Checking

Had classes in every period today to check out books. All six periods. It was quite the ride! Assigned my aides to book shelves and I have to say, they all took looking at their shelves and taking care of them very seriously! It was very cool to see them shelving and straightening things up. We checked out quite a bit today, some of the 7th graders had books already, but a lot didn't. We also had our drill on condition 1, 2, and 3 today in case of external and internal threats. I thought the library would be empty and I could just work (quietly and kind of in the dark!), but I had four students from another class in with me. I was able to email the office to let them know they were with me and they were very good about going into our safe zone and following directions. After that I was able to open all the boxes of teacher resources for our new math books and get those all in boxes and labeled and let our office manager know they were all here. Also began to pack the empty math boxes with books for the surplus pick up in the fall. I think I got seven boxes ready to go. Cleaned up cardboard and packing materials. Had my aides deliver books, calculators and laminating to teachers today. Responded to emails. Wrestled with our copy machine. All in all, a great day in the library. Plus I was able to give our LEAP program some great double cardboard from the boxes for their art class to practice on. That made me happy!

Keeper of the Books

I just love it when students come in looking for the bookkeeper, it always makes me smile.  I always say "I am the Keeper of Books, but I am not the bookkeeper!" then I show on the school map or tell them where she is upstairs in the office area. Another student made me just grin today. He held the door for me when I came in and I asked him how he was today. He said it was his birthday, and he was really hoping for cake when he got home and to go spend the night with his cousins over the weekend. It was just a great conversation, no barriers, just two people chatting. Made me smile. I did a lot of smiling today! Two orientations to 6th graders today and checking out books. The IA with the class had me teach her how to check out and she was so great! We had fun checking books out to the students! I also had four classes come in to check out math books and did four classes of Kercheski Method for more math books. Finished up the Shapes and Designs math books with stamping and barcoding. Had my student who was working off book fines come in today with her lost book! Yeah! It had only been checked out once before, so I was glad it was back! And she doesn't have to work anymore! Did some laminating for three teachers tonight. I took in a little timer I had, and when I turn on the laminator, I set the timer for 10 minutes. If not done, I give it another 5 minutes. Works great! Got caught up on all my notes from students. Some to see if their old school can find their lost book or if it was paid. Others to ask for a book we don't have. Then I got more - ha! Love my job!

Booktalks for 8th Graders

Came in today and already there was trouble with the copier machine! So I helped out with that. Did my word of the day and put it up. I got the great opportunity to booktalk for the 8th graders today and up my book age a bit. They did check out some awesome books I talked on! It was great! Did that for four classes. Checked out books to Mr. H for his class sets. Also checked out math books a la Kercheski to Ms. S. and got the rest of her books ready for checking out tomorrow. I had the boys and my student work on the new Shapes and Design books so all I had to do was write the numbers on the ends. We are almost all done with that group, then on to the next math book! First period was crazy. I had a class of 8th graders, then all our South students came in this morning. It was a bit on the overload side of things! I had a student come in 6th period and work off her book fines, and she's almost done with that! I'm so proud of her! She did a great job working with our math books, then helping me check out! During the staff meeting today, I worked on the math books and putting their numbers on the ends and got all caught up with the books the students had stamped and barcoded. Checked out a few other students here and there since they weren't with their class when they got books before and some kids came in to trade out their library books and get new ones. We had quite a few students with overdue books out from last year or other years, so we note that and we talk about options to get those taken care of. They still get to check out one book at a time until they are taken care of! Another fabulous day in the library! Books flew off the shelves!

9-11

I could not let today go by without a memorial to 9-11. So  I brought in my fabric and gathered the books we had. Most of our kids were not even born yet. I had a group in this morning that will come in about every other day and one of them picked up our Tribute book and looked at it during 1st period, but that was about it. I may do this one more year, that will be 15 years. I'll have to see after that. Another great day in the library! Two orientations with book talks and a lot of the books I'm talking about have been checked out! Makes me happy, but then I need to find more books to talk about and put up! I still have more on my cart, but they are paperbacks and need to be covered, so that will happen Monday! Had my aides finish up all my Kercheski check outs today. We only messed up one class, so that was easily taken care of! Got Mr. S and Mrs. C's books all done and taken to their classes. Handed out Realidades workbooks to the students that paid for them (new ones have been ordered and are on their way!).Quite a few of our kids still have books out from last year. So they only get to check out one book at a time until those are taken care of. Most of the students were "Oh, yeah, that's on my shelf at home!" Hopefully they will bring them in! Some were from other schools so I had to contact the other school to see if it was there, or if it had been paid for. Had two students in for lunch and one of them left a nasty surprise on one of our search computers. Just made me ill. Not only that I saw it, but that another student might have. I didn't know her name, but I did know the girl she was with. Ended up taking a picture with my phone and sending all the info to our campus monitor and our behavior specialist. Checked out a class set of Language Network to a teacher. Tried to help another with document camera issues, but the two doc cams we had wouldn't work for her. Off for the weekend with books in tow. I still have classes coming in for booktalks next week too! Must get busy! I had one of our teachers in today and as I rattled off books and talked about them, she asked me (have you read all those?), I had to say yes! Of course!

Caution, You are in a Library

Took up Mrs. C's spanish books up first thing this morning. Then I got ready for five classes of 6th graders to come in and get the library orientation and check out books. A very busy day! I did go along the shelves and put books up on top to begin with, and made sure I put up books that I could do a book talk on. Three classes got orientation and book talks, two got just the orientation. Checking them out took a long time! I had aides half the day and that went really well when they were around, but the rest of the time I was on my own! Most of the classes ran over the period time (but luckily they were block classes, so no big deal) but the last class I made sure to give them the information quick and check out books right away so they would be done by the time the bell rang and they did! One piece of my blurb I was really proud of    (and will put it here when I can!)   A very busy day with lots of talking then off to our Rogue Librarian PLC meeting at the Ram! My blurb:

Caution! You have entered a library! There is more death, lies and betrayals than you will ever experience. Things can get graphic, consequences play out. Princesses to break your heart or your arm, and dragons to pet or turn you into ash. Zombies lurk on these shelves and love conquers even vampires. Magic reigns, cooking triumphs and fairy tales twist ancient myths to urban truths. Beware! These books are not safe! There are also tales of great sacrifice and love, angst and compassion as the characters struggle with their own misconceptions. Everyone learns. Enter at your own risk!

Everybody

All the students were back today. I started in the gym helping to hand out schedules to the 7th graders. Then back to the library to see if I had any aides, but I didn't for first period. So then I spent the next 4 periods giving my aides tours of the library and some of the work we do there. I had five aides today! Some were really good, some a bit questionable! I also had classes in to check out math books. Gave them all a little spiel about the textbooks, they were brand new. It took awhile to check out since four of the classes were 6th graders & they'd never done that before. Did some Kercheski Method (give me your class list with name and student ID# - we check out books to each student, put the # of the book by their name, and send the books to your room. You get in more teaching time!) check outs for Mrs. C. I didn't like the way it was working out. We had to check out a textbook & a workbook. It was not going well in my opinion. I messed around a bit, and finally decided to pair the textbook and the workbook together for each student and put them in order of the class list I got. That made me feel better. I got all the classes done for her except one (four down)! One class Kercheski'd to Mr. S. Got my NetSupport but have no idea how to run it. So I messed around a bit trying to find out how to! Checked out three library books today and realized all the books I put out on the new rack do not have tattle strips in them. I will do those first thing tomorrow!

And on the 6th Grade Day...

All our new 6th graders came today to see how the school works without trying to get around the 7th and 8th graders. They are almost all shorter than me! So that was great! I spent passing times out in the hallways helping them find their way and to open their lockers! Put up a quick poster on the Newbery books and a new item, my little bulletin board will host a new word of the day with definition, example and synonyms. I found a website that does 6th - 9th grade appropriate level words! So I'm excited about that! Checked out another class set to Mrs. B for social studies. Moved all the rest of the schoolwide boxes into the back. Have more new math books and found out from Mr. S that the ones I was barcoding for the 7th graders won't be used first~~argh! The others all still in their boxes are, so I switched gears and started the Shaping ones. Got 60 done. I was really hoping for an aide today, but didn't have any show up! Did emails. Got all my personal stuff into the office manager. Had two other schools request books, so I sent out a notice to the LA teachers to see if they wanted any, and if not, I'd send them out. Sent out a notice to the other middle school library media aides about meeting for our PLC Thursday and talking about books to order. And answering questions from the new Assistants. We need to have a huge order in by the first of October. Not sure how that will play out. I'm thinking I will end up at Powell's this weekend to prowl the shelves. Put the new books out on my rack. Had a great conversation with our Industrial Arts teacher to have his students work on book ends for me! And to display stuff up on the top of the shelves in the library! We were having a great time bouncing ideas off each other and he was really happy about it and so was I! Laminated a few things for teachers, so hopefully I will have aides tomorrow to deliver! It was a busy day!!!

What's Best for the Kids

That was our focus today during our morning training for the school year. In the meantime, I worked on more of the math books. Loaded two huge rolls of poster paper onto our rack. Cleaned a filter on a projector for a new teacher and reset her filter timer. Checked out a few things. Got all my tables back to their ADA configuration with the help of our custodians. I still have one table I really want to get rid of! So, I sent out an email and hopefully someone will want it. Had a lovely potluck with all the teachers and staff today. Got a Leslie Lions t-shirt we are supposed to wear on certain days. Did some laminating for two teachers. Did I mention I worked on math books? All the Prime Times are done and I got through 90 of the Accentuate the Negative. Checked in books from a teacher who is off to another school. Redid all the math book shelves so all the new stuff will be in the right place. Mr. B came in looking for some non-fiction and I showed him we still have the Prentice Hall Lit books and he took one all excited. I love those books too! Off until the 6th graders come in Tuesday! Looking forward to them!

Inspiring the Future

That was our focus at the LMSS meeting today. Remembering to be inspired by the students we serve every day. Got our new budgets (not set yet! We should be getting more!), talked about the stats from the year. Had meetings with our advisors and talked with our feeder schools. It was a great meeting and said good-bye to our textbook guy, Mr. C who retired today. He's been a great person in tackling the textbook side of things and I will miss his voice on the phone and cheery emails. Back at school our IC found a bunch of the schoolwide boxes in a back room, so I took a cart and brought them down and checked them in with all their pieces - we are only missing two books from them. Got rid of some more books to Language Arts teachers. Checked out 40 Readers Handbooks. Got all the Read 180 stuff ready to be picked up tomorrow. Got all the Bits and Pieces done and almost all the Prime Time math books (found another box!). Checked out more resources to teachers. Played Pandora with my Celtic shuffle to get through the end of the day while I reeled out those math books!

Day Two

Came in today and got right to work on the math books. By the end of the day I had all the Bits and Pieces all done and was starting on the Prime Time. I also measured the shelves and had to move a couple of things to make all the different titles possible for the shelves in the back. Checked out lots to teachers today. Had to work on the Health books since we had two more than what the computer said. Checked in three sets of science books that had been 'lost' for quite awhile. Talked a lot with our Language Arts teachers (since we have quite a few new ones) about what is available in the library. Got in my tape and contact paper I had ordered. Found out I do have Friday off (yeah!). Which leaves me wondering if I'll get all the math books done :(  Got some of the new teachers to take some old books so I don't have to surplus them. Had our science guys look through Ms. J's things she left when she retired last year and they took a couple of things ('These are mine! She borrowed them and I forgot about them!') Checked out three class sets of social studies. Took in books from classrooms that had new teachers in them and didn't need these things! (two encyclopedia sets from 1989 and 1992! - but one of our new teachers took the 1992 set!). Got our bookkeeper set up with her own access to the textbook program and went over checking in things with her. Laminated a few things for teachers today. Condensed a few carts so I have extras for teachers. Checked on a book for a student that called. We didn't have it, so I did find two books that were missing from students today so I told him to call back next week after the new teachers had cleaned out their rooms, it still might show up.