Library Services Newsletter
Welcome Back, 2018 Paralibrarian Edition
Summer Reading Winners!
First off we will celebrate again those schools that won our spring Summer Reading Contest with the highest OverDrive logins the month after spring break. Each of these schools received FREE Scholastic Bookfairs to send their students home for the summer with engaging, popular, free-choice books.
- Castro Elementary
- Holm Elementary
- Merrill Middle School
- Bruce Randolph High School
Schools with Highest OverDrive Reading Participation
Congratulations to the following schools:
- Lincoln Elementary
- Kepner Beacon MIddle (they were AMAZING with 2,300 checkouts!!)
- Denison Montessori
Each of these schools will receive a FREE author visit facilitated by Library Services during the 2018-19 school year.
Final Summer Contest: Let's Celebrate Participation in the DPL Summer Adventure!
- C3
- Slavens K8
- McAuliffe International
- Thomas Jefferson High School
New Library System - Destiny is live!
Your Library Services team has been working hard to transition to a new library system this summer. The new system has exciting features such as:
- allowing students and staff to use their network login
- seamless integration with OverDrive and Follett eBooks
- *new* digital curation tool called Collections (more to come soon)
- ability for students and staff to write book reviews and rate books
We are still working on resolving a few issues:
- AR and Reading Counts are not currently working within search, you can use this chart to use lexile to find the approximate AR level (note: Library Services has the sincere hope that schools encourage students to look for books based on reading interest in addition to text complexity and more qualitative indicators of reading success).
- OverDrive books are not currently showing up in Destiny. OverDrive is still working just fine, but a search in Destiny will not show these titles...we are working closely with Destiny and OverDrive to make this connection work.
- SORA, the new OverDrive app, will not launch in DPS until 2nd semester. OverDrive is still working through connectivity with student information systems and the library system which will allow us to use its new features.
Please contact the library helpdesk at libraryhelpdesk@dpsk12.org or 720.423.1842 if you have questions.
Library Fines and Fees
Caroline, the Director of ETLS, is more than happy to discuss further. If you would still like to charge fines and fees in the new system, and have them transfer to the new MySchoolBucks system, you will need to have your principal fill out this google form: https://goo.gl/forms/3GXDGsst6Dt431Zp1
Thank you.
Databases for the 2018-19 School Year
As we shared out in the spring, we will have changes to our database offerings for this school year available through http://lion.dpsk12.org/ We made these decisions based on usage and ongoing feedback from you and teachers that less is more.
Adding PebbleGo Spanish Modules...for Social Studies, Science, and Biography databases (in addition to Animales). Available Sept. 1st.
Adding Gale Student Research in Context (which is a Middle School level database), and maintaining Gale Student Resources in Context (which is a high school, college and career ready database).
We are discontinuing our EBSCO, World Almanac and Nettrekker database subscription (see below for details)
We realize some of these changes will mean you will need to provide additional instruction to your school community. Please let us know if you would like support in this area. We will be providing virtual and in-person professional learning opportunities around our Gale products in order to help you make this transition. We will also provide updated flyers on our digital resource offerings.
Denver Public Library does subscribe to EBSCO (Explora). As part of the MyDenver Card initiative, parents that opt their students into data sharing with Denver Public Library has online access to their resources. Please click here or contact library services to learn more.
Finally, we will lead an effort to gather your thinking/ideas around the best search engines and practices for elementary students for those of you that used Nettrekker, which will also support our scope and sequence work.
Makerspace Hub...kits coming soon!
Folk Tales Problem Solving STEM Kit
Kids live the legends—helping John Henry race a steam-powered drill, giving Johnny Appleseed a hand fencing in his orchard, and building Paul Bunyan a wagon strong enough to carry his giant knapsack! Our kits help kids discover the STEM in their favorite folk tales—inspiring them to use hands-on materials to design, build and test one-of-a-kind creations…then improve upon them like real engineers! You get 3 kits, each with a STEM-focused story card, student challenge cards and detailed lesson plans—plus building materials! Develops skills in structure and stability, understanding gears, perimeter and area, force and motion, the design process and problem solving. Recommended for 7 yrs. - 8 yrs. / 2nd Grade - 3rd Grade
Goobi Construction Set
The Award Winning Goobi Magnetic Construction Set is an open-ended construction set that teaches simple and spontaneous ways to learn the basics of geometry, physics, architecture and engineering. This is the intermediate package of the Goobi Magnetic Construction Set line and is designed for building medium and large scale 2D and 3D structures. Named the Creative Child Magazine top toy of the year, Goobi enhances eye-hand coordination and improves problem solving skills. Recommended for 6 yrs.+/ Grade 1+ (contains small metal balls)
DigiHero 3D Pen - The DigiHero 3D pen is a lightweight and easy to use STEM product that is safe for younger students and is an affordable alternative to 3D printers. 3D pens increase student engagement and enhance the educational setting in a variety of ways. Using this technology, students can explore complex ideas by creating visual representations of their projects, whether it be in science, mathematics, engineering, art, or history. PLA or ABS 1.75 mm filament compatible, although PLA is recommended (odorless, environmentally friendly). Recommended for 7 yrs.+/ Grade 2+
Folk Tales Problem Solving STEM kit
Goobi Construction Set
Digihero 3D Pen
Library Spotlight
This month we are turning the spotlight on David Hauck, paralibrarian at Munroe Elementary. David has been with DPS for 8 years and has managed the Munroe library for the past 5 years.
David is devoted to creating a culture of learning and curiosity and providing a culturally responsive library that serves his diverse school community. David loves the fact that he can walk into the Munroe library every day for his job. He remarked that even though the library is old it still has that “great book smell!” He is grateful for his involvement with Munroe students and derives satisfaction from knowing that he plays a big role in helping them develop a love of reading. See photo below of a happy visit to the library!
David enjoys read-alouds with his students. His favorite reads for the higher grades are Goosebump titles because you can always count on a great cliffhanger and the students can’t wait until the next read-aloud to find out what happens next! The younger students enjoy Elephant and Piggie books and always have a good laugh at the humorous situations in the stories. A favorite of David and his students is “I Really Like Slop!” by Mo Willems – a good book to promote friendship under very uncomfortable, but funny circumstances!
David provides an annual book fair at Munroe, usually the week before Thanksgiving break when Parent/Teacher conferences are in full swing. He stays later during this time to accommodate families. His book fairs are highly successful and they enable him to buy some of the latest and hottest titles for Munroe students.
David loves the diversity in his school community and he is committed to reflecting diversity in his library collection. He makes sure that the geography, history, and religion sections of his collection have a huge number of titles for students to learn more about their own cultures and cultures of fellow students. David also makes sure that he has current and popular titles available in Spanish. He remarked that he feels great satisfaction watching his students read and he loves it when students share with him their excitement over what they are reading.
David connects with his students in many different ways. In addition to his library responsibilities, David was instrumental in organizing a grass roots effort to start an area soccer league. The students were previously part of a league sponsored by a national program that lost funding. The community was concerned that the students may not have the opportunity to be part of another sports team. David connected with some local teachers to start their own league and now the students on the Munroe team proudly display their jerseys every game day! David also has added positive structure to recess time for the entire school. He has designated a few basic ground rules and different areas on the playground/field for specific games which helps prevents problems. David has encouraged Munroe students to peacefully settle disputes on the playground by using “rock, paper, scissors.” Kudos to David for not only making a positive difference in the library, but also being supportive and engaged in different areas of his school community!
David’s words of wisdom to fellow paralibrarians are to maintain your library sections and keep up with shelving because if you lose control of maintenance, it’s easy to get buried and it’s hard to get out from under that. David feels very fortunately that he has time in his schedule for library maintenance/management and time to focus on serving the needs of students and staff. He believes that what helps keep his library successful are the systems he has in place; he keeps his check-out process consistent and he routinely maintains the library.
David feels very fortunate to be working in the library of a successful school, and he
thinks that it’s totally awesome the way Munroe staff support each other! He is appreciative of the great parent/guardian involvement in the school, and he feels that having a community liaison has been a big plus. Also – what makes Munroe a successful school is having a principal who believes in libraries and understands the importance of having a fully functioning library.
We celebrate David Hauck FOR PUTTING KIDS FIRST in the Munroe Library!
Welcome our new Manager of Library Technical Systems
He is the former district media specialist in Hillsboro School District in Oregon, where he led innovative district and campus media center programs for 35 schools, serving over 20,000 students. He was previously the School Program Coordinator for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission,responsible for the successful implementation of the TexQuest K-12 digital resources program, school library standards and school librarian certification. Len has served as a middle school and high school librarianl in Round Rock Independent School District, just north of Austin, Texas. Before becoming a librarian, Len taught English and coached girls’ athletics at the middle school and high school levels all over Texas and Louisiana for over a decade. He and his wife, Alison, a pediatric occupational therapist, have an infant daughter, Ella Katherine, and are active in dog advocacy and rescue nonprofits. They have two big, lovable, goofball dogs that are working toward their therapy dog certifications. In their free time, Len and Alison like to see live music, be outside with their baby and dogs biking, skiing, hanging out on the water, or paddling down a river. Len also enjoys restoring old houses, and is searching for his next project now. Please welcome him to our district!
Curriculum Collections in Overdrive
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