Curated content for teacher librarians

There are several established and emerging curated content sites available for teacher librarians and the bookish tech heads amongst us. Two such sites are Scoop it! and The Sapling.

A tool available for Teacher Librarians to access curated content is Scoop it! by SCIS (Schools Catalogue Information Service). The site contains many relevant resources to school libraries including articles, infographics, research and reports and book reviews. The material is sourced from a variety of contributors both within Australian and internationally, creating a dynamic dialogue within the site. As a Harry Potter fan, I particularly enjoyed reading an article about how readers of the series developed greater empathy towards minority groups such as refugees or the gay community (McKay, T. 2004). Overall, the material available is varied and presented in an intuitive and attractive format. The content is highly relevant to teacher librarians and provides a “one stop shop” for professional reading. The site appears to have been neglected of late, however, with the most recent content added over two years ago in February 2015.

For those professionals or book nerds wanting to engage in conversations about children’s books that are not prevalent in the mainstream, check out The Sapling. This New Zealand site is edited by Sarah Foster and Jane Arthur who bring with them a wealth of experience in the book industry. This space is particularly special because it was developed thanks to an Arts Grant with Creative New Zealand and Boosted (crowd funded) supporters and was launched in March 2017. The site includes feature articles, interviews, book reviews as well as regular content such as Craft with Fifi (walnut shell tortoises, who can resist?!). The Sapling has a playful, rebellious vibe that is highly appealing and the content, particularly the feature articles are fresh with a unique twist. Tell your friends!

References:

McKay, T. (2014). Psychologists find a surprising thing happens to kids who read Harry Potter. Science.Mic. https://mic.com/articles/95236/psychologists-find-a-surprising-thing-happens-to-kids-who-read-harry-potter#.zuQ5S3rpB Retrieved March 2017.