Tag Archives: School media center

Programs, School Media Specialist

Discover some fun Back-to-School ideas for your school library!

If you aren’t already back to school, you will be soon! We thought this list from School Library Journal had some great suggestions that you could potentially use in your school library this year!

Read some of the ideas below, and check out the full list here.

  • This idea sounds both fun AND delicious: “I’m really excited to be getting a small hydroponic garden system for school-wide use,” says Ellen Luca, media specialist at Brookdale School in Bloomfield, NJ. Reflecting the school’s implementation of Next Generation Science Standards, Luca’s media center “is becoming a hub for STEAM-related activities.” Students will plant lettuce and basil, with the goal of making pesto. “
  • We love how this school librarian is getting the word out about her awesome media center: “Jaime LeRoy, library media specialist at Cross Timbers (TX) Middle School, is looking forward to another year of sneaky library advertising with her Bathroom Book Blurbs, advertisements for popular titles, in student bathrooms, as well as her Potty Mouth newsletter, housed in faculty restrooms, with news about library happenings, new books, tech tips, and more. “I am willing to do whatever it takes to promote the library and its goings-on!” she says.”
  • This school librarian has a fun way to get her students to experience her collection: “Anastasia Hanneken, who recently genrefied her school library’s fiction collection, is planning an “Around the Library in 180 Days” program. Students will receive a passport “and will be asked to read a book from each genre, including nonfiction and biography.” Prizes await students who complete the genres in their passport.”
  • Learning math with dancing robots? Yes, please! “Laura Gardner, teacher librarian at Dartmouth (MA) Middle School and SLJ 2016 School Librarian of the Year finalist, has been collaborating with the school’s math department using Ozobots. Last year they worked with students to teach the mini-robots how to dance, and this year they will use lessons found on the Ozobot website to explore the concepts of pi and slope.”
  • This public library is teaching students some very important adulting tips: “The San Jose Public Library will continue offering a series of Life Skills Academy programs, says Berman. Teens ages 14–19 can attend sessions on topics including “Pizza Is Not a Food Group,” “There Are No Potty Breaks in College,” and “Why You Shouldn’t Have 27 Credit Cards.”
  • This media specialist has a cute and relatable idea for her program: “In her new position as media specialist at Falmouth (ME) Elementary School, Amy Reddy will offer the passive program “Once Upon a Time…We Were Your Age, Too!” Teachers and staff will share photos of themselves as kids, with a favorite book. Students will guess their identities, and winners will receive gift cards. At Reddy’s old school, “Students made connections to the teachers and often chose a teacher’s favorite books to read.” Plus, “they realized their teachers were children once, too!”

Are you trying out a new or exciting idea in your school library this year? We’d love to hear about it! Share a comment or consider writing a blog post for us about it!

 

 

http://www.slj.com/2017/08/programs/33-winning-back-to-school-ideas/#_

Books, Children's services

A Peek into the Future School Library

Library

I love thinking about the future – things will be wonderful there! Full funding for libraries! Programs are always filled! Funders fall over themselves to talk about the great things we provide!

So I was happy to see this article from Hannah Byrd Little, thinking about the future of school libraries. You can read an excerpt below, and click here to read the whole thing.

“During the school year, I focus my time almost completely on curriculum, collaboration with faculty, and working directly with students. But during the summer I turn my focus on the immediate future of my library space and the library collection. I tend to be more of a big-picture person. Many librarians are detail oriented but details are not my strength. So, I have my lists.

 “Summer to-do-list” for the big-picture librarian:

  • Analyzing Use — Walk into the front door of your library and pretend you are a student. Or, walk into the front door of your library and pretend you are a campus visitor.
  • Summertime Weeding  — I use tools like Follett Titlewise, and I also like to invite faculty to participate like they do in Pennsylvania Libraries. There is also the Continuous Review Evaluation and Weeding acronym MUSTIE that can help start the process.
  • Editing Furniture — Less is more, streamlining the library shelving can make for an open, inviting space.
  • Updating Technology — Think about low cost or no cost options like improving the self check-out, or adding instructions and helpful signage in the technology-rich areas.
  • Updating the Virtual Library — Work to improve online research guides and the library’s web presence.
  • Create Positive Signage — Change any negative language; for instance instead of “No Food or Drink” try “Food and Drink Free Zone.”
  • Make a Tickler List/File — A monthly list of what celebrations and events happen in the library space and of course, what bills are due each month

My big-picture side automatically thinks about library use and function over the next 10, 20, or even 30 years. I think of the library space as a place of information access and literacy development. A place where students still want to visit and a place where the librarian is still available to guide students in their information quest.”

CMLE, School Media Specialist, Visits

A visit to Rogers High School Library

Another visit to a very nice high school library! And again – it was so fun to see all the neat things here! (Is it just that CMLE libraries are cool? Probably.)

Bethany Kauffman is the library person here, and has been an enthusiastic CMLE member – so it was great to get to see her library!

I loved seeing this feature right away – libraries hosting book groups are not only clearly fulfilling their mission to promote books, but are also are doing the important work of connecting with their users! Making those connections, providing programming people want to enjoy in the library – those user-centered ideas are the foundation of any good library.

Check out this cool computer lab! Although more schools are moving toward a 1 to 1 Chromebook/laptop program, reducing the need for labs, there are still good teaching programs to be done in a lab, in addition to other important uses, and providing this in a library is a great resource! (Plus, look how nicely organized this is; maybe it’s the librarian in me, but this makes me happy to see.)

I love these long views over the library! You can see how far-ranging the resources are here, and how many neat things there are available for students in this library. It’s a good perspective to have! Here we are looking out over the fiction collection.

Continue reading A visit to Rogers High School Library →

CMLE, School Media Specialist, Visits

A Trip to the Zimmerman High School and Middle School Library

Visiting our member libraries is always one of the most fun things we do at CMLE Headquarters! We love to see what you guys are doing, and to ooohhh and aaaahhh over all your materials, services, and the general look and feel of your libraries. We plan to visit each of our 300+ members, so if we have not been to your library yet, help us out by suggesting a day or two that will be good for your schedule! These are the articles most read by our community, and we are all looking forward to learning more about your library.

This visit was to the Zimmerman High School media center; and you can just tell from the beginning of the library that this will be a nice place! It’s so welcoming, and I love the clear identification – it’s the librarian in me, but that kind of detail (user friendly!) helps libraries connect to their communities.

Many of our member libraries have maker-spaces, with all sorts of different projects and tools. I love the look of this one, with the bright and cheerful colors leading your eye right to the good stuff! The quotes on the wall also help to establish this as a place that is going to be fun, and where users are going to feel welcome – always great for libraries!

Continue reading A Trip to the Zimmerman High School and Middle School Library →

Books, Children's services, Resources, School Media Specialist

In smartphone era, students still head to school library

Image result for american association of school librarians(From GoDanRiver.com, byTrevor Metcalfe )

“At George Washington High School’s student library around 2:30 p.m. on a recent Wednesday, students are busy. Some are looking for books, while others work on research projects on the computers.

Around all of the activity, librarians Haley Walters and Kim Roberson say the activity points to a singular belief: in an age of smartphones and evolving technology, school libraries still matter.

“We have a lot of kids who just enjoy reading,” Walters said.

Walters leveraged that enthusiasm for reading into a grant proposal for the American Association of School Librarians’ Inspire Collection Development Grant, and submitted the grant just before winter break.

Recently, the library organization announced GW was one of six recipients of the grant. The school will receive $3,000 to improve its selection.

“The need for general fiction, graphic novels, and hi/lo books is significant in order to support so many students who are entering the school reading at below grade level,” said grant committee chairman Floyd Pentlin in a news release.

Additionally, Walters said for many students the library is the only place access books — with few chain or local book stores in the area.

(Read the rest of this article here!)