July 2, 2020

Hi Folks, 

I have several updates related to Gale, one of our statewide database vendors. Plus, there’s some information about July webinars beyond those offered by Gale. 

Temporary Access to Some Gale Products Ends
As you may recall, in March Gale temporarily opened up access to Miss Humblebee’s Academy (for PK-K) and to a collection of ebooks about virtual learning. See the March announcement for details. The free access ended on June 30, so I removed the information from the Find Information pages on OSLIS. I believe that Miss Humblebee’s Academy users were alerted that free access would end, but I’m not positive. 

Gale Summer Reading Support
Gale staff created or featured some specific resources to promote summer reading. You can share the “Gale Books and Authors: Finding Your Next Read” brief video tutorial with secondary students and staff, if you have a way to communicate with them over the summer. Haven’t explored Books and Authors yet? Then Gale’s recorded webinar will be helpful to get you up to speed on this readers advisory database. Or, use the “Gale In Context: Elementary Fairy Tales Scavenger Hunt” with kindergarten through fifth graders or the “Gale In Context: Middle School Myths, Legends, and Tales Scavenger Hunt” with sixth through eighth graders. Those activities are not specifically tied to summer reading and will remain online past the summer. The scavenger hunts could be a fun way to introduce GIC: Elementary or GIC: Middle School in the fall.   

July Webinars from Gale
Gale trainers have organized some webinars specifically for K-12. Recall that it’s always free to register, and recordings will be posted online.

July Webinars from Others
As always, WebJunction updates their free trainings page monthly, with the help of staff from the Wyoming State Library who gather the information. There’s so much good stuff, whether you’re interested in copyright, graphic novels, anti-bias classrooms, inquiry as civic engagement, or more. 

These opportunities did not make it onto the WebJunction list:

• Librarians with Spines Author Showcase 2
  Come hear and interact with two Librarians with Spines: Grace Yamada Interviews kYmberlee Keeton about the Black Covid 19 Project, about Hip-Hop and Information Science (kYmberlee's chapter was on this). The conversation will be sure to include aspects of digital citizenship (Grace's chapter was on this topic), books, libraries and more.
  Thursday, July 16, 9:00 – 10:00 am Pacific
  This is the recording for the first showcase, which featured Ann Matsushima Chiu and Cathy Camper.

• Library of Congress’ Race in America Talks
  • Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden talks with her U.S. Poets Laureate appointees, Tracy K. Smith (2017-2019) and Joy Harjo (2019-current), about poetry in times of crisis as well as its enduring power to promote social justice.
    Thursday, July 9, 4:00 – 5:00 pm Pacific
  • Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden talks to two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and National Book Festival veteran (2009, 2012, 2016 and this year) Colson Whitehead about the need for stories from our past to help us contend with the present—especially at moments of great change.
    Thursday, July 16, 4:00 – 5:00 pm Pacific
  • Recordings will be available online, like the one for the recent discussion with Jason Reynolds and Jacqueline Woodson.

Have a great holiday weekend. 

Thanks,
Jen

Jennifer Maurer
School Library Consultant
State Library of Oregon