Brian Kenney, as you know, is leaving SLJ and LJ. Today we held a sendoff party. The fare? His favorite pizza (the expensive kind). 

Brian: You’re the best thing that ever happened to SLJ and to our staff, and the White Plains library and community are so fortunate to have you.

Best wishes,

 Trev

Trev Jones

Book Review Editor

 

I wish nothing but the best for you!!! Passion and drive is what you always showed me! Thank You!

—Josephine Marc-Anthony, Production Editor, SLJ

 

Brian, Our paths (and possibly, swimming lanes) have crossed a few times already, and I expect they will again, so this isn’t a good-bye, but it is about good wishes. Already everyone at SLJ is envious of the staff you will be working with at White Plains Public Library. Like us, we know they will benefit from your friendship, support, thoughtful stewardship, and your vision for library services. We’ll miss seeing you every day.

Best of luck, Daryl. 

 

Daryl Grabarek

Editor, Curriculum Connections and Touch and Go

 

Thank you, Brian. I’m so grateful for your support, both personally and on behalf of the magazine. Your embrace of technology and the challenge of the digital transition have set us on a good course. You let me do my thing—which is pretty awesome—and I’ve learned a lot. Will miss your dry wit, your bow ties, and your deadpan stares when someone’s stepped in it (never me, of course). I look forward to seeing you again soon, and all good things in your new position.

 

Kathy Ishizuka

Tech editor

 

A highlight of each December issue is SLJ's Best Books, a select list chosen by our review staff from the titles published that year. But there's another issue to decide: the illustrator for the December cover. Other than having to work within a basic theme of stars, the artist is pretty much given free rein as to the interpretation. Betsy Lewin got the assignment in 2001. 

Mordicai Gerstein, a Caldecott award winner for The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (pictured below) did the cover illustration in 2003. 

 

 

 

Funny guy, our building management. It's official signage, I suppose, replacing this.

Makes me think of the Captain Underpants routine, where the boys mix up the letters to create some silly retort. Hmm, what could we say... Any ideas?

Inside: Top graphic novels; Betsy Bird's Bologna report; Margaret Tice on Radical Change (in public libraries, imagine!); 'Focus On' Intergalactic Travel; Scales on Censorship; a pen that talks back, as well as our reviews for the month: books, multimedia, digital resources, Spanish titles, graphic novels. Did we mention our new review blog on kids book apps?

Follett is asking the public to help select the People's Choice winner of the Follett Challenge - view the video entries here. The full release follows:

 

RIVER GROVE, Ill., June 23, 2011 – More than 100 libraries across the country raised their hands to answer Follett Corporation’s challenge to find the most innovative libraries.  Now, the company is calling on the public to vote for their favorite program to name the People’s Choice winner. 

The Follett Challenge was designed to reward school libraries for their work applying technology, content and creativity in ways that engage students, foster literacy and promote critical thinking.  Six winning libraries will be awarded a total of $100,000 worth of products and services from Follett.

“We wanted to draw attention to the undeniable connection between innovative libraries and student performance, and we’ve been amazed by the response,” said Chuck Follett, President and CEO of Follett Corporation.  “The Follett Challenge entries showcase hundreds of creative ways that libraries are using technology and new approaches to inspire and engage students.  The entries are examples of the important role librarians and media specialists play every day at schools across the country and around the world.”

Cast Your Vote

Schools, local communities and the general public are encouraged to take part in selecting the People’s Choice winner by voting for the best video submission.  All submissions are available on the Follett Challenge website under the “View Entries” tab.  After registering, users can cast one vote per day.  Voting will remain open until Sept. 1 and the entry with the most votes will be awarded $10,000 of products and services from Follett. 

This weekend Follett will also encourage thousands of educators at the annual conferences for the American Library Association (ALA) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) to vote for their favorite submission.

While the public votes, Follett Challenge judges will be busy evaluating the more than 100 written submissions.  The judges, comprised of library and educational professionals, will award the top five entries with a total of $90,000 worth of products and services from Follett.  Winning schools, including the People’s Choice winner, will receive public recognition at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) National Conference on Oct. 27 in Minneapolis.

Follett’s many offerings include books, audiovisual materials and electronic resources from Follett Library Resources; automated library, resource, and learning management solutions from Follett Software; and supplemental classroom materials, workbooks and pre-owned textbooks from Follett Educational Services. 

To cast your vote or learn more about the Follett Challenge, visit www.follettchallenge.com.    

 

Publisher Faber in partnership with Touch Press, the developer behind "The Elements" app, have created an app of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land."

We've been waiting for this, now available in Apple's store.

 

Press release follows:

LONDON– June 7, 2011–Faber and Touch Press today announced a new digital edition of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land for iPad is now available on the App Store. The Waste Land for iPad brings alive the most revolutionary poem of the last hundred years, illuminated by a wealth of interactive features. The title’s groundbreaking design carefully respects the typography and integrity of the original poem, yet offers spectacular new ways to explore The Waste Land’s significance and influence.

“No writer is more closely associated with Faber than T. S. Eliot and it is a privilege to work on any new edition of The Waste Land,” said Henry Volans, Head of Faber Digital. “We are delighted to partner with Touch Press for this marriage of literature and the revolutionary iPad. The Waste
Land App is a flagship project in Faber’s mission to re-imagine poetry for the digital age.”

“The Waste Land for iPad attempts to do for this defining poem of the 20th-century what The Elements has done for the periodic table – bring a profoundly important subject to the attention of a new digital audience and make it come alive in their hands,” said Max Whitby, cofounder and CEO of Touch Press.

Features of the app include:
• A powerful filmed performance of the entire poem by Fiona Shaw, synchronized to the text.
• Complete audio readings of the poem, also synchronized to the text, by T. S. Eliot himself, Alec Guinness, Ted Hughes, and Viggo Mortensen.
• Comprehensive interactive notes to guide the user through the poem’s many references.
• Over 35 expert video perspectives on the poem, filmed in partnership with BBC Arena, including contributions from Seamus Heaney and Jeanette Winterson.
• Original manuscript pages revealing how the poem took shape under Ezra Pound’s editing.
• An overview tool to reveal the complete structure of the verse and allow rapid navigation.

The Waste Land for iPad is available for $13.99 (£7.99) from the App Store on iPad.