Hello and Welcome to the Dallastown Area High School Library Blog, The WILDCATalog!
My name is Ms. Taylor and I am the librarian assistant here at the library to Ms. Dressell. Our goal with the blog (and it is a lofty one) is to become a hub for all types of news, from our community here in the school to national and international news, that would be of interest to the students, faculty and staff in a variety of formats. I would like to see it run as a professional blog would be, with students and others pitching to the editors, and following submission guidelines as well as due dates.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS.
We are looking for content for the blog, which will then be distributed on our FB page, Instagram account and Twitter stream. Writing will be open to students, faculty, staff–anyone who works here at the school. Here is what we are looking for:
1. Book trailers: Student made or not, new releases and “Coming Soon” preferred.
2. Movie trailers: Especially movies based on YA books, age appropriate movies for the students, and movies based on books we actually have here in the library will be given preference.
3. Favorite book quotes, as a graphic or meme.
4. Favorite author quotes, as a graphic or meme.
5. Word of the Day or Week, depending on how many we get. These would be awesome to see as graphics as well, with the definition and pronunciation guide included.
6. This Day in History write ups. I would request we get these at least 10 days in advance to allow time for editing.
7. Author bios and interviews, especially of local writers.
8. Research tips.
9. Humor/comic strips about reading, writing, books, the library and librarians.
10. Writing prompts.
11. Response to writing prompts.
12. Book reviews of all kinds, doesn’t have to be a brand new book or current book, can just be new to you, especially if your opinion differs from a generally held opinion of the book. These need to be well-written and thoughtful, and looking for about 300-500 words. Newer released books will be given priority on the editorial calendar.
13. Writing advice/tips
14. Movie reviews, again, can be new to you, however, newer releases will be given priority. 300-500 words.
15. Interesting, amusing or timely polls.
16. Photos and poetry that go with a monthly theme:
January is winter. (Deadline: ASAP, no later than January 15th.)
February is love of all kinds (not just romantic love, but BFF’s, your pets, your siblings, etc) (Deadline: January 20th)
March is luck. (Deadline: February 15th)
April is water. (Deadline: March 15th)
May is the color green. (Deadline: April 15th)
June is light and any interpretation of that. (Deadline: May15th)
All items will be reviewed for appropriateness and edited for anything, be it length, grammar, punctuation, appropriateness, etc.
If you have any questions at all or you’d like to pitch an idea, I can be reached at: lara.mckusky-taylor@dallastown.net or please come down to the library and talk to me. The library is open Monday-Friday from 7:20am-3pm and I am usually in from 8:30am-2:30pm.
This is a great opportunity for anyone who would like to know what it’s like to work with an editor, to learn how to query and pitch, and experience the process of getting published online and that includes not only writers of all kinds, but artists of all kinds too.
Please note: All students’ privacy will be protected and bylines will be first name and last initial only, or pen names or “anonymous” may be used.
I look forward to seeing what our community has to put out into the world. 🙂
Thanks for visiting and have a stupendous day!
—Ms. Taylor, Librarian’s Assistant, DAHS Library
The Wildcatalog 