Who is Zarganar? Someone you will meet....

Monday, April 30th, at 3 PM all teachers are invited to the Secondary Library to end our Professional Development Day with refreshments and a short presentation by Zarganar, a famous political comedian from Burma. 

Zarganar is not only a well known in Burma for his satires, but also in the international political and comedian community for his struggle for freedom of expression, e.g., after criticizing the Burmese government's handling of Cyclone Nargis in 2008, he was given a 35-year sentence in prison, though thankfully he was released last October.

Here is a short clip of Liam Neeson introducing him in March 2012 at The Secret Policeman's Ball in the UK, an Amnesty International event:



He chose the name Zarganar, which means "tweezer," because of the Burmese saying:  "If you have any strand of fear, pull it out with zarganar."  As he is also a dentist by training, his pseudonym suggests someone who intends to open the mouth of people shut because of political oppression.

Here is more information about him, sent to me by Thet, the parent who arranged this special visit for us.  (She has two sons in primary -- Justin (3LoW) and Aaron (1GSt).)

He was jailed officially as well as detained unofficially many times and spent a total of 11 years in prison for making jokes about the problems under the military regime.
He fought for freedom of expression and holds the motto of "forgive but don't forget."


In 1991, the Fund for Free Expression, part of the Human Rights Watch organization, awarded him a Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett Grant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarganar
In 2008, he was awarded the Freedom to Create Prize for Imprisoned Artists. Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate release.
In May 2011, Zarganar was awarded Honorary Life Membership in Equity, the UK performers' union, in recognition of his struggle for artistic freedom in Burma.


People like Hillary Clinton and William Hague called on him to discuss political reforms in Burma during their visits to the country.


You can easily do a Google search about him but for a quick easy reference please visit the links below.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarganar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE_jIfut-8k (Zaganar gave speech at a recent Amnesty International's "Secret Policeman Ball")
http://getmoresitetraffic.com/news/Zarganar.html (compilation of articles about him)
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/thailand/111225/zarganar-burma-comedian-dissident (An article on him by Global Post, written after his recent release)
Zarganar has been featured in This Prison Where I Live, a documentary film by British filmmaker Rex Bloomstein and German comedian Michael Mittermeier, who had traveled secretly to Burma to make the film.
Parts of "This Prison Where I Live"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqgpkTTarPA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECanPO3EtZQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsu9WznApKY&feature=related

Photo via Equity article on Zarganar's release from political prison in October 2011.

Children's Literature Conference - here in Singapore - Saturday, Feb 18

Come meet four top award-winning authors/illustrators for children and young adults on Saturday, Feb. 18th, at the inaugural SAS Children's Literature Conference.

This is your chance to see:

Harry Bliss

(author homepage; books in our catalog)

Candace Fleming

(author homepage; books in our catalog)

Eric Rohmann 

(author homepage; books in our catalog)

Pam Muñoz Ryan 

(author homepage; books in our catalog)

You can also choose to do an optional workshop with one of the authors/illustrators on Sunday.


NB: We are sending a cohort of UWC East teachers to this conference -- yes, the college is paying.


If you are interested in being included, please contact Katie Day (kda@uwcsea.edu.sg) in the secondary library or Debbie Diaz (ddi@uwcsea.edu.sg) in the primary library.

The sooner the better.  Registration theoretically closes tomorrow and places are going fast.


If you are unfamiliar with their books, pop into the Primary Library.  Debbie has pulled some of their titles and put them in baskets behind her desk.  They will be there up until the time of the conference.


For complete information on the conference, visit http://sasclc.sas.edu.sg

Bookaburra Book Fair Wed.-Fri. January 18-20.

There will be a Book Fair in the Infant school reception area and under the tent in the Plaza from 8 AM to 4 PM Wed-Fri this week (Jan. 18-20).

The vendor- Bookaburra - is a specialist children's bookseller. Its retail outlet is at Forum The Shopping Mall, and it also runs regular book fairs in the local and international schools. Their website is currently under construction but here is a sample of one of their newsletters.

Fliers for parents should arrive tomorrow, Tuesday Jan. 10. Please feel free to bring your classes down to browse -- and to check it out yourselves.

You are also more than welcome to pick out books for the school to buy for the library -- or for your department. All you have to do is tell the bookstall staff that you want to put this book aside for the school to purchase. They may make you add your name to a clipboard or something. Later I will be given a list of the books put aside and will send it out to everyone to confirm.

You can also just snap photos (if you have a smartphone on you) of the covers of books you're interested in. Don't worry about whether we might have it or not. I can check whether it's already cataloged, waiting to be cataloged, or on an order list.

10% of sales goes towards purchasing books for UWC libraries.

Library Interim Update

Open publication - Free publishing - More library

Department Resources: ENGLISH

As all the resources are barcoded, you can always search the library catalog to find out what we have.

Click on a link below to automatically search for the following:

All English Department resources: Call Number starts with "SR/ENG"

Eng/Hum Grade 6 texts

English - Grade 7 texts

ESOL - Grade 7 texts

English - Grade 8 texts

ESOL - Grade 8 texts

English - IGCSE texts

English - FIB texts

English - DP texts 


Most of these set texts are stored in the Book Store on the upper level of the Secondary Library.  It's the side-room where the compactor shelves (shown above) are located.

When you want students to check out texts under their own names, take the books out of the compactor shelves and put them on the wall bookcase outside the Book Store.  Then tell your students to take one and check it out at the Circulation Desk.

UPDATE: Jan 11, 2012
Sets of books were ordered last term, but have not arrived yet.

To see lists of sets both ordered and owned, click below:

• Sets of books ordered in Term 1
• Sets of books both owned and on order

NB:  For books out of copyright, consider using free ebooks with the students. I'll be doing a separate post on that....

Free e-book on School Libraries

School Libraries: What's Now, What's Next, What's Yet to Come  

Ebook By Kristin Fontichiaro
Published: Oct. 15, 2011 
Category: Non-Fiction » Education and Study Guides » Teaching
Category: Essay » Technology
Words: 45706 (approximate)
Language: English

Download it here -- FREE: 
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/96705

A crowdsourced collection of over 100 essays from around the world about trends in school libraries written by librarians, teachers, publishers, and library vendors. 

Edited by Kristin Fontichiaro and Buffy Hamilton. Foreword by R. David Lankes. Photographs by Diane Cordell.

CONTRIBUTORS: Kelly Ahlfeld, Diane Erica Aretz-Kernahan, Emilia Askari, Kathleen Atkin, Robert Baigent, Susan D. Ballard, Angela Washington-Blair, Dan Bowen, Holli Buchter, Jennifer Branch, Len Bryan, Jennifer Colby, Diane Cordell, William Cross, Meg Donhauser, Joanne de Groot, Stacy Dillon, Andrea Dolloff, Laura Fleming, Lorna Flynn, Elizabeth Friese, Rachel Goldberg, Beth Gourley, Dorcas Hand, Alida Hanson, Violet H. Harada, Heather Hersey, Valerie Hill, Kimberly Hirsh, Shannon Hyman, Pamela Jackson, Melissa P. Johnston, Jesse Karp, Sara Kelley-Mudie, Tricia Kuon, Neil Krasnoff, Jennifer LaGarde, Teri S. Lesesne, Margaret Lincoln, Kate MacMillan, Adrienne Matteson, Kathleen McBroom, Walter McKenzie, David Meyer,...

Online conference: Library 2.011 - Nov 2 & 3

Library 2.011 is a global online librarian conference being held November 2 & 3, 2011

Read below for more information:

The inaugural (and free) Library 2.011 Worldwide Virtual Conference begins on Wednesday, November 2nd. More than 4,000 information professionals from 149 countries have signed up to join the global conversation on the current and future state of libraries. The groundbreaking event will be a whirlwind of information, with 160 presentations scheduled over two days! The schedule of all sessions, in customized schedule pages for each of the world's 36 time zones, is now available at the Sessions and Schedule page. Presentations will cover a variety of pertinent subject strands that affect the LIS industry and the changing roles of libraries and librarians in our digital world.  All sessions will also be recorded for later viewing. Keynote addresses will be scheduled over the course of the two-day conference, and the speakers include: Dr. Sandra Hirsh (USA) Dr. Lennart Bjoerneborn (Denmark) Dr. Michael Stephens (USA) Dr. Christine Bruce (Australia) Ms. Ellen Tise (South Africa) Mr. Stephen Abram (Canada) To register for the conference, join the conference website at http://www.Library2011.com. The conference welcome will start at 6:30 a.m. US-PDT on Wednesday, November 2nd, followed by the opening keynote by Library 2.011 Co-Chair Dr. Sandra Hirsh, professor and director of the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at San José State University. The conference will conclude with a final conference gathering at 9:00 p.m. US-PDT on Thursday, November 3 (November 4, in some parts of the world). All conference sessions are being held in Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate), and can be accessed live from any personal computer following instructions on the Sessions and Schedule page. Participants, presenters, and volunteers are encouraged to share your excitement for this global event. The conference Twitter hashtag is "#lib2011" and to download a variety of badges, please visit: http://www.library20.com/page/press-promotional. Those interested in volunteering will find information on the Volunteer Page, and potential sponsors still have time to sign up by contacting me directly. As a reminder, the conference will be held entirely online, is FREE to attend, and will be recorded. For more information, please visit: http://www.library20.com. See you online! Steve Hargadon Library 2.011 Co-Chair http://www.stevehargadon.com

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Our staff are being asked to participate in one or more sessions.  Unfortunately, many of the sessions are in the middle of the night for us.  Below is a printout of the schedule based on Singapore times -- and I've highlighted some of the sessions during waking hours that appeal to me.  It doesn't mean everyone needs to be interested in those...  But I hope you will find something you want to attend. Library 2.0 Schedule KDa Calendar_2011-10!28!2011!11!04