s Agnes Macphail Public School flood with children dressed in puffy jackets and schoolbags. Although a swift exodus befalls most schools at day’s end, Agnes Macphail still pulses with high-pitch chatter. Students linger in the foyer while others flock towards the school’s library. Amidst the rows of bookcases and computers, a group of students, ranging from grade six to eight, sit around tables as they talk animatedly and await the start of their book-club meeting.