The Best of 2016: A Collaborative Year in Review!

I would *really* love to plug the AISL Summer Institute that is taking place at my school in 8 days(!!), but between last minute plans for exactly that, grades and comments being due like now, end of year book donations, and faculty meetings galore, I’m going to need YOUR help to get this blog post done.

Are you up for it? I need you, friends!

Let’s talk about the best of the best that we found this year. Maybe we can add some books to our vaca to-read list, maybe we can play with some apps in our ample free time, maybe we can plant seeds for lessons to take place in the fall? Let’s see where this goes. Come on, it’ll be fun! Just copy/paste this, replace my answers with your own and if you think of something I missed, add it! The person who comments below you can copy YOUR list and this ‘best of’ thing can grow and grow.

Best fiction: “Salt to the Sea” by Sepetys (reading now)
Best non-fiction: tie for me–“The Boys in the Boat” by Brown and “The Organized Mind: thinking straight in the age of information overload” by Levitin
Best YA fiction: “I’ll Give You the Sun” by Nelson
Best Graphic Novel: “Smile” (my reluctant reader 5th grade daughter loved it!)
Favorite App: Nearpod for presentations & Netvibes for blog aggregation (Overdrive for audio books, a big duh, I know, but I got really into ebooks this year.)
Most Improved App you should check out again: Evernote
Top Circulating Magazine in your library: Mental Floss & People
Favorite Database: Gale’s Global Issues in Context
Most excited to try out in ’16-’17: Personal Librarian Program, Ebsco Discovery Service, hosting an author
Most popular book display: Blind Date with a Book (February)
Favorite Non-AISL Blogs: Free Tech for Teachers, The Unquiet Library, the 21st Century Library
Most binge worthy Netflix/Prime Show (hey, Librarians are human too): Poldark, Mozart in the Jungle, Catastrophe, The Good Wife
Programmatic Success in 2016: Pop Up Maker space with monthly challenges (low–>high tech)
Most dreaded end of year task: Inventory (cue dramatic music)
Book I most want to read this summer: Outlander, book 1

O.k. your turn! Copy/paste, modify, add to, do what you like, but use the comments to let us know what was a big hit in your world in 2016!

9 thoughts on “The Best of 2016: A Collaborative Year in Review!

  1. Best fiction: “Americanah” by Adichie
    Best non-fiction: tie for me–”between the World and Me” by Ta-Nahisi Coates
    Best YA fiction: “Everything Everything” by Yoon
    Top Circulating Magazine in your library: Ours don’t get much action..
    Favorite Database: ebrary
    Most excited to try out in ’16-’17: Ebsco Discovery Service, Our newly genrefied fiction section
    Most favorite book display: #LemonadeSyllabus
    Favorite Non-AISL Blogs: Free Tech for Teachers, The Unquiet Library
    Most binge worthy Netflix/Prime Show (hey, Librarians are human too): Silicon Valley, Transparent
    Programmatic Success in 2016: Just staying afloat during research season! Online Pre grading all NoodleTools bibs for both quality of citing and quality of sources for 9th and 10th grade projects, Collaboration with Lower School Librarian on Summer Reading Challenge.
    Most dreaded end of year task: Learning the new MLA
    Book I most want to read this summer: M Train by Patti Smith
    Conferences I might attend next year: DML http://dml2016.dmlhub.net/ , AISL
    Outside of work professional goals: revive old blog
    Happy Summer!!

    • Best Fiction: I really loved Kate Di’Camillo’s Raymie Nightingale
      Programmatic Success – Library Survivor with Middle School
      Currently Reading: Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
      Most Binge Worthy Netflix Show – Bloodline
      Best Display – February – Who’s Your Book Crush?

    • Hi Elizabeth,

      I am dying to know what your #LemonadeSyllabus book display was all about!
      #dyingtoknow #beyhive

  2. Great idea!

    Best fiction: “Alice & the Fly” by James Rice
    Best non-fiction: “Ice Diaries: An Antarctic Memoir” by Jean McNeil
    Best YA fiction: “One” by Sarah Crossan
    Favourite read-aloud picture book: “The Princess & the Pony” by Kate Beaton
    Best Graphic Novel: “Roller Girl” by Victoria Jamieson
    Top Circulating Magazine in your library: National Geographic Kids
    Favorite Database: CPIQ (Canadian Periodical Index)
    Most dreaded end of year task: Packing up my office (I’m leaving at the end of the school year)
    Book I most want to read this summer: “This Must be the Place” by Maggie O’Farrell

  3. Best fiction: “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng
    Best non-fiction: Agreed on “Between the World and Me,” but I’m also enjoying “Reclaiming Conversation: the Power of Talk in a Digital Age and Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading a Digital Age”
    Best YA fiction: “It Ain’t So Awful,” Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
    Best Graphic Novel: “Honor Girl” because my daughter cried at the end and insisted on reading it to me!
    Favorite App: Autotrader – I finally got a new car!
    Most Improved App you should check out again: Yikes, I’m still figuring out the first round…
    Top Circulating Magazine in your library: We don’t circulate, but Mad always gets a lot of action
    Favorite Database: Gale’s U.S. History in Context and World History in Context
    Most excited to try out in ’16-’17: Finally playing with the new version of LibGuides
    Most popular book display: Our yearly Halloween display with the Library Witch (it’s not me)
    Favorite Non-AISL Blogs: anything cooking related
    Most binge worthy Netflix/Prime Show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
    Programmatic Success in 2016: Hosting 40 AISL librarians at our school! I’d also vote for Bag of Books – over 300 books checked out for the summer months
    Most dreaded end of year task: Cleaning off my desk!
    Book I most want to read this summer: “Having Hard Conversations” by Jennifer Abrams and “The End of Average” by Todd Rose, our faculty summer reading book

  4. Best fiction: Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
    Best non-fiction: tie for me–Story of Life in 25 Fossils Donald Prothero
    Best YA fiction: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
    Best Graphic Novel: Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
    Favorite App: Goodreads
    Most Improved App you should check out again: Overdrive
    Top Circulating Magazine in your library: Anything in Flipster I hope
    Favorite Database: Love Ebsco Discovery Service
    Most excited to try out in ’16-’17: Fiction in genres
    Most popular book display: March Madness with favorite books read this year
    Favorite Non-AISL Blogs: Joyce Valenza
    Most binge worthy Netflix/Prime Show (hey, Librarians are human too): Outlander
    Programmatic Success in 2016: Having out archivist present primary sources to students doing research
    Most dreaded end of year task: Annual report always
    Book I most want to read this summer: Tea Planter’s Wife by Dinah Jefferies

  5. Best fiction: Armada, The Orphan Master’s Son
    Best non-fiction: (reading now): When Breath Becomes Air
    Best YA fiction: Lexicon by Max Barry
    Best Graphic Novel (reading now–will have to let you know): This One Summer
    Favorite App: Opera Mini
    Most Improved App you should check out again: OneDrive
    Top Circulating Magazine in your library: Sports Illustrated
    Favorite Database: Issues and Controversies (Infobase)
    Most excited to try out in ’16-’17: OnCampus LMS (Formerly WhippleHill)
    Most binge worthy Netflix/Prime Show (hey, Librarians are human too):
    Longmire, House of Cards
    Programmatic Success in 2016: Author visit with Adam Gidwitz
    Most dreaded end of year task: Gathering database statistics
    Book I most want to read this summer: The Girl on the Train, A Little Life
    Audiobook for fun summer listening: The Cuckoo’s Calling

  6. Best fiction: The Yearling (Read it as an adult. I hated it as a child, but I just didn’t get it. Be prepared with tissues.) The Lake House is a great newer book.
    Best non-fiction: Made to Stick
    Best YA fiction: Only Ever Yours
    Best Graphic Novel: Nimona
    Favorite App: Podkick
    Most Improved App you should check out again: Evernote
    Top Circulating Magazine in your library: The Week
    Favorite Database: Culturegrams (I finally got to play with it in depth for a 6th grade project, and it’s so much more colorful and interactive than the ones I use with my older students.
    Most excited to try out in ’16-’17: Writing Center Partnership, College Intern, Student-led bookclub
    Most popular book display: Weeded book art
    Most binge worthy Netflix/Prime Show Dr. Who, Parks and Rec
    Programmatic Success in 2016: Visible Thinking routines in the Middle and Upper divisions, 8th grade weekly projects on current events related to refugees
    Most dreaded end of year task: Charging students for books and talking with parents
    Book I most want to read this summer: The Clasp (I wanted it so much that it was the first one I read upon getting off work this week)

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