Great news, sage advice and a little bit of dreaming to wrap up the school year

Marty Chan

I received some great news the other day in an email from the Young Alberta Book Society, which supports reading, writing and the work of Alberta authors, illustrators and storytellers. YABS hosts an annual literary arts festival for children called Taleblazers. I have participated for almost every one of my thirteen years at the school and I was thrilled to hear that I will be hosting a visit from Marty Chan next October.

Something else to look forward to in the fall is the announcement of the winners of the array of awards —– by The Canadian Children’s Book Centre. You can see all the finalists at the link.

But for now – School’s Out for Summer. The kids will forget all about us for two months. Teachers, administrators and support will try to do the same – on and off – for a few days less than the kids. I don’t expect to be posting much over the summer if at all, but you never know. I might just come across something interesting by accident and have to share it.

Meanwhile, I’ll be at the school as little as possible to tidy up for September. I also have the yearbook to finish, company coming and a few short trips planned, and a couple of weddings to attend. Of course I’ll be reading; I’ll be spending lots of time with my children and grandchildren, my parents and siblings and my friends. I’m looking forward to doing a little horseback riding with my hubby. I want to get out as much as possible with my camera and make some posts for my photography and nature blogs, which have been sorely neglected…

And then…I will try to follow the sage 5-Rs advice of the inimitable Daring Librarian: Relax, Reflect, Revise, Rededicate and Rejoice. Each stage has it’s own challenges and 2 months doesn’t seem like enough time to get through the process, but I will try to fit it all in because I’m a library manager and I’m totally used to biting off way more than I can chew.

From my little town in the woods of Alberta, I wish all of those who wander by here the best of the best during the next two months. See you again in September.

Evening by a Pond on the Hill

Quick Christmas Crafts With Discarded Books

By Mickie G. via Squidoo

by Living With Lindsay who has provided instruction at the linked post, which is  ironically (given my posting it here) entitled “Librarians Please Avert Your Eyes”.

Altered Books as Christmas Decor

From Morganised Chaos where the technique is described. (Click Image)

From The Guilded Junque Yard (Click Image)

From Gone Crafting (Click Image)

My Christmas Activity/Gift for Library Classes

It’s not much, but it makes our last library class before Christmas a bit special. I print out a variety of Bookmarks on cardstock and set out markers, crayons and pencil crayons on the tables. Any student in my K-12 school can choose a bookmark, colour it in the library or take it with them. A hole-punch and some yarn or ribbon can dress them up. If you are really brave, a little glitter makes them really special.

Here are some that I’m printing this year. Click on the links below the bookmarks for the printable files.

Go to  Activity Village for the PDF file to print

These at Hello Kids

Go to Learning English – ESL for these

My thanks to the artists who have shared these.