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Teaching Librarian 15.indd 16 Ontario School Library Association Professional ResourcesTL Reviving Reading: School Library Programming, Author Visits and Books that Rock! Alison M. G. Follos Libraries Unlimited, 2006 ISBN 10: 159158356X ISBN 13: 9781591583561 $42.24 Reviving Reading is a timely book, one that will add value to the work we do to promote reading and develop liter- eracy skills. While it was the chapter on author visits that garnered Re- viving Reading a spot in this is- sue's collection of reviews (remem- ber, People @ your library), the entire book is well worth your time. Follos divides her book into three parts. Part I, Why Literature, includes chapters 1 through 4: "Why Literature is Impor- tant NOW," "Mass-Com- munication Pile-Up," "The Importance of Literature in the School Library," and "Co-operative Planning." Part II, Setting Up the Foundations for Litera- ture Programs, includes chapters 5 and 6: "Inte- grating Literature into the Curriculum," and "Collec- tion and Adolescent Dev- elopment: What Is 'Appro- priate.'" Part III, Programs, includes chapters 7 to 12: "Title Trekking: A Reading Incentive Program," "Rea- der's Workshop: Story Author Event Primer be considered an optional purchase. That's because Langemack is a public librarian writing for other public librarians and for those working for organi- zations and corporations which host author events. Schools are mentioned twice- once as possible partners for public library author events and once as institutions that organize their own author events. This book is excellent, but teacher-librarians are not the intended audience. If you happen to work for a school board that offers author visits for staff as part of a professional dev- elopment program, then whoever is in charge of that program should definitely get a copy of this book. On the other hand, teacher-librarians will find school library-focused titles more useful and that's an important consideration given budget limitations. Buy the school library titles first, then, if there's a need for more and funds permit, buy this title. An optional purchase for district collections. The Author Event Primer: How to Plan, Execute and Enjoy Author Events Chapple Langemack Libraries Unlimited, 2007 ISBN 10: 1591583020 ISBN 13: 9781591583028 $46.20 Don't be fooled by the ugly cover--this is an excellent guide to organizing and hosting successful author events. Langemack's pri- mer covers all aspects of author events, from rationale to proposal, through planning, to the event itself and beyond. Even virtual visits are covered! A de- tailed table of contents and an index make infor- mation easy to find. The author also includes appendices with sample propo- sals and forms as well as a list of additional resources. Langemack's style is conversational and her sense of humour is evi- dent. The book includes a wealth of anecdotes and examples, which make the advice come to life. In The Author Event Primer, Langemack manages to achieve the perfect blend--lots of valuable information and an easy, enjoyable read. Given everything I've just written, it's likely to come as quite a surprise that I'm suggesting The Time Enhancement for Young Adults," "Reader's Workshop and Journal- ing," "Visiting Author Pro- gram," "Raising Cash (aka: Budgets R Bogus)," and "Young Adult Litera- ture to Grab Adults." Encouraging staff mem- bers to read Young Adult literature could be quite interesting--and powerful! While Follos focuses on students in grades four through eight, she also talks about exten- ding her pro- grams to old- er students. T e a c h e r - l i b r a r i a n s working with students in grades four through ten will find these ideas of interest. Of course, the reaction from many readers is likely to be that this is all very nice but rather ambitious and impractical. In that case, Reviving Reading could prove a useful tool in our ongoing campaign to convince others of the importance of school libraries--after all, if Follos has published a book then she must be an expert (they'll think), and she's arguing for the importance of teacher- librarians and school libraries! Highly recommended for elementary and middle schools. Recommended for high schools.