The View from the Leslie Library Windows

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Last AP day

For the library anyways! I think we still have tomorrow in the CRIC, but we are now all done and life back to normal! Mrs. M had an appointment today so I came in early and opened up the library. It was fun to get things going and sit up at the main desk for the morning before the testing began. Helped a lot of kids, checked out a class set of Old Man and the Sea. Checked in and out various books and textbooks, helped a student copying things for a teacher, the paper had jammed. After testing started, I cleaned up some of the back and worked on more of the Life pages. Did you know that someone had worked with the Germans to try and get them relocated back in 1937? And as soon as he got them to agree to that, he resigned. I never knew that! I'm going to show that article to one of our social studies teachers tomorrow!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Half & Half

Today we started in the back because of testing, so I worked some more on the old Life magazines. We finally got back into the library about 11:30 and started to catch up from two days of being out. Did a lot of checking in and out (Mrs. M left at her usual time and Mrs. H left early for an appointment for one of her sons) so that left me. Withdrew some old teacher materials that hadn't been checked out for ten years and surplussed them and got all the surplus packed up for the pick up this month. Started working on cleaning up all my notes from Friday and Monday that were all in the back of who took what that I had written down. Checked a quadrillion e-mails. Processed three teacher magazines and five for us. Cleaned out some more stuff from the cupboards. We're going to see if the Art Department wants anything before we throw anything out.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Life

In the back all day again due to the AP Testing, so I began to work on our archived Life magazines that have torn pages, pages out, etc. I got a lot of things glued but had a lot of fun looking through ads and news from 1937. Such an amazing resource!

Friday, May 6, 2011

In the Back

Today was AP testing in the main library all day so we holed up in the back. I worked on inventory most of the day and straightening things up back there. Our tech at the school cleared off a bunch of shelves that Mrs. H wanted to move our Life magazines onto, so I redid some of the shelving and had our aides move the magazines over. She also had me clean off a bunch of teacher materials and I sorted through them and packed up most of the surplus for the pick up this month.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Hamster Massacre

So, I come in today and the kids are all taking the AP test, so we are in the back. I worked on the inventories I had printed up yesterday, finding books that are not on the 'in' list, and finding books that are on the 'in' list are not there. I clean those up once we get back out to the library about 12:30 or so. I check in and out books then, money into print accounts, the usuals for the rest of the afternoon and print up some more lists for tomorrow and Monday when the library will be closed all day. Mrs. H found this book called The Great Hamster Massacre. We got giggling over it. Would be a good middle school book.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Wedding!!!

So today I processed in three magazines for the library and one for a teacher and three of them were about Will and Kate's wedding!!! Oh my! I must admit they did not make it out to the magazine rack until after lunch when Mrs. H and I went through them! I printed up inventory forms for a lot of the books that have been used this year so I will do that tomorrow morning when I get in since there is more testing for the AP exams. Did some more repairs, checked in and out books and put money on print accounts. Took all our bills from the day and locked them up this afternoon since even I had quite a few. Talked with a teacher about her old outdated books - that we had sent them to another school, she had forgotten we had done that. Recommended a book for a student who was looking for adventure books, not too long! So I sent him to Roland Smith's Peak, and then he couldn't check it out because he didn't have his card with him - oh my! I took it up to Mrs. M for him so he could pick it up when he got to his backpack later and could get his card. Cleaned off my shelves of all the books I've kept aside for students to check out so I don't have to go in the back to get them. Most of them weren't asked for anymore and it's time to inventory and get ready for the books to start coming in.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

AP Testing

Today was our first day of AP Testing and the library was a site for the afternoon section. So, we all made ready and moved into the back around 11:30. I checked in books before then, but we were having problems with our Trac-it program, so I sent in a Tech Life Ring for that. Processed in four teacher magazines and three for the library. I also got the tables ready and coordinated with the counselors on what they needed for that since Mrs. H was out doing AVID interviews for next year. I also got our video announcements to remind the student body that the library would be closed all afternoon for the testing and not to come down. I worked a bit on the calendar and did a new 'math' bulletin board for the little board outside the workroom door. I checked through all the math books that came in from the first semester and found some wrong placements and a couple that need to be sent off to the school we borrowed them from. Helped Mrs. H with the print money, confirming counts for her to take the money up to the bookkeeper. Cleaned out some cupboards and rearranged some that were a bit untidy. The kids were still testing when it was time for me to go!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Caught Up

Had a teacher come in as I got there and needed some books for a student who had been suspended and turned in most of his books, so I rechecked them out to the student. Then we got in the Algebra Connections V2 books so I sent out an e-mail to the math department that we had extra copies for students that hadn't gotten one yet. Worked on some stuff for the bulletin board outside for when we have to be in the back because of AP testing tomorrow. I'm going with a math theme. Did more repairs and checking in/out for students, and money into print accounts. I also took our extra money and locked it up. (I keep adding in some stuff to the calendar, but think I finally have it down now! I've gotten a lot of people coming by to my 'Steampunk' theme! Thanks to our old Techie Angela and her hubby for all the amazing bike gears! 5/16)

April 29th

Today was just a half day and so I put up most of the May calendar, though I'm not entirely happy with it. It just needs more! Though I'm not sure of what more. Processed in three magazines for the library and did a few repairs to sit for the weekend. Now off to watch the Royal Wedding!

April 28th

Did a lot of repairs today and took down the old calendar from last month. Ordered in some of the Algebra Connections V2 books we were short of.

What I'm Reading

The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris was a great non-fiction read! Love a good non-fiction! Joseph Lister worked hard, studied hard, never gave up on his ideas that something outside was causing untold numbers of people to die after surgery. His quest to find the answer was long overdue and he was the one to craft it and make it a medical standard. Brilliant!
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho was so good. I liked it even better than Stamped. His honest and open look at what is was like for him growing up really brings the issues into focus. Highly recommended!
Verify by Joelle Charbonneau - what if everything went digital which gave the government and people in power a way to change history, past and current. What happened to some words, like the word 'verify' that is no longer in the digital dictionary. Meri has lost her mom and her dad drowns sorrow in liquor. Meri is entranced by her mom's last art pieces and is given a slip of paper (the horror! what about the trees? recycling?) and on it is the word 'verify'. Atlas gives her a dictionary, a paper one and an old history textbook. Meri jumps on the train with him so they can change the world.
Kalahari by Jessica Khoury - what a ride! I even took this home one night to finish! Sarah lives with her dad doing research deep in the Kalahari. A group of students are sent to see if they can qualify for a grant and when her dad goes missing when he heads off after poachers, she is left to take care of them. Her dad doesn't return and the poachers are after them. They come across a white lion stalking them, but wait? It isn't white it's something else. They come across a lab and realize there is a virus, that has been let loose on the Kalahari that could destroy the whole world. So exciting!! Great ending as well!
The Year of the Buttered Cat by Susan Haas with Lexi Haas - Okay. I have to admit that I got this book because of the title. Buttered cats, what an intriguing thought! But the real intrigue is the persistence, the optimism of Lexi. Because of jaundice, she was disabled and this story is about her decision to take a chance on ground breaking surgery to try and get some mobility, speech and live her gifts. She has five she had to find. Read it for Lexi (and maybe to find out about that buttered cat).
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. There are spaces only you can fill, and Darius learns this as his family travels to Iran to see his grandfather who is dying. Along the way he deals with his depression, makes a friend, has innumerable Star Trek references and also learns that it's okay, to not be okay. I must admit, I had to look up some of the places he got to visit. What a rich heritage. I thought Zoroastrians were long gone, but no, they are still practicing today in Iran. Great book, totally okay.
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin - perfect book lover tale of a woman captivated by a man and a bookstore and how she made more impact on her fellow book lovers and the man who got her to read than any bomb that fell during the Blitz. Very lovely!
The Girl From the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat - Lovely WW2 story by Jenny who actually grew up on one of the Channel Islands. Hedy fled Austria only to find her island haven invaded by the Germans. And though she is wary, she falls in love with a German officer. The twists and turns of German occupation test them both as each find a way to help the allied forces win.
Ancestor Approved edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith. I loved these short stories that all center around a modern day Native American Powwow. My fave was Rez Dog and they were all a great window into culture that I have rarely seen. I watched some videos on Fancy Dancing because of this and I would love to attend one, but feel a bit like a looky loo if I did. Fun, eye opening and full of information. Loved it!
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams Loved this fictionalized tale of the daughter of one of the lexicographers of the first ever Oxford Dictionary. As Esme goes from hiding under the sorting table, to one day being a lexicographer herself, we see her story unfold along with the people attached to the dictionary. It was really wonderful as we glimpsed her life and how the words she found and rescued formed the backbone of this novel. Really well done. It will stay on my shelves.