How Can You Tell If You Have Received "Good" Information?

What do you do when you need to find information about a particular topic?  If you are anything like me - and I would bet most of you are - you probably "Google it" or look it up on Wikipedia. These tools are easy to use, free, and most times offer fast, hassle-free answers to our questions. The problem with relying on these resources is that the quality of information they provide varies greatly from being too scholarly for the general reader (too much information) to being absolutely false. How do we know what we can trust?

As adults we most likely will begin a search with some prior knowledge of the topic we are searching.  This prior knowledge helps us determine whether or not we think the information we receive on a website is valid. Children, on the other hand, need to be given background information that is reliable before they can make valid judgements about information they find online.  Where can they get reliable, accurate background information?

 Enter the online encyclopedia.  Monongalia County School students have access to two wonderful subscription publications that have evolved from the print counterparts of older generations.

 The first, Grolier Multimedia Online, is available to all residents of West Virginia free of charge. It is provided to us by a grant from the West Virginia Legislature to the West Virginia Library Commission. Its print edition predecessors include Encyclopedia Americana, Academic American Encyclopedia, and the New Book of Knowledge.  All three are respected encyclopedias recommended by the American Library Association.   Their combination into one multimedia package makes Grolier Online a very comprehensive source for background information.

The second encyclopedia, World Book Online, is provided by Monongalia County Schools using part of the technology funds designated by our special levy.  World Book is my absolute favorite reference resource, dating from the days of my childhood when my parents bought a print set for my brother and me.  Fortunately, parents today don't have to shell out the $800 for a set and worry about keeping them up-to-date with annual supplements. A huge advantage of online resources over the print version is that articles are being continuously updated.  Because the articles in World Book are written by experts in the fields of each article, we can reasonably trust the information in these articles are accurate. Because World Book has for many years geared its content to curriculum needs of students, we can be assured that articles written on a particular topic are at a comfortable reading level for your student.

If children or adults feel the need for additional information beyond what is provided in encyclopedia entries, the user might want to investigate websites and periodicals on the topic.  Both World Book and Grolier provide links to recommended, preiselected magazine articles and websites. Again, because of the authority of the authors, we can reasonably expect these additional sources to provide valid, current information.

If there is a drawback to using these sources, it is that a username and password is required for access. Becuase this blog is a public forum, I cannot post them here. However, the logins and usernames for each source are available on our Edline webpage.  If you have any problem accessing these logins and passwords, email me at lsmartin@access.k12.wv.us, and I will be happy to provide them for you!

Parents, I hope you will encourage your child to use these resources as a first choice for finding information.  I know it is not easy not to use Google as a first choice, but I believe that using these online encyclopedias will lead to a more productive online experience. Once your student is armed with solid background information on his topic, it may be appropriate to "Google" additional information.  Next week in this blog I will discuss additional strategies to evaluate information found on the web.

Oh, the Things You Can Do on Our Library Catalog

Did you know that when using the Brookhaven Library online catalog:

•   Students can create their own login?
•   Students can send friend requests to other students and teachers?
•   Students can search for books they want to read and place hold requests?
•   Students can request materials from other Monongalia County school libraries?
•   Students can keep online lists of books they have read, books they want to read and books they are reading now?
•   Students can renew their books online?
•   Students can write reviews of books they have read and recommend books to people on their friends list?

  Want to get started using our online catalog?  Here are the steps:

1. Point your web browser to http://lib.mono.k12.wv.us.
2. Select Brookhaven Elementary from the list of school libraries.

In the upper right hand corner, click. 'Create an Account.'. The children will need to know their nine digit lunch number in order to create an account.

On this screen enter your last name and lunch number.

On the first screen children will enter their last name and their nine digit account number.

On this screen enter your birthday information.  On this screen enter you birthdate.  Don't worry; this information is secure and already on the server.  Students enter this information as a way of confirming their identity.

On this screen, enter your user name and password.

1.  Finally children will create their unique user name and password.  An email account is not needed to sign up for Destiny Quest, but it can be entered if you desire.

Enjoy!  If you have any questions, call me at 3042919236 or email me at lsmartin@access.k12.wv.us.

Open for the Season

The library's first week of school was a busy one. On our very first day three classrooms - Mrs. DeLawder's, Mrs. Robinson's, and Mrs. Forbes' -  visited the library.  By the end of the week, every class with the exception of first grade and kindergarten visited the library.  The total circulation for the week was 567, which is pretty respectable for the first week of school.

Students are also getting into the Accelerated Reader program.  So far six students  qualified for our first bowling trip.  These readers are Ben P., Noah Y., Natalie D., Makayla B., Alexandra L. and Michael W.  Great work, guys!  Thanks for keeping me on my toes!

All the new books have been processed and displayed for children to check out.  Our third graders seem to really like the transitional chapter books.  These books are written on a more challenging reading level than the books the students read in second grade, but they are not as long as the average chapter books.  This is helpful to the students because even as their reading abilities improve, their attention spans may not be ready for the longer books.

This weekend I hope to make plans for beginning this year's library helpers program.  Because only nine 5th graders volunteered, the opportunity to be a library helper will be offered to 4th graders as well.  Soon after the library helpers schedules are arranged, the Writers Club will resume.  There will be more posts about these clubs soon.

Looking forward to week two!  Hope to see you at our first Open Library Night on Monday, August 30!

New Book: Closed for the Season, by Mary Downing Hahn

When Logan Forbes moves to tiny Bealesville from Richmond, he is dismayed to be readily friended by the weirdest kid in town, Arthur, a poor boy who lives in the dilapidated house next door.  Arthur tells Logan that the previous owner of his new house had been found murdered at the bottom of the basement stairs.

As the two investigate the murder of Mrs. Donaldson and her links to an old amusement park that is soon to be demolished, they face many obstacles, including bullies and worse yet, the popular kids Logan's mom wants Logan to befriend.  Sidestepping interfering adults, Logan and Arthur must find a missing briefcase before the murderer does!

Recommended for fourth and fifth graders.

Ready for Monday Morning?

As we all know, Monday starts a new school year. Am I ready? Well, there are always more tasks to complete, more items to perfect, but I am pleased to report that the library will be ready for business first thing Monday morning.

My focus for collection development this year was finding chapter books that are appropriate for students making the transition between easy readers and more sophisticated children's novels.  Looking through the cartons of books that arrived Thursday, I believe these students will have a wide variety of materials to choose among. While all these new books won't be available on Monday, most should be ready by the end of our first week of school.

I hope parents will have a chance to visit the library during open library nights or during our open house on September 9.  Lots a hours went into the decorating for this year's theme.  Lots of credit for the decorations go to kindergarten paraprofessional Doretta Malone and grandparent volunteer Nancy Conners.

I also hope to find parents (or grandparents) who would be interested in volunteering an hour or so one morning or afternoon each week. Volunteers can run the circulation desk, shelve and repair books, update the AR points display and a number of other tasks. Those who would like to help but are unable to be at school during the day can help in other ways, such as writing book review or preparing date due cards.  Email me and let me know how you would like to help!

I am looking forward to seeing all our students on Monday.  I think we are going to have a great year!

One Week to Go and A Look Ahead

Well, this is it.  By this time next week I will be at Brookhaven, feverishly putting last minute touches on the library in order to have everything ready for kids on Day 1, August 23.  It has been a wonderful summer.  Even though I had ample time to relax and enjoy being, I accomplished a good deal in preparation for our new school year.


Our reading theme for this school year is Reading Rainforest.  Each child will have a marker that will be used to track his Accelerated Reader points throughout the school year.  I really need to thank my daughter, Christina Smith, for her help in getting the markers cut.  Each grade level will have a different rainforest animal as its marker.  As points accumulate, the markers will be moved around the exterior of the library to indicate how many points each child has earned. Like last year we will have monthly incentives that hopefully will keep the children on track for earning their bowling trips.  Trips are tenatively scheduled for December and April, meaning children will have to be very dedicated to earning their points in a timely manner.


Our open library nights will begin on Monday, August 30.  Hours will be 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The dates for open library are:

• August 30
• September 13            September 27
• October 11
• November 1              November 15                 November 29
• December 13
• January 10                 January 24
• February 7
• March 7
• April 4                       April 18

In addition to these dates , I am hoping to reinstate after school book clubs.  As of now no plans are set, but I am thinking about having these on Thursday afternoons from 4:00 to 5:00.  Any suggestions from parents and students are very welcome.

Two book fairs will be held this year.  The first one will be October 25 through 29, and the second will be April 26 through 29 ( four days only because April 25th is an out of calendar day for Easter Monday).  Proceeds from the book fairs will buy processing supplies, magazines, books and other materials for students.  A large portion of the proceeds will go to renewing our Accelerated Reader subscription.  It costs about $2000.00 each year to renew our web-based service.


Volunteers are vital to the success of our library programs.  I'll write more on this next week, but in the meantime, please consider being a library volunteer.  You would make a difference in library services to the entire school.


Brookhaven Library Media Center Calendar

Summer Library Wrap-Up

The Brookhaven Library Media Center was open on Thursday evenings from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. for seven weeks beginning June 17 and ending July 29.  Thirty three children visited the library during these evenings, resulting an a total of 92 visits by children and 68 visits by adults.

Third grader Michael W. was our most devoted attendee, visiting six of the seven weeks.  Drew, L. Declan K., Makayla B. and Julia L. each attended five evenings.

Ben P. is the summer's Accelerated Reader point leader with 33.5 points.  Makayla B. is in second place with 27.6 points, and Isaiah H. is in third place with 20 points.  Overall 191.8 points were earned during summer library hours.

A very big thank you and expression of appreciation is due to Mrs. Doretta Malone.  Mrs. Malone volunteered alongside me, shelved books and created countless decorations,  It would not have been the same without you, Doretta!

Also, I thank Mr. Jack Hicks for securing the facility for me on Open Library Nights!

If your child was unable to come to the library this summer, he will still be eligible for recognition of summer reading.  Make sure he completes and returns his summer reading log by August 31.