Alabama LM Update May 2025
Our May First Fridays sessions are right around the corner, and we have two exciting opportunities for you this week! Registration details are now live on our First Fridays site—be sure to check it out and reserve your spot.
📚 Morning Session – May 2 at 9:30 AM
Featuring: Hannah Roudebush
Join us for a deep dive into Gale in Context, one of the powerful digital resources available through the Alabama Virtual Library. Hannah will share tips, tricks, and ideas for bringing this tool to life in your library and classrooms.
🎤 Afternoon Session – May 2 at 1:30 PM
Featuring: Susanne Estes
Get the inside scoop on what’s coming to AETC this year and take part in our Open Mic session—your chance to ask questions, share ideas, and connect with other librarians from around the state.
💻 Visit the First Fridays site to:
✔ Register for sessions
✔ Submit a presentation idea
✔ Watch past recordings
✔ Explore our FAQs
Let’s keep growing together through collaboration and shared learning—see you Friday!
Important Reminders:
✅ To receive PSPL credit, you must register in PSPL before attending.
✅ If joining with a group, enter your name in the chat.
✅ If your display name differs from your PSPL registration name, enter your name in the chat.
✅ Otherwise, do not enter your name in the chat to avoid duplicate entries.
💡 Have a session request or want to present? Submit your ideas for topics related to library management using this form.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Nancy Boyd, Media Specialist at Percy Julian High School, shares how the CoverOne thermal binding system is transforming her Library Media Center by making professional-quality book repair and custom binding quick and easy.
CoverOne is a compact, thermal binding system that allows users to create durable, professional-looking books quickly. It uses heat to activate adhesive strips in pre-lined covers, securely binding printed pages in less than two minutes. The result is a clean, robust book that looks and feels professionally produced—without the cost or complexity of outsourcing.
For libraries, this tool opens the door to a wide variety of uses that align with their mission to support education, memory preservation, and public access to knowledge.
CoverOne is a powerful tool for community engagement, especially when paired with writing workshops, literacy programs, or local author showcases. Libraries can support aspiring writers by offering in-house self-publishing services using CoverOne.
Enjoy this book review from W Shane Haws, AMSTI 6-8 Science Specialist.
The Enchanted Forest and the Circles of Life: Stories for a Happier Life
Author: George Barker
The Enchanted Forest explores the different perspectives of two pre-teens, Tommy and Sally, as they explore and engage with separate sections of the forest, eventually learning how trees communicate with humans.
The book reinforces several concepts taught in Grade 7 Life Science, including the cycling of matter and energy through an ecosystem; factors that impact and limit growth, both in individuals and populations; how organisms interact with each other; and how ecosystems provide services that we, as humans, depend on.
Not only are principles of ecology reinforced, The Enchanted Forest also weaves in several life lessons and introduces them in an appealing way to a middle school reader:
-The search for a balance in life
-Everything in life serves a purpose
-Only control what you can control and be content with the things you can’t control
Summer Upton, Reference Librarian for Education & Educational Technology at UAB Libraries shares exciting updates about Middle Grade and Young Adult Top 10 Resources.
The 2024-2025 Alabama School Library Association’s Yellowhammer Book Awards Committee released resources for this year’s Top 10 middle grade and YA picks during National School Library Week in April. Resources for the picture book Top 10 were released last fall.
All books on the newly-released lists were published between August 1, 2024, and July 31, 2024, and intended for either a middle grade (Grades 4-8) or young adult (Grades 9-12) audience. While most book awards consider only literary qualities, such as voice, character, and style, the Yellowhammer Book Award also considers classroom use and student appeal when choosing titles. Included in the resources are Alabama Courses of Study standards connections.
The inclusion of student appeal as criteria for our awards ensures that the Top 10 lists showcase a variety of genres and formats. Because what good is a book if students won’t pick it up off the shelf and check it out? Our 2025 middle grade list includes stories of mystery, sci-fi, history, fantasy, and adventure along with nonfiction, a novel in verse, and a graphic novel. There’s a book for whatever your middle graders may be into, such as baking competitions, World War II, animals, family drama, or time travel.
Charity Wade, Library Media Specialist at Dixie Elementary School in the Russell County School District, brings the story Song in the City to life through a creative, music-infused lesson that encourages students to pause and truly listen to the world around them.
Song in the City by Daniel Bernstrom is a personal favorite for incorporating music into the Library Media Center. In this story, we read about a young blind girl, Emmalene, who finds the sounds of the city to be just as beautiful as music. Emmalene gets frustrated when her Grandmother is too caught up in the busyness of life to hear any of the beautiful city sounds. After much convincing, Emmalene’s grandmother agrees to stop and listen to the sounds of the city with her. However, it is not until Emmalene covers her Grandmother’s eyes that the Grandmother is truly able to hear the song Emmalene hears. This book teaches us to truly pause and take in the sounds around us. Like in the story, I have the students cover their eyes and listen to whatever sounds can be heard in the Library.
