Red Dot longlists - via LibraryThing

Okay, the Goodreads Listopia lists are still there for the public to add to, but I'm going to suggest that we librarians shift over to LibraryThing for our insider voting -- in order to escape the outsiders who have put some not appropriate books on the list.  So this will be a parallel universe of sorts.

One of the advantages of the LibraryThing list feature is you can "VOTE DOWN" titles that other people have put on (just in case we get intruders).  In Goodreads you can only vote up titles.

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2014-2015 LibraryThing Longlists for Red Dot

Early Years:  http://www.librarything.com/list/9663/all/Red-Dot-2014-2015-Early-Years-Longlist

Younger Readers:  http://www.librarything.com/list/9662/all/Red-Dot-2014-Younger-Readers-Longlist

Older Readers:  http://www.librarything.com/list/9664/all/Red-Dot-2014-2015-Older-Readers-Longlist

Mature Readers:  http://www.librarything.com/list/9665/all/Red-Dot-2014-2015-Mature-Readers-Longlist

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NB:  When you get to these lists in LibraryThing (via the links above) and you are logged into your own LibraryThing account, on the right-hand side, opt to "Add to favourites".

 

That way, when you are on your Home page and click on "Lists" on the left, the Red Dot lists will show up under "Favorites".

Please add to these lists -- and vote on books already there.  (HINT, HINT: The Early Years and Younger Readers lists are pretty bare....)

Remember:  only books from 2011, 2012, 2013, or 2014.  And if you have any doubt about which category to put it in, put it in two.

In the end we only need 8 books per category, but given we have a 4-year window to work with, long lists of good titles will never go to waste.  You can use this for your summer reading suggestions!

If you don't feel up to dealing with another bibliographic tool, I understand.  I will watch the Goodreads Listopia lists and try to keep the two in parallel, but for discussion purposes come August, we'll be looking at the books via LibraryThing.

My sincere apologies that in copying books over from Goodreads to LibraryThing, I won't have transferred any comments you might have made as to WHY you chose the book.  

Most importantly, if anyone is interested in being on the Red Dot Committee, please add your name and relevant information to this Google Doc:  CLICK HERE.  The commitment means in-person meetings in August and September -- and maybe October (though maybe we will master Google Hangouts better).  And lots of reading!

Happy reading over the long break.....

-- Katie

Readers Cup Winners 2014!

The annual Readers Cup competition was well-attended and enjoyed by everyone on Thursday, May 22, at the Canadian International School - Lakeside.

This year we experimented with running the three competitions simultaneously, in order to keep the time frame between 4 and 6 pm -- and it worked very well, with everyone together in the auditorium for the opening remarks, and then at the end for the announcement of the winners in each category.

And the winners were:

Younger Readers category:

1st place:  Singapore American School (SAS)
2nd place:  Stamford American International School (SAIS)
3rd place:  Canadian International School -- Tanjong Katong (CIS-TK)

Older Readers category:

1st place:  Singapore American School (SAS)
2nd place:  Stamford American International School (SAIS)
3rd place:  United World College of Southeast Asia (UWCSEA) - East

Mature Readers category:

1st place:  United World College of Southeast Asia (UWCSEA) - Dover
2nd place:  St. Joseph's Institution - International (SJII)
3rd place:  Australian International School (AIS)

Congratulations to the winners -- and to all the participants!

Each winning team member in each category received a personal book coupon for $20 and the winning schools in each category received a book coupon worth $1,000 -- all from the sponsor of this event, Bookaburra Books, represented by the owner, Cheryle Hum.

In case you're interested, here are the questions and answers used in the three categories -- as well as the Multiple Choice quizzes for each.

• Younger Readers:  
• Multiple Choice:  Questions -- and -- Questions & Answers
• Slideshow, including Questions and Questions & Answers
• Older Readers:  
• Multiple Choice:  Questions -- and -- Questions & Answers
• Slideshow, including Questions and Questions & Answers
• Mature Readers:  
• Multiple Choice:  Questions -- and -- Questions & Answers
• Slideshow, including Questions and Questions & Answers

Many thanks to Lisa Patton, Head of Libraries at Canadian International School - Lakeside, and her colleagues for all their work in hosting the event -- and to all the people who volunteered to be judges.  Thanks also to the support of our ISLN network members who participated and ran teams this year.

Register your Readers Cup teams by Fri, May 16

The annual Readers Cup competition will be held Thursday, May 22, at the Canadian International School, Lakeside.

Register your teams by Friday, May 16th.

More detailed information about the day will then be emailed to you.

Add to the Long Lists for Red Dots 2014-2015 via Goodreads

It's time to start thinking of the next round of Red Dots.

As you think of good potential titles, please put them on these GoodReads Listopia lists.  The lists are handy as sources of summer reading suggestions for your students.

These GoodReads Listopia lists are open to anyone in the world (with a GoodReads account) to contribute to - and/or vote on.

• Red Dot 2014-2015: Early Years: Suggested LONG LIST
• Red Dot 2014-2015: Younger Readers: Suggested LONG LIST
• Red Dot 2014-2015: Older Readers: Suggested LONG LIST
• Red Dot 2014-2015: Mature Readers: Suggested LONG LIST

Criteria in choosing books for the longlist:

• Published (in English) within the last 4 years -- so 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014
• The shortlists will consist of 8 books at each level
• Preferably only #1 if in a series
• Preferably no repeat of an author from previous years
• Think of accessibility -- easy to purchase from major vendor? is it available in paperback?

 

Overall considerations when generating the shortlist:

• Mix of genres, e.g., fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic format
• Balance of male/female main characters
• Balance of cultures or countries of origin
• Preferably including a book from Singapore or the region

 HUGE WARNING: Because the lists are open to the world, some really weird things can be put on it -- and, even though our ISLN Goodreads account created the lists, we can't delete things off it (at least I can't figure out how to do that). Right now a guy called Jonathan:

has added several titles, which are not appropriate.  One is a nonfiction book about health care for adults.  E.g.,

Please ignore them.  The Red Dot committee surely will.  And if anyone has a better idea of how to suggest titles, let me know.  We could just go with the Goodreads group shelf, but it's a bit more of a hassle to put books on a shelf.

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The four SHORT LISTS will be announced by the Red Dot ISLN committee in September.

(Alternatively, click here to join our Red Dot Nominations Group in GoodReads and put books on the Group bookshelves.  Some of us will then put the group suggestions on the next year's LONG LISTS.)

See you all at the Readers Cup competition on May 22nd at CIS Lakeside.