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Spring – yipee!

It is hard to believe that it is spring time. Looking back – the year has been a blur. Overall the goal for this year was to get the library organzied and accessible to our users. I think we are very close to having that happen. The final job for the end of the year is to do an inventory. The inventory will help bring our database up-to-date.

I have made some progress in collaborating with classroom teachers. Next year the focus will shift to the AASL standards and applying them to the library program. Also seeing how I can go out of the library and into the computer labs to collaborate with research. Making sure our library collection has material for all grade levels will be an ongoing goal.

What have I been doing?

I can’t beleive my last entry was in November. After the holidays things have picked up in the library. We are still working on organization within the collection but now classes are starting to use the library as an extension of their classrooms. I am thrilled!!! I have been asked to collaborate with a 3rd grade ocean project. My role will be instructing students when they come to the library. Dicussion will be about evaluating, finding, and using information. The students will come to the library several times. The students will be introduced to the card catalog online, worldbook database, and keyword strategies.

Also the 5th and 6th grade classes have been using the library frequently as a site for researching and creating.

7th & 8th grade have a decades project that I have been involved with; selecting resources, book talks, and putting links on the website.

The library is slowly becoming part of the school. Teachers are using the space differently since we have added 11 laptops and a data projector. The next tech addition is a smart board.

Overall things are progressing and hopefully bringing the library into the 21st century.

Update

We keep getting compliments on the facility. The rooms have been transformed from a disorganized space with lots of outdated books to a space that is organzied and inviting to students, teachers, and parents. I think as far as the room goes we have almost uneartherd all the nooks and crannies of books and stuff. The teaching consultant is still working at uncovering everything in her office that needs to be cataloged, but other than that I think we have gotten almost everything on the shelf. The primary room books have all been scanned and any books that were not in the system have been entered.

We have developed a great system for getting our new books out in a timely fashion. Thanks to an indivdual at the University Library, the books are coming back regularly. We receive anywhere from 50 to 60 new books a week.

I have fallen behind in reading professional journals, but plan to tackle those soon. Most of our selection has been from student and teacher requests.

After the Christmas break I can start focusing on more professional tasks and less clerical tasks. I am looking forward to that. The 3rd grade does an Ocean Unit and I am going to collaborate with them in the labs and in the library. I hope this model of the librarian working along beside the researchers catches on. That is what I was used to in my previous school library.

Overall we have come a long way in the weeks that we have been here. After Christmas the library is supposed to receive 10 laptops and a data projector – that will be fantastic!!!

Organization is still needed

We are gradually getting things organized but there are still some things that will have to wait until the end of the year. Students are starting to us the online card catalog and are finding many incorrect records. The database does not reflect the shelves. This is because of the large amount of weeding and also the years of not doing an inventory. Our year end task will be to do a thorough inventory. Until then the students will have to remember that the database is not correct. So far we have scanned the majority of books in the primary section to find books that are not online. The progress of getting things organized has been lengthy, but we have definitely made progress.

This week my door got fixed and we got ceiling lights replaced. Now we are watching the traffic pattern of our students to see how we want the library remodeled. Currently we have two rooms divided by a wall. Our thought right now is to put windows in the wall so visually we can see both rooms, but yet have the capability of closing a door to divide the space. Many times there are seperate group instruction be conducting in the library.

We are still waiting for the laptops and digital projector. Currently the six computers are printing and have excellent connectivity.

Recovering from the happy dance!

Since the last of the book jackets were covered, we have tackled yet another large project – relabeling the books in the primary room. Several books had old labels that were hard to read. This project was started last year and we working on completing it. Still the major part of my job is tending to clerical tasks.

I did get to collaborate on an internet project. I facilited a lesson on evaluating websites with a Civil War unit. It felt good to be in the lab working with students researching. I do miss that and hope that once all the clerical stuff is in order I can focus on that part of my job.

Next week is the ISLMA conference. I am looking forward to all the great sessions and talking shop with a variety of librarians.

This past week I visited an elementary library in our area and I was completely impressed with the program they have in place. The library that services K-5 grade students has a lab within it and also a story area that has a smartboard that enages students with literature connections. Overall a great room and program.

We are doing the happy dance!

Thanks to one awesome teacher, one UTA, and one teaching consultant the 16 shelves of primary books are now covered and ready for students to check out. My goal for completion of this task was winter break, but thanks to some very determined, hard working people they are done.

 Next happy dance will occur when all the books are online.

Collection is coming along

So far the collection is gradually becoming manageable. Thanks to our adminstrative team and their great can do attitude – we have a UTA student that works 3 hours per week in the library. Her help has been awesome. When I started we had 16 shelves of primary size books that needed the jackets covered with mylar. Thanks to the teaching consultant, a teacher, and the UTA – we are down to one book truck left.  Also the number of books that are not online has dwindled some – the teaching consultant keeps filling my booktruck. I have not kept track of how many books I have put on temporarily. The UTA has typed numerous spine labels. I have ordered several library supplies that have helped speed up the process. My long term goal is to do an inventory at the end of my 10 month contract. That will tell us volumes.

One area that needs attention is the professional development collection. My first impression of the collection is that it is full of textbooks that teachers have donated after taking a class. I am keeping an eye on how the collection is used or if it is used. It make take some promoting.

I am getting ready to order my 2nd order of new books next week. The processing procedure has been streamlined. We take books over to the university library every Tuesday and bring back a box of finished books. So every Wednesday we have new literature to set out. So far so good. The students know to come on Wednesday to look at the new materials.

Facility Stuff

Just finished week six at the library and we had some great things happen this week with the facility. The electrical outlet that needed to be moved was moved and then we were able to move the tall cabinet thing out of the library. By doing this we opened up the space for students to select new books from and gave us some more floor space. We moved the checkout station and got most of the cords under control. The counter space is now very user friendly and attractive.

Week 4

Things are gradually falling into place. The library now has comfortable furniture and the kids love are drawn to it. I have had several positive comments about how the library looks.

This week I had my first meeting with the adminstrative team. I think meeting once a month is very important – gives us an opportunity to discuss library matters. Also it gives them an opportunity to ask questions about the program.

Today I had my first meeting with the middle school team – I shared the library services available to them. I look forward to working with them through research and literature. One teacher suggested me coming once a month to her class and sharing new literature.