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The College Blue Book is Highly Recommended

The College Blue Book is a comprehensive guide covering nearly 12,000 institutions of higher learning, occupational and technical schools, and distance learning programs. It includes information on early decision and early action figures, ACT and SAT essay requirements, SAT deadlines, and numbers on wait-listed applicants. The College Blue Book features universities, senior colleges, two-year colleges, and … Read more

How to Participate in National Library Legislative Day from Home

| Originally published by District Dispatch | As library supporters from across the United States prepare to go to Washington, D.C. to participate in National Library Legislative Day, don’t forget that you can participate from home! All week long (May 1-5th), we’re asking library supporters to email, call, and tweet their Members of Congress about federal library … Read more

Daughters Who Make the First Ladies Proud

| By Debra Kirby |

Mother’s Day is less than a month away.  Talking with a colleague and fellow mother recently, we both made the observation that the occasion has become less about honoring our own mothers (who are no longer with us), but about our daughters. Neither of us can recall when that focus changed for us, but we both agreed that we are happy to be mothers of beautiful, accomplished, caring daughters and that we survived the often challenging and sometimes turbulent teen years.

This conversation was fresh in my mind when I volunteered to review and update the overview article for Chelsea Clinton in Gale’s Biography In Context, which naturally led to thoughts of how much more challenging it would be to raise a daughter amidst the often unrelenting coverage of the presidential family. Former First Ladies Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama all successfully raised daughters under these conditions. Here are just a few examples that would make any mother proud:

  • In 2009, outgoing twin first daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush wrote a charming letter to the incoming Obama girls, Sasha and Malia, with heartfelt advice about living in the White House fishbowl.  Eight years later, they wrote a second letter about adjusting to a post-White House life. [Read the article]
  • Chelsea Clinton’s touching speech introducing her mother as the Democratic Presidential candidate at the DNC last summer is high on my list of favorite first daughter examples, but there are many more such moments and accomplishments from which to choose, including her advocacy work on behalf of the Clinton Foundation and other organizations and causes, and of course becoming a parent herself! [View all of the Chelsea Clinton resources available through Biography In Context]

Read moreDaughters Who Make the First Ladies Proud

Running Like a Girl

| By Debra Kirby |

Anyone remember when phrases like “You run like a girl!” were considered insults? Not anymore! I love when power is claimed by turning what is meant to be a negative into a positive. Two recent events are inspiring me right now:

  • My 9-year-old granddaughter has joined her school’s Girls on the Run program, which will culminate in a 5K Run (“Not a race, Nana” says Grace) in June.
  • Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon 50 years ago, ran it again this year – at the age of 70!

Read moreRunning Like a Girl

Digging in to Earth Day

| By Debra Kirby |

On April 22, Earth Day will be observed by more than a billion people in nearly 200 countries, making it the world’s largest civic observance. The first Earth Day was held in 1970, a year I remember well. I had recently moved to a smaller high school where the student body was less diverse and more conservative. When I found out that my new school had no plans to mark the important occasion, I gathered a few like-minded friends and, with a sense of righteous indignation, we marched out to the parking lot to pick up trash! Not the most impactful way to celebrate the first ever Earth Day, but the effort apparently helped cement my reputation as a “rebel egg head,” as I learned years later when I was introduced as such to more than one former classmate’s spouse at our 20th high school reunion.

Many years later I can’t recall much about that day or even, now I think of it, the history behind Earth Day. But having access to Gale’s rich database content, I recently set out to educate myself. Here’s what I found:

  • The concept for Earth Day began with United States Senator Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin Democrat, who in 1969 proposed a series of environmental teach-ins on college campuses across the nation. Hoping to satisfy a course requirement at Harvard by organizing a teach-in there, law student Denis Hayes flew to Washington, DC, to interview Nelson, who persuaded Hayes to drop out of Harvard and organize the nationwide series of events. (Science In Context)

Read moreDigging in to Earth Day

New Curriculum Correlations in Smithsonian Primary Sources in U.S. History

Smithsonian Primary Sources in U.S. History now connects literary concepts to primary sources located in the product. Detailed curriculum correlations align the primary source to national social science and literary standards for easy-to-see application across subjects. Primary source materials greatly enrich learning for high school students by helping them develop critical thinking skills, pursue independent … Read more

Meet Our New GVRL Specialist

| By Nicole Albrecht |

Hi everyone! My name is Nicole Albrecht and I am Gale’s new GVRL Specialist. I am sure you are asking yourself, “What exactly is a GVRL Specialist?” Well, before I explain my role, what I have created recently, and how I plan to help in the future, let me tell you about myself.

I was born and raised in the lovely state of Michigan and currently live in the Metro Detroit area. I always knew I was going to be a teacher, so after high school I attended Western Michigan University. (Go Broncos!) My love for reading and learning about the past lead me to choose Western’s Education program in Secondary Education with a major in English and History. After graduation I decided to take a leap of faith and go out of state to teach. I taught World History in beautiful, but very rural North Carolina for two years before moving back home to Michigan. Teaching jobs were hard to find when I came home, so I took a position at a charter high school in inner city Detroit. It was in this urban environment that I thrived and settled in to teach for the next four years. As you can imagine, teaching in the inner city wasn’t easy or pretty at times, but something about the kids and their challenges made me a better teacher. During my time in Detroit, I also graduated with my Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in Adolescent Literacy. At the end of my 6th year of teaching, I felt it was time to search new horizons and I came upon an opportunity to teach at the college level for a technical institution. It was an amazing chance to teach high school students who were dual enrolled for their diploma and an associate’s degree. I taught there for two years before finding this wonderful opportunity, here at Gale, to step out of the classroom and utilize my skills in a different manner.

Read moreMeet Our New GVRL Specialist

You Empower Us! What Empowers You? Let Us Know During National Library Week and You Could…

Win a free T-shirt! Be featured on our social media pages! Most importantly, let everyone know what empowers you. All of this and more happens when Gale kicks off National Library Week 2017! To celebrate, we want to spark a conversation where librarians from coast to coast share what they’re empowered by. As a librarian, you … Read more

National Autism Awareness Month

| By Traci Cothran |

Sesame Street’s first new puppet in a decade debuts this month; her name is Julia, she’s a cutie-pie, and she has Autism.  To say this is a huge moment for the Autism community is a gross understatement, as kids on the spectrum struggle every day to find acceptance and friendship, and Sesame Street is now providing a way for young children to grow up understanding this disorder better and accepting kids who have it.  Like many others parents of children on the spectrum, I was thrilled (and a little choked up) watching the “60 Minutes” segment about Julia and all the research and thoughtfulness Sesame Street put into the creation of this character.

And, as a parent, I’m always trying to keep current on new trends, therapies, and research on Autism.  It can be overwhelming, as it seems there’s less defined about Autism than is known.  This is where I love our Gale resources.  We have fantastic information on the topic in our eBooks on GVRL, including:

• Autism, 1st Edition
Series Name: Introducing Issues with Opposing Viewpoints
Lauri S. Scherer
Greenhaven Publishing

Read moreNational Autism Awareness Month

Goodreads Big Books of Spring 2017

Goodreads is the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations. Their mission is to help people find and share books they love. They have 55 million members and there are over 50 million readers on their website. Their Spring list contains the top 25 books that readers are adding to their “Want to Read” shelves. We’ll be publishing the following of these buzz books in large print.

Read moreGoodreads Big Books of Spring 2017