I have attended my first faculty meeting. I think they are scheduled for the 3rd Monday of the month. Something I have to get used to at a lab school are meeting times. I have one scheduled for 7:00am next week. For a non-morning person like me that will be a stretch.
I have been invited to be involved with technology here at school. I am excited about that invitation. This year Metcalf is offering a tech class for 7th and 8th graders. Right now the curriculum is wide open. Not all students take the class, so coming up with meaningful content will be a challenge, but one the tech team is up to!
Progress is happening here at the library – many problems have been solved and there are several still lurking. But as I have said all along everyone has been sooo helpful. The students are excited about reading – awesome!
The cart of computers have not arrived yet – so I am anxiously awaiting their arrival.
Some major tasks are getting all of the 16 shelves of non-covered books finished so they can circulate. Also there are 2 carts full of paperback books that are not online and need a temporay bib made for them. Those are 2 big tasks that are out in front of us. We do have an ISU student helping us 3 hours a week. Thanks to the administration team!
Wednesday are pretty crazy around here – there are 7th classes scheduled for fixed library time.
Today a first happened – a 5th grade teacher signed up for a research project. I was so excited.
Today seemed somewhat like a normal library day for me. I actually read all my emails, emailed several people, requested monthly meetings with the principal and assistant principal, started a Baker & Taylor cart, got my Outlook email setup, and all the posters I ordered arrived. Hopefully I can hang the posters tomorrow. There is an individual that laminates everything for us.
Goal for next week is to get an order sent in for some new books. Some students shared some valuable insight with me today – three girls were requesting young adult literature. They were very aware that the collection was skewed to K-3. They had several suggestions for titles. I was thrilled to have some interaction with students. Each Wednesday and Thursday there is a small study hall in the library consisting of 7th and 8th grade students. I am looking forward to picking their brains for ideas.
Also another goal is to get some magazines ordered for leisure reading. Currently the library does not receive any magazines.
Dee started working on covering some of the books. I hope that is finished by 2nd semester. Also several books that were checked out yesterday were not in they system. I may have to scan everything after all. I will have to assess the situation again. I thought it might be okay, but according to Dee it was a problem yesterday.
I have been invited to be on a committe that is reveiwing technology. I want to remember to take theISTE standards to the meeting. Also I want to be sure and include some information fluency skills in the conversation.
One last goal for next week is to get on the schedule of the middle school teams.
What pleasant noises today – I was glad to hear the voices of students in the building today. As I said before the library is off the beaten path, so having some noise was great.
The teaching consultant and I finalized the schedule today. There might be some classes in tomorrow. We also decided on dividing the tasks. I will focus on information literacy, reserach, and reader’s advisory for 5-8. The teaching consultant will focus on thematic units and incorporating literature into the curriculum. We will both be flexible and knowledgable about the other ’s role so we can flex back and forth.
Diagnosed that the wireless node in the library is not working. We figured out the best way for us to arrange the library patrons cards. Called Citizen about the receipt printer. Need some information about Voyager and then we can proceed with it.
I am looking forward to meeting with the middle school teachers to discuss the library program. I want to schedule that soon!
If you have not heard of this book – it is worth checking out. The author Kirk Weisler was the guest speaker for the day at Metcalf. What a wonderful motivational speaker. He gave us many things to think about and ways to make an organization work. We chuckled many times during his presentation. He talked about the “the big but” and “flipping your butt”. Remembering to use positive language rather than negative. Also the thought that to be a great teacher you have to be a great student. Overall the day was a great way to start the year.
Students come on Monday – I have to get the schedule finialized in my mind. Also I want to split the responsibilities of the library between myself and the teaching consultant. By looking at the job descriptions, I think I will focus on information literacy and technology skills and the teaching consultant will focus on incorporating literature into the curriculum. Each of us will be reading advocates in the library. My first goal is to meet with the middle school academic teams and then with the intermediate grade levels and then the primary grade levels. I want to share what a librarian does and see how it fits into what they already do.
We still need to get the student barcodes in class order and then I am still battling the receipt printer. I plan on calling the company this week. I am waiting for posters to come in. I also would like to place a book order but know the turn around time of getting them back from Milner library will take some getting used to. In the public school setting I had an assistant that would process books in a very timely manner. But I have been told to expect 20 books a week. Currently Milner is trying to catch up with what books were taken there at the end of last school year.
Several new faculty associates went through the orientation. A few differences from a traditional public school. I found out today from the Superintendent that Metcalf is called a other funded public school. The big difference is the encouragement to attend conferences and not only attend but present. The nice factor is money is available for professional development. Also a big change for me is not being part of a union. There are other professional expectations – conducting research, pursuing degrees, belonging to professional organizations, and being responsible for educational students.
One nice web based program available to everyone is Curriculum Mapping. This program is a librarian’s dream come true. I can view every unit each teacher is doing for the entire year. Also I can view the resources they are using. Matching resources to units will be easier. Also putting in information literacy standards will become a responsibility of my position. Exciting to see this product!!!
Tomorrow I am going to help the new person transition into the position I left. She has no professional library training. In the state of Illinois a K-9 librarian does not have to have a media endorsement or a masters in Library Science.
I only worked 2 1/2 hours today. I moved a computer and printer into the small computer configuration. Then covered book jackets. The teaching consultant that shares the library with me started back to work. We had a quick conversation and plan to officially meet and discuss roles and responsibilities. A teaching consultant position is a new experience for me. The description for this job is similiar to a librarian but focuses on the literary component not the research component.
Moved my daughter to college today. She was so excited to be going back to school! Tomorrow is the new faculty orientation – so I won’t get too much done in the library.
I made several phone calls today and did not seem to get much done. Either many people were out of their office today or else everyone was very busy. I did place an order with ALA for posters and supplies. The room is looking better. Chris, the technology guy, came by today and got my print receipt printer set up. He noticed the difference in the room. He said it was nice to see someone who cared for the room and also someone who is interested in technology. Other than that it is very quiet at my end of the building. Somewhat of an adjustment from my other job where the library was the center of the building. It will take some getting used to not being in the center of all the activity.
I covered 1 shelf of books of the 16 shelves that need book jackets.
I am waiting on return calls from Milner about the Circulation Station – I am still getting the Offline message.
Okay, I am back from supper and errands. Yesterday I shifted books again. I put the reference under Dee’s window and then followed with the non-fiction. I just thought the shelves were to full. After I finished shifting I went to the ISU warehouse with Amy C, principal, she thought I might be interested in some chairs and tables for the library. I didn’t take any of the chairs; she got 13 chairs and 9 rounds tables. It was like a huge garage sale, except no charge. I did get a chair mat, so I was thrilled.After lunch I disassembled the computer mess and started testing the computers. I emptied out more file cabinets. I found bookmarks from the 1980’s. So I took them downstairs to the teacher share a table – I also took a box of check out cards and a box of cutout magazines. Today I started rearranging the computers. I took down all the lovely yellow Ethernet cables. I put the computers by the windows, coming out into the room. I cleared two shelves and put the computer tables against them. I got 4 of the 6 computers to work. Wow! I moved the award books to the appropriate rooms. I moved all the professional books and videos into the small green room with all the shelves and cabinets. I cleaned out the other small storage room and found multiple power outlets – so I put a computer station in there for recording purposes. Lucinda M. stopped by today to look at those books. I forgot to tell her that we discarded them. I told her I would be looking out for titles for that project. She walked into the green room and wanted to know if this was the room with all the picture books – I said this was the room with non-fiction and fiction. Then I started to share how the majority of non-fiction books were for lower and middle elementary. She couldn’t believe the volume of books. I moved 3 file cabinets, one shelving unit, and typewriter, several odd shelves, vcr and an old printer out into the hallway. I am exhausted and sore. My plan for Monday is to start ordering some things. Dee is supposed to be back. I am going to talk to her about the Pepto room and if she wants to shift books and get rid of the shelves in the middle of the room. I am thrilled with all the progress. Hope we can lunch sometime next week.
Started off the day setting the circulation station for short bib records. After that I reshifted the books so each shelf is about 2/3 full. I set out books on each end cap. I untangled all the computer cables and took each computer station apart and dusted them. Vacuumed under the computer tables. Went on a road trip to the ISU warehouse – I got a chair mat for my office. Now I don’t have to use my leg muscles as much to roll my chair.
After lunch I tackled the storage room – just lots of old stuff that had accumulated over the years. Requested a work order to have several file cabinets and shelving units taken out of the library. Consolidated supplies and moved them into the other work/storage area. Took 3 boxes of give aways down to the teacher’s workroom. Flattened several boxes for recycle.
The final count on recycle containers was 13. The collection was in dire need of weeding. I would say we did a pretty extensive weed. I will analyze the statistics after a couple of years to see what still needs to be weeded.
I have met so many nice people. Everyone is friendly and seems very happy to be working in the university system. I feel right at home so far. My goal is to have the library looking pretty put together by the first faculty meeting which is being held in the library.
What an awesome day – I had some fantastic helpers today. Here is what we accomplished in about 9 hours of work. Finished weeding the fiction section, shifted all the non-fiction and fiction. Now all the non-fiction and fiction are in one room.
The helpers tore out the barcode page and the title page of all the books we weeded. They filled 12 recycle bins and still have some more books to put into recycle bins. I am thrilled with our progress.
Next step is to tidy the room up and start decorating. I will take pictures of the clean sweeped area. Tomorrow I will work on the circulation station with the head cataloger.
