Astor+eReader+eBook+grant+pilot

New Visions for Public Schools is committed to supporting our PSO schools in meeting the goal of at least 80% of students graduating college and career ready by 2013. The Astor Center for Public School Libraries at New Visions recognizes that one of the strongest predictors of student achievement is the connection between student reading, the presence of good school libraries and students ability to access a variety of books and other resources. When school librarians work with teachers to support learning opportunities with books, computer resources and more, students learn more, get better grades and score higher on standardized test scores. The recent proliferation of the mobile devices, including eBooks and eReaders, into the world of libraries holds unimaginable potential for innovating education and supporting student learning. Additionally, school libraries are on the tipping point of how we interact with eLearning resources as we move further into the 21st century. We know digital resources will become an important aspect of our school library collections impacting in every way our library services to our students and schools. There are many questions librarians and teachers in schools will need to examine and answer as we begin to integrate eBooks and other eLearning resources into our collections and curricula. Chief among these questions is how can we harness the advances of this digital evolution to expand its capacity to enhance student learning and continue to promote the independent pursuit of knowledge. In support of understanding better the impact of digital resources on student reading, curriculum content interaction, and school library services, we are pleased to announce a request for applications for the Revson-Astor Center for Public School Libraries eReader/eLearning Grant pilot project. The overarching purpose of this pilot project is to support librarians, and school-based teacher teams in exploring the uses of the digital resources, eReaders and eBooks in teaching information literacy skills while also engaging students in new and innovative technologies that support a love of reading. In order to reach the goal this project will:  · Facilitate the use of eLearning resources, eBooks and eReaders with students individually or as a group to develop students’ reading and research abilities by accessing, reviewing and utilizing multiple resources such as websites, primary documents, databases and other online tools via eReader or mobile devices.  · Support the creation of school library digital book collections with a grant to purchase eBooks and eReaders to support teaching and learning.  · Examine how eReaders can engage students in reading for pleasure through the creation of eReader library book clubs.  · Provide professional development and technical assistance to participating librarians and teachers to deepen their capacity to address the development of students’ digital information literacy skills. 