Library Learning & Laughter

And here's a link to answers given by middle school students in response to questions about using the library:

http://www.warriorlibrarian.com/LIBLAUGHS/quiz_answers.html


Library Joke:

Chickens in Libraries
A chicken walks into the library. It goes up to the circulation desk and says: "book, bok, bok, boook".
The librarian hands the chicken a book. It tucks it under his wing and runs out. A while later, the chicken runs back in, throws the first book into the return bin and goes back to the librarian saying: "book, bok, bok, bok, boook". Again the librarian gives it a book, and the chicken runs out. The librarian shakes her head.
Within a few minutes, the chicken is back, returns the book and starts all over again: "boook, book, bok bok boook". The librarian gives him yet a third book, but this time as the chicken is running out the door, she follows it.
The chicken runs down the street, through the park and down to the riverbank. There, sitting on a lily pad is a big, green frog. The chicken holds up the book and shows it to the frog, saying: "Book, bok, bok, boook". The frog blinks, and croaks: "read-it, read-it, read-it".     (from Librarybooks4u.com)


Library Usage Facts:
 (Information available at ALA web site.)

Libraries are engines of learning, literacy, and economic development>>

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Libraries of all kinds continue to play an expanding role in American communities, serving the needs of patrons of all ages and reaching out to those who have been underserved. In this Report on the State of America’s Libraries 2008, the American Library Association finds that:

• School library media centers were in the public eye, but even as their value was ever more widely acknowledged, funding for them continued to lag — and people organized to win support for them.

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• Americans acknowledged the proven connection between school library media centers and the kind of education that is essential to success in a global society. Studies in 19 states have shown that a strong school library media program helps students learn more and score higher on standardized tests than peers in schools without such programs.¹ And it’s clear that students themselves understand this: They make 1.5 billion visits to school library media centers each year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).>>

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• For the first time ever, funding for school libraries and the school library media specialists who staff them is declining. Nationally, library expenditures per pupil decreased to $13.67 in 2003-2004 from $19.14 in 1999-2000, a drop of almost 30 percent, according to the NCES. They have since dropped to $11.24, according to a 2007 survey. >>

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• In Washington state, where only about half the school library media centers have a full-time paid teacher librarian,² three determined Spokane mothers led a year-long grassroots campaign to secure state funding for school libraries, which currently are funded locally. As the nation’s library officials and legislators watched, the campaign held an all-day summit conference and rally on Feb. 1, 2008, in the state capital. Due in part  to their efforts, the state legislature provided one-year emergency state funding for school libraries as part of a supplementary budget measure. The goal for the year ahead is to make state funding for school libraries permanent.

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Reminder:

Please keep in mind that Autism Awareness Month begins April 1st. I have agreed to give $1 for each book purchased from my web site (http://shop.marycalhounbrown.com) to autism charities during the month of April to help promote awareness and provide services to children and adults on the autism spectrum.>