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A search for knowledge
By LOGAN D. MABE © St. Petersburg Times, published April 8, 2001 CARROLLWOOD -- From the start of the adventure, the kids knew this was no ordinary safari. As their teacher passed out clue sheets, there was no mention of lions, tigers or bears. The 18 members of Buchanan Middle School's Library Safari were going off in search of the elusive pan troglodyte. The event, the brainchild of Buchanan school librarian Gerry Cameron, was designed to introduce students to the new Jimmie Keel Library on Bearss Avenue as part of National Library Week. Cameron devised the exercises that exposed the students to everything the library has to offer, from videos and CDs to reference books and Internet searches. "We thought a nice joint venture between the schools and the library would be a good idea," Cameron said. "They're real excited about learning what the library has to offer." The simpler of the two safaris had children searching the video shelves for specific movies by their Dewey Decimal call numbers. The safari also included locating two teen magazines and at least one music CD. The more difficult safari involved looking up pan troglodyte (a fancy term for a chimpanzee) in a large dictionary, then searching for clues that Cameron planted on Post-It notes in various reference books. Eventually, the safari led to an Internet search of an obscure university primate research site, which led to a card catalog search of a Jane Goodall book in the library. "I wanted them to see that the library has a variety of things that would be interesting to them," Cameron said. Helping out were Cameron's two library assistants, eighth-graders Gabe Boanno and Kaycee Wickham. "They got most of it all done themselves," Boanno said. "They just needed a little help." Sixth-grader Danny Lugo zipped through the simple safari before having a go at the more difficult one. "The hardest part was finding all these movies," said Lugo, who reads at least three books a week. "I really like reading books and stuff. My mom's always encouraging me to read." At the end of the safaris, Cameron rewarded the crew with bookmarks, sunglasses, visors and other treats. But the real prize was uncovering the dark secrets of the sunny, new library. "There's so much for them to get excited about," Cameron said. - Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 813-226-3464 or at mabe@sptimes.com.
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From the Times |
