Educator’s Guide

With

Common Core

State Standards

correlations

★ A Common Core State Standards Exemplar Title ★

About the BookWhen we think of a library, we picture a building on a street or

perhaps a room in a school. But some libraries aren’t kept behind four walls. Some move from place to place in the most remarkable ways: by bus, by boat, by elephant, by donkey, by train, even by wheelbarrow.

These unusual mobile libraries are often the only way that books can be brought to people in remote areas, such as the mountains of Thailand, the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, or rural areas of Zimbabwe. In places such as these, the arrival of the libraries is a major and much anticipated event. But the books would never reach the people without the hard work of dedicated volunteers and librarians.

Why would librarians go to the trouble of packing books on the backs of elephants or driving miles to deliver books by bus? Because, as one librarian in Azerbaijan says, “the mobile library is as important as air or water.”

Margriet Ruurs, writer and educator, contacted librarians around the world and asked them to share stories about their libraries. In many cases, volunteers and librarians took camera in hand to photograph their mobile libraries and to record the happy faces of children receiving books. The result is this inspiring photo essay, which is a celebration of books, readers, libraries, and librarians.

IntroductionLibraries! Here in North America, we often take them for granted. They

grace our towns, our cities, and our schools. Access is simple and free, even to books held by other libraries across town, county, or state boundaries. Quite simply, if we want to read a book, we can. But that is not the case in so many places on earth, particularly its remote corners. My Librarian Is a Camel will open your students’ eyes to life in other countries and will provide them with an appreciation of our own ready access to books.

This guide folds Common Core standards in Reading: Informational Texts (RI), Speaking and Listening (SL), and Writing (W) together with social studies classroom content and a potential world community service project. Connections to the Common Core are noted after each activity. To read the complete Common Core State Standards, visit corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy.

Pre-Reading ActivityBefore reading My Librarian Is a Camel aloud, take a map-walk

through the book, locating the thirteen focus countries first on the small map featured on each double-page spread and on the book’s introductory map (page 4) and then on a large topographic world wall map in your classroom or library. Identify the continent on which each country resides and discuss what these countries might have in common in relation to geography and topography.

Quick Questions: What Does the Text Tell You?(Grades 2–3) Ask students to answer the following questions,

drawing on key details in the text for their answers. (RI 2.1, 3.1)

Explicitly StatedChoose one of the thirteen countries featured in My Librarian Is a

Camel and answer the following questions based on key details in the text:• Who is the person or people responsible for the unusual library?• What sort of library is it?• Where in this country does the library deliver books? Is there more

than one location?• When or how often does the traveling library come?• Why are the children in this location unable to go to a brick-and-

mortar library?• How do the children respond to their traveling library?

(Grades 4–5) Ask students to answer the previous questions and then the following questions. Direct them to refer to key details and examples when explaining what the text says explicitly and what it leaves open for inference. Additionally, ask fifth graders to quote from the text when answering questions. (RI 4.1, 5.1)

Implicitly Communicated• Why, in general, are the children in these regions

of the thirteen focus countries unable to access books in the usual way?

• What problem solving skills did the sponsors of each mobile library put into practice?

• What kinds of people have started these mobile libraries? What is their motivation?

Organizing Information(Grade 4) When

author Margriet Ruurs wrote My Librarian Is a Camel, she chose to present the libraries in alphabetical order by the country in which they reside.

However, she might have chosen several other ways to organize her information. Lead a student brainstorming session to uncover alternative structures for this mobile library information. Then discuss the advantages and drawbacks of each. (RI 4.5)

(Grade 5) After reading My Librarian Is a Camel, go online to read “The 10 Weirdest and Most Wonderful Libraries in the World” by Kimberly Turner at litreactor.com/columns/the-10-most-unusual-libraries-in-the-world. Discuss the organization of this column as compared to Margriet Ruurs’s book. Then, look for overlapping information as well as information that is in each source exclusively. Ask: Why are they different? Does author purpose explain these differences? If so, how? (RI 5.5)

What Might the Author Say?Read the introduction to My Librarian is a Camel (page 5). Ask

students: What does the introduction tell you about Margriet Ruurs’s main purpose in writing this book? What does she want to explain and describe? Then, after reading the book aloud, discuss whether the author met her goal, citing specific examples from the text to support each claim. (RI 2.6)

The Way I See ItAfter reading My Librarian Is a Camel, revisit the introduction and

discuss Margriet Ruurs’s point of view about the mobile libraries she features in the book. After ensuring that students are clear about her point of view, ask them to think about their own point of view, which may be different from hers. Ask: Do you think that the librarians who bring books to distant or isolated areas are heroes? Why or why not? Are you inspired in the same way that the author was? Why or why not? (RI 3.6)

Reasons and EvidenceInvite students to consider the specific geographic challenges that

keep people isolated in the thirteen focus countries in My Librarian Is a Camel. Make a list of these challenges. For each country, explain how author Margriet Ruurs uses reasons and evidence to support her claim about the remoteness of that region which creates the need for a mobile library. (RI 2.8, 3.8, 4.8, 5.8)

The Importance of a LibraryAfter reading My Librarian Is a Camel, and with careful attention

to the grade-specific requirements of Writing Standard 1, invite students

to compose a brief opinion piece about the importance of libraries for children. Ask students to reflect on their own personal experiences as library users and the advantages libraries have given them. Remind them of the necessity of a topic sentence, reasons for their opinion, linking words to connect reasons and opinion, and a strong conclusion. Invite students to preplan this written opinion piece using the Three-Legged Stool Graphic Organizer, placing the topic sentence on the seat of the stool, one reason on each leg, and the conclusion on the rug beneath the stool. (W 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1)

Mobile Libraries Around the WorldAfter reading the book, enlist kids in research about other mobile

library projects to add to their knowledge. Share the following resources with them as aids in their research. (W 2.7, 3.7, 4.7, 5.7)

Books• Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia by Jeanette Winter• Inside the Books: Readers and Libraries Around the World by

Toni Buzzeo• The Library Book: The Story of Libraries from Camels to Computers by

Maureen Sawa• Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile by Gloria Houston• Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown

Videos• “‘Biblioburro’— A Donkey Library—Visits Columbian Children”:

worldfocus.org/blog/2009/09/14/biblioburro-a-donkey-library-visits-colombian-children/7240/

• “Lao Children’s Library Boat Visits Ban Pak Leong”: youtube.com/watch?v=KojnubEypDM

• “Library Boat in the Chiloé Archipelago—Living Atlas Chili”: librariesbuildcommunity.tumblr.com/post/44872789419/library-boat-in-the-chiloe-archipelago-living

• “A Visit from Biblioburro”: pbs.org/pov/biblioburro/add_video1.php#.U3uh-FhdVKE

• “Yohannes Gebregiorgis, Mobile Donkey Librarian”: tseday.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/yohannes-gebregiorgis-mobile-donkey-librarian/

Ethiopia’s Donkey LibrariesWith your students, view “Yohannes Gebregiorgis, Mobile Donkey

Librarian” at tseday.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/yohannes-gebregiorgis-mobile-donkey-librarian/. Invite students to ask and answer questions about the mobile donkey libraries of Ethiopia and their founder, such as:

• Why did Yohannes leave his job as a librarian in San Francisco to return to Ethiopia?

• What did Yohannes hope to accomplish in Ethiopia?• What is the main reason there are no libraries for children in

Ethiopia?• In what language are most of the donkey library books written?• How is Yohannes working to ensure there will be children’s books

in Ethiopian languages?• In what ways is Yohannes similar to the people you learned about

in My Librarian Is a Camel? (SL 2.3, 3.3, 4.3, 5.3)

In Our Own VoicesDivide students into thirteen pairs or groups representing the

thirteen focus countries in My Librarian Is a Camel. Invite students to draw or paint one or more pictures inspired by the photographs of the mobile libraries or book programs for their assigned country. Scan these drawings, then challenge students to create a narrated slideshow that introduces each country. Ask them to read either the quoted words of a child or librarian from the text or the imagined words of such a person.

Share the slideshow with other classes or community groups, especially if the class will be engaging in the culminating activity below. (SL 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5)

Culminating ActivityOnce students have an appreciation for the plight

of children around the world who live without books and libraries, they will be eager to help. Consider challenging them to raise money, through classroom projects or schoolwide sales, in order to donate funds to one of the organizations below.

• Books for Africa: booksforafrica.org/• Ethiopia Reads: ethiopiareads.org/help

Or, if your students would like to sponsor a book drive, carefully read the guidelines at each site and consider donating books to:

• Books for International Goodwill: big-books.org/help.php• Global Literacy Project: glpinc.org/Web_pages/Book_Donation_

Guidelines.htm

About the Author Margriet Ruurs writes

children’s books and educational materials. She has a Master’s degree in education from Simon Fraser University and has studied the use of technology in teaching reading and writing to children. “I love to use my imagination and to dream up stories,” she says.

Margriet teaches writing programs in many schools. She speaks at conferences around North America to parents, teachers, and librarians, but the thing she likes most is getting children excited about reading good books. She lives near Eugene, Oregon. Visit her online at margrietruurs.com.

MY LIBRARIAN IS A CAMEL:How Books Are Brought

to Children Around the World

By Margriet Ruurs

Picture book • 32 pages

Full-color photographs • Ages 8 and up

Grades 3 and up • Hardcover

978-1-59078-093-0

Lexile 980L • $16.95

★ A Common Core State Standards Exemplar Title ★

“With little information available about libraries of the world, this title offers a glimpse into the world of books, which several countries consider as ‘important as air or water.’” —School Library Journal

boydsmillspress.com • margrietruurs.com

To order the book, call Boyds Mills Press customer service at (877) 512-8366. For marketing inquiries, contact marketing@boydsmillspress.com.

This guide was prepared by Toni Buzzeo, MA, MLIS, author, educational consultant, and school librarian. tonibuzzeo.com