📚The Library Lowdown

Each Year the ALA honors books, videos, and other outstanding materials for children and teens. Recognized worldwide for the high quality they represent, the ALA Youth Media Awards including the prestigious Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, and Coretta Scott King book awards guide parents, educators, librarians, and others in selecting the best materials for youth!

• Check out a list of the 2021 winners here!
• 2022 YMAs will take place Monday, January 24th - stay tuned! They will also include the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature, Sydney Taylor Book Award, and the American Indian Youth Literature Award.

Beanstack is our new reading promotion tool for elementary and is a super easy and fun way to encourage independent reading! Throw out all those paper reading logs and easily track independent reading with Beanstack!

Beanstack's Winter Reading Challenge is sponsored by Lerner Publishing Group with the theme Read for a Better World. Students have unlimited access to Lerner digital titles that encourage students to read together for a better world. Students are automatically enrolled in this challenge and will have the opportunity to win amazing prizes provided by Lerner. As stated from their site "Prizes will include book and classroom collections from the publisher, signed books, and virtual author visits from the participating authors."

Beanstack is easy! If you haven't tried it, now is the time to get students engaged in independent reading! Click on the Beanstack icon in Clever and students can start logging reading minutes right away. This guide will help. Teachers, here is a guide for you too!

Amy Page is always available to visit your class or staff meeting to help get teachers and students started. Email her to schedule a visit (page_a@4j.lane.edu).

If you have ideas for virtual field trips or would like a specific trip that ties into a theme or topic of study, reach out to Amy Page and she'll help make it happen. Field trips will be prerecorded though live field trips may be possible upon teacher request.

Check out the new Martin Luther King Jr. titles available in Sora! There are multiple copies of some titles. Keep checking back as more and more titles are being added to Sora. If you need assistance accessing Sora, contact Amy Page.

Globally competent, digital citizens know how to access reliable and credible information as they explore the world around them. All 4J students have access to the databases below. If teachers need assistance accessing or teaching students to how to use these resources and cite sources, reach out to Amy Page.

• Britannica School
• PebbleGo (accessible via Clever)
• Gale (Links available via Destiny)

Don't forget the Eugene Public Library has even more databases and resources kicking off research.

In this month's choice board you'll find choice boards for New Year's Day (a little late), Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Chinese New Year, along with January's You've Been Virtually Book'd choice board and the usual fun.

The Oregon Battle of the Books committee announced there will be no state tournament this year. The regional tournament will be held virtually, but teams have plenty of time to prepare as the dates have been pushed back from normal years. School champions will need to be named no later than March 11th. Regional battles will be held from April 4th-29th to accommodate hosting a virtual event. More to come on the regional tournament.

Email: page_a@4j.lane.edu
Website: https://wakelet.com/@AmyPage5788
Location: 200 North Monroe Street, Eugene, OR, USA
Phone: 541-790-7765
Twitter: @Libraryhupla