Category: Libraries

March Madness: Latest Results

Updates from the March Madness YA Lit Tournament “Round of 32”

The Round of 32 is in the books. The number of voters was down, but that was expected over the March Break. Regardless, the results were still very compelling!

In the Popular YA regional, the higher seeds all advanced. The Perks of Being a Wallflower will move on to face Stargirl, which won a nail biter over Th1rteen R3asons Why. Meanwhile, it will be an all-John Green match-up as both The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska won their 2nd round games.

The Current Issues regional gave us one big upset, as #12 seed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian shocked #4 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Firekeeper’s Daughter advances, as does The Hate You Give, with a unanimous shutout over If You Could Be Mine. The closest battle saw Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe narrowly squeak by Long Way Down.

There were a few more shutouts in the Classic regional. Both Little Women and Anne of Green Gables crushed their opponents by unanimous decisions. The Book Thief cruised to a comfortable win over The Catcher in the Rye, while The Giver upset that book still found in English classrooms all over North America, The Outsiders.

The Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Supernatural regional also featured some shutouts. Top seeds Harry Potter and The Hunger Games both earned flawless victories. The Maze Runner handled Divergent, while in an upset unimaginable a decade ago, #6 Percy Jackson defeated #3 Twilight.

Now onto the Sweet Sixteen!

March Madness: Opening Round Results

As the 2022 March Madness YA Lit Tournament got underway at your School Library, the dream of 64 competitors was to become March Madness Champions. Instead, suddenly it was all over for half of them. 32 books who were eliminated. Sent packing. Dreams crushed.

Most of the contests were very decisive, and went according to expectations, with the higher seeds advancing to the next round. However, there were a few upsets, and a number of matchups went right down to the wire.

Highlights:

As expected, all the Regional #1 Seeds cruised to victory. Harry Potter, Little Women, The Fault in Our Stars, and The Hate U Give all advanced, with Angie Thomas’ novel crushing Speak, 97-3. However, that wasn’t the largest margin of victory. That distinction went to #2 seed The Hunger Games, which obliterated Song of the Lioness with a 100-0 shutout.

As one might expect, the 8 v 9 contests were very close. Shadow and Bone just edged past The Marrow Thieves, and If You Could Be Mine squeaked by Dumplin’, both match-ups going to the final buzzer and 51-49 scores. However, those weren’t the only contests to finish 51-49, as All the Bright Places scared #3 If I Was Your Girl before a heartbreaking finish, while #4 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was nearly upset by Dear Martin.

There were a few upsets. with two #10 seeds, Long Way Down and Infernal Devices advancing. The biggest upset of the round was #12 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian shocking #5 You Should See Me in a Crown.

Thanks to everyone who voted. We look forward to seeing how your votes give us some more surprises and tight match-ups in the Round of 32.

Heading into March Break: UPDATES

A few updates and reminders as we head into that wonderful time of year we call March Break!

March Madness

March Madness continues. The “Round of 32” gets underway March 11 and will conclude on March 27. The “Sweet 16” round will start on the day we return to school, March 28. Be sure to vote in each round. Every time you vote, your name goes into the draw for PRIZES! Stay up-to-date with everything that is happening with March Madness by checking back HERE over the break.

March Break Reading

Make sure that you have some good books to read over the Break. Come down to the School Library by the end of today to ensure that you can head into March Break with some good reading material. Staff are reminded that you can also peruse the March Break Library Cart that is making its way around the school.

Students and Staff are also reminded that for those that might not get the chance to come in person to the School Library today, over the March Break you can visit us online, and borrow one of our eBooks or other electronic resources. Find out more here.

St. Patrick’s Day

We will be away on March Break when St. Paddy’s day rolls around on March 17. Remember to wear green that day– and remember that we are celebrating St. Paddy’s Day ALL MONTH LONG in the School Library.

International Women’s Day

IWD was March 8, but just like St. Paddy’s Day, we can’t possibly limit the celebration to 24 hours, so we are also celebrating International Women’s Day ALL MONTH LONG!

March Madness: Vote!

Voting continues in the opening round of March Madness. Go HERE to cast your votes as 64 YA novels compete in 1-on-1 matchups to advance to the Round of 32. Get your vote in for this round before the polls close at 2:30 on Thursday.

March Madness is open to all Lord Tweedsmuir students and staff, as well to “friends of the School Library” from the wider community!

Go here for more information on March Madness


March Madness: Opening Round

64 titles go toe to toe in 32 matchups as the March Madness YA Lit Tournament gets underway today. Go here to place your votes: VOTING

Don’t forget to fill out your bracket. Go here: BRACKETS
Brackets must be handed in before the end of the Opening Round on March 10.

Win prizes for Voting. Win prizes for best Brackets. Find out more!

Some of the most anticipated matchups this round:

Harry Potter v An Ember in the Ashes
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before v Crank
The Fault in Our Stars v Alex Rider
Twilight v The Inheritance Cycle (Ergaon)

The School Library and Your Freedom to Read

Democracy is under attack in the world, and sadly, even here in Canada. Your democratic rights and freedoms as citizens in this country are built upon concepts such as voting rights; the rule of law; the equality of all people; freedom of thought, including political and religious beliefs; the freedom of the press; balancing government of the majority with protection of the rights of the minority; and more.

This week we celebrate and explore the freedom to read, which is interconnected with many other vital concepts, including freedom of expression, the the right to choose to read what you want to read, including access to information, the freedom to seek, use and share information and literature, all of which are integral to democratic citizenship.

Stereotypically, the library is seen as a quiet place, silent even, where not much happens. Yet the library, and especially the school library, has always been a target of censorship, and as such has always been in the middle of the ongoing struggle between democracy and the forces of authoritarianism. School libraries are now battlegrounds at the center of our current polarized political and cultural climate.

The recent news has been rife with reports of book challenges, book bannings– and terrifyingly, even book burnings– in many U.S. states, school districts, and school libraries. As Canadians we cannot assume that this is only an American problem. We must be vigilant in protecting our students’ freedom to read.

Freedom of expression rights are essential to education in a free and democratic society. These are the rights of everyone in the school community, including students. Teacher-librarians are charged with ensuring that those rights are acknowledged and respected.

Diane Oberg

Some students are fortunate enough to have many places to turn to for books and other sources of information. Collections at home, public libraries, books stores, and of course, the internet(!). However, access to those things may be very limited, censored, or non-existent for some students. The school library is often the safest and most accessible place for a wide variety of books and other sources of information that are relevant and essential for students.

All Canadians who value democracy have an interest in protecting and building up the institutions that support democracy. The school library is one of those institutions.

Read more about the vital role of the Teacher Librarians and of the school library play in protecting and empowering a student’s Freedom to Read:

“Freedom of Expression Rights and the School Library: Who Speaks for the Kids in Your School When the Censor Comes Calling?” by Diane Oberg (from FreedomtoRead.ca)

Freedom to Read Week

Find out more. Here are some informative and thought provoking articles on the freedom to read, censorship, book banning and free access to information:

1619

“The animating idea of The 1619 Project is that our national narrative is more accurately told if we begin not on July 4, 1776, but in late August of 1619, when a ship arrived in Jamestown bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival inaugurated a barbaric and unprecedented system of chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the country’s very origin. The 1619 Project tells this new origin story, placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are as a country. Orchestrated by the editors of The New York Times Magazine, led by MacArthur “genius” and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, this collection of essays and historical vignettes includes some of the most outstanding journalists, thinkers, and scholars of American history and culture-including Linda Villarosa, Jamelle Bouie, Jeneen Interlandi, Matthew Desmond, Wesley Morris, and Bryan Stevenson. Together, their work shows how the tendrils of 1619-of slavery and resistance to slavery-reach into every part of our contemporary culture, from voting, housing and healthcare, to the way we sing and dance, the way we tell stories, and the way we worship. Interstitial works of flash fiction and poetry bring the history to life through the imaginative interpretations of some of our greatest writers. The 1619 Project ultimately sends a very strong message: We must have a clear vision of this history if we are to understand our present dilemmas. Only by reckoning with this difficult history and trying as hard as we can to undersand its powerful influence on our present, can we prepare ourselves for a more just future” (source: TitlePeek)

Find out more:

The New York Times: 1619 Project

New York Time Magazine (Full Text PDF)

1619 in Destiny Discover

Coming Soon: Freedom to Read Week

February 20-26 is Freedom to Read Week in Canada.

While this is always an important week on the calendar, this year it seems more vital than ever that we understand and celebrate our freedom to read. South of the border books are being banned at an alarming rate. Throughout the world, the freedom of journalists continues to be threatened. As authoritarian and fascist movements rise around the globe, they attack such things as libraries, a free press, and other cornerstones of democracy and human rights.

Look for more to come on this vital topic, as we prepare for Freedom to Read Week.

Books for Black History Month

Here is just a small sample of books that we have to help you learn more about Black Canadians, African-Americans, and other people in the African Diaspora, as we observe and celebrate Black History Month.

Lunar New Year

The Lunar New Year is observed on February 1, and multiday, even multiweek festivals have begun, many on the weekend. The celebrations around this event include many different local practices and are known by many names around the world, including the Spring Festival; the Lantern Festival; Tet (Vietnam); Seollal (Korea); Koshogatsu or “Little New Year” (Japan). In North America it is often called Chinese New Year, although the Chinese themselves are more likely to refer to it as the Spring Festival. Moreover, the term “Lunar New Year” is more reflective of the multi-ethnic and multicultural nature of the celebrations. In Canada this is especially important, as many Canadians trace their roots to many different parts of the world, including China, but also to many other places in East Asia such as Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan.

Today and over the coming days and even weeks people in Canada will join with people around the world to celebrate the new year and look forward to the Year of the Tiger.

The lunar calendar, based on the cycles of the moon, does not match up with the solar calendar, based on the orbit of the earth around the sun. Therefore holidays based on the lunar calendar will change dates from year to year on the Gregorian Calendar, the solar calendar most commonly used by Canadians and people around the world for most scheduling related to business, politics and science, if not cultural and religious observances.

Find out more about Lunar New Year:

LunarFest Vancouver

Here’s where to ring in the Lunar New Year around Vancouver in 2022

Korean New Year

Chinese New Year

Tet

What is Lunar New Year?

Year of the Tiger at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

Chinese New Year Traditions

Lunar New Year