Library Services Newsletter
April, 2019 Teacher Librarian Edition
A celebration of school librarians and their programs!
Every April school librarians are encouraged to host activities to help their school and local community celebrate the essential role that strong school library programs play in transforming learning. Find out more here.
The 2019 theme is Everyone Belongs @ Your School Library.
The 2019 AASL ambassador for school libraries is author, Dav Pilkey. “Over the years I’ve had the privilege to have met many committed librarians whose passion and dedication to literacy is life changing. I’m honored to be this year’s AASL ambassador for school libraries and an advocate for everything they do to make the world a better place.” - Dav Pilkey
Reading Rockets did an in-depth interview with Dav PIlkey - it’s a real eye opener and you’re sure to appreciate it! You can find the video here which also has a link to the transcript.
Fun and simple ways to celebrate School Library Month:
A Jar of Kisses! Kids can guess the number of kisses and win the jar for their classroom
Heart Bulletin Board: Students can take a heart and write down what they love about their library
Also in April:
April 12th: D.E.A.R. - Drop Everything and Read April 12th - newsletter here.
April 30th: Children’s Day/Book Day - El dia de los ninos/El dia de los libros - newsletter here.
April is National Poetry Month.
How will you celebrate?
Reading Challenges Family Literacy Night Book Character Dress UpLibrary Spotlight
This month we are turning the spotlight on Teacher Librarian, Katie Harlfinger, who has been with DPS for 12 years. She has spent the last 10 years at Gust Elementary supporting a culture of learning by creating a library that stimulates curiosity and allows students to feel empowered and safe.
Katie is passionate about literacy and her connection with her students. Her library is small but mighty and she makes sure that her students know where to find the books they love the most! Because Katie cares to provide a relevant and appealing library for her students, she has created “student focused” sections containing high interest books that somehow never quite seem to make it back on the shelf because kids are always swapping them for check-out! Katie is most proud of her collection. After 10 years of development, writing grants, and applying for Boost Grants, the library is full of great material! Her students always know that they can find what they need and what they want.
To support and stimulate curiosity in her students, Katie has makerspace kits available in her library and currently the 3rd grade students are focusing on getting creative with Bloxels. She certainly made a wise move when she bought Bloxel kits from the Scholastic Resource Catalog with money she earned from the book fair. She has also checked out makerspace kits from Library Services to offer variety and fire up those critical thinking skills in her students. Her 3rd graders are exceeding her expectations creating and designing their own video games and they are having a blast doing it! See photos below of students thoroughly enjoying Bloxels.
Years ago Katie gained a bit of wisdom that to this day influences her as a teacher librarian who remains dedicated to helping students love reading. Katie was new to DPS as a library para at Valdez working on finishing up library school. Jody Gehrig, former director of Library Services, was her mentor and she was helping Katie learn the ropes. She asked Katie to think about what good is a book doing if it’s collecting dust on a shelf. If you don’t let a kid check out and take books home, how are they ever going to get a chance to open them up and learn to love to read! Katie has taken this to heart and she never says no to a student who wants to check out a book. Katie said that a best practice dear to her heart is not to worry about messy shelves and overdue books – if she spent her day stressing about those things her library would never get used by those who need it the most – her students!
Katie promotes reading by giving book talks when students come for checkouts. She also loves the power of wordless books as she believes they bring out so much imagination from the kids. Some of her favorites are Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann, The Girl and the Bicycle and The Boy and the Airplane by Mark Pett, Wonder Bear by Tao Nyeu, and Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell. See photo below of happy Gust students looking forward to storytime.
Katie takes seriously the titles and genres her students are interested in. She has a suggestion box so students can let her know what they want her to order and she always tries to meet their needs so they never feel unwelcome in the library environment. The kids love that Katie allows them to have free range in the library which in turn helps them to feel comfortable in enjoying and appreciating their library space.
We celebrate Katie Harlfinger for PUTTING KIDS FIRST in the Gust Elementary Library!
DPS Library Services Digital Resource Flyers
Elementary Databases English/Spanish
Secondary Databases English/Spanish
Makerspace Hub...new kits!
Raspberry Pi 3 Complete Starter Kit
The Raspberry Pi is a mini computer, roughly the size of a credit card, that is designed to help children learn the basics of computing and programming.
This starter kit includes almost everything you need to get up and running including a micro SD card pre-loaded with the OS. Our set has 10 individual starter kits, so it would work nicely for a makerspace club or a classroom.
Recommended Ages: 10 years and up / 5th grade and up
Straws & Connectors Construction Set
Create amazing life-sized models using the flexible straws, connectors, and clips in this 800-piece set. Construct a fort, build a rocket, design a raft, or create a 3D animal. Students can work alone or in groups to easily snap together the pieces.
Recommended Ages: 4 years and up / Pre-K and up
MERGE Cube
The MERGE Cube is the hologram you hold in your hand. Whether it's a sculpture of Michelangelo's David, a NASA and NOAA Earth image, a holographic anatomy lesson, or an original work of 3D art that your student's created, MERGE makes it easy to turn models into holograms and view them from every angle.
Recommended Ages: 10 years and up / 5th grade and up
Highly Effective School Libraries Certificate
The certificate serves three key goals for the advancement of school librarians.
- Provides a foundation for school librarians who are not endorsed as a certified school librarian and are hired as a classified school library manager or paraprofessional.
- Increases demonstrated focus around the school library programs using data to impact student achievement.
- Updates current librarians’ skills based on the Colorado State Library’s competencies for highly effective school library programs.
Over the course of the certificate, participants will develop competencies in four key areas as identified by the Colorado State Libraries’ Highly Effective School Library Program: planning, instructional support, leadership, and library management. The 21st Century school library skills developed over the course of this certificate include:
- Goal setting
- Collaboration
- Instructional delivery strategies
- Assessment of student work
- Reading development
- Special programing and program marketing
- School leadership and administrative support
- Resource and collection development
- Technology integration
- Media literacy and learning-focused integration of technology
Library Services
Email: libraryhelpdesk@dpsk12.org
Website: http://etls.dpsk12.org/library_services
Location: 1617 S Acoma St, Denver, CO, United States
Phone: 720-423-1842