Happy Holidays Online

With the Christmas break and New Year fast approaching, people may be looking for some online activities to keep themselves -- and their families -- occupied.  Here are a few I have stumbled upon that I thought were worth sharing.


A little late with your Santa letter?  Email him here: http://www.emailsanta.com/
Create a personalized Santa story here: http://www.northpole.com/Den/PersonalizedStories/
Did you know that Santa is on Twitter?  Follow him here: http://twitter.com/noradsanta
Not going to have enough time to mail out Christmas cards?  Make some online here: http://www.presentationmagazine.com/online-christmas-card-maker.htm
Make your own snowflakes here: http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/index.html
Play with some pictures and elf yourself here: http://www.elfyourself.com/
Here's a personal favorite -- The Reindeer Orchestra.  Bop their noses to play a tune: http://dingo.care2.com/cards/new/0422/Do-a-rain-deer.swf
No snow?  Make a virtual snowman: http://think-bank.com/iwb/flash/snowman.html

There's lots more, and many of them are listed on this site, Ozge Karaoglu's Blog, one of the places where I get good ideas.  Have a great holiday and a wonderful New Year!

Reference Resources

Try these:

• Atlas
• Kids World Atlas
• FactMonster Encyclopedia
• Encyclopedia.com
• FactMonster Almanac
• InfoPlease Almanac
• World Almanac for Kids
• FactMonster Dictionary
• FactMonster Thesaurus
• S9 Biographical Dictionary
• Biography.com
• CIA World Fact Book

For more, go to BadgerLink

Welcome to a New School Year

A new school year always brings new challenges, and this year is no exception.  Due to budget cuts, we have moved from a 5 day cycle to a 6 day cycle.  We have also implemented a new reading series.  So, I have offered teachers the opportunity to schedule two LMC visits during each 6 day cycle:  one will be used to support reading and the other will be used for skills instruction.  I hope to see more learning and provide more reading opportunities through this schedule change.

Another potential change will be the addition of eBooks to the library collection.  We have added numerous audiobooks the last couple of years, and these have been very popular.  Now, I would like to add electronic books that will work with our interactive whiteboards so teachers can use them to enhance instruction.  Students will also be able to access them via the computer.  We have also added a number of iPads, and it will be interesting to see how these can be used in the LMC setting.

There's always some new challenge or opportunity in the library world.  That's just one of the reasons I think the LMC is the place to be!