This is from the June 2011 ODE Social Sciences Newsletter: "Understanding how to manage money is a skill that is more important today than ever. You can look all around for examples of poor financial decisions. Let us turn that around for our next generation. Financial Beginnings and Operation HOPE offer free financial education programs for students in grades 4-12 as well as young adults. All programs are free and provide age-specific curriculum and activities and are designed to promote self-sufficiency, fiscal responsibility, and encourage active and educated participation in the banking system. The fun, engaging and relevant programs are taught by professionals from the community. Together, Financial Beginnings and Operation HOPE have served nearly 25,000 youth at more than 100 schools throughout the Pacific Northwest." Every year the Office of the State Treasurer sponsors the Reading is an Investment (RII) program between October and March. Anyone who wanted to schedule the elementary financial program, Banking on our Future, could try to time it so it happens when RII is active. http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1707 http://www.ost.state.or.us/read

The United States Department of Agriculture updated their dietary guidelines in 2010, and My Plate is the new graphical representation instead of the Food Pyramid. Are there books and other resources in your library with this new information? Note that the USDA's website is not fully updated yet. The sections for kids and preschoolers still reflect the former Food Pyramid information but should be updated by the end of summer 2011. http://www.choosemyplate.gov/specificaudiences.html

This was taken as excerpts from Melissa Dalton's post on Libs-Or: Oregon Poetic Voices (OPV) is a comprehensive digital archive of poetry readings that complements existing print collections of poetry across the state and is funded by the Library Services and Technology Act FFY2010. The state of Oregon possesses an unusually high number of nationally recognized writers, a very high proportion of whom are award-winning and otherwise notable poets. Additionally, there are active communities of emerging poets around the state, and poetry is regularly taught in the English curriculum of most Oregon schools. Until Oregon Poetic Voices began in 2010, there was no publicly accessible archive of recorded poetry by Oregon poets that could be used to maintain a record of poetry in performance, which is a vitally important aspect of interpretation and a valuable teaching tool. The Oregon Poetic Voices archive currently publishes over 200 prominent and emerging Oregon poets, including their biographies and poem texts alongside their recordings, and will soon feature historic performances recorded by KBOO, Fishtrap, and the Mountain Writers Series. There are also resources for educators, including curriculum guides and links to information about teaching poetry. http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/pipermail/libs-or/2011-July/010664.html

Information in quotes was taken from Ann Scheppke's post on Libs-Or. The website "is the culmination of more than two years' work by staff at the University of Oregon Libraries, in collaboration with the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a number of state agencies and stakeholders" and was partially funded by an LSTA grant. Users have access to "historical materials originally published by Oregon journalists between 1846 and 1922. The website includes more than 180,000 pages of digital content drawn from historic newspapers that include the Salem Capital Journal and the Portland Oregonian." K12 lesson plans are available, although that section is still being developed. http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/pipermail/libs-or/2011-July/010667.html

"Publishers have spent a lot of time and money building their own company Web sites with fresh information on their books and authors. The trouble is, very few book buyers visit them. In search of an alternative, three major publishers said on Friday that they would create a new venture, called Bookish.com, which is expected to make its debut late this summer. The site intends to provide information for all things literary: suggestions on what books to buy, reviews of books, excerpts from books and news about authors. Visitors will also be able to buy books directly from the site or from other retailers and write recommendations and reviews for other readers." As of early August 16 2011, the site is not ready. However, you can enter your email address to be notified when it goes live. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/books/publishers-plan-a-joint-one-stop-book-site.html?_r=1&src=recg

This article discusses www.tracknewbook.com, www.book-buzzes.com/, www.anynewbooks.com/, www.authoralerts.com/, and www.wowbrary.org/.

Kathy Otto, an Oregon school librarian, has a blog about incorporating children's books when teaching in grades K-6. "My goal is to create a resource for teachers, home schoolers and anyone interested in quality books for children. Each title is one I have carefully evaluated and selected to support curriculum as well as your class read-alouds. Elementary school librarians are losing their jobs nationwide resulting in the loss of this valuable resource for students and teachers. I have 35 years experience working with kids and their books, so you can consider me your personal librarian!" Check it out!