Professional Reading Reviews

Volume 31, Number 5, June 2004

Ken Haycock

Thoughtful, in-depth reviews of the newest in professional resources for the school library. Includes brief reviews of new titles publisher Ken Haycock deems Worth a Look!

A Core Collection for Young Adults.
Patrick Jones, Patricia Taylor and Kirsten Edwards.

Helping Teachers Teach: A School Library Media Specialist’s Role, 3d ed.
Philip Turner and Ann Riedling.

Powering Achievement: School Library Media Programs Make a Difference: The Evidence, 2d ed.
Keith Curry Lance and David V. Loertscher.

Teens & Libraries: Getting It Right.
Virginia Walter and Elaine Meyers.

Plus: New titles worth a look

A Core Collection for Young Adults.
Patrick Jones, Patricia Taylor and Kirsten Edwards

Reviewed by Gail Bush

From Maniac Magee to In cold blood, from Anne of Green Gables to Push, this selection tool is a valuable reference source for titles of interest to the range of young adults we serve in school and public libraries. Granted, it includes only titles in English with approximately 60 percent fiction, 30 percent nonfiction, and 10 percent graphic formats. And granted some reviews ring true, others read like they are a compilation of other reviews; some reviews presume that the reader has read the book, knows the author, and the title is included out of necessity. But many others inform, illuminate and inspire.

At first unsettling, this disparity among reviews does not seriously detract from an ambitious work compiled by a true pied piper of young adult literature and his trusted colleagues. A “collection checker” CD-ROM includes basic bibliographic information in a variety of file types. A companion website, http://www.connectingya.com/core.htm, extends this book’s utility. Additional sections include top 100+ best lists and those written by YA librarians and authors; maintenance and selection tips; author and title indexes.

Even the discussion about a core collection versus the core collection in the preface and introduction is interesting fodder to all librarians involved in collection development. This title is deceptively rich in its contribution to serving clients in all libraries but especially our teenaged friends. (Neal-Schuman, 2003. $65.00. 405 pp. 1-55570-458-1).
Bottom Line: A core purchase of broad appeal to all librarians serving teens.

Helping Teachers Teach: A School Library Media Specialist’s Role, 3d ed.
Philip Turner and Ann Riedling

Reviewed by Jean Donham

Information power: Building partnerships for learning calls for teacher-librarians to perform in the role of instructional partners with teachers. Turner and Riedling provide a systematic instructional design model for carrying out such a role in this third edition of a title that has become a standard on many teacher-librarians’ professional bookshelves. Grounded in instructional design theory, this book describes teacher-librarians performing at three levels of engagement at each step of the instructional design process. Like the two previous editions, the first six chapters cover instructional consultation and the last eight chapters are devoted to the steps in the design process. Again, all chapters have “thought provokers,” i.e., problems suitable for discussion in a class or study group – answers are provided in the appendix. Other useful appendices include a learning style inventory, a materials evaluation tool, a sample unit plan, and other practical samples and ideas.

The third edition has somewhat updated references, but is substantively unchanged from the previous edition. Further, it is disappointing to see some topics absent or treated minimally. One example is motivation. In the chapter on Learner Characteristics, the authors state, “Motivation is one of the most important, if not the most important, factor in successful learning” (p. 97), yet motivation receives only a brief few paragraphs of attention. Similarly, while the chapter on Learner Characteristics offers considerable discussion of learning styles with heavy reliance on the work of Dunn and Dunn, there is no mention of Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences. And, constructivism does not even make it into the index. One change from the second edition is the deletion of the section on tests. This is noteworthy given the resurgence of interest in and reliance on testing under the provisions of No Child Left Behind. A chart in the Materials Selection chapter includes such formats as filmstrip/cassette–a medium that schools have not been investing in for some time. Absent from that same chart is DVD. Drawings and photos are essentially unchanged from the previous edition.

If there is a copy of the second edition on your shelf, there is little need to buy the third. If this is not a title on your professional shelf, and if instructional design is of interest, check it out. (Libraries Unlimited, 2003. $40.00. 300 pp. 1-59158-020-X).
Bottom Line: Classic instructional design – Round three.

Powering Achievement: School Library Media Programs Make a Difference: The Evidence, 2d ed.
Keith Curry Lance and David V. Loertscher

Reviewed by Jean Donham

Keith Curry Lance’s research examining the relationship between academic achievement and school library programs has steadily grown from a study in Colorado to replications of his Colorado studies in several other states. The accumulated findings strengthen the conclusions that schools with strong library programs are schools where measures indicate higher student achievement. Translating research findings into language and format that is meaningful and useful to all constituencies can be a daunting task. In this book, Lance and Loertscher have done that for practicing teacher-librarians.

Part One presents the research studies offering the reader already prepared one-, five- and 15-minute presentations. The text of presentations is provided and the PowerPoint slides are available for downloading on the Web at www.lmcsource.com. Besides offering a digest version of the various studies referenced in the Preface, these presentation plans include masters for handouts appropriate for a variety of audiences. The presentations will be useful for parent organizations, school boards, education meetings, teacher-education classes and other venues where constituencies outside the library field need to know what these findings indicate. The titles of the presentations represent topics that will be of interest to various audiences, e.g., “Building Literacy” may be of particular interest to parents or teachers, among others; “Does an Unsupervised Clerk in the LMC Make a Difference in Academic Achievement?” has a message for board members or administrative committees, among others. It is not difficult to imagine appropriate audiences for each of the prepared presentations offered in this book.

Part Two offers discussion starters based on the research. Many of these offer a plan appropriate for teacher in-service. Those teacher-librarians who have teacher education programs nearby may seek opportunities to use these materials in presentations to classes, or as content for working with student teachers assigned to their schools.

The appendices offer executive summaries of state studies as well as handy “fast facts.”
The profession has long sought data that would support the intuitions teacher-librarians have had about their programs – that well-developed programs make a difference in developing readers and learners. Here the authors offer the data synthesized into user-friendly formats ready to share. No one can say, “I don’t have time to translate the research.” Now the responsibility is to use these results to advocate for a program that can make a difference. (Hi Willow Research, 2002. $27.00. 120 pp. 0-931510-84-8).
Bottom line: You’ve asked for the research – here it is in its most useful form!

Teens & Libraries: Getting It Right.
Virginia Walter and Elaine Meyers

Reviewed by Gail Bush

Everyone seems to be buzzing about census data indicating that our societies will be looking quite different by 2050 than they do now. So how do we plan to ‘get it right’ for the long haul? Ginny Walter and Elaine Meyers have a plan that we can all follow for our communities. It is really quite simple. Listen. That’s it. Listen to the community. The heart of their story is listening to teens, sharing ownership, inviting participation. Can we promise to get it right as they propose? We can certainly promise to continue to listen and to continue their story.

An extension of the Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development Project, Teens & libraries suitably follows S.E. Hinton’s well-known titles through a historical perspective of service to youth that focuses on youth development as a process. It presents a mindset regarding youth services that is textured covering basic themes like homework centers and more conceptual themes of conversation and partnerships. Additionally, it includes practical programming ideas and guidelines, moderated teen panel guide, youth participation worksheet, evaluation of space considerations (the power of square footage), and the Library Teen Bill of Rights. (ALA, 2003. $32.00. 154 pp. 0-8389-0857-8).
Bottom Line: A manifesto, to reconsider our philosophies of good teen communities.