Valenza, Joyce Kasman. Power tools recharged; 125+ essential forms and presentations for your school library information program

Kliatt, Sept, 2004 by Paula Rohrlick

VALENZA, Joyce Kasman. Power tools recharged; 125+ essential forms and presentations for your school library information program. ALA. 320p. illus. c2004. 0-8389-0880-2. $55.00; $50.00 for ALA members. *

This follow-up to Valenza's Power Tools and Power Research Tools features many more carefully designed customizable, reproducible forms and handouts (a CD is included as well) to help out library media specialists. The looseleaf book is divided into six sections: Communicating Your Program, with templates for a gift book program, letters to parents and faculty members, book talk tips, and more; Program Administration, with a checklist of tasks, library equipment sign-out forms, and so on; Measuring the Impact of Our Programs, including assessment forms, a reading interest survey, and a curriculum map; Instructional Tools for Information Literacy, such as a Big 6 skills overview, a guide to the MLA bibliographic style, and a library scavenger hunt; Student Tools for Information Literacy, with a thesis project organizer, a research checklist, and more; and Presentations, on topics like online searching and plagiarism, which open into PowerPoint. Appendices include library-related quotes and resources on the Web.

There is no index, unfortunately, but the detailed table of contents is helpful. This is a terrific resource for all school librarians, particularly those in middle and high schools.

*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.