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Make something new out of something old!

1/8/2025

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Here are 14 things I thought were worth sharing:

Happy Public Domain Month! Here is all the content that entered the public domain on January 1, 2025. Have fun figuring out how you can creatively play around with it!
Here are the most-read articles on Wikipedia and on JSTOR last year. I am fascinated by what fascinates others!
Here is some cool stuff for our math teachers!
See if you can connect two unrelated people using this new tool!
There is so much to discover about what makes some of the “great art” we all know!
77 Facts that blew the minds of science staffers at the Atlantic last year.
Many things went right in the US last year, as well as around the world!
I was lucky enough to meet librarian Amanda Jones last year at an event in Brooklyn and join the ranks of those who support her as she battles the book-banning forces at work in our country.
More recent proof that libraries are good for you!
A bird's eye view of the history of mankind!
Here are 50 of the biggest literary stories of 2024 (from LitHub) and the 20 best podcasts of 2024 (according to The Atlantic).
American History TV is always there when you want or need it. A goldmine!
An interesting newsletter for book lovers!
Zora Neale Hurston now has her very own American Experience show on PBS!

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Happy Solstice & Happy Reading!

12/9/2024

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Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing:

There is still time to add to your reading goal this year with this list of awesome shorter novels!
If you click on my Bitmoji Library scene above, you can click on some of the books on my own TBR list on the little bookshelf!
You should always choose to be curious! This site might help you instill that in your students, as well!
The NYPL just made many of their databases accessible to you at home! No more shuffling into Manhattan to access them!
Who wants to see the cutting-edge books that Prairie Dawn has been reading on Sesame Street?!
Get ready to participate in the Tournament of Books that will begin in the new year!
A brand new way to find your next book!
Do you have any adult or children’s/young adult books that you’d like to recycle back into the universe? You can do that here!
Here are the 52 things that Tom Whitwell learned in 2024. Lots of great things in here!
Here are all of the Best Books Lists of 2024 for you!

The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 (Time)
Amazon Editors’ Best Books of 2024 (So Far)
The New York Public Library Best Books of 2024
Books We Love 2024 (NPR)
100 Notable Books of 2024 (New York Times)
Best Fiction Books of the Year (Kirkus)
The Best Books of 2024 So Far (Book Riot)
The Best Books of 2024 So Far (Vogue)
The 10 Best Books of 2024 (Book Page)
The 10 Best Books of 2024 (New York Times)
The Complete List of All 108 Books in Oprah’s Book Club
The 144 Most Read Books of the 2024 Reading Challenge (Goodreads)
The Goodreads Choice Award Winners (2024)
A listing of year-end book lists!

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We can always find reasons to be cheerful...

11/18/2024

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Here are 20 things I thought were worth sharing:

It is always the right time to look for reasons to be cheerful. There are many!
One more reason to read books in print and not on a screen!
The Center for Brooklyn History has created many turn-key curricula for you to use with your students!
The Marginalian has been a wonderful amalgam of art, literature, and poetry for 18 years. Here is what the creator, Maria Popova, has learned over that time!
Do you ever need to compare one text to another to see exactly how they differ, or don’t differ? Try this!
What was your favorite book in high school? Let me know and we can buy it for our Library if we don’t already own it!
Non-library-related, but did you ever wonder what songs people are listening to at a particular stop light in San Francisco’s Mission District? Now you can know!
Ever wonder what the science is in library science? The categorization of the world’s knowledge! When I was in high school, I loved reading about paranormal phenomena, and always went straight to 133 in the nonfiction section. If you are fascinated by surgery, check out 617! To see how LibraryThing works its magic, click on the number in the 617 box (24,766), and then scroll down to see the thousands of books that are available in that subject area! Perfect for when you found a perfect book to use with your students, and want additional similar books to use!
Who knew that the idea for Studs Terkel’s “Working” came from picture book creator Richard Scarry?!
Here is a Syllabus for Generalists that you might find interesting!
If the current news has you down, consider traveling through time!
Fascinated by Brooklyn history like I am? Check out the Center for Brooklyn History’s blog!
Need to relax from post-election anxiety? Check out A Soft Murmur or this Spotify playlist!
A reminder of how many languages are spoken around the world and how they color how we communicate.
Reading is an empathy generator!
I participated in a panel discussion of banned books a few weeks ago. If you are interested in some background information on this hot-button topic, here is the presentation I put together to collect my thoughts before the event!
We now have access to a new-to-us database: Gale Books and Authors! Gale’s plug for this product: “For many patrons, finding a book that interests them can be time-consuming. Match their reading interests with Gale Books and Authors, a reader’s advisory database that makes finding a great read much less challenging. With fun ways to browse, an intuitive design, read-alikes, reviews, award winners and themed book lists, and more this resource answers the age-old question, ‘What do I read next?’”
If you are worried about PBS funding being cut, fear not! PBS has just made a deal with Prime Video to stream many of their programs! These will be accessible even to Amazon customers who aren’t Prime members!
A suggestion from a journalist about a better way to consume the news.
A love letter to the public libraries of Austin, Texas.

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Books are envelopes for ideas...

8/27/2024

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Here are 19 things I thought were worth sharing:

Want to understand & explain a lot of stuff to people?
More reasons we shouldn’t ban books…
Look back at the top songs that got airplay when you were younger!
Speaking of music, here are some great tracks (love the interface!) to listen to when you are hard at work grading!
This site looks weird, but if you scroll down, you can enter the websites of publications that normally have paywalls. Have fun with your VIP access!
Love solving games & solving murders? Then try your hand at this!
Faith Ringgold was an American treasure but we are richer for the things that she left us all…
The Book Review’s Best Books Since 2000
Did you know that you could volunteer for The Library of Congress from your couch?
Want to travel to parks all over the world with just the click of a mouse? Keep on clicking “Browse” in the lower lefthand corner, and enjoy your travels!
David Byrne’s Reasons to Be Cheerful is a treasure! His team just launched a new project, Living Paradigms, “a series about how the cultural practices of others, past and present, can teach us how to prevent or solve problems.”
Find out more about this city we live in! The NYC Population FactFinder was recently updated to include 2018-2022 data. Lots of data & lots of rabbit holes to go down!
Recently, the New York Times came with their list of The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, and then they let their readers weigh in! How many of these wonderful books have you read?
Here’s a new way to teach American history that might help you & your students.
My annual suggestion that all ELA and Humanities teachers sign up for the free JSTOR Daily (that is really only sent out once a week). Filled with fascinating stories pulled from the vast JSTOR archives!
BookRadio is “a growing directory of over 20,000 free audio books in a range of languages. Most of them are classics that are in the public domain, such as The Odyssey by Homer or Darwin’s Origin of Species.”
The Brooklyn Book Festival’s Festival Day & Literary Marketplace will happen on September 29th. Don’t miss it!
My annual reminder to sign up for the free Learning Network newsletter from the New York Times. Invaluable resources for you and your students!
Nine AI tools for back to school.

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Poems solve problems!

4/15/2024

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Here are 11 things I thought were worth sharing:

Anatol Knotek

Memorize some poetry today and maybe you’ll live to 97!
Go down some rabbit holes of information, right around where you live!
Simon & Schuster is 100! “As we approached our centennial year, a group of Simon & Schuster staffers took on the daunting challenge of selecting The Simon & Schuster 100: titles from our history that are believed to best represent the breadth and depth of the company’s publishing program, across genres, imprints, and borders.”
52 Things I [Tom Whitwell] Learned in 2023. Lots of great stories & content to share with your students!
Want to remember that you are not alone? Check out this map and bask in how much we are all connected…
Check out some “smart videos for curious minds of all ages”!
Will you be heading to any national parks in Massachusetts, Washington, California, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Arizona, or Tennessee this summer? If so, check out our National Poet Laureate’s new project!
Did you know that there are two Literature Clocks? One for your iPhone & one for your laptop!
Here’s another kind of library!
Free & nicely-designed public domain E-Books you can send to your Kindle!
Get some cool & surprising history tidbits in your inbox! I’m fascinated by the stories!

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Onward into 2024!

1/11/2024

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Here are 6 things I thought were worth sharing:

Happy Public Domain Month!
Banned Books are so “out” for 2024! Many organizations are battling this trend across the country, and now Penguin Random House has created an interactive database so you can see what they, and other organizations are doing!
The American Library Association and the Library of Congress have joined forces! Much of what they will be creating together will be helpful to teachers and students!
I have been sending away for the free posters that the Smithsonian puts together for several years now. They are beautiful, sturdy, and well thought out! Just click on “Request Materials” to get the poster PDFs you want! You can print them out on ledger paper here and laminate them!
100 things that made Austin Kleon’s year!
The Year in Cheer! Reasons to be Cheerful makes me a happier human!

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'Tis ALWAYS the season to read!!

12/14/2023

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Here are 11 things I thought were worth sharing:

Indigenous Reads Rising is a celebration of Indigenous children’s literature of Native Nations, centering those within the United States and Canada.
Take a look back at the biggest news this past year within the library community nationwide. Some of these stories might surprise you!
Sapiens is one of my favorite websites! Lots of really interesting information, history, and scholarship about anthropology. I’m sure you can find resources for your students here, too!
The Gilder Lehrman Institute’s History U offers free, self-paced courses in American history to high school students. These courses, led by the nation’s top historians, are drawn from their MA in American History program and allow students to study history at their own pace. Let your students know about this opportunity!
How we read is as deserving of attention as what we read. Take it from an expert and try to incorporate her insights into your life as a reader.
A shout-out to some brave and clever librarians!
The Six Word Memoir turns 17! Use it in your life, with your friends & with your students!
Take a look at the “Books That Shaped America”, a joint project between The Library of Congress and C-SPAN!
Check out the Top Twenty-five New Yorker Stories of 2023!
Start off the new year right by signing up for JSTOR’s weekly email newsletter, erroneously titled “JSTOR Daily”. One of the most interesting things in my inbox!
Here are all of the Best Books Lists of 2023 for you!

The 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 (Time)
100 Notable Books of 2022 (New York Times)
Books We Love (NPR)
Best Books of 2023 (NYPL)
The 10 Best Books of 2023 (Book Page)
Best Young Adult Books 2023 | SLJ Best Books
Best Graphic Novels 2023 | SLJ Best Books
The Best Books of 2022 So Far (Vogue)
Best Fiction Books of the Year (Kirkus)
The Best Books of 2023 So Far (Book Riot)
The Complete List of All 103 Books in Oprah’s Book Club
Best Books of 2023 (Goodreads)
The Best Books of 2023 So Far (The New Yorker)
These Are the 60 Best Books of 2023—According to Real Simple Editors
The 10 Best Books of 2023 (The New York Times)
The Best Books of 2023 (Oprah Daily)
100 Notable African Books of 2023
Amazon Editors’ Best Books of 2023

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Welcome to the school’s information watering hole!

8/31/2023

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Here are 11 things I thought were worth sharing:

Bookmark our Library’s website so you can check out all of the virtual resources we have for you!
Decorate your classroom with these wonderful posters from the folks at Amplifier!
Won’t it be wonderful when we don’t have to have a Banned Books Week?! To support my fellow librarians dealing with these challenges in the trenches, our four BPHS Reads! book clubs will ONLY feature banned books this year. Our first event will be on Monday, October 23rd. Look out for the invitation coming very soon!
Speaking of Banned Books, Ali Velshi of MSNBC has created a great recurring segment entitled the “Ali Velshi Banned Books Club”! Here’s a list of the books that he’s covered, and here is a link to his podcast.
If you don’t already have one, please get yourself a library card from both the NYPL and the BPL! September is Library Card Sign-Up Month!
Our school pays for NYTimes access so you and our students don’t have to! If you are in our building and on our WiFi, it’s accessible!
We also pay for JSTOR (available anywhere/login details here), and do yourself a favor and sign up for JSTOR Daily. It comes out every Thursday, and is always a fascinating deep-dive into the backstories of some of JSTOR’s most interesting topics.
The people at the Stanford History Education Group have plenty of free resources for our Humanities Prospectors!
I don’t teach statistics, but even I was tempted by the fascinating data that Statista shares! I downloaded their new free app & now I’ll be better at Trivia Night! (Get your daily dose of data-driven insights: The new app “Daily Data” by Statista provides you with unique, data-driven insights - giving you a deeper understanding of the world’s most important topics, every day. Download it for free (no in-app purchases) here for iPhone or here for Android.)
Please friend me on Goodreads if you are so inclined, and speaking of Goodreads, here are their 55 most anticipated books of the fall!
If you want to be both well-read and punctual, try this literature clock!

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Summertime = Readingtime!

6/1/2023

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Here are 7 things I thought were worth sharing:

Illustration by Bryce Wymer

1. Want to switch up the ambient music you listen to when you chill out or get work done? Try this. (But don’t forget my all-time favorite collection of nature sounds here!)
2. Who likes to learn cool new things for free?
3. If you don’t have one already, get yourself a library card! NYPL, BPL & QPL library card links for you!
4. Want a new and engaging way to teach critical thinking to your students?
5. Please tell your students about this New York Times Summer Reading Contest that begins on June 9th! Their answers might make it into the Gray Lady!
6. A Summer Reading Assignment from Austin Kleon!
7. Here is a non-exhaustive list of summer reading lists for you!:
Publishers Weekly Summer Reads 2023
Summer Reading 2023 (Barnes & Noble)
Summer Reading 2023 (Brooklyn Public Library)
What Book Should You Read Next? (NYTimes)
The Summer Reading Guide 2023 (The Atlantic)
68 of the Best New Books of 2023 So Far (PopSugar)
Award-Winning Books You Need to Read (Oprah Magazine)
Summer 2023 Picks for Adults (NYPL)
Summer Books 2023 (The New York Times)
UC Berkeley Summer Reading List 2023 for incoming students
Here are 19 books our critics are excited for this summer (NPR)
Readers' 54 Most Anticipated Books of Summer (Goodreads)
144 Books Recently Selected by the Big Celebrity Book Clubs
23 Books to Read This Summer (Washington Post)
25 New Books You Need to Read This Summer
The 41 Best New Books to Read in Summer 2023 (Elle Magazine)

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Happy Women's History Month, everyone!

3/1/2023

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Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing:

Happy Women’s History Month, everyone!
Matt Miller has lots of ideas for his fellow teachers to make your classes more fun, impactful & exciting!
Another cool way to choose your next book!
Do you know the subway system as well as THE CITY’s transit reporter? Prove it here and here!
The Open Access Books Collection on loc.gov includes approximately 6,000 contemporary open access e-books covering a wide range of subjects, including history, music, poetry, technology, and works of fiction. All books in this collection were published under open access licenses, meaning the e-books are available to use and reuse according to the terms of the licenses. Users can access the e-books in the Open Access Books Collection by reading directly online in a browser or downloading the book as a PDF or EPUB file.
Over 50 percent of Cambridge University Press research articles are now published open access (OA) and so freely available to read!
Check out the Wonders of Street View for some cool armchair traveling!
Wikipedia is a gold mine of interesting facts, and Sam Enright created The Cabinet of Wikipedian Curiosities to share what he found!
I recently spoke to a research librarian at the World Bank, and she told me that they have an open access research portal perfect for students doing all kinds of research. Dig in!
AI comes in many flavors, and Perplexity is one of them! It’s a powerful search engine/chat tool that answers questions in real time, so let your curiosity run wild!

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<<Previous

Make something new out of something old!

Happy Solstice & Happy Reading!

Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing:

We can always find reasons to be cheerful...

Books are envelopes for ideas...

Poems solve problems!

Onward into 2024!

'Tis ALWAYS the season to read!!

Welcome to the school’s information watering hole!

Summertime = Readingtime!

Happy Women's History Month, everyone!

Leslie Gallager

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