Support the Flood Relief Appeal

If you would like to support the flood relief appeal and acquire something beautiful and craft-made, toddle on over to the Etsy shop which is bursting with items supplied by generous craftworkers who are donating the proceeds to help those affected by the floods.  Lookee here.

You can also find more goodies here.



Cheers

Ruth

October is Breast Cancer Month

Don't forget to click on the Pink Ribbon Day icon on the right and order pink ribbon products (eg. pink silicon wristbands) as fundraisers in the fight against breast cancer. When I ordered mine, they asked who had inspired me - it's scary to know so many people who have been affected by breast cancer. Some are survivors. Some are not. I'll have the wristbands to sell in the library when we get back from holidays. I hope you can do something too.
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For those outside Australia, the McGrath Foundation is a significant charity putting Breast Care Nurses into the front line around the country, to support those affected by breast cancer.  They have items for sale too, or you can make a donation (icon on the right takes you to their site).
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Cheers,
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Ruth.

Good ideas for school libraries: 14. Harmony Day 2009

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Our school always does something for Harmony Day - varies year to year.  I aim to involve the library.  Here's our foyer:

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Which, if you've read this blog before, you'll realise involves the same bookcase, but different books and a different banner.  This fabric is Ikea Gunilla ($9 per metre, not at all expensive).  I spotted it earlier in the year, and since the Harmony Day colour is orange, I snapped it up (the birds imply harmony of a kind, too).  The face-out books have some connection to Harmony Day; the orange spines are there to be orange, and for general browsing (maybe some kids will find something new, even though our choice is entirely and aribtrarily based on the orange spines! - we sometimes do other 'colour-themed' displays, as a different way to bring the attention of kids to various books and to support various themes).

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What you need: the banners are as described (with making instructions) last week, the books are from the bookshelves of the library and you can find a bunch of Harmony Day graphics and more on the Harmony Day website.

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Victorian Bushfires - ways to help with books

There would be few readers of this blog who would not be aware of the devastating bushfires in Victoria.  The initial need is always money - the Red Cross appeal is here.

 Here are a couple of bookish ways to help:

Borders are taking donations of good second hand or new books and will match the retail price to $200,000.  Read more here.

Dancing with Frogs is collecting books for a keen reader called Jarryd, a boy whose extensive library was entirely lost in the fires.  Check the list here, or read how to donate a voucher to him.

Handmade Help is a Melbourne-based blog co-ordinating (and publicising) all sorts of ways to help.

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Social networking and the bushfire disaster

The impact of social networking - in reporting, keeping in touch, trying to discover the safety of loved ones - was evident in the dreadful bushfire disaster in Victoria over the last couple of days.  Read more in a Sydney Morning Herald article here.

"Social media rush as Victorian bushfires rage" by Asher Moses.

Donations can be made by phone or online through links provided here on the Australian Red Cross site: http://tinyurl.com/redxvicfirefund

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October is Breast Cancer Month...

...so the blog's gone pink.  Click on the links over there on the right to donate or learn more, or go shopping here {link} for pink products.

Class Matters: NYT series on class and society

One for Society and Culture, Early Childhood and maybe some other subjects too: a New York Times series, Class Matters. 

A team of reporters spent more than a year exploring ways that class - defined as a combination of income, education, wealth and occupation - influences destiny in a society that likes to think of itself as a land of unbounded opportunity.

This is a resource of lesson plans, articles, timelines, images and more.  While its focus is of course American, the value of its content has wider application.

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14 Ways to Cultivate a Reading Habit

This year, in our school's monthly newsletter, I aim to not only write a general library report, but also to provide a link or two for parents to follow, if they wish. Another article from lifehack.org, 14 Ways to Cultivate a Reading Habit, looks like a good candidate.

International Women's Day (March 8)

A friend's idea for a poster for International Women's Day has morphed into an idea for here (we share ideas all the time, it's great to be inspired!).

I've sent a pdf of this to the nswtl list, but for those who aren't on it, the poster consists of a whole bunch of words used to describe women.

Here's the list, in case it's useful for others. If you have any other suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

Adventuress Amazon Aphrodite Aunt Babe Bird Bitch Blonde Bluestocking Bra-burner Bride Broad Brunette Chick Crone Dame Daughter Debutante The Distaff Side Doll Donna Dowager Duchess Dyke Empress Eve Fairer Sex Female Feminine Feminist Femme Filly Frau Fraulein Gal Gentle Sex Girl Girlfriend Girlie Goddess Godmother Goodwife Gran Grandmother Granny Hag Harridan Hen Her Indoors Heroine Housekeeper Kitten Lady Lass Lassie Lesbian Little Woman Luv Ma Madam Mademoiselle Madonna Ma’am Maid Maiden Mama Mater Matriarch Matron Mem-Sahib Midwife Milady Miss The Missus Missy Mistress Moll Mom Mother Mrs Ms Mum Nan Nanna Niece Nun Nymph Old Maid Petticoat Pollyanna Priestess Princess Queen Redhead Senora Sheila Shrew Signora Signorina Siren Sis Sister Skirt Spinster Squaw Suffragette Sweetheart Venus Virago Wench Wife Witch
Woman
International Women’s Day March 8

I used DesertDogHmk font (from the font library at scrapvillage.com) in 21 point for the synonyms and 36 point for Woman. Printed on pink paper (rather than suffragette purple/green) because we're dealing with clichés, among other things, here, and hey, it amused me.

Added later: find the nominee list for NSW Woman of the Year here.

Harmony Day 2008

Last year the school celebrated Harmony Day, and is planning to do so again in 2008.

Harmony Day is an Australian Government initiative: Harmony Day is celebrated on 21 March each year and is about bringing people together to celebrate Australia's community harmony, participation and cultural diversity.

While helping those planning for this year's event, I came across HopeRevo, and the idea from this site could be adapted for Harmony Day.

We also sell these badges as a fundraising initiative - making the badges here at school with a badgemaking machine. The colour of Harmony Day is orange, so we used orange scrapbooking papers (with lots of interesting designs and patterns) and some simple sayings, such as "You +Me=Us" in quirky fonts.