Open Doors

open doors
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

It's the fourth week of April and it's finally nice enough to leave the doors open to let in fresh air. But fresh air isn't the only thing that entered today. MingMing, Mrs. Gold's kitten, decided to discover the library. According to Mrs. Gold, MingMing is quite the cultured kitten. In addition to her fascination with the library displays and the fiction collection, she apparently has attended campus art shows and concerts. Sporting events, however, she leaves to the dogs.

Earth Day

Earth Day
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Our Earth Day display includes information on how the poor are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation. For more information see Disproportionate Affects in Our Planet magazine on the United Nations website.
Also on our display is a book made entirely without paper. Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough is made from calcium carbonate and petroleum byproducts and claims to be nearly indestructible and infinitely recyclable.

A Day in the Life

ESL class
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

The 2009 ESL class took photographs to document A Day in the Life of an international boarding student at The Governor's Academy. Photographs include pictures from the academic day, the afternoon program and residential life. All the pictures were uploaded to the library's Flickr page and organized into a set called A Day in the Life. Enjoy!

Classes working in the library

ESL at work on Flickr project
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Teachers often bring their classes to the library to take advantage of the many resources - the Electronic Classroom with 12 computers and an overhead projector, or in this case, the nine laptop computers. Students can work together on their project and get guidance from their teacher and the librarians.

In this photo, Mrs. Gold helps students in her English class upload photos to our Flickr page.

Conversation Overheard

Conversation overheard between a faculty member and student on the way back from morning meeting: "
"So, did you have any luck finding all those books you needed for your independent study?'
"Yeah, I've got them all. They had them all in the library."
"Really?"
"Really. They have an amazing variety of books on the Middle East."

Behind the scenes

Behind the scenes
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Jean and Terri, two of our evening librarians, spend their time preparing books to go on the shelves, cleaning, repairing, and otherwise making sure that the books, newspapers and magazines are always where they can be found and in good repair. It takes many hands to keep things running smoothly and looking attractive.

Newburyport Literary Festival Display

Newburyport Literary Festival Display
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

The Newburyport Literary Festival will be held April 24th and 25th. We set up a display of books and author information. The festival honorees for this year are the recently retired Dorothy LaFrance from the Newburyport Public Library and native son David McPhail whose books have enthralled and delighted our small faculty children over the years.

An empty library?

Hong Kong-Library-(AY)
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

One of our international students composed this picture. It's not often that this section of the library is empty. These two tables are some of the favorites for students who want to work and study together. We also have several long tables for larger groups, study carrels on the second floor (our silent space), and comfy chairs in many of the windows. For groups that really need to spread out and discuss their assignments we have three rooms that can be reserved for group work. Each is outfitted with a table, chairs, and whiteboards.

Book Repair

book repair
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Emma, our student intern, is trying to avoid an end of the semester bind. To keep her out of any sticky situations, she's on the cutting edge of book repair technology here at the academy. Emma's fixing to spend her summer in school and enjoying the great north shore summers.

As signs of spring are popping up all over campus (daffodils, spring beauties, lacrosse players, golf clubs) some other signs have mysteriously appeared in the rest rooms.
Apparently, at least one of our students was inspired by an article in the April 8th issue of The Governor that suggested that pranks make spring more fun. A quick internet search suggests that an enterprising student may have found this prank on cheesebikini.

Karibu means "welcome" in Swahili

Karibu means "welcome" in Swahili
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Today we welcomes two new students from Kenya, Leslie and Lydia, who will be studying here through the end of the term. Each year we're fortunate to have students from Kenya visit us while several of our students have a chance to go to school in Kenya.

Awaiting Opening Day

Baseball in fiction
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

As we eagerly awaited Opening Day, we put together a display of baseball stories to tide us over. Our selected stories included Kluger's Last Days of Summer, Lardner's You Know Me Al, and Kinsella's Shoeless Joe among others. AND, given today's rain we shall just need to keep on reading. Sox have been postponed until tomorrow at 4:05.

Dwindling but will it be gone?

The dwindling snowbank
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

We are all hoping that today's April showers (well, deluge) and murky weather will melt this pile. Enough is enough!

The Digital Commonwealth

On Tuesday, the academy's archivist and myself attended this year's Digital Commonwealth conference to see "what was what." Digital Commonwealth is a portal for the historical and cultural resources of Massachusetts which are in libraries, historical societies, museums, colleges, and schools. Now that we have a part-time archivist, we are assessing our collection for where we might want to begin digitizing the historical resources in our archives to share. Next Wednesday Greg Pronevitz of the Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System and a driving force behind the creation of the site is coming to answer our questions and give us advice on this exciting new venture!

Foolish April Library Behavior

School libraries are built for students, but students don't always know what's expected of them in the library. While we like to think that our students are exemplary, we know that our mission is educational and that we need to instruct students on the best research methods and proper library etiquette. For those who'd like to see just what can happen when those skills haven't been properly taught, take a look at The Peeps Arrival at the Library from Milliken University.

Scottsboro

Ellen Feldman begins each chapter of Scottsboro with a quote from one of the participants (victims?). She intersperses the novel with news reports and insights into 1930s America, giving us a feel for what both northerners and southerners must have been thinking. Her invention of a white female northern reporter allows us to view the happenings as impartially as possible. Yet this book left me with a feeling of such distrust for my fellow Americans that on a recent trip to Georgia I couldn't stand to get close to strangers. There seemed to be noone who was innocent in this travesty of justice that is now a part of our history. The Scottsboro boys and the multiple trials that ensued can't be erased from our history. Feldman has given us a well-researched tale of Jim Crow and communism in the 30s and 40s. Other reviews have said that she failed to develop the fiction well enough to make an enjoyable read, but I found the inhumanity of the tale enough to keep me turning the pages.

The ipod touch

The ipod touch
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

A couple days ago I reported on a comparison between what some college students listen to and their colleges' average SAT scores. Today, the Wall Street Journal reported on some non-music uses for the iPhone and iPod Touch. A quick survey of students in the library seems to agree that the apps for the iPod Touch, at least, are very cool. While the general consensus was that they didn't think the service on the iPhone was as good as other phone systems, the iPod Touch is "way cool."

According to the Wall Street Journal, there are now more than 25,000 apps or widgets that can be purchased for the iPhone or iPod Touch. They end their article with, "It's the software, not the hardware, that makes these gadgets compelling." The Wall Street journal mentioned some great games, the Kindle e-book reader, and some social networking software, but I wanted to see if there were any good educational apps (since I am in a school). I found a lot of tools for small children to learn words and foreign languages that look like normal computer educational games. I was disappointed in the math programs that I found. While they may be great for checking one's work, I thought they might actually hurt students' understanding of math concepts because of the temptation to check for the answer without doing the work. I was really excited when I saw the reference section, though. As a birdwatcher and sky-watcher, I loved seeing the field guide that would play bird songs loud enough to attract the birds closer to me and the animated planetarium and star finder apps. Some of the productivity apps looked interesting, too, but many of them require wireless access in order to work. Of course, there's the free wireless access locater, so that might be useful, but I think I can carry my laptop around for now. After all, I've barely learned to use my iPod.

Gov's Fashionistas

Gov's Fashionistas
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

A new display highlights fashion books in the collection and photos from the archive. In the hallway display case, students can view items we have recently added that relate to American fashion through the decades. They can also glimpse what Governor's students looked like in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

The photos demonstrate that fashion has always been a top priority at The Governor's Academy. Students have often been creative about displaying their personalities through fashion!

Can what you listen to affect your SAT score?

Maybe you listened to the radio or read the newspaper in the past week and heard that a study had been done that compares the music you listen to on your ipod to your SAT score. Are you ready to change your playlist to add a couple hundred points to your score? If so, you'll want to add some Beethoven. The author of this study says the smartest people listen to Beethoven.
But before you start to listen to the Beethoven channel you might want to look a little closer at the study.

According to the author, there is a correlation between what people listen to and their SAT scores. To start with, a correlation means that two things seem to move together, like the fact that my family eats a lot more ice cream when it's hot outside. Does that mean that if we eat more ice cream in the winter it will get hotter? No, so don't reach for the Beethoven yet (although I really like his piano concertos and would recommend them to anyone who likes classical music).

But you should also look at the data before you decide a study means what it claims to mean. In this case, the study took the average SAT scores at numerous colleges and compared those to Facebook.com's college network statistics on peoples' favorite music. It chose the top ten music favorites and decided this would do. A few things to look at when considering what to believe: Was the sample representative? Are the top ten music preferences really indicative of the average preferences of all the students at that college? Did all the students at each college list their favorite music on Facebook? In this case, the samples are almost certainly not equal.

While we try to teach students to look judiciously at what they read on the Internet, it's also important to remember that radio and news reporters don't always check deeply into the facts of a study before they report on it.

If you want to see more of this type of correlation (keeping in mind that Facebook isn't a scientifically valid sample for this type of study), you might also enjoy looking at the same author's study of Books that Make you Dumb. Just remember, not every bit of research is well done. Most people will find that they enjoy music and books that correlate with lots of different SAT scores.

Mona Lisa on Etch-a-Sketch

Mona Lisa on Etch-a-Sketch
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

We are finally back at class today. Mr. Doggett called a Headmaster's Holiday for Monday with the storm threat (a good 14 inches fell!) and yesterday was Museum Day. We were going to start swapping out displays but found this sketch to be irresistible! So, the Nifty at Fifty Display for February is still with us.

Studying in the Library

Moodling
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

There is a new course on the library moodle site: http://elmstreet.govsacademy.org/course/view.php?id=419 Check it out for tips on how to best use the resources and the spaces in the library for your individual and group study needs.

Day in the Dark?

Day in the Dark?
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Students and faculty alike are choosing to sit near our huge expanse of windows today. The school's green cup challenge team requested that lights be turned off in all buildings today in an effort to cut our electricity usage and greenhouse gas emissions. While much of the building seems darker today, we are fortunate to have so much natural light in this building that there is room for all to find a space to work comfortably.

The Governor's Academy 2009 Green Cup Challenge Video

AP Photo Exhibit

Hanging student photos in the gallery
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

The AP Photo class hung a new collection upstairs - From Bright Crayons to Dark Corners: the Departure of Innocence. Each photo depicts one piece of the theme dealing with the loss of innocence. The works are meant to be viewed in sequence from left to right. Come by and check out this thought-provoking exhibit.

Celebration of our students' achievements at the Boston Globe's Scholastic Art Awards

Celebration of our students' achievements at the Boston Globe's Scholastic Art Awards
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

During this Parents' Weekend, David Oxton of the Fine Arts department hung a screen in our foyer on which he is projecting images of student work. Our students did especially well in the recently announced Boston Globe Scholastic Art awards, earning five Gold Keys, five Silver Keys, and seven Honorable Mentions. Take a look at their remarkable work.

Comfy chairs

Comfy chairs
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Sunshine, comfy chairs, and a paper to write... but first a nap.

What would you buy with $25?

Looking for Reviews
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Readers in the Pesky Library have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to amazon.com simply by completing a book review of a book of their choice. Students are free to choose either fiction or nonfiction, and write a review of 100 words or less.

When they return the review to the librarians, it will be entered into our Library Thing database, to help other readers find that book.

Each month the librarians will draw a lucky $25 winner from the reviewers who wrote a review that month! So far, your chances are good.

We know you read - write a review and go shopping for a book, CD, DVD, or whatever else you want!

Freshman History Research

Freshman History Research
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Freshman history students were in the library today searching for information about Germany and communism prior to World War II. Their information will be presented as PowerPoint slide shows.

So happy to be studying with a friend

So happy to be studying with a friend
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Sometimes you can't help but be happy when accompanied by good books, a good friend, and a great school.

The National Archives

Yesterday we visited the National Archives

and Records Administration building in Waltham.

We toured the building and learned about their

extensive archives and education programs.

Their education coordinator will work with

teachers to develop lessons based on primary

source documents in the collection. Individuals

may visit to examine publicly held documents.

Digital cameras and scanners are allowed to be

used on most documents so that a copy can be

taken home. Additionally, 300,000 documents

have been scanned and are available online in

the archival research catalog. Records include

court records, case files, immigration and

naturalization records, census records through

1930, and military, maritime and custom records.

For records that must be viewed in person, they

recommend that you write, phone, or email

before you come so that they can quickly locate

the records you desire to view.

The things they leave behind.......

DVD Conversion

Technological changes require that we replace items that become obsolete. Many of our videotapes have reached the end of their useful lives. We’ve begun to replace the classics with DVD formatted films. We still have a long way to go, but here’s the first batch of DVDs to be replaced. For information on titles, see our Flickr page.

Black History Month - Telling our Stories

Black History Month - Telling our Stories
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

We are celebrating Black History Month this year with a collection of novels and stories about the African-American experience or by African-American authors. Along with books by Zadie Smith, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, and James Baldwin, we are highlighting some children's books in our collection, books by Patricia McKissack, Jacqueline Woodson, and Julius Lester (check out his blog!) So on these snowy days, grab Show Way, curl up in a comfy chair, and learn about how quilts once served as secret maps for freedom-seeking slaves.

Spanish Class

Spanish Class
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Mr. Falconer’s Spanish language classes were in the library for two days, researching for a short thesis paper on Indigenous Hispanic peoples. Here, Mr. Falconer works with a student using the Latino American Experience, a library subscription database containing over 190 titles related to “the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas… to the triumphs and challenges facing present-day U.S. Latinos.” It also gives students links to websites that have been vetted for accuracy and authority, helping them to weed through much of the chaff that’s available freely on the Internet. A great site to begin learning about Indigenous Hispanic people is http://www.archaeolink.com/south_america_indigenous_studies.htm

Etch-a-Sketch at 50

Nift at Fifty Display
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

People can't keep their hands off! This enduring toy is always in use. We were glad we caught this picture before it got shaken away.

Happy Birthday Edgar Display

Happy Birthday Edgar Display
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Apologies to Mr. Poe. This posting should have been on January 19th. To help us build the display, several senior art students drew ravens which we posted around the library with quotes from his poem. When we started pulling everything together, we found wonderful Vincent Price movies, Poe biographies, poetry collections, short stories. ... Our newest Poe book is In the Shadow of the Master (SC POE) edited by Michael Connelly which contains 16 of Poe's stories and tales paired with essays by current authors who discuss his influence upon them. The book is presented by the Mystery Writers of America.
I was fortunate to have a remarkable adventure with Poe which gave another dimension to the late nights I spent in junior high reading him by flashlight under the covers. Back in 1998, a friend discovered a copy of Tamerlane (Poe's Black Tulip of 1827) in a box of farming pamphlets in a small New Hampshire antique shop. He took a chance that it was an original and not a facsimile and bought it for $15.00. On June 7 of that year it went for auction in New York at Sotheby's for $198,000. I flew to New York with him and attended the rare books auction, a heady experience for a librarian! (June 7th was and is my birthday and the trip was a glorious present from my husband.)

What's your Story?

Everyone Loves a Story Display
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Writing can be a useful craft for communicating learning in the classroom. Writing can also be a creative way to discover more about oneself. We have grouped books together to help those looking for inspiration to discover themselves through writing. Your creativity may be expressed through the words of your story, the art of the leaves or book jacket, or even through creative handwriting.

In our selection we’ve included Write Where You Are: How to Use Writing to Make Sense of Your Life by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself by Sabrina Ward Harrison, and Spiritual Journaling: Writing Your Way to Independence by Julie Tallard Johnson. For those who wish to embellish their words with art, we’ve included 500 Handmade Books: Inspiring Interpretations of a Timeless Form, The Art & Craft of Hand Lettering by Annie Cicale, and The Art of Personal Imagery: Expressing Your Life through Collage by Cory Moortgat.

A few gems from these books to get creative writers started on their life stories: write from your dreams, peel away the layers, meditate, keep a travel journal, go with the flow- don’t overthink it.

For a complete list of titles in this display go to Flickr.

John Updike

Updike Display
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

We are so sad at the news of his passing. His writing has given us all so much pleasure over the years.

Web 2.0 tools in the library

Web 2.0 tools in the library
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Web 2.0, the user-created, interactive Internet, has found its way into the electronic classroom. A recent Modern Chinese History class was presenting their comparisons of two books they’d read, Wild Swans by Jung Chang and To Live by Yu Hua. When one student’s presentation hardware was incompatible with the projector, we uploaded it to Google Docs’ online presentation software, allowing him to show his presentation directly from the Internet.

Inauguration Speeches Display

Inauguration Speeches Display
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Today, the Governor's Academy community gathered in the performing arts center to watch the inauguration of our 44th president. In the library we have a display of past presidential inaugural speeches. For those who want to read the words spoken today by president Obama, Project Gutenberg is posting the transcript and CNN has also posted it.

Holocaust survivor Stephen Ross

Holocaust survivor Stephen Ross
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

After speaking to the entire student body today, Stephen Ross had lunch in the library with students who wanted to hear more of his message. Mr. Ross lived in Nazi death camps from the age of nine until he was fourteen years old. His experiences were horrifying, yet he had messages of hope for all who listened. While he lost his parents at the age of nine, he asked us all to remain close to our parents. After surviving unspeakable atrocities, his faith in humanity was restored by an American soldier who showed him care and compassion after his release from Dachau. He asked us all to write to the governor of Massachusetts to ask for help for homeless veterans, saying that this should not be happening in America. Those who wish to write online can go to http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=Agov3_contact_us.
The Governor's mailing address is
Governor Deval Patrick
Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor
Room 360
Boston, MA 02133

Documentaries in the library

Non-fiction DVDs - January 2009
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Students often use the Pescosolido Library DVD collection for their entertainment. However, they also supplement their research in books with audiovisual materials, in particular with DVDs and videos from the nonfiction collection. Students working on their Junior History Thesis project often find inspiration in the historical documentaries that spark their interest in a certain time period, event, or historical personality.

1763

1763
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

A recent book order contained the four-volume Milestone Documents in American History. The first document is the Proclamation of 1763, a decree which closed the Ohio Valley to colonial settlers by declaring that the land west of the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the Indians who were under the protection of the king. Our school started in March of 1763. We enjoyed the moment of putting our history into the greater American historical perspective!

Moodling

Moodling
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Mrs. Allen, study skills coordinator, and Ms. Linville, evening reference librarian, were spotted working on a study skills course for the library’s Moodle page. Students can access helpful documents to improve their study habits there. A calendar of upcoming workshops will be added to students’ individual Moodle calendars when they use the study skills page.

Science project

Science project
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Dr. Oleszko’s Environmental and Marine Science classes have been working in the electronic classroom this week. They’re bringing together their experimental results and research in preparation for their final presentations. Evidence of their comfort with lab procedures, data manipulation software and presentation software were evident throughout the classroom.

Reading the Boston Globe

ESL students read the Boston Globe online today, using an article about the pressures Chinese students face to get into Ivy League schools.

Nifty at Fifty

Nifty at Fifty
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

While working in the library during the mandatory evening study hours students often discover that the Etch-a-Sketch is a great way to relax. They gather in small groups to erase any previous drawings and add their own creation to the small screen. Still fun, even at 50!

A Stupid Question

A Stupid Question
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Another take on the poster as a student added an interpretation.....

The 2009 Calendar

Tangram Calendar
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library

Our new calendar is a magnetic puzzle-a-day inviting students to complete a tangram puzzle. Thus far, no one's been stumped!

ESL class in the electronic classroom

Mrs. Gold’s ESL class was in the electronic classroom after their return from Christmas break. In addition to renewing old friendships and working on their English, they taught me to write Happy New Year in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

ESL class in the electronic classroom
Originally uploaded by Pesky Library