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"Regardless of the ultimate fate of the printed book, reports of the imminent death of the library as a physical entity seem to have been greatly exaggerated. Bookless digital public libraries are already starting to appear, the first in San Antonio, Texas, where lines of bookshelves have been replaced by e-readers, computer workstations, laptops and tablets. The simple truth is that, like Roald Dahl's character Matilda, people like going to libraries. Indeed, going to the library is like getting a pay rise, according to a survey conducted in 2014 by the UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The survey, which attempted to quantify how happy different activities make us, showed that while dancing and swimming nearly always cheer us up, so does going to the library. "

Pinterest remains a popular tool that is being used by educators in a variety of ways. This post offers an easy to follow "How-to" if you want to embed pinterest images or boards. " You can link from your blog to your Pinterest boards, but often bloggers like to embed specific pins or entire boards into their blog to create a better user experience for their readers. Pinterest makes this easy to accomplish. You can embed either pins or boards into your blog in just a few steps."

To assist with motivating readers this site offers some printable reading logs that can be coloured in as books are read.

The Open Library is a part of the Internet Archive. It is a collection of more than one million free e-book titles. The collection is cataloged by a community of volunteer online librarians. The ebooks in the Open Library can be read online, downloaded to a computer, read on a Kindle or other e-readers and embedded into other sites. Some of the ebooks, like Treasure Island, can also be listened to through the Open Library.

The article discusses figures that seem to show that e-book sales have plateaued and the demand for hardcopy books remains steady. "There have been plenty of ideas on how to reinvigorate bookstores, but Waterstones and Barnes & Noble appear to have benefited from less radical moves. Waterstones has spent millions of pounds refurbishing its 290 stores, adding cafs and trying to emulate local bookstores by giving store managers more control. The growth of "click-and-collect" sales also benefits shops, which can encourage shoppers to browse when they come to pick up their orders. In the US, Barnes & Noble has put its faith in selling ancillary products alongside books, including vinyl records and craft beer kits. Some in the books industry suggest bricks-and-mortar stores may have benefit from resentment of Amazon among some consumers. However, globally, there is no guarantee that physical books will be sold through physical bookstores. "Online sales of physical books are likely to remain strong," Deloitte says, in its forthcoming 2015 predictions."

"Most teachers know what close-reading is. The part that I found most interesting the seemingly alien idea of technology promoting patient reading. Apps, for example-how on earth can a tablet or an app or an iPad or headphones or some other gadget help with the focus, patience, curiosity, and will to sit with a text and make sense of it? It seems like the opposite would be more likely. And that's certainly possible. There is no "truth" here. In one setting with one student in one kind of classroom, technology could overwhelm the fragile interaction between reader and text. In others, it could catalyze the reading process like never before. But that's a matter of design. Of strategy. Of context. At one point, books were considered "technology" during a move from oral storytelling to written record. The same with certain kinds of binding, the printing press, and so on. Throughout history, reading has been altered by technology."

Interesting list of titles chosen by young readers. "This teen choice list engaged Teens' Top Ten book groups in sixteen school and public libraries around the country in reading and voting. "

"With the rise and prominence of eBooks have come a number of resources for educators and students to access free content on virtually any device. Using e-readers, tablets, or computers; in conjunction with apps such as Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Google Play Books, and OverDrive; you can access libraries of books for free on virtually any device. By downloading these free apps, you make your device a digital reading device that is not dependent on a specific vendor. "

Young reader are in control with this reading app. It allows them to be directly involved in the story. They are encouraged to explore what's going on, find hidden objects, move characters from one place to another, and more. The reading levels progress as the student improves so the app allows kids to move onto more complex texts when they are ready.

"Some may say that does not count as reading, I certainly used to balk at it counting toward any reading goal, this year I am discovering otherwise.  Sure, there are cognitive differences in the processes that happens when we read with our eyes versus our ears, however, the skills that we are able to utilize through the listening of an audio-book are monumental in building further reader success.  And research has shown that the cognitive processes are surprisingly similar.   So what has adding (and investing in audio-books) done for our students?"

"A good fact-checking site uses neutral wording, provides unbiased sources to support its claims and reliable links, says Frank Baker, author of Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom and creator of the Media Literacy Clearinghouse. He adds, "Readers should apply the same critical thinking/questioning to fact-check sites." This post offers an annotated list of 10 fact and bias-checking sites that can be shared with students. Here's a rundown of 10 of the top fact- and bias-checking sites to share with your students."

Some ideas about where to find age-appropriate reading materials for gifted children.

"A good list here that shoes that these books are inclusive, respectful, accurate, and informative-they meet the highest nonfiction standards." They are great books to put into the hands of readers (young and old)

A useful, annotated list of eight places where you can find a wealth of free e-books.

This simple website does one thing: tells you what books to read based on the book you input in the search field. Students can get frustrated when selecting their own reading material, making reading more stressful than it needs to be. Give your students access to this website when choosing a new book; they'll be excited to see what comes up and feel more confident with their choices.

"An anchor chart that shows the progression from a 1-star Post-it note to a 4-star Post-it note for upper elementary students based on the Say Something Post-it Note reading strategy."