100 More Library Lifesavers: A Survival Guide for School Library Media Specialists,   ISBN:9781591580034

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Last Friday was the end of week-long, high-stakes testing at our school. Also, it was the last day of school before our week-long Spring Break. Oh yes, students were in high spirits! Did I want to present an encyclopedia lesson on such a day to sixth and seventh graders? Are you kidding? No, I did not. But---I have this newly acquired, fantastic book: "100 More Library Lifesavers: A Survival Guide for School Library Media Specialists."

I had already gone through the book, marking various items about library management and professional development to return to and act upon. This time, however, I turned to the chapter called "Go Fish! Library Games for All Grade Levels." Try Weakest Link, a game about literary trivia questions with internet links to people and questions, rules for playing, how to write trivia questions. The wonderful part about each game is internet links. Also, each game has recommended age play. This one is 7-12.

Another game is "Go Fish in Dewey" categories with an online link for other games. A library version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" is another choice (grades 7-12). "Fish for a Great Book" pits teams against each other. Each team has five questions about books. Using provided clues, each team locates the book. Catching all five books wins the game. Oh, how do they know if they catch the right book? A colored fish is in the pocket. Do you have time to color those fish? No, you select a younger class to color them (form included in this book), but they color two--one for the game, one for a bookmark to keep.

Aha! Here's the one I chose: "Library Win, Lose--and Draw!," although I modified it for an end-of-testing, last-day- before-Spring-Break kind of day. I called it Dumb Middle School Tricks, based on Letterman's Stupid Pet Tricks (we don't use the word "stupid" in our school). I used the topics (modified) in the book, then added a dumb trick to perform. Example: Find the Star Wars books, hold one up, read the title, then make Chew Bacca's sound. If someone did not know where something was, I allowed one "phone call." Let me tell you, after the first question, students went from mild interest to standing, wildly waving hands, wanting to have their turn. As a reward, I gave each student a bag of those fruit gummies sold in the cereal section. The kids were thrilled! I was thrilled! The game was a great success!

I'm including details in this review for a reason. When I went through as many library manuals, self-help books on Amazon as I could find, so many had no reviews to help me make a selection. One great title I found with only one review (and it was one of those "Great book. You should buy it" type of reviews) made me think I should buy it. I did and was SO disappointed. It is not a great book.

"100 More Library Lifesavers" does not disappoint. Have you come across those cutesy chapter titles that don't provide clues to content? This book has them, but these titles ARE clue providers. Example: "Standards, Smandards! Why bother?" You know exactly the type of information in this section. Author/Librarian Pamela S. Bacon gives a list of reasons why including standards in library lessons works. Here's one example of the five: "Ten Reasons Why the Internet Is No Substitute for a Library" with an online address to print these 10 reasons. Everything is so practical and helpful!

Here are the chapter titles (note that Pamela S. Bacon is a high school media specialist and some of the content is geared toward high school use):
Distance Learning (courses offered by your school and ones the librarian can take for professional development),
All Aboard! Exceeding the Standards (emphasis on Information literacy skills),
Dive Under Cover: Lessons to Improve Reading Motivation,
Keep Afloat: Great Library Management Tips (an excellent chapter!!),
Below the Surface: Library Skills from the Ground Up (mostly research skills),
Float Through Personal and Professional Development (has really helpful information),
What Others Are Doing--Library Media Center Best Practices (a great chapter that the librarian can dip into and take),
Head Swimming? Get Organized! (collection management, clutter, weeding, managing grants, etc.),
Sail into Technology--Technology Tools (for high school or other large libraries with digital cameras, scanners, and the like).

"100 More Library Lifesavers" does not have everything nor can the librarian use everything found within the covers. I considered deducting one star for the high school emphasis, but "100 More" will give any librarian many, many useful ideas and resources. Overall, I give this book two big thumbs up.

If only Amazon carried "100 Library Lifesavers," the first volume.