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Lawrence
, KS, is the childhood home of poet Langston Hughes and the site
of the University of Kansas and the Haskell Indian Nation's University.
It is also the home of the Lawrence High School (LHS) Library,
the first school library in Kansas to automate, back in the '60s.
The LHS Web site, under the guidance of librarians Martha Oldham
(moldham@usd497.org)
and Arla Jones (arlakan@usd497.org),
is filled with great resources for its students.
Points
of Interest: The home page links to book reviews written by students
and a "bibliography guide" with sites that help students
write papers. "Teacher Picks" lets faculty share their
favorite books with students, and the "Helplines/Hotlines"
page lists the kinds of community resources that other high schools
might shun, such as the contact numbers for Alateen and for Passages,
a gay/lesbian/bisexual youth group in Kansas City.
School
News: The Web site often acts like a newspaper for students. "Our
public-relations program includes posters, trivia contests and
bookmark contests, puzzles, and honors to our students. We carry
our digital camera everywhere," says Oldham. "We want
our students to think the library is a 'cool' place to be, [and]
our circulation statistics have improved 158 percent in the last
three years." Jones and Oldham emphasize that parents are
also familiar with their site. "We publish Web information
in all of the newsletters that go home," Jones says.
Newbery
News: The library took the spotlight recently when Arla Jones
served as a member of the 2001 Newbery Medal Committee. When the
awards were announced, a story about Jones appeared in the local
newspaper. The site also featured a slide show of Jones giving
a presentation to a sixth-grade class about the Newberys, one
of many she gave last year. Oldham says: "We feel that it
is important for everyone (students included) to see who decides
what books get awards, instead of some anonymous 'academy' like
the Oscars."
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