New Books, New Artwork

The library was full of amazing new projects about Japan. It was so great to see what the students were doing in other classes and I think it is a great way to get more kids into the library so see some of their classmates projects. Also a math poster project was going on and it was so great to see the library being utilized as the hub that it is.

Moved the Graphic Novels to a new shelf space, helped out some students and wrapped a ton of new books. It was good to see what was coming in and Laguna Middle School is so lucky to have funds for this. The books that were coming in were all very diverse genres and it was fun to read the jackets while I wrapped them. Plus I had not wrapped a book in about a year and I needed to retrain my brain in the wrapping zone.


Also interesting aside about publishers changing/updating the covers of books. I noticed the popular H.I.V.E, Higher Institute of Villainous Education by Mark Walden has a new set of covers. The kids look older and is really repackaged to appeal to the YA audience who love Manga. It's interesting to see the choices that publishers make.

H.I.V.E Original Cover 

H.I.V.E Updated Cover 

Library Lesson Day and a few other things....

The assignment from Ms. Knuttila changed a bit and so the lesson we had planned was tweaked to fit the new lesson last minute. Instead of focusing on having some books sets pulled we opted to show them how to use Destiny to find books they might be interested in "selling" to their classmates.  This will help sway their classmates to choose their chosen book for the book club assignment. The two important parts of the lesson was to show them in Destiny how to use keywords and then add the word fiction so they get more streamlined results and also to read some excerpts from a few books.

Destiny Example - Search: Horror Fiction, Mystery Fiction for more precise results.

Also push the " don't judge a book by it's cover" because so much of choosing books at this age ( and any age really now in the era of slick design) is to choose based on the cover.

Stay awake! I know you hate the computer tutorials!

Before the classes came in I did some library housekeeping which I hadn't really done in awhile. The shelves needed some TLC and it also gave me a chance to get better acquainted with the space. This was good so I could see a few extra titles that I might steer the kids toward if they were just not into it.

I finished some more of the weeding project and hopefully can get it boxed up on Thursday and continue because I know what it's like start a project and then have it sitting around especially when the outdated books take up so much physical space.

New display in the works. Ms. Schwoerer is moving the Manga and Graphic Novels to their own location and I have an idea of an easy- ish display topper that will mark the spot but not block the shelves behind it. I am going to draw it up on Thursday and maybe use some boxes I already have.

So the 7th grade English classes came in after lunch and the first class I will admit I was a little rusty and Ms. Schwoerer and I tag teamed the lesson. By the second class I got it down and got a chance to work through the computer stuff quick and was able to read some excerpts aloud, help them on the library floor and get them checked out in time.

It was nice to see the kids using the catalog tips I gave them to find books and I was able to help a lot of kids make their choices and check them out. This age is more about steering them in the right direction with the right tools. I would give myself a B+ for the library lessons for sure. Always room to improve......

Have you read this book? 

Why might this one be a good choice?

Meeting Day @ SLOHS

San Luis Obispo High School Library 

Meeting at San Luis Obispo High School (Go Tigers!) today. The school library is really a wonderful space. Very open, lots of computers and great student resources. Tutoring, test prep, technology and up to date on recent ALA winners and all the Manga. The LMT who runs the space is Ms. Dornish and she is really keyed into her space and a real asset to that school.

The meeting was led by District Librarian Sharon Haupt. It was wonderful to meet the secondary school LMTs and see how they collaborate. Meeting their site specific library needs but also working together to help solve issues that arise in each library. It made sense to break the primary and secondary LMTs apart for this and the meeting heavy with great information moved pretty quick.

The meeting was very informative. It gave me a window into how this school district handles different aspects of their library. From vendors , MARC records updates, site technology management and the switch over to Google suite of products/browsers. It also gave me some new programs to look at that support kids in their research projects. I will be looking more into Gooru and Revision Assistant. Also Ms. Haupt asked for the LMT's input on some proposed feedback to World Book regarding their software. It was interesting to see how each site would be interpreting their needs within this program.

I was very happy to be included and look forward to what I find in these programs.

8-Bit Books

Ms. Schwoerer got the entire assignment from Ms. Knuttila so I was able to whiddle down some of the books I chose for the 7th book chat. The assignment is a good one but we need to give the kids more time to look. I am looking forward to giving a short informational talk. I haven't done one since September 2014 and I am feeling a little rusty but it was good to look over Destiny and make a short tear sheet. I think it should go well but that remains to be seen. These are the two books I am going to use and they fit well into the the assignment guidelines. The important part will be showing them how to use Destiny to find what they are looking for beyond just the first page and dig deeper into some of the site subjects and links that Destiny uses.

Featured in the Laguna Middle School Newsletter too. The kids smile at me a bit more so it's nice to know I have lost my "who is that crazy lady in the library" status. Monday is the district secondary LMT meeting at the high school. I am looking forward to seeing what they cover and what the other sites are doing.

The display is done. Donkey Kong fabric helped my Good Books with Ugly Covers theme. It seemed to be a hit today at lunch. It got the kids to stop and see some of the books with dated or frankly poorly designed covers but they deserve to be given a chance anyway.

Rainy Tuesday

More weeding today and making room on the shelves. So many outdated books that need to go but also the bonus is it makes more room and curates a space where the students can really grab and go when it comes to titles that they want to read. Hoping to do more of this because I love when I see a student walk by and then sort of come back when they see a title on display that speaks to them.

We went over some of the LIBT 214 checklist from Cuesta and I will be using some of those materials discussed for some assignments related to this internship. Chatted a bit more about the display that I will work on. I will probably be bringing some things from home as I would rather use them than be collecting dust in my craft drawers. I have some fun fabric I will be using for sure. The Donkey Kong one in particular. More to come on that.

I pulled a few books for a 7th grade book report meets book club blog assignment on theme that is taking shape. When pulling books I need to keep in mind that are in the right reading level, they have multiple copies or have the ability to get another copy easily either by inter district transfer or perhaps the public library. I need to go over what I pulled and make sure I have a good cross section that will work for this and that will work for the book chat that will happen.

Fun parts of weeding... great 70's book covers and catching interesting snippets on the jackets.

First Week First Class

Weeding, 921 that needed TLC and the Research Assignment.

Hit the ground running at Laguna Middle School Library. Spring 2016 Internship in connection with the Cuesta College Library / Information Technology program is go! Ms. Schwoerer is a great Library Tech and has some really great ways for me to soak up all I can this semester.

Did a ton of weeding of outdated titles. It was really great to see what was pulled and it gave me an idea of how they are going to update and curate the collection to better serve the students needs. 

Helped some 7th and 8th grade students with various questions for their biography research paper assignment. They chose some interesting people and their teacher Mr. Whitman was telling me how the students biography person of choice changes over time and it is a window into what they are interested in.

Next week I will be pulling some books for a book chat for 7th grade and working on doing some displays here in the library. Ms. Schwoerer took a few pictures of me for the school newsletter and we had a laugh.

Already learning some new processes on student management and so far so good.