Award Winners Announced, Author Visit, Copyright Morsel and More...

On Monday, February 2nd, the ALA (American Library Association) announced this year's award winning books.  The Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, Coretta Scott King, and several other notable award winners are highlighted in this CNN post.  Let this be your guide when selecting new books for your child and yourself.  Marshall Public School media centers are quickly getting their orders in, and these books should be on the shelves in no time!

Author Geoff Herbach is coming to Marshall!  Diane worked with the Marshall-Lyon County Library to secure a SAMMIE (Southwest Area Multicounty Multitype Interlibrary Exchange) grant to help bring him to Marshall High School and the Lyon County Library on Thursday, February 26th.   The public is invited to attend the 6:00 p.m. presentation on that date at the Marshall-Lyon County Library.  Information on books by this author can be found at Geoff Herbach's website.  Students at both the high school and the middle school have the opportunity to pre-purchase the author's books through Friday, February 13th.  Geoff Herbach will be signing copies the day of his visit.

I Love to Read Month activities are in full swing at each school, and the media centers are busy helping with the celebration.  Students and staff are submitting guesses on the candy count in the  M&M jars, and there are reading trivia contests in each building.  As well, parents, community members, and senior high students are visiting the elementary schools and reading with the younger children.  Students at Park Side are working on art projects relating to Dr. Seuss book characters.  Later this month, several Seuss characters will visit Park Side school for a photo opportunity.  Celebrate and encourage your child to read every day!  Here is a site that has links to 11 great, free reading websites. Simply scroll through the page menu, and click on the links.

Copyright Morsel by Diane Konjura

During workshop week in August, the copyright presentation included a framework for copyright analysis.  Consider the five questions in the order presented below for copyright analysis:

1.       Is the work protected by copyright?

2.       Is there a specific exception in copyright law that cover my use?

3.       Is there a license that covers my use?

4.       Is my use covered by fair use?

5.       Do I need permission from the copyright owner for my use?

Take time today to look at what you have posted on your teacher website.  If you have any questions as to what you have posted in regard to copyright please contact Diane Konjura or Nancy Thooft rather than taking the risk of being contacted by a publisher or other owner of copyrighted materials asking you to pay for a copyright violation.