Ms. Nancy's Library & Technology Blog

…some Tales from the Library?

Happy Tuesday to you!

— Ms. Nancy

“For every prohibition you create you also create an underground.” — Jello Biafra, musician (b. 1958)

This year’s Reading is an Investment program is in full swing. Sponsored by the State Treasurer and the Oregon College Savings Plan, it aims to promote literacy and financial education among K-5 elementary students in Oregon.

As part of RII, public elementary school libraries in Oregon are receiving two free books: Pigs Will be Pigs: Fun With Math and Money, by Amy Axelrod and Sharon McGinley-Nally, and the Rock, Brock, and the Savings Shock, by Sheila Bair and Barry Gott. Homeschoolers and students in private elementary schools are welcome to participate, but do not receive donated books.

The biggest program component is encouraging kids to read or be read to, and the books should relate to money and finances. Students must read at least three books from the recommended reading list, and they will track their time in increments of 20 (read-to-me kids) or 40 (independent readers) minutes. Participants may fill out a reading log up to 10 times, and the log counts as an entry for the Oregon College Savings Plan drawing.

The second page of the reading log has a detailed explanation of how to participate.

For students to be eligible for one of the fifty $500 college savings plan scholarships, their entries must be received by March 31, 2012.
(The winners’ schools also receive $500.)

Need the program information in Spanish?

If you have any questions about Reading is an Investment, contact Nicki McMillan, Executive Assistant in the Office of the State Treasurer, at 503-378-4329 or reading.investment@ost.state.or.us

Schools are also encouraged to combine RII with Banking on Our Future, a financial skills program for 4th–8th graders. The free program is taught by professionals in the Oregon community. This four-hour program covers four important topics: budgeting, credit, accounts and savings and investing, and can be scheduled to fit each teacher’s needs.

Happy reading!

“When you hit a wall, just kick it in.” — Patti Smith

…born today in 1898!

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it.” — C.S. Lewis

The holidays are upon us and many people are looking for ways to give to others. If you want to encourage future readers, here is a list of ten charities that promote literacy. The list has U.S. and international charities, including Reach Out and Read, which “prepares America’s youngest children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together,” and United Through Reading, whose “mission is to unite families facing physical separation by facilitating the bonding experience of reading aloud together.”

“I did try very hard to tell the whole truth without violating my literary instincts. One can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one’s own personality. Good prose is like a window pane.” — George Orwell, writer (1903-1950)

“The Potter books in general are a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to bigotry, and I think it’s one of the reasons that some people don’t like the books, but I think that it’s a very healthy message to pass on to younger people that you should question authority and you should not assume that the establishment or the press tells you all of the truth.” — J.K. Rowling, novelist (b. 1965)

“The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or a new thing in an old way.” — Richard Harding Davis, journalist and author (1864-1916)

“The Internet may be the world’s greatest library, but let’s face it, all the books are scattered on the floor.” – D.C. Denison