The feed reader that I chose was Inoreader. I am an avid podcast listener. I chose this feed reader because you can not only keep track of your favorite blogs, but also new episodes of your favorite podcasts too. It’s easy to use. I like the color-coded system it has to let you know if a site is regularly updated and maintained or hasn’t been touched in years.
I also looked at NewsBlur. It shares many of the same features as Inoreader, but doesn’t appear to support adding podcasts. On both feed readers, you can subscribe to social media pages that you follow in addition to RSS feeds.
Blogs I chose to follow:
1. The Trapped Librarian - This blog is written by Laura Trapp who is an elementary school librarian in Montana. She blogs about many different topics: technology, displays, library advocacy, etc. I followed this blog because it has ideas and advice from an experienced elementary school librarian, and I am only in my first year.
2. A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet - This is a tech blog. There is a section for teacher-librarians, an alphabetical listing of web 2.0 tools, infographics, reference, and other subject areas. It is full of resources and ideas for technology in the library, so I chose to follow it.
3. Elementary Librarian - This is a site where you can pay to be a member, but I chose to just follow the blog for free. There are lessons and book ideas, and advice about library organization. It will be a source of good ideas for my elementary library.
4. A Kids Book A Day – This is a blog by a veteran school librarian. She reviews one children’s book per day. Her reviews include a summary of the book, its pros and cons, pictures of the cover, and sometimes a page inside. I followed this blog to get ideas for read-alouds and purchasing when it’s time to order books for next year.
5. The Children’s Book Review – This is a blog that is run by a team of people. They post book reviews and author interviews. You can browse books by subject or age, look at favorites lists, or listen to their sister podcast.