Library Work, 9/20-9/24

In addition to documenting damaged equipment in the library this week, I spent time getting my practice in as a Circulation Librarian. Thank God we have come a long way since the days of Charles Folsom. Many teachers had students check out popular books (The Giver, The House of Dies Drear , The Outsiders,Dracula etc.) that were in our class set section. Mid week I completed inventory sheets for damaged materials and assisted in completing a work order for the library printers that had a malfunction. I delivered a book receipt to a student's class due to delayed printing issues. Examining the "We the People Book Shelf" was the highlight of my work in the library this week. Interesting enough, that I came up with several ideas and shared them with my school's Library Information Specialist and mentor, on how to expose our school's stakeholders to the fascinating resources that we have acquired as a result of a grant. I envision forming a book club to examine all 17 books this year. This can be accomplished via various platforms. One way is to solicit 17 teachers to choose a title from the collection to explore as a class. Other concepts would be to form a book club among students, or use the rich resources for the fall or spring Think Show (formerly known as Student Exhibition)project. I will share other ideas as the year unfolds. I tested a CD/cassette player that I thought would be written up as damaged because it was so old, so I thought we should get rid of it. To my surprise the LIS said we would keep it(if it works) even if it is very old, because we still have a collection of cassettes with good information. "Wu la", I pressed play and it worked, so we kept it. This task sparked another idea, "Music in the Library" as I shelved books and listened to Ray Charles sing Georgia and other tunes. My week in the library concluded waiving fines via the Atriuum system. Although it was a very busy week it was most rewarding.

Collection Management & Organization, Day 2

Today in class I gathered a great volume of information. We discussed jobbers, orders and acquisitions. We completed a Marc Template after exploring different MARC records from various types of libraries in the country. I also learned that I will be researching Charles Folsom in addition to presenting on information on school library circulation. In the process of searching for vendors via Ingram (ipage.com), Baker and Taylor,Follet, Ritten House, Emory Pratt and amazon.com I reviewed pertinent data for the acquisition process by practicing with titles from the 100 picture books every one should know list. This session was very informative.

Library Work 9/13-9/17

This week the work of my school librarian was actually working a lot out side of the library. The Librarian Information Specialist and I spent our time checking outdated and damaged equipment. We documented the information on a form and updated it to an excel sheet to report to the school board. We will continue with this type of process until all dis functional equipment has been labeled, entered into the electronic system and picked up by the school board. A librarian's work is never done.

Collection Management and Organization, Day 1

Today I experienced my first encounter with Collection Management and Organization, "the class". From my earlier post you realize that I missed an hour and a half of the class to present "The Importance of Reading" workshop at the Memphis Public Library with the notable "Mr. Chuck. Well, needless to say anyone who knows me knows that playing catch up is not my thing. I feel a sense of overwhelmth and frustration when I have to play catch up. And those that know me know that creativity is my thing. Not Organization! So why am I taking this class ? I'm glad you asked. I am presently studying to become the most efficient school librarian as possible, while teaching Reading to struggling ninth graders , producing a play and penning my first adolescent novel. On top of that I am a full time mom and wife, always. "I need this class!" is the only rational response I have.

My expectations are high.

From the Collections course in particular I expect to learn and apply knowledge and skills to assist me in meeting my goal of becoming the most efficient school librarian that I can be.

The Importance of Reading

I just finished presenting at a workshop. The Topic was the Importance of Reading.

So I ask you the question of the day...

What is the importance of reading and how does it relate to the library?