Mepham High School Library: MHS Library Orientation 2013

In case you missed it, here is our latest library orientation video... click here.

New App Alert! Follett Enlight™

This is the new Digital Reader App, Follett Enlight, it replaces the existing Follett Digital Reader. You can find it in the app store; the new app is for downloading titles for offline use. For an overview on Follett Enlight, watch the video below.

 

Banned Books Week

Find out if your favorite book has been banned or challenged! According to the American Library Association (ALA), "a challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. The number of challenges reflects only incidents reported... The ALA condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information."

Below is a list of the top ten challenged books for 2012:

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey.
   Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.
   Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher.
   Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
5. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
   Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group
6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
   Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
8. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
   Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence
9. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
   Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
10. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
    Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence

Remind101

Remind101 works on your mobile device.

Remind101 is a safe, FREE way for teachers to text message students and keep in touch with parents. According to their Website, "Remind101 was built, in conjunction with educators, to solve communication obstacles between teachers, students and parents. Across all grade levels and institution types, Remind101 is a safe and simple communication solution to help teachers extend their classrooms."

Since I do not have any rosters or regularly scheduled classes - we have a flexible schedule in the library - I decided to use Remind101 as a club advisor. I created two "classes" using Remind101, one for computer club and one for the National English Honor Society.  It was fast and easy. It took less than two minutes to sign up after I downloaded the Remind101 app. Remind101 can be used from the Website, iPhone app or  Android app. I plan to use it for schedule changes, meeting and event reminders.

It's also easy for students and parents to subscribe. They never need to visit the Remind101 Website or create an account. They just send a text message or email to my Remind101 telephone number and send the access code, then I add them as users when they respond. After this initial text students and parents cannot reply to messages sent. Teachers cannot send individual messages to one student or parent. "Safety is a primary feature, teachers never see students/parents phone numbers, nor will students/parents see theirs."

 For more information on Remind101, check on this video below.

 

Chromebooks

At the end of last year, the library added a cart with 30 Chromebooks! Teachers sign out these resources for their classes.  We have already had classes in to use the Chromebooks for Internet searches and creating documents in Google Drive.

Everyone with an email address powered by Google at BMCHSD has access to Google Drive. Google Drive allows you to access your files anytime, anywhere on any computer, tablet, smartphone, as long as there is an Internet connection.

There are many advantages to using Google Drive including always working on one version of a document, no email attachments back and forth, and no flash drive/external hard drive needed. You can upload documents, spreadsheets, and presentations that are already created in other programs, such as Microsoft or create new ones. There are no compatibility issues when you use Google Drive. It is a universal format. One of my favorite features is "revision history." This allows you to revert back to a previous version of the document. You can add comments to shared documents or go in and edit a document directly if given permission by the author. You also have the option to download Google Drive documents to MS Word, spreadsheets to MS Excel, and presentations to MS Powerpoint. The biggest benefit to using Google Drive over more traditional forms of word processing has definitely got to be AUTO SAVE! You'll never lose a Google Drive document because you forgot to save it before closing the application.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back students, staff and faculty - a special welcome to our new students, the Class of 2017! We have a lot of fun stuff in store for you this year at your library! Check out our new bulletin board. Fill out a text message box with the name of the last book you read and pin it to our board. We will post a photo of the finished product in a few weeks.

Bulletin Board idea from several photos on Pinterest.