CVHS Library seeks teachers in multiple disciplines to be early adopters with BookCreator as part of next year's CVUSD Writes & Creates! Program.
For more information, please
As reported in April, CVUSD is preparing a Collection Development and Reconsideration Policy for its libraries. A top priority for our school libraries, the policy is being developed by CVUSD library staff and Education Services.
Using research conducted this year on best practices for school libraries at the local, state and national levels, library staff and Education Services officers will work together to draft a policy for CVUSD Libraries. The policy will guide the ongoing development of the libraries' print and digital collections across the district. A collection development policy is a foundational policy that all libraries have and which guides the healthy development of library collections over time. CVUSD Libraries have been operating without one for some time.
The draft policy will be submitted to the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent for Education Services for review. It will be submitted to the Board for approval.
In August, all library staff will be trained on the draft policy in anticipation of its approval, in some form. Further training will be provided to all appropriate school personnel in 2025-2026.
Questions can be directed to Emily Stambaugh, District Librarian of Record.
On May 15 after school, a dozen students from all grade levels volunteered for the last Love My Library cleanup event of the year. They made the library sparkle!
Book shelves in non-fiction and biography were emptied, cleaned and reshelved. All library tables were cleaned and readied for the summer. Vacuuming and dusting helped the library sparkle!
Thank you, CVHS students! It takes a village to keep this valuable community asset in top shape.
The Love My Library program has been a pilot program during academic year 2024-2025 to experiment with allowing food in the library, like a cafe, while also providing avenues for students to give back and clean up through structured, library-coordinated events.
Part of the library's positive behavior strategies, the Love My Library program has shifted the library-student relationship to a constructive approach to addressing the health and vitality of their community learning space.
Next year, the library will continue the program and add a Library Volunteer Program, which will include some aspects of the Love My Library events.
May 12: Library TA Interviews
May 13: Library TA Interviews
May 14: Library TA Interviews
May 15: Library Closed for Inventory and Love My Library Cleanup event after school. Last day to volunteer!
May 16: Library Closed for Inventory
The Library will reopen May 19th for summer reading check outs and instructional services.
Ten teachers in several disciplines will use BookCreator next year to engage students in creating eBooks. Students can write, record, collaborate, publish and share their fiction and non-fiction works and classroom projects.
BookCreator has been licensed for an initial pilot during academic year 2025-2026 to boost student's productive academic skills as part of the CVUSD Writes & Creates! library program. Students in the arts, social sciences and sciences will be crafting their digital books in several classes.
At the library, all CVHS students will be invited to create
More information for teachers about the program and BookCreator can be found on the Teachers Instructional Services area of the library website. The program will be assessed in Spring 2026 at which time, the libraries will explore options for supporting more librarians, teachers and school sites. If expanded, early adopter teachers and the District Librarian will develop professional development sessions to engage more teachers in 2026-2027.
Yesterday evening, President Trump abruptly fired the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, leaving our nation, our Congress and the thousands of librarians across our country reeling. Dr. Hayden is a trailblazing leader and consummate professional. As our 14th Librarian of Congress, she has led the Library of Congress with wisdom, integrity and extraordinary competence.
The Library of Congress is an icon of our nation's culture and history. It serves all of our congressional leaders and their staff to research all matters of import to our nation.
Our country is the poorer for it.
Read more about Carla Hayden's firing:
Castro Valley High School teachers, students and staff now have access to JSTOR Secondary Schools Collection through the library. Check it out on the Library Database A-Z list. The database landing page has access information and more.
The JSTOR Collection contains over 2,600 journal titles from the major academic societies, associations and industry publishers worldwide.
Subject areas: Arts & Sciences, Life Sciences, Business, Jewish Studies, Lives of Literature, Public Health, Security Studies, Sustainability, and Primary Source collections. Images can be searched by many facets (e.g. “graphic design”)
Journal title list and holdings.
JSTOR is a premier e-Resource for students in Advanced Placement and Honors courses. Please use it in AP and Honors courses to prepare CVHS students for college-level research. CVHS students will gain access to the full research version of JSTOR in their future college and university libraries.
Teachers, please register for a lunchtime PD session in Fall 2025-2026 if you would like a hands on walk through or if you would like to learn from your fellow teachers, workshop style.
AP teachers, do you have summer reading you want your incoming students to do but cannot require it? How about incentivizing it through a library reading challenge? If interested read this news item for more information and send your reading list to Ms. Stambaugh by May 23.
CVUSD Librarians are currently setting up the Beanstack reading challenge system to begin to boost reading and student learning outcomes across the district. We could set up your high school summer reading lists for AP courses as reading challenges. Students log their reading during the summer and earn badges.
If interested in experimenting with summer AP reading and Beanstack student reading logs, send your reading list to Ms. Stambaugh. She will set up a reading challenge for your incoming students to use over the summer.
Emily Stambaugh
Teachers interested in trying BookCreator as part of the library's CVUSD Writes and Creates! program will complete their training and onboarding May 8th.
CVHS Library seeks teachers in multiple disciplines to be early adopters with BookCreator as part of next year's CVUSD Writes & Creates! Program.
Teachers who missed the first lunch are encouraged to
1) Visit the Library's Instructional Services Page
2) Access and flip through the CVUSD Writes & Creates teachers handbook (an eBook created by Ms. Stambaugh in BookCreator!) with all of the participation information you need to know.
3) On the Quick Start page in the eBook, click on Get Certified. Watch the short training videos and take the quiz to get your badge.
4) Email Ms. Stambaugh with your BookCreator badge in your signature line of your email to say “I'm in!”
5) Register for the May 8th lunch. This is the second and final required lunchtime PD sessions for teacher onboarding onto the library's license. Register now
For more information, please
All students and staff that use the library are encouraged to participate in the Library Deep Cleaning event May 15th after school.
Wear your grungies. Gloves and cleaning supplies are provided.
Enjoy some treats and music in the library and the spirit of community service!
Help get the library in tip top shape before it closes down for the summer. The books will thank you for clean shelves and reward you with dust free reads next year! Let's make our library sparkle!
All students and staff, return your library books to the library!