Easy Like Sunday Morning: A Calling To Serve

     I'm attending the last day of the School Library Journal Leadership Summit today in Brooklyn, New York.   Having that change of scenery surrounded by loved colleagues and new friends can force one to stop and really reflect deeply about things that normally you wouldn't because you are so busy.  It is times like this when I think about how libraries have impacted me as a child and now drives my deep desire to serve.  

I love libraries.  This love began when I was in pre-school and continues to this day.  When I visit new towns/cities, I always like to see what the library looks like...sometimes to the sheer aggravation of my family and friends.  My love of listening and reading stories dates back to my early childhood. Libraries sparked my curiosity and imagination so much that I would beg my teacher to get a pass to the school library during class every day.  I enjoyed reading the stories of Virginia Hamilton, Judy Blume and anything that had a Disney stamp on it. This love of books was also extended to the University Park Public Library in my small hometown in the south suburbs where I was raised.

My parents were born and raised in Jim Crow Louisiana.  They along with other relatives before them were a part of the great migration of African/Americans who escaped the Deep South for the promise of northern better life and jobs during the 60’s in Chicago. They were ecstatic that I had a well stocked school library and public library. They were relieved that I would not be discriminated against to enter and check out books of my choice because of the color of my skin. So essentially, my joy every 1-2 days was visiting the library to check out unlimited books, magazines. You see, the library was a place of solace for me,

- the introvert,
- the shy girl
- the loner

Libraries gave me the voice that I didn't have and the bravely I didn't know existed within me.

Now I’m going to speak solely for myself here, being the child of two science teachers turned me completely off from working in education. I had a front seat view of year round preparation for lessons.,...(we know that just because teachers get the summer off does not mean we turn off our radars as educators!) I also had a front seat view of hearing and observing the stress teachers have of dealing with lack of funding to support programming, dealing with challenging students and parents and a host of other things that teachers must deal with. When I was 18 I knew I didn’t want to deal with that type of stress, I wanted to do something different. I majored in Mass Communications with an emphasis in broadcasting for television. I actually worked in the field for a couple of years prior to working in education for a local origination satellite company, then moved onto corporate America.

      When I had had enough, it was my late father who sat me down and made me realize that I was not working in a field that I was passionate about. I wasn’t working in a field that God called me to
work in. When he suggested school libraries, it clicked - it made sense, but I didn’t want to go back to school. But my father assured me that because I was passionate about reading, I would breeze My Dad through….he was right. God had to show me that when I did things my way, it didn’t work out so well, but when I did it HIS way, things just fell into place naturally. But I quickly learned, sometimes the path taken is filled with challenges, confusion, events that make you stronger.

      So it is through my faith in God, I was redirected to serve in Libraries. Through this service...
 -Libraries helped me overcome shyness,
- Libraries helped me find my voice,
- Libraries helped me crawl out of my introverted shell
- Libraries helped me be less afraid of my opponent,
- and yes from time to time, libraries have gotten me into as Congressman John Lewis has famously named, #GoodTrouble

 Congressman, John Lewis 

     I have served children, teachers/staff and communities for over twenty years through school libraries. My experience spans:
 - Three school districts
- Two District Library Managerial Positions
- Five Schools
- Two Directors
- 13 principals (and yes I had to adjust, bend and comply!)
- All of these schools but one were Title I schools.  In all of these schools, I had to clean up and re-build the library.

     At each school, I was the lone voice that defended:
- Student choice
- The right to read
- Student access to technology

Did I experience struggles...YES LORD! Sometimes in my school library, I would jump for joy for the victories or simply stare at a blank wall and ask God, “Why are you using me as this painful example?’ Once I stopped fussing/venting/complaining and calmed down, God would reveal the WHY, bless me with the sustained energy to keep moving forward and fighting for my students.

      Working in school libraries is not easy. It's a roller coaster of events and emotions that are not for the weak, but more so for committed warrior librarians who all possess the same love: A deep and abiding love for libraries. Service to others is the driving force of what we do as school librarians and
providing a safe, warm and inviting library haven for all students is what we fight for every day. I want all of my students to have the same, if not better feeling and experience, than I did each time they walk through the door of my school library. I see small pieces of myself in each one of my students who attend Jefferson Academy in Washington, D.C. A smile, enthusiasm, laughter, love of hip-hop music, or sometimes a side-eye when they learn that copies of, "The Hate U Give," "Dear Martin," or "Long Way Down," is still checked out! I love my job serving as a school librarian because it is simply the best job on the planet! Getting into #GoodTrouble is worth it because my students deserve the very best. I am a school library media specialist and I'm proud to serve.

#KC_SaidIt: The Lexile Drama

I’ve been arguing this point for several years with teachers, reading specialists and principals. But let’s take a deeper dive.

Many school districts use a popular reading leveling system called Lexile. When you enter the name of a popular book in this case that contain black characters, the Lexile scoring is consistently very low. For example, here are three very popular books at my school:

- 'The Hate U Give' - HL590L

- 'Long Way Down' - HL770L

- 'Dear Martin' - HL720L

***The average Lexile for 6th-7th-8th graders is 855L-1295L

If one of my students had a Lexile range greatly above or below the ranges listed above, their teachers would discourage them from reading the book. There’s no wiggle room with this as some  schools are very insistent on using this system and rely on it to improve data/reading scores. In addition, some schools now rely on test scores and data as a means of image, promotion and sometimes survival against other competitive schools.

The other main issue is familiarity.  When those who are in the driver's seat of making decisions regarding what children read are constantly recommending the same books over and over again because of familiarity, rather than expanse of knowledge, we get the same end result.  My question is where is the teacher and student input in the selection of these books?  I often think about this and use myself as an example.  'The Color Purple,' is one of my personal favorites, but for this generation, it doesn't resonate with them.  I can't continue to recommend this book.  I would have to read the current literature to identify what is popular then merge the literature into the curriculum then maybe circle back to the classics once the book is read.

In years past, I’ve had many not too pleasant encounters with teachers who felt as the school librarian I should support their students identify books in the collection by Lexile. I instead listened to them and showed them books that were of interest to them. Principals wanted to write my tail up for being difficult but didn’t for fear of a grievance.  This continues to be a struggle.  

At the end of the day...in my opinion, reading is reading and leveling is just plain wrong and discourages reading at any level.  If we continue to use this system, we can and will discourage readers and frustrate them.

Sources:

Typical Lexile Reader Measures by Grade for English Text

#MyCoWorkerIsBetterThanYours

I love it when my co-workers TOTALLY understand me and my madness.  My co-worker Kelly created this cool advisory period pass for her students to use when they visit the library.

Easy Like Sunday Morning: #JAVillaLife

This post is long overdue!  Life has been hectic and time is often not on my side.

Jefferson Academy

My school, Jefferson Academy is currently under modernization.  Jefferson Academy is located in Washington D.C. - southwest and is next to the popular District Wharf.  The teachers, staff and I moved out of the 78 year old building at the end of the 2017-2018 school year and moved into 'villas.' during the two year project. 

During my 20 year career working in school libraries, I've experienced allot of things.  Working in a villa was a definite first.  In the beginning, it was a little hectic setting up the library.  Boxes of books were all over the place and shelf clips were missing for three days.  I can laugh at this now but then I was ready to roll but couldn't and was frustrated.

In time, I was able to get the library set up to my liking with the help of my students and a staff member who moved the bookshelves into place for me.  After struggling to get my decorations and supplies out of storage, I began making the library a home away from home for the children.

Then the children began visiting and checking out books...

Playing games and making origami...

It was a slow start but the #JALibrary is up and operational, ready to serve #JAReaders.  

That's all for now!

Easy Like Sunday Morning: School Libraries vs Classroom Libraries

It's Sunday morning and I'm scrolling through my messages I missed the previous day...a day that was a busy one.  I ran across a post that forced me reflect back to a time when I first felt disrespected as a certified school librarian.   The memory was so jarring, I thought that maybe it may be good to write about it and finally release my internal frustration.My friend Susan Polos tagged me on Facebook post about a recent EdWeek article called, Why School Librarians Are the Literacy Leaders We Need  The author Ariel Sacks discussed how school librarians can make an

indelible impact on student achievement.   Through her personal experience, she also discusses the classroom library vs. central school library debate.  Manageability, equity, consistency and space are just a couple of points also raised by Sacks where she is spot on.  Many people commented on the post but one person still didn't understand the resistance to having both libraries exist in the school setting given that research has proven access to literacy is a must.  Below is the response to those who don't understand why classroom libraries can serve as a threat to school libraries and school librarians.

Using Chicago as a example, classroom libraries were first introduced to Chicago Public Schools through the Chicago Reading Initiative.  Created in 2001, it was the district's attempt to improve reading scores at Chicago's lowest performing elementary schools.  Tim Shanahan, University of Chicago professor, led the program during it's early years of existence.  School librarians throughout the district were instructed to provide training to teachers on how to develop their classroom libraries.  We were given a powerpoint and instructed to complete full training by a date set on the district calendar.  We then had to oversee the organizing and checkout system along with collection of books at the end of the year. Throughout this process, Librarians received ‘ZERO' funds for the central library collection.   Librarians in Chicago were enraged that they were expected to provide leadership around an initiative that they were excluded from professionally and financially.   They were further insulted by Shanahan as we had to provide 'Library Science 101 Training,' to teachers in our buildings.  (If you are a librarian reading this you know how this practice forced on librarians by their principals angers us to the core!)

As the classroom library program grew each year, principals were expected to 'fund' their school's classroom libraries to replace lost books and add more to the collections.  Librarians were again requested to provide leadership on the selection of books that students would read and were aligned to the curriculum. To the librarians dismay, principals diverted those funds earmarked for the library to classroom libraries.   Why?  Vibrant classroom libraries now appeared on the principal's 'walk-thru' where district leadership visited the school with a checklist of expectations, list of things that needed to be improved and praise for observable practices/things that took place in the school.  The teachers at my school complained because this was yet another responsibility they were expected to oversee. They further argued that they were not Librarians and that they should be concentrating on teaching and not developing a genre rich classroom library.   

What Shanahan did was create a resentful culture in Chicago Public Schools:   Angry Librarians who saw their yearly library budgets disappear and angry teachers who were forced to serve as ‘Librarians’ after receiving 'Library Science Training 101.'  You can read the summation of the program as outlined by education reporter, Maureen Kelleher - Citywide Reading Initiative:  Bold Start, Weak Finish.   Reading Specialists were then added and celebrated as the 'Literacy Specialist' in the building.  I've always laughed at this labeling because the reading specialists I've worked with throughout my career either openly asked for my support in the selection of books kids would read or quietly studied my practice and applied/used it when presenting to the staff and principal.  Sadly, this was the beginning of Chicago’s plan to slowly phase Librarians out of the schools. I am of the belief that one program should NEVER cancel out another in a school just to exist.  We are seeing this in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods to affluent schools in the district.  Now many people may talk about Chicago Public Schools negatively, but the district is an an influencer for urban districts across the country.   Having been employed in two districts since leaving CPS, their programming, curriculum and practice is often seen in districts that have similar demographics and challenges.  I wish my younger, novice, school librarian self would have asked the following questions:

1. To be ‘innovative’ in the re-design of the school library program/position, does that mean to district leadership will cut programs to save money?  
2. Do we save money at the expense of providing an equitable education for all children?  
3. Describe the scholarly research that was used by district leadership in making the decision to create classroom libraries?   
4. Does that research include the impact of school libraries and certified school librarians on student achievement?
5. If school librarians are included in the training of teachers, why didn't they receive funding for their collections and some type of recognition for 'job well done?'

Chicago (and many other school districts across the country) is now

experiencing a steep decline in reading scores and they are scratching their heads wondering how has this happened when we have classroom libraries. When you take a child’s ability to have free choice in the selection of a book, kids get turned off from reading. When you remove the school's literacy specialist - the school librarian out of the library, children lack that expert that can connect them to the books they are interested in.  When you have just a classroom library and no school library/librarian, the collection is often leveled and limits personal choice which is the essential key for children when selecting a book. School Libraries, Certified School Librarians and well stocked libraries are the key to academic success. If this viewpoint is shocking/surprising to you, I recommend that you read Dr. Keith Curry Lance SECOND study on the Impact of School Libraries and Librarians - https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED445698 and view Dr. Stephen Krashen’s video on the Importance of a well stocked library for Free Voluntary Reading - https://youtu.be/JAui0OGfHQY  Here's to the trip down painful memory lane:  I feel better.  Shoot me a email if you are interesting in reading about more studies on this subject - kcboyd1@gmail.com  

E-Book Review: Lenny Gray

I listened to this epic e-book during my commute in DMV traffic over a period of 10 days. I immediately got hooked on the rich character performances (all narrated by author Earl Sewell!) and the lush historical descriptions of life in rural Mississippi.  This says allot mainly because I’m not a ebook enthusiast.  The story and performances captured my attention so much so that I was enjoying my hour commute to/from work because I could escape into this story and characters. 

I don’t want to give away too many parts of the story because there are so many events that take place and you will definitely be surprised.   The story’s protagonist, Lenny Gray is pregnant and trapped in a loveless marriage while trying to learn who she is as a person and woman. Sewell describes vividly Lenny Gray’s struggle with her husband Curly and her, survival during disease, famine and devastating poverty.  As described by the book’s synopsis, Lenny Gray has known from an early age that she is meant to live a better life, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women and particularly African-American women. Lenny Gray is a survivor and represents the resilient African-American women of that time who were tough and determined individuals who withstood the unspeakable.  It is these rich character traits that are often overlooked in historical fiction where African-American drive the story.  

Working in K-12 education as a school librarian for over 20 years, Lenny Gray is a book that I would recommend as a class novel read for my grades 8th-12th classes.   This book would be best used in ELA/English and U.S. History classes.   I would also recommend this book for collegiate African-American Studies or History courses because it provides an alternative view of life during this time but through the unique lens of an African-American.  

My hope is that publishing houses will recognize that African-Americans do want to read historical fiction books that feature their life experiences.   Hopefully this book, ‘Lenny Gray,’ will be the catalyst in advocating for change. 

Conversations at the Circulation Desk #5

The Audacious Librarian Blogspot

Conversations at the Circulation Desk #5 

My student Christine reviews, ‘Sideline’ by Jay C. Rehak.  She finished reading the book in two days, thumbs up!

National School Librarian Day

Happy National School Librarian Day to all my fellow #schoollibrarians in the struggle!  

Questions For Parents

Parents today marks the beginning of SCHOOL LIBRARY MONTH and I have a couple of questions for you:

- Is there a circulating school library collection AND certified school librarian at your child’s school?   

- Is that school librarian certified in Library Information Science?   

- How many books were circulated for student check out during the last three months?

- How much free access are student given each week to visit the library and check out books?

- Does the library collection reflect the diverse social, emotional interest and needs of the students?

I’m going to keep it as the kids say, ‘totally 100’ with you.   You will probably receive one of these excuses:

1.  Budget challenges, the librarian and or program is ‘too expensive,’ 

2. We have classroom libraries/accelerated reader, we don’t need a library,

3.  Computers are the future, we want our students to be computer savvy,

4.  We use popular lists, the books the staff members read that were popular will be good for these students we are teaching now!,

5.  We have someone in the library (teacher aides/clerks), the kids can go in there....(I always give the side-eye to this one....🤔)

Studies by Dr. Keith Curry Lance and Dr. Stephen Krashen will argue that schools with certified librarians and well stocked libraries have students who possess heightened life skills and perform better academically on standardized tests.  Moreover, students understand that libraries are a valuable resource and will continue to utilize throughout their collegiate and post-collegiate experience.  

So I ask you this question, do you want a ‘filler’ or a skilled professional instructing  your child?  When you attend that next LSC, PTA or current budget hearing held at your child’s school district board meeting, ask these questions and watch those administrators squirm.   Demand answers.....these are YOUR tax dollars! Transparency and justification should be a professional courtesy provided by the school district.  

....and tell’em Boss Librarian (K.C. Boyd) sent you! #kc_saidit

—————————————————-

IN THE STANDARDS remodeling process, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) reviewed Common Beliefs from earlier AASL Standards and official AASL position statements. These documents, and feedback collected from more than 1,300 school librarians and stakeholders nationally, provided AASL with a clear expression of the qualities of well-prepared learners, effective school librarians, and dynamic school libraries. The following Common Beliefs and summary descriptions were identified as central to the profession.

1. The school library is a unique and essential part of a learning community.

2. Qualified school librarians lead effective school libraries.

3. Learners should be prepared for college, career, and life.

4. Reading is the core of personal and academic competency.

5. Intellectual freedom is every learner’s right.

6. Information technologies must be appropriately integrated and equitably available.

Black History Month, 2018

Black History Month 2018 has kicked off with a bang at Jefferson Academy in Washington D.C. - SW. The link below will re-direct you to a list of people and their interesting accomplishments across the African Diaspora. We omitted Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X etc. because they are often 'over researched,' during this month. We wanted our students to explore and learn about people that they have never read about.

Also included in the link is a kick off to our 8th grade community meeting where the staff discussed all of the events that would be taking place at the school. All resources shared are in public folders/social media pages.

Jefferson Academy Black History Month, 2018 - http://www.kcboyd.com/teacher-resources.html

My NEW Website!

Happy New Year!

My new website is finally up and running.  Check out my labor of love at KCBoyd.com.

Easy Like Sunday Morning: Arrogant

     During various periods in my life, I've been told that I'm arrogant.  No one has said anything to me lately, nor has a argument ensued so to my Chicago homies....fall back!  This is merely one of those, 'Easy Like Sunday Morning,' posts that forces me to deeply reflect on things from the past and how they can influence my practice in the future.  I started thinking deeply about the word, 'ARROGANT,'  and according to Google's dictionary, the definition of 'arrogant,' is:

       ar·ro·gant - having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities.   

Now I ask the question, 'Am I arrogant?'

I was named recognized as a
Chicago Public Schools,
 'Hall of Fame Librarian'
in 2014 while at @Phillips High School.

     A wonderful principal I once worked for often said that people often accused him of displaying a high level of arrogance.  He further explained that observers mistakened arrogance for his self-confidence, a tool that his mother instilled in him at a early age.   Given where he was raised and childhood experiences, he said that he needed every tool just to survive and remain motivated.   My late friend would often say she was called arrogant in response to people who could not handle her high level of intelligence and she was often 99% right.  Guess what?  She was right 99% of the time!  I began thinking deeply about 'why' I have been called arrogant by others.

    My late mentor once gave a professional development sessions for school librarians where she left me with a indelible motivation.  She discussed how sometimes librarians were viewed as weak, soft spoken, and timid by others within the school community.  She further commented on how we as school librarians were such a rich and invaluable resource to the learning community and how we possessed a natural knowledge and strong

My wall of appreciation
@Jefferson Academy

skill base that would add to the success of any school.  The key was understanding that WE held the power and it was up to us to execute and show others what we could do.  We were school librarians and we stood only for excellence.  I swear I remember that motivational speech she gave like it was yesterday.   It was this speech that motivated me to become more of a self-starter.  Give myself a pat on the back and toot my own horn.  Because seriously, if you don't know how to compliment yourself, who's going to right?

     Throughout my career, I've worked at some schools where my work as a school librarian was overlooked and sometimes ignored.  The focus was on the classroom teacher, sports or technology program.   I'm not trying to be funny but when I compared the work of others to what I had done, it wouldn't compare.  Examples of this are rebuilding the school library program, creating and developing a library culture (this is NOT easy!), getting kids excited about reading, raising reading scores through access to books and leisure reading, bringing in thousands of dollars in donations and free resources and wait for it.....CLEANING UP and REORGANIZING  JACKED UP LIBRARIES THAT HAVE BEEN DOGGED OUT BY THE ADMINISTRATION AND STAFF.   Whew!  Yes,  I had to get that last one off of my chest!

2015 East St. Louis Senior High School weeding project

     My late father used to say, "You need to check yourself, your actions and how you come off to other people."  In other words, you need to smell yourself first and if you are foul, pull up and correct yourself.  To the core of my soul, I'm not a arrogant person.  If anything, those who know me very well are often pushing me to do more but my timid, shy and introverted self constantly digs her heels in the ground when challenged to go to the next level.  This is exactly why libraries and social media is the perfect playground for me because I can push myself to share my views and things that have taken place in my crazy life that I would not normally do in a face to face situation.  

This is a slide I created for my bi-monthly/monthly library newsletter
@Jefferson Academy.  Proud to be recognized in the same company of
these respected library practitioners.
Scholastic Top 15 Librarian Instagram Accounts to Follow  

     I believe I'm more of a promoter of what's good.  I promote the authentic experiences and the unique things that are taking place in school libraries whether it be in my library or my colleagues.     A click, re-post, comment or recommendation is an example of this promotion.  Promotion is what is needed now given the climate of some school districts  removing credentialed librarians from school libraries due to poor budgeting or not trusting the judgment of librarians when making purchasing decisions.   I promote my accomplishments because I'm happy that I have ascended to a level I've been trying to reach for some time.   I talk about school libraries because it is my sincere hope that others will see the beauty in this field and choose to join me and the thousands of librarians across the country behind the circulation desk.   

     So if that makes me arrogant through the lens of others, so be it.    

     

#KC_SaidIt - 'Book Banning, School Officials, Oh My!'

One of the things I absolutely cannot stand is my commute every morning to work. The DMV traffic is a nightmare and is highly unpredictable. To help pass the time, I've decided to take one of my Instagram picture hashtags, #KC_SaidIt and flip it into a video post from my truck. I will be discussing various topics, mostly library related and some on some of the social issues of our day. It's my view and opinion so I'm telling you right now, I'm bound to make you mad! 

Here's my first video where I'm discussing the recent controversial action of the school Superintendent of the Katy ISD of Texas. This educator removed Angie Thomas, "The Hate U Give," from the library bookshelves, and without following the guidelines of the reconsideration policy for libraries. Unfortunately, this man is going to learn a valuable lesson the hard way. 

 Enjoy the video! 

Easy Like Sunday Morning: The Work Begins

The Work Begins

Back to school professional development is finally over and now the work begins.   Those of you who are school librarians understand that 99.9% of the staff meetings take place in the library.   So this means librarians have to wait until all of the meetings have concluded so they can get to work.

Genre vs. Dewey Collections

This library has not had a certified librarian in a number of years.   Overall the collection is in good shape but needs more books that reflect the interests and culture of my students. You know I'm ordering Corretta Scott King and Pura Belpre Award winning books along with popular leisure reading books to jumpstart my readers this year.   One thing that frustrated the sheer heck out of me was the fiction collection was organized by genre and not by the Dewey Decimal System.  I will share the same comments here that I recently made on my Instagram page.

The first thing I noticed about this topic is that school librarians are split almost 50/50 and have very strong views about it.   I read a really good article written by librarian Hilda K. Weisburg called the, 'The Dewey Debate,' where she eloquently presented both sides of this argument.  I read it and realized that I have partially organized  my collection in the past by genre.  For example, I have shelved all of the Street Literature, Graphic Novels and Anime/Manga books together and in their own bookcase.  I think that is ok, seriously....(please don't call me a hypocrite!)    In my opinion, when the entire collection, including the non-fiction section of the the library collection is organized by genre, it just does not benefit students in the long run.  There is no transfer of knowledge when they are promoted or transfer to a middle school or high school where the collection is organized by Dewey.   Can you image a student asking their school librarian where are the, 'Drama Books,' located?  Now this student must learn the Dewey Decimal system, 'on the fly,' in order to search for the book that they want.  I can already see that some of my students will be frustrated with this fast paced method.  

Another issue I have with collections all organized by genre is that many of the books fall under multiple genres.  I have yet to find some sort of reasonable guidance in selecting the 'dominant' genre to classify it under.  For example, Sharon Draper's pre-teen novel, 'Out of My Mind.' could be shelved under, 'Drama,' 'Realistic Fiction,' or 'Stories About Girls.'    Having a school library collection organized by Dewey means that YOU the librarian must educate and demonstrate to the students how the collection is organized.   School librarians should have a strong knowledge of the books within their collections and can help their students connect to the books they would like to read.  I'll be honest, now that I'm back working with a middle school population, I have to re-familiarize myself with the literature while learning what has been written for this age group in the last five years.   When it comes to finding 'read-alikes,' and I'm not that familiar with the book that my student is reading, I use TeachingBooks.net, Good Reads and Book Browse.   All have a 'related-booklist' or 'read-alike- database embedded in their websites.

TeachingBooks.net

GoodReads.com

BookBrowse.com

I've also heard that genre organized library collections can increase circulation because the books are found in the same geographic area of the library.  This may be so however I have a tool that I use that seemingly gets kids reading:  book displays.   Yes, they are timely and sometimes expensive but definitely worth it because now you can direct students to books written by the same author and introduce them to new ones.  But identifying and connecting kids to books is where I show my greatest value to the school community.  I'm the building expert on literature for my students, teachers and parents and I help guide readers to the books that interest them.   I want my students to have a love of reading instilled within them along with the tools to find books in the library in another library.

Tracking the Number of Books Read by Students

That's one heavy circulation desk!

After my very strong and able co-worker moved the circulation desk by herself while I was in a meeting, (much love for you!) I had to tackle another issue: writing on the back of the book.   For those librarians reading this, before you jump on your soapbox please calm down and let me explain.  This school has not had a librarian in several years.  The majority of the staff has not worked with a certified librarian, so in essence this is a clean slate and a librarian's dream come true to introduce a teacher to the skill base and work of a school librarian. 

In past years, the teachers were putting a short piece of painter's tape across the back of the book and writing the name of the child who checked out the book, the date and how many pages they have read each day.   This was done in the absence of a librarian who could have provided a simple print out of books from Follett Destiny Circulation System that were checked out by the student.   To track books read by the students either Beanstack.org or Biblionasium.com could be used.  This is going to be a challenge for some of the teachers because they are adopting a new norm (or one they decide to use independently) and saying goodbye to one that has been used for quite some time.  It has to be done or I will be receiving books from students that will look like the one below.  Properly taking care of library books is the expectation I have of my students.

Writing on books.....No Way!

I hope you are enjoying my adventures working in a new school library  I think you would agree, with every school, there are different challenges, victories and adventures.  Overall, it's all good because my love for libraries is infectious and I hope my students, the teachers I work with and parents will recognize this rather than the look of shock on my face when I see something I've never seen before.  Until next time!

Easy Like Sunday Morning: New District + New School = New Adventure

...and so the adventure begins!

This year will hold new adventures for me as a school librarian.  I'm looking forward to developing my library program, working with teachers and having fun along the way.  

I love LYFT

I arrived in town at 3am on the morning of the district's, 'New Teacher Orientation.'   Surprisingly, the lack of sleep did not affect me as I attend the opening session that began at 8:30am.  I got the 'hissing heffers,' Domino and Daisy Lee settled and fed, jumped in the shower/got dressed and called a LYFT to drive me to the orientation.   I did not trust myself to drive because of the lack of sleep.  

Photo Courtesy of Perkins Eastman

The orientation was held at the very beautiful and modern Dunbar High School in the north west area of D.C.   There were greetings from central office staff, the Chancellor of the D.C. Public School System, Antwan Wilson, and the Washington Teacher's Union President, Elizabeth Davis.   Unfortunately by mid-day, the lack of sleep hit me.  As I sat in the cozy chairs in the library, my chin hit my chest and the back of my head crashed against my back...I was tired! 

Common Sense Media

I somehow woke up and attended two more sessions presented by the DCPSS Libraries Department.  I was awake enough to ask allot of questions.  I know I aggravate the heck out of a presenter because I ask a million and one questions so that I'm clear and will be able to proceed forward with my agenda.  I was relieved to learn that the libraries department has adopted the use of Common Sense Media.   If you haven't heard or used Common Sense Media, consider using the site during the upcoming school year because it is a powerful tool for your library program and school.

My New Home!

A couple of days later, I attended my new school's two day, 'New Teacher Orientation.'  The school is absolutely beautiful and majestic with a huge field where the kids play sports and participate in a myriad of activities.  It was great meeting the new and existing staff along with receiving a very defined overview of the school through hands on activities.    This was very important for me because it will help me develop and align my library program with the mission, vision and spirit of the school.                

One of the staff members commented that they were a little embarrassed by the appearance of the library and items temporarily stored in front of some of the book cases.  My response was, 'I've seen 100 times worst, and no worries - I'm a librarian and this is what I do!"   I'll post before and after pictures in the weeks to come.  If it's one thing I love to do is set up libraries including book displays kids will love for student use.  

So in one week I experienced some firsts:  New District, New School and changing a baby's diaper for the first time in 20 years!!!

Until next time!