Vote now for the Teen Buckeye Book Award

Voting is open for the 2012 Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Awards! The Buckeye Children's Book Award and Teen Buckeye Book Award support youth reading and teacher and librarian involvement, and provide young people the opportunity to share their joy of reading by voting for their favorite books. 

Children and teens in grades K-12 can vote for their favorite books from September 1 through November 10. Vote at http://www.bcbookaward.info/vote-nominate/http://www.bcbookaward.info/vote-nominate/.  Classes, organizations, or entire schools may vote together. More information about the Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Award... 

ACT & college readiness

A recent article in Education Week I came across  titled "Most Students Still Not College-Ready, ACT Report Find" highlights the following:

• 60% of the class of 2012 test takers failed to meet the benchmarks in 2 out of 4 tested subjects
• ACT’s “ college readiness benchmarks” are set to predict a student has a 75% chance of earning a C or higher or a 50% chance of earning a B or higher in a typical first year college course
  
• The output of educator’s focus on college and career readiness is not apparent yet
• An achievement gap was evident among race and ethnicity with the following scoring highest to lowest: Asians, Whites, Pacific Islanders, Hispanic, American Indian, and African Americans
• Students who take a more challenging caseload are more likely to graduate high school and do well on the college-entrance exam
• Some states now force all juniors to take the ACT, raising the question of how hard students try on the test

This article also pointed out that though slight improvements are visible in the areas of math and science, students are still not meeting benchmarks. One of the suggestions that seems common sense but may be overlooked by students, families, and even educators due to graduation requirements, etc. is the fact that having a more challenging caseload increases a student’s chance for success. “For instance, only 8 percent of students who took fewer than three years of math were considered "college ready," where 54 percent of students who took three years or more of math were college-ready” (Adams, 2012, p. 7). The full article is available through the EBSCO online database.

Author Rebecca Skloot is coming to town!

Rebecca Skloot, best known for her book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, will be speaking at the Cleveland Public Library (Main Library) on Saturday, October 12 at 2:00 PM. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the true story about Henrietta Lacks, who was born in 1920 and lived in/near Baltimore, MD for most of her young life. In 1951, Henrietta developed cancer and unknowingly doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital took tissue samples without her or her family's knowledge. She died without ever knowing that her cancer cells would become immortal. Her cells, also known as HeLA cells, continue to grow and regenerate. HeLa cells have helped in the development of major scientific achievements in the past fifty years such as the polio vaccine, in-vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping. To this day, HeLa cells are the most widely used cells in labs worldwide. Her book is a fascinating read because of the moral and ethical debate over scientific/medical advancements while also learning about the person and family that has brought us HeLa. More about the author visit...

2012 Ohioana Award

Congratulations to Dave Lucas for winning the 2012 Ohioana Book Award for Weather (poetry book)! This award is awarded by the Ohioana Library, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and promoting the written work of Ohio's writers, artists, and musicians. More about the award...