In 1971, Mable Wyche served as president of the Georgia Library Media Department (now GLMA). Her enthusiasm and passion, along with her untiring efforts and service to student library organizations, influenced at least eight of her students and colleagues (including her daughter, Rosalind Underwood Dennis, GLMA President, 2007), to join the profession. It is because of these significant contributions to the library profession that the GLMA grant was named in her honor.
The Mable Wyche Underwood Grant allows building level library media specialists who are members in good standing of GLMA to develop, design, implement, or continue an ongoing program, which promotes the use of the library media center in the instructional program.
Award: The award shall consist of 2 grants from $400-$600 for school library media specialists at the building level.
DEADLINE: The deadline for the 2013 GLMA Mable Wyche Underwood Grant application is May 15, 2013.
Download the application here: DOC | PDF
2012 GLMA Mable Wyche Underwood Grant Winners
EBooks for Research: Puritans in America
Kathy Moore
Fayette County High School
Fayetteville, GA
1. Provide unlimited number of students electronic access to reference books necessary to complete a research project on Puritans in America. In the past, one copy of a print reference book had not been sufficient to provide access to information several students needed to complete this project. This project not only contains a written research component, but also culminates with a Puritan “Raise the Roof” Day during which students participate in several aspects of Puritan live: costumes, games, music, food, literature, etc. These activities are planned by the students based on what they discover during the research process.
2. Encourage use of technology to complete assignments in conjunction with our school system’s new BYOT (bring your own technology) initiative. Students will be able to download these books to personal eReaders thereby increasing access to valid reference materials.
3. Provide students with an alternative to Wikipedia type websites. Students prefer to use computer resources as opposed to print resources to complete research. This will provide them with appropriate, valid reference material that can be accessed via computer. Learning to use electronic resources appropriately will better prepare them for the future.
4. Students will be able to access the books without having to worry about overdue books, late fines, book damage, etc. The books belong to the school and do not ever have to be repurchased and no hosting fee is required. This makes them very budget friendly in these challenging economic times.
5. Students will be able to take notes right on the pages of the eBooks and prepare their source cards that can be printed right then or saved in the student’s account for printing at the point of need.
Geocaching: A Way to Mo’ Better Books
Barbara Powell-Schager
Big Shanty Intermediate School
Kennesaw, GA
Students gravitate to the “popular” books like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series while better written, more literary books languish on the library shelves. Thus, the purpose of this initiative is to get students reading more high-quality books while also developing their map skills by providing them real-life opportunities to use latitude, longitude, and cardinal directions. This will be accomplished through a series of 5 library lessons using GPS systems to “geocache.” Students will be issued a “log” identifying them as “Muggles” with 5 levels. At each level, students will log the book titles/authors of the books that fit that genre and will write a review in Destiny (online catalog) about each book.
When the class completes each level, they will be given the coordinates of the geocache for that level. Geocaches will be located on the school grounds. Each geocache would contain a stamp so students can stamp their log. The cache will also contain instructions on the next genre to read. Upon completion of the 5 genres, students will attend a “Wizard” ceremony in the media center. In addition, the media specialist will conduct in-service sessions on how to incorporate GPS into other curricular areas (social studies, science, and math). The benefits are that students will read more books across a wide variety of genres, write about what they read, and increase their navigational and map skills.