The daily life of a Middle School Library Media Assistant.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Last Day

Got all my stuff taken care of today along with a couple of kids that came in. Worked on barcodes for the rest of the stuff I had put aside for that and got those all done, then went back and added in comments exactly what the item was (since I lumped them all together under 'Teacher Resources') and now if something is missing, I can look at the comment and say 'that is a Reading supplement book about 100 pages long' or 'that is a Teacher Express CD'. I think things look really good and feel good about leaving! Turned in my keys and badge, turned off the lights and closed the doors. Namárië

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Two More Down

Whoops! Forgot to post yesterday, but spent most of the day shifting books in the teacher materials section. There was no way that there was room for all the returned resources with the shelves the way they were, so I started in Business and got through Math before I left for the day.
Today I finished up shifting shelves and also went through old resources (for more room!) and put them on a cart to see if Mrs. H will let me surplus them out when we get back in the fall. Processed in 3 teacher magazines and 10 for the library. They'll be put out when we get back. Then I started to barcode the materials that came in and didn't have any barcodes. I will clean all that up tomorrow and things are looking pretty stored for the summer.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Last Monday

Today we finished up billing, glad that it's over! A book came in that was checked out to a student and we were glad to call and say it was in and she was now all clear! Prepared all the magazine orders for next year and Mrs. H took them to our office manager for July. Started to clean up the back from all the teacher materials that came in - wow, there's a lot!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Billing

Worked on billing this morning until the meeting and then went to the assistant meeting. After that - to the dentist to pull a cracked tooth. Back on Monday for four more days.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Empty Tables

Had our last staff meeting this morning and I just worked on getting things boxed up from teachers bringing their stuff in. Mrs. M did a nice recognition of Mrs. H and all the hard work she's put in this year and Mrs. H recognized us for our efforts. Withdrew old teacher books, boxed them up, signed out teachers. Went to the final Library Media meeting today and recognized all the Librarian teachers there that were retiring - a lot were only retiring since they no longer had jobs. Then we recognized all the Librarian teachers that were leaving because of job loss. As name after name was called, I watched the tables empty. Even with a group that didn't come because it was too much to handle, it was still disconcerting to see more people up at the front than still sitting at the tables. I must admit I cried a bit. These amazing people are so passionate about their jobs and the kids they work with it was very hard to say goodbye. Then back to Sprague and continue digging out the books.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Last Student Day

Today was our last day of students and we got in 1500 books, but still have 2000 out! Hopefully it is mostly staff. We just collected textbooks all day and had some wonderful help and they got them all put away! I think we have about a half a cart from what we collected after school was out, but I am so impressed with our helpers! They were amazing!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

3500 To Go And Only 1 Day Left

Didn't get in as many books as I hoped today, but had some good help. We will be swamped tomorrow! Culled through teacher stuff and packed up a lot for surplus and Mrs. H and I looked through and will keep some nicer things. Processed in five magazines and just filed them. Made some room for teacher materials and got some of that put away. Signed teachers out for the year. Took billing off the Main Frame. In early again tomorrow!

Monday, June 13, 2011

From 2005???

Took in books all day today, but funniest moment was when a teacher was cleaning out a room and turned in some very old books, and one was a world history book that was still on the billing from a student in 2005! Can't believe that it was found! Took in more books today. Processed in the last (I hope) of the magazines for this year (7) and had a volunteer bring in all the magazines from out in the library and we worked on getting them all put away. Checked out staff on their paperwork. We only got in about a thousand books, way below what I hoped we'd get in. A student had issues with a book she said she never ever checked out and so took the print out and went off to the office to get it taken care of. Ten minutes, really, just ten minutes later a friend of hers turned it in. She said she'd let her friend know that she had it and it was now in. A parent called and was happy to hear that her child's books were all in. I ran reports for seniors with textbooks still out and a volunteer was going to check the stacks to see if any had gotten put away without being checked in. That will be a great help. He had two books already on my desk before I walked out the door.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Awesome help!

Had some amazing help today and we are down to 5,651 textbooks to go! And they are all put away and lots of empty carts for Monday! Huzzah!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Senior Awards

More books in again today. Though I spent the first part of my day putting away everything from yesterday that hadn't been done yet. Then Mrs. H and I went to the Senior Awards ceremony in the stadium. The weather was perfect and it was wonderful to see everyone there. We have a lot of kids from the library who are graduating, so it was good to see them. An exciting time! Then we cranked in the books and we just got under 7000 books to go. Mrs. H and I stayed late to put away as much as we could, but finally, we were just done and went home.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Working Out

Lift, up! Move that pile! Combine and check in. I even took my chair and just shoved it out of the way. I think I sat down twice today. But checked in lots, the seniors are all done now and graduation is Friday! I didn't go and work out tonight since I did it today! Down to 7700 or so!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Erasing the Graphics

We had something like 1100 textbooks come in today along with the grind of taking care of all the little quirks that pop up every so often. In particular, we got in some Personal Fitness books that were illustrated by our students with many graphic drawings of male anatomy. *sigh* I just hope the erasers hold out. I'm just appalled at the terrible condition of the books that have been out all year. Mrs. M and I spent hours repairing and fixing up books and the shelves look like we've done nothing. We'll just do our best and continue on. We also found out today that our billing program is being changed over the summer and we have to do all the billing by hand for lost and damaged books before we leave. Oh my.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Early In

Came in early because of the staff meeting today. Didn't get a lot of books in, but had a few teachers e-mail to say they'd bring in all their classes tomorrow and Wednesday. I helped put the books on the shelf and shipped out some borrowed books today. Helped Mrs. H count the money from print accounts. Worked on cleaning stuff up and making room.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Getting Closer

Took in a lot of books today - but still not a lot. Since Wednesday morning we've taken in more than 1300 books, but at that rate, we'll still have a lot left by the time we leave. Only 8 days of school left. I had a set of kids bring in 10 books, and none of them belonged to any of them! All but 1 were books that had been billed to about 5 different kids. Put money in print accounts, cleared the Main Frame from billings. Sent e-mails to our bookkeeper on the kids I don't have access to (they are no longer at our school). Checked in lots of regular library books as well from the window. Stayed after for the last Manga club meeting for the year and sat with Mrs. H for awhile and we just talked with each other and the kids. It was nice.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Phoenix Key

Our German teacher cleaned out her room and sent us a ton of German resources - most of them were pretty old, but I went through them all and found a ticket for the Phoenix hotel in London to get room keys! I'm sure that was awhile ago... Boxed up the ones we don't want but will keep two fabulous resources - one on Germany from 1945 to 1990 and the other on the Brandenburg Gate. Took in a ton of books today, talked with teachers about what they had out. Went into the Main Frame to clear billed books that came in. Processed in one teacher magazine and three for the library. The day was gone before I knew it!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

11,300

That's the total of textbooks out as of this morning when I came in. We got in quite a few, even some from teachers that aren't here anymore! They had left the books in the room and the new teacher took them in. So, we checked in a lot today and a lot from teachers. Probably about 200 or so. Processed in two teacher magazines and three for the library. Worked out the magazine subscription list for next year though we're not sure if there will be funds for that or not, but better to be prepared. Worked on the June calendar and got it mostly up. Put away a lot of the stuff I had out for repairing in my spare time and just won't have that time anymore until next winter. Got my notice of ending date and my beginning date for August and signed that off.