In March our library circulated 206 physical books.  Our Sora statistics were very impressive.  Our shared digital collection with the middle school library saw the following usage in March:

• e-books:  748 checkouts

• Audiobooks:  230 checkouts

• Magazines:  93 checkouts

The Media Center is celebrating Arab American Heritage Month by displaying a collection of books written by prominent Arab American authors.  The display contains books of all genres and types.  Please encourage your students to peruse the book display, which can be found near the circulation desk at the entrance of the media center.

April is also Autism Awareness Month.  The media center offers a display of books that are based on the topic of autism.  Students can find non-fiction titles as well as fiction books with autistic characters.  All students are encouraged to peruse the books to expand their awareness of autism.  Additionally, students can find books about autism in our Gale ebooks collection.

Last week Kristin Dages presented information about Artificial Intelligence as it relates to education.  The presentation discussed AI's misconceptions but then went on to offer resources that prove to be helpful to educators.  The presentation can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12CeeOAUZZcqRmDVYOsIVDvHsSqpzaHdoQLLyA6u24Js/edit?usp=sharing

The media center offers numerous resources to support student mental health and social and emotional learning.  We are always increasing our print collection of books about these topics.  In addition, we offer a collection of over 88 Gale ebooks about teen wellness.  These books, which can easily be found on our library website, offer unlimited simultaneous borrowing by our students on their iPads or any other mobile device. The Gale Teen Wellness collection contains ebooks about

• Teen stress

• Depression

• Divorce

• LGBTQ and gender identity

• Eating disorders

• Substance abuse

• and much more

A direct link to the Gale Teen Wellness collection can be found HERE.  Students and staff can sign in with Google to read the ebooks.

Untold History is a website that contains dozens of fascinating videos about stories in history that are often not found in textbooks.  The collection is made in partnership with the New York Historical Society, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and other impressive historical societies. Videos include topics such as:

• Art that changed America

• Speeches

• Things you didn't know

• Equality for all people

• Girlhood

• Slavery in the President's neighborhood

Untold History provides excellent supplemental materials for lessons across many curriculums.  New videos are released each week, so check back often.

April is Earth month.  PBS LearningMedia offers an impressive collection of Environmental Public Health resources.  This collection highlights the technological advances that have had harmful effects on human health and our environment and examines how we are identifying and working together to improve these conditions.  The standards-based resources contain videos, lesson plans, articles, and activities.  They can easily be shared on Google Classroom with the click of a button.  You can sign in with Google to save and share these resources.