Annual Library Goals

Today, I submitted my annual library goals to my principal, and found out this afternoon they were approved.  Here they are:

Technology

Goal 1: Use social media to promote reading and available resources

I would like to use social media to increase communication between the library and the school community.  This will give the library another avenue to spread the word about upcoming events, book releases, reading tips, and more.  By informing stakeholders in our students’ education about what the library has on offer, we can directly impact student learning by promoting reading and available resources.  I will create a Facebook page and make at least one post each week.  We will actively promote the page through email signature, hand outs, and word of mouth.  By the end of the year, we will have over 50 people from our school community who have “liked” the site.

Goal 2: Create an elementary library website for students, faculty, and parents

I would like to create a one-stop website for everything related to our library (class sign-up calendar, card catalogue, book suggestions form, links to units).  By knowing where to go and find things easily, library patrons will feel more encouraged to use our services.  By the end of the year, there will be at least one unit up for each grade level in each subject area. 

Goal 3: Create resource lists for patrons to find resources more easily

Our card catalogue system has the ability to hold resource lists on any topic that we would like, but this has not been utilized.  By the end of the year, there will be at least 50 resource lists with 10 or more book suggestions in each one.

Curriculum

Goal 1: Review, adopt, and align curriculum library standards

While there are some library-related curriculum objectives currently up on Atlas, the curriculum is not very developed.  There are organizations, such as the American Association of School Librarians and the American Library Association who have published library standards for students.  I would like to review these as a starting point and adopt a set of standards for us to begin working from.  By the end of the year we will have our standards selected, and many or all of our grade level benchmarks in place.

Instruction

Goal 1: Develop a list of age-appropriate read-aloud books for each grade level to be used during library period

The first 10-15 minutes of every library period involves a read-aloud story, but currently nothing is in place as to what books will be read.  We would like to have a list that can be used from year to year (modified as needed) and that promotes library and classroom curriculum objectives, a love of reading, and the development of age-appropriate critical thinking skills.  By the end of the year, we will have these lists formed (many of which we will have used in our classes).

Assessment

Goal 1: Collect data from students to create a stronger library program through the use of student-friendly surveys, discussions, and observation. 

To create a stronger library program, I would like to collect information on students’ reading habits, what they like to/don’t like to read, strategies, strengths/weaknesses, and interests.  By the end of the year, we will have used student friendly-surveys, discussions, and observations to create a report that has this information.  This report will help us make more informed decisions to guide instruction.

Y Books

We have hundreds of books for our youngest readers too, which are our pre-school and kindergarten students.  Some of these books are hardbound, but most of them are paperback.  We encourage students to take these books out since many of them have just started to handle library books, and are learning how to take care of them, to bring them back, etc.

Last year, these books stayed in boxes, and each week kids could take out books from a particular box.  This did not give them full access to the collection and did not mirror what older students do.  Another huge problem was that parents, teachers, and librarians had to search through hundreds of books if they were looking for something in particular.  

I think it is fun for students to pick books directly from the shelves if they want, so this year we used some of our shelves to create a special area just for them.  Some of our younger students find choosing books from the shelves to be overwhelming, so we also lay a few books out on the floor for kids to choose from if they prefer to do it that way.  It is another way to differentiate. 

These books until now have been labeled as “E,” grouped in with what was until recently the same call letter for our picture books.  Now that we will be using the call letter “E” for a brand new section - “Emerging Readers,” and renaming the picture books as "P," we have to give these books a new call letter as well.  They are in their own distinct section of the library, and people need to know where to go if they look up these books in the card catalogue.  Until recently, people have looked up these books, and gone to the "E" section of the library since they carry that call letter, only to find that they are not there.  We have decided to call these books "Y" books in honor of our "Younger Readers."

We have been making labels in Microsoft Word and printing them out in color.  I love how they look, and we never have to worry about running out of a particular color because we can just print more.  We attach these to the spine with spine label adhesive tape.  

This section sees a lot of movement, with kids pulling them off the shelves and sticking them back anywhere nearby repeatedly.  At this age, we do not want kids to be concerned with call numbers of course (some of them can’t even count or say their alphabet yet), but rather just to love coming to the library and developing a love for books.  As a library staff we wanted to develop a system that allowed for this age group to choose books at will, but also allowed us to keep them organized enough so we could find books quickly.  We didn’t want the standard practice of call numbers and letters to be the way we organized this section, since this would not help this age group very much and because it would be a shelving nightmare.  After much thinking, we came up with a system that we really like and are enjoying.  We have broken the books up, 50 at a time, into different color groups.  We now have call numbers that say "Y Red," "Y Brown," "Y Yellow," and so on in the card catalogue.  As mentioned, before students, parents, teachers, and librarians had to go through hundreds of books (over 750) to find a book, but now they only have to look among the small section of the shelf that has that color (about 50 books).  We are able to find a book now in less than a minute. :)   

Our young readers love the color bands and the freedom they have to take books at will off the shelves.  Our parents and teachers love the ease of locating a book.  Our librarians love all of the above, as well as how easy the books are to shelve. 

Being politically correct…even with your library sections

We are completely redoing the sections in our library - where books are located, what books belong in each section, and even the names of the sections as well.  A name says a lot.  So, here's to being politically correct…even with your library section headings and call numbers! :)

We have had the following sections in our library…until now.

ENF – elementary non-fiction

JF – junior fiction 

TR – teacher resource

E – easy

BB – big books

LIL - literacy library 

REF – reference

Because we are part of a Pre-K to 12 school, we cannot completely redo our call number sections without taking into account what already exists in the middle and high school libraries.  For example, middle school and high school libraries simply use the Dewey Decimal system for their non-fiction books (without any letter code in front) and just use an “F” for their fiction section, something pretty standard in many other libraries.  

The designation “ENF" (Elementary Non-Fiction) was placed before a Dewey Decimal number to specify that a non-fiction book comes from our elementary library instead of the middle and high school libraries.  However, sometimes the "ENF" designation has been confusing for elementary students, especially since we have another section in our library that is just “E.”  By dropping the “(E)-(F)” and just making it “N,” students will not find this confusing anymore.  It will not impact the middle or high school libraries either, since they do not have a section designated as "N."  Lastly, it will also be more in line with other parts of our library since we are dropping all sections to just one letter (for example, "LIL" will be "L," and “REF” will become “R”). 

Does this mean having to redo the spine labels?  Yes and no.  Because libraries get new books each year, we will have to create spine labels anyway for our new books (our order for this fall still hasn’t come, so here’s an opportunity in the making).  As for redoing non-fiction books that are already on the shelves, we want to drop our decimal points at least to the tenths-place anyway since it’s harder for kids to find books when there are too many decimals and it also makes shelving more time-consuming.  Therefore, we pretty much need to redo a lot of the spine labels  and will take advantage of this opportunity to switch them to “N.”  The only ones that we would be changing the call number labels for, not so much for the sake of change...but rather for uniformity, would be the books already on the shelves that don’t have decimal points beyond the tenths-place.  But, since we want to color code all of the section letters in the call numbers (more on that later), it is something we don’t mind doing.

I am not sure what to do about the JF designation.  We cannot really take off the “J” and just be left with “F” because that would confuse our books with those belonging to middle and high school.  But, it doesn’t seem that there is any other term you could call these books beside fiction (there are not really any good synonyms out there).  Please feel free to comment below and suggest one! :)  Until I come across a better term, this will be our only section of the library where the call number is made up of two initial letters instead of just one.  It would be nice to find a term that allows this section to stand on its own (not in the shadow of another division, not a mini-version of something else).  This would be sort of like switching from the term “junior high” to “middle school,” where the later stands on its own and doesn’t mean “less than” or “in preparation towards” something else, like the former one does.

"BB" has stood for "Big Books." We were going to just drop the one "B" from "BB" (in line with our push to have single letter call letters), but thought that "B" might be better for a "Beginner" section we would like to create.  We are now calling these books "O" for "Oversized" and will also include a few books under this call letter which we keep in the "Office" for certain reasons (more on that to come in another post).

We have a large professional development section and are changing the term “TR” to “S” for “staff” since other people besides teachers use this section (administrators, assistants…).  It also keeps us in line with our goal of just one initial call letter per section.  Again, we want to color code these letters and make them bigger, so we would be redoing the spine labels anyway.  Right now, these books have the call number "TR" and a Dewey Decimal number, but the books still do not seem to be grouped properly, even when shelved correctly.  I am coming up with a system to make this easier so that staff members not need to know the Dewey Decimal system in order to find books, and they can be re-shelved more easily.  More on this once finished.

In an previous post, I mentioned that we were changing the "E" from "Easy" to "Everybody."  We don't want kids to feel bad if they are struggling with books that are supposed to be easy.  But, we have since decided to change our "E" books into "P" for "Picture Books."  One reason is because that is what these books primarily are and another is because it will free up the letter "E" for another section we hope to create called "Emerging Readers." 

Drum roll, please!  Here are our new more politically correct (and more simply named) sections!

N - non-fiction

JF - junior fiction (the one I still struggle with)

S - staff

P - picture books

O - office/oversize 

L -  literacy library 

R - reference

However, the fun doesn’t stop there.  We’re actually creating new sections, something we are very excited about…meaning there will be a few more section letters you’ll get to meet. J More on that coming in a future blog post!

Help with fiction call numbers: Imagining yourself as an author

Students often ask me if we carry books by a particular author they are looking for.  This could be any one of a large number of popular authors such as Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, Cynthia Rylant, or even someone more obscure.  But, all too often it seems that students are unaware that the answer to their "Do you have any books by _______?" question is literally right under their noses.  I want students to feel empowered so that they can explore and discover books that they are interested in.  Helping them understand call numbers (be it because they located a book in the catalogue first or because they have a particular author in mind) helps them do just that.  However, some elementary students really struggle with the concept of searching for books using an author’s last name.  Some had even thought that the letters on the fiction shelves were meant to mark book titles or to even indicate different reading levels (like Fountas and Pinnell).  I wanted to give them more practice.  

Today, I thought of a fun, quick way today to help students in grades three to five conceptualize and practice searching for books based on authors' last names.  I had them close their eyes and imagine themselves as authors one day in the not-too-distant future, authors of books that other students will want to read.  I could see some students enjoyed this daydream. :)

After opening their eyes, I asked third-graders to say their last names to a partner, and also what the first letter of their last name was.  Students then moved around in pairs to help each other find the shelf where their books would be.  They were very excited!  

Most of them did well, but of course some needed help.  We have a lot of ESL learners and sometimes the letters are hard, especially for those who are newer to the language (this actually makes me think that I should put up an alphabet chart somewhere in my library).  Therefore, deciding where G might go, out the following sequences A-D, E-K, L-Q, and R-Z, is not as easy as it might appear.  This is an important skill that will need more practice (Note: this task would be equally difficult if real authors were being used also).  

In fourth and fifth grade we started out in a similar way, but I had kids try to find their aisles individually.  Once they found these, I then asked students to go a step further by pinpointing the exact location of where their book(s) would be in the aisle. I had them put their finger in that spot while I came around and checked.  Some students were absolutely thrilled to see that they shared the same call letter combination as authors already out there, quickly generating interest for them in who those people were too.  

This was an activity that got kids moving and filled them with pride since they could visualize their future spot as an author in the library.  It also made the concept of call numbers more concrete, and generated some excitement and understanding about looking for books based on authors’ last names.  We will be practicing this again of course with real authors now, but it was a fun, quick introduction to get them thinking about how books are arranged in the library.

In addition to library orientation and tours, we've been using color coding in the library to help students keep track of the section they are in.

Author Visit

Today, Ms. Khyrunnisa A, author of the comic series “Butterfingers,” came on a very special surprise visit for some of our fourth and fifth-grade students.  It was really wonderful to see students’ faces light up  when they heard the news – especially our Indian students since Butterfingers is quite popular here.  Her Butterfingers character first appeared in Tinkle, famed Indian magazine, in 1996.  The author recently cast this beloved character in the starring role of her first novel, and is set to come out with her second book of the series this coming June.

Butterfingers is a likeable 13 year-old boy who is extremely clumsy.  In fact, he has inherited the nickname of Butterfingers since everything slips through his hands.  His friends regularly appear in the comics as well, bringing with them their own special personalities to entertain readers.  In the novel, titled "Howzzat Butterfingers," the main character proves once again that he very much deserves his nickname - this time in the context of cricket, a sport loved by most of India.

The author shared strategies with students on how to come up with writing ideas (basing things on real events, keeping a journal…), got students thinking about their own possible futures as authors, and read from her book.  At the end, there was a question and answer session, and Ms. Khyrunnisa signed autographs for students.  We hope to have her back again!   

Related links to the novel "Howzzat Butterfingers" and Tinkle magazine:

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/books/article504285.ece
http://www.yentha.com/news/view/4/1178
http://www.tinkleonline.com/registration/index.php

Library welcome and information session

Sign greeting people to the library information session

Today we held a “Library Welcome and Information Session” for the AISC community from 8:30-9:15 a.m.  We advertised this event on our Facebook page as well as in the weekly principal notes, starting about two weeks ago.  In addition, we have had a sign up in the library informing parents about the event and have been sharing this with them verbally also when they come to check out books. 

Explaining the online card catalogue

During the forty-five minute session, library staff introduced themselves, went over our educational program and lesson format, talked about library usage policies, and showed parents on the Smart Board how to access and use the card catalogue.  We gave parents a tour, registered some of them as new patrons, and gave them a chance to check out books.  And of course, we also had coffee and cookies for guests. 

In addition to handing out a list of tips on helping students choose good books, we passed out a one-page hand out with important library-related information, including our email contact, catalogue web address, Facebook link, library hours, and much more.  Much of this we went over during the presentation, but it is good to have things in writing for visual learners and people still learning English.  It also gives me a chance to relay the information to people who could not attend the meeting by giving them hard copy or sending it through email.  

On a funny note, we had an emergency lock-down drill take place during our presentation.  However, no harm done.  It was a good chance to show parents that we also have safety codes in place.

This session was part of a greater series of sessions where parents can get to know different departments (coffee with the ESL Department, Learning Resource Center, etc.) and I think it is a great idea.  We have already had Back to School Night this year, but not everybody could come and some families have joined our school since that event took place, so this is another way to bring more people into our library.  I would like to continue having these info sessions for parents, and even have specialized ones throughout the year.  Topics will include: getting the most out of your library searches, choosing a “just right” book, how to promote reading at home, responsible and safe Internet usage, and more.  

Computer stations and printers

When I arrived a month ago, we had only one computer in the library area for card catalogue searches and one computer at the circulation desk for check out.  It was possible to look up books in the adjacent computer area,  but this was a little cumbersome since there is a half-wall that cuts across the library and you have to go all the way around.  Also, looking up books on those computers isn't really possible when classes go on in there.  As for the circulation desk, one computer was fine as far as individuals or small groups went, but classes could not be checked out as effectively and students had to wait (even with individual patron barcodes on their "shelfmarkers").

Enjoying two check-out stations at the circulation desk

I am happy to announce that we now have three card catalogue stations for patrons and two computers at the circulation desk for check out!  This is really great news because it means that people have more access to the information they need and that they can retrieve this more quickly.  


How did this get remedied?  My  assistant and aide shared a work computer about ten feet away, but the way it was set up meant that their back had to face the library.  By drilling another hole in the circulation desk for cables and bringing their computer over, it meant that we could now also use it for checking out books.  This means that we also have another pair of eyes to help supervise when students are in the library.  Because we are a team, I like having everyone being together like this much more as well – and it translates into more smiles at the circulation desk.  There is still plenty of space for my assistant and aide to still do library-related work, and when there is not a heavy volume of patrons in the library, the second computer will still be used for that purpose (i.e. cataloguing).  I put signs up on the back of each computer to greet patrons.  One reads "Hello and Welcome!  How may I help you?" and the other says "It's so nice to see you!"  These colorful, friendly signs make our library even more welcoming. 

In terms of solving the amount of card catalogue stations, I decided to move two computers out of the computer classroom area and put them nearby, just outside in the library area.  Because there is only a half wall between the computer area and the library, it means that teachers and library staff can still work with those students just like the rest of the class when students come down to use the computers.   Classes only come to use the computers occasionally (although quite frequently at peak times during the year or for certain units), so the rest of the time patrons have more card catalogue stations at their disposal. 

We are one of the main printing places in elementary school for color printing, but the color printer has been located behind the circulation desk.  This means that teachers and students have had to come behind the desk to retrieve printing.  This is not favorable because it's less convenient for teachers and students, library staff needs to have their own space in the library, and it's nice to have fewer people in the actual work station.  We switched the location of the color printer with the black and white one, so now people can retrieve their printing from the front of the desk without having to walk behind (see photo above near plant - additional note: people do not need to print black and white usually to the library because everybody has a printer in their classroom).  

Our next plan is to get speakers for our library so that we can play classical music during check out.  We are very excited about that too.

Book spine labels

When I opened up our supply shipment, I was pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed at the same time...more spine label stickers.  We already had a lot, and with our newest additions I do not think we are going to run out anytime soon - I can safely say we that have a couple thousand, which is good because we have a lot of books.  There are so many of them in fact, that it can really be difficult to find the one you want when you really need one.  Moreover, they have been in different places - behind the circulation desk, in the library office, and in boxes, so I decided to organize them today.  This way we will know what we have and can find them more easily in the future. 

1. First, I gathered all the stickers and matched them up by kind. 

2. Once all the stickers were more or less in the right piles, I started taking them out of the packaging.  The plastic packaging and back inserts really add up when you are talking thousands of stickers.  I put all the labels of a particular kind into one bag this way, instead of twenty little plastic bags.  It also means much less storage space needed for all these labels because packaging takes up so much room.

3. Once stickers were reunited with each other :) and the extra packaging was taken care of, I then categorized them into holidays, genres, topics, etc. and put them into durable plastic bins.

Sorting out kid stickers into different groups: reading, holidays, cultural...

4. Some stickers are not necessarily spine labels, but just fun stickers.  I want us to be able to find these quickly also when needed so I arranged these into five different groups and marked each bag with the appropriate label (Reading, Holiday, Multicultural, Good job/Well done, Just for fun). 

5. I put each sticker on the front of the bins they are in to clearly mark where to find them when the time comes.  The boxes fit nicely into our cabinet. 

Here are the labels that we have: 

Box 1 (yellow) - Genres and Topics:
Folklore, Fairy Tales, Adventure, Horror and Suspense, Science Fiction, Mythology, Humor, Historical Fiction, Classic, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Fantasy, Sports, Environment, Spanish, French, Dinosaurs, Dogs, Cats, Horses 

Box 2 (blue) - Holidays, Seasons, Awards, and Reading Levels:
Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Jewish holidays, Valentine's Day, India-related, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Newberry Award, Caldecott Award, Alphabet, Counting, Reading Level 1, Reading Level 2, Reading Level 3, Reading Level 4 

Box 3 (red) - Color Shapes and Letters:
Rectangle - Blue, Dark green, Light green, Red, Orange, Black, Yellow, Pink; Circle - Light blue, Yellow, Red, Green; Black letters on white rectangles 

Box 4 (green) - Fun Stickers:
Good job/well done, Reading, Multicultural stickers, Holiday stickers, Just for fun

Our spine labels are much easier to find now by holidays, genres, etc.  

In a lot of ways, this book label sorting project has a lot of parallels to our overall library reconfiguration: grouping resources together systematically, making things efficient, and using good signage. 


The question that remains in my mind is if too many labels make it actually harder to find books.  While the stickers are now organized and we know what we have, I’m not sure I want to use all of them.  By not highlighting just particular themes and genres, or at least just key books in each category, I wonder if we actually do a disservice to people when they try to find books because of spine label overload.  Is this a case of less being more?  You could try to just shelf read for certain colors when looking at spine labels, but that creates a problem too.  For example, our Humor, Christmas, Alphabet, Realistic Fiction, Reading Level 2, and Dog books are all red labels with white writing!  I’ve gone to grab a Halloween book off the shelf, only to see that it’s really Historical Fiction which is the same color and font.  I also find it unfortunate that labels don’t really show on thin spines. 

I also notice that our labels do not take into account all the books we have, or may even inadvertently prioritize certain books over others.  For example, we do not have a spine label sticker for Muslim holidays.  Meanwhile, Jewish holidays get one label (a single "Jewish Holidays" sticker) while certain Christian holidays get their very own individual label (Christmas, Easter).  We want all students to feel that their beliefs are valued in the library, so I am going to look at getting more equitable stickers if we continue to use spine labels in the library.

Do you use labels to indicate genres, reading levels, topics, etc.?  Which ones, and what for purposes?

Cleaning out the office

Today I sorted supplies, both new and old - for the circulation desk and the library office.  We are lucky to have so many supplies, but of course we need to make sure they are organized.  Thousands of rubber bands (in Maine we call them elastics), paperclips of all shapes and colors, zillions of roles of masking tape (some past their prime which need to go), and much more.  I even found some old wooden shelf markers from yesteryear in one of the filing cabinets during our early spring cleaning.  Sorting office supplies is not that different from categorizing books into library sections (writing utensils go here, extra paper goes here...).   Best to grab yourself a cup of coffee, and once you have, let the work begin!  

Because we have drawer space now from re-arranging some of our circulation desk furniture earlier this month, we are able to organize our supplies better.  We also received a file cabinet yesterday and are putting all of the loose papers that had been in trays into a filing system.  Small things have been put into containers to keep them more organized.  

In organizing materials, I stopped to think of what the circulation desk really needs, so that there is not too much clutter.  Less is more because that way supplies are easier to find and keep organized (less fumbling).  The top of the circulation desk is now completely clear and patrons can see what you want them to see - bookmarks, info sheets, and announcements.  In addition, they have more space to check out books and staff have more room for working.  Break/lunch schedules are now on the back counter out of view from the public.  The circulation desk appears very professional.  I also want to make sure that we have extra supplies readily available at the circulation desk for patrons to borrow as well - pens/pencils, erasers, paperclips, correction fluid, scissors, rubber bands, stapler + staples, a ruler, and a hole puncher.  As for extra supply quantities, it's better to keep them in a separate compartment not too far away for easy restocking (again less clutter), and these are now neatly stored in a large cabinet in my office.   

In the end, all supplies went to one of seven places: 1) the circulation desk area, 2) my office desk, 3) library class kits, 4) office cabinet, 5) the staff room (free give-aways), 6) the middle/high school libraries, and 7) the dustbin.  Our next step is to label the drawers/doors so that people can find things easily and know where to put things back.  We also need to go through all the pens and markers to make sure they still work. 

A welcome addition to library shelf signage

We have added additional signage in our library to help students, staff, and parents find popular book series.  Each row of JF books now has four series listed on the front of the shelves so that people can find books more easily.  For the time being, we're limiting the list to four for each row so there is no "signage clutter."  In deciding which books to showcase, we listened to what books most kids were requesting most often.  It is hoped that kids will be able to find books more easily, and this will also give kids more ideas of books to take out if they need extra help.

We embossed and bolded the font to make it stand out more, and played around with color schemes, shapes, and sizes for pictures and fonts.  In addition to these signs, we have chosen Calibri (sans-serif) and Cambria (serif) as our official library fonts for signage, hand outs, etc. - helping us to make the library more cohesive.  We are adding multiple colors to walls, purchasing bright tables, and creating lively displays also, so it's ok to have a little uniformity somewhere too in this regard. :)

New shelf signage helps kids finds books more easily.

What's best is that each sign has a picture related to the series (character, logo, etc.).  This adds more visual appeal to the library, and especially with some of our younger kids or ESL readers helps them find books they are more able to identify based on visuals. 

We did these signs with blue borders since our designated JF section is blue.  We hope that kids who struggle with the concept of categories or the difference between fiction and non-fiction will find the color-coding helpful.  One of our big upcoming projects will also now be to color code the call numbers.  All the JF books will say ‘JF’ in blue for example.  It adds color, makes books easier to shelf read for staff, and reinforces in students’ minds that these books go together.     

Kids have responded positively to the signs and have demonstrated more confidence in selecting popular books they'd like to read.  It also gives them more time to explore other books or ask us for suggestions and help.  

We plan to do all of the above with the non-fiction next, which currently has no extra signage other than the new big red call numbers that we added.  We will highlight 4-5 key subjects (popular and/or tied to curriculum units) for each row of books (once again not too much "signage clutter," giving us about 30 shelf signs in non-fiction.  For outerspace - we can put a picture of Saturn, for plants – we can put a flower, and so on.  We will use red borders since we have chosen red as our non-fiction color.  

Facebook library page

Our Facebook Photo

We have created a Facebook page for our library, and are very excited for parents and staff to begin visiting our site.  We now have over 25 people who like the page, a number required to give the organization/club an officially recognized name on Facebook (making it also much more easy for people to find you because you get an easier URL).  Because of Facebook regulations, the page is not intended for elementary school students, but rather to inform stakeholders in their education about library services and resources. 

As some schools have chosen to host Facebook pages and some have not, we went through the school administration first to discuss the idea of having a Facebook page before publicizing our new online space.  To make sure that the page is successful and enjoyable, we have set strong privacy settings.  For example, people may not tag photos, and if anybody comments on the page I receive an email message so I can check what was written.  We are using the page for information dissemination only - primarily for letting people know about upcoming events, new books, reading tips, and more.  We also plan to put more photos of our library up on the site (of the space and staff only, not students) to let them know about what we are doing and to encourage them to come in more frequently to the library.   

I made cards for the circulation desk with our Facebook URL.  When new patrons get their library numbers, we are using these cards to write their numbers down.  That way they get reminded to check out our Facebook site when they retrieve their library numbers in the future. 

I am a big advocate of using social media to get information out there as much as possible.  Facebook, like any other social media tool, has the potential to connect people to what we do, and I want our library to be a part of people’s regular routine.    

Decor

We would like to make the library even more welcoming!  We currently have white walls with brown shelves and a blue carpet, which is unfortunately not a very exciting combination for our elementary library.  I met with the Facilities Management people to inquire as to whether or not we could spruce it up a bit, and they said yes!  Our principal and director support the idea of making the space as inviting as possible, and it's exciting to work on this aspect of the library as well.  In addition to the resources, programming, and staff, libraries are also about the space itself.

I want to create something that is colorful, but that is not too busy either.  I want it to look professional and fun at the same time.  I would love it to cool people down from the heat outside, but not be too cold.  A lot of things to consider!  After a lot of thought, here is what I came up with for our painting project.  

Note: Unfortunately, I cannot get the two halves to be combined here for you to view, but note that part 1 and part 2 form one continual line of color.  Each horizontal white box represents a window.  This is an extremely long wall with 14 good-size windows, and is the wall you see first when you walk in the library (opposite the main door).

Part 1: Left side

Part 2: Right side

This will be the wall with the most color, but we will be adding touches of color to other parts of the library also, including warm yellow in one location.  We will be repeating the salmon color in between the windows on columns elsewhere in the library as well.  

We will put photos up once the painting is done of course, but this is something to whet your appetite for the time being.

Student and professional magazines

We subscribe to the following magazines for elementary students:

American Girl, Cobblestone, Highlights, Kids Discover, National Geographic Kids, Owl, Ranger Rick, Sports Illustrated Kids, Zoo Books

And, these are our professional publication subscriptions:

Classroom Skill Builders: Teacher’s Helper (Levels: Kindergarten to Intermediate), Junior Scholastic, Mailbox (Levels: Pre-school to Intermediate), The Reading Teacher, Scholastic Instructor, Social Studies and the Young Learner, Teaching Children Mathematics

I noticed that students have not really been checking out magazines, or even taking a look at them in the library.  Taking a closer look myself, I noticed that this section of the library could use some help, so today I worked on making the magazine section more attractive. 

When we moved the professional development section to its current location a couple weeks ago, we put it next to the professional periodicals.  This kept all of the professional materials in one spot – a great plus for teachers.  It also had an added bonus.  The student magazines had been in this spot.  By separating kids magazines from professional periodicals, this meant that kids were no longer confused as to whether they were looking at a magazine for kids or adults (some of the adult covers like “Teacher’s Helper” have drawings that are more cartoon-like).  Of course, this now meant that we had to find a new location for the student magazines (more on that a little later).

We went through all our magazines (both student and professional) and decided to keep any back issues from January 2009 onwards.  Because interest stories change frequently (popular athletes, trends, discoveries, new best practices…), we wanted to keep our issues fairly current.  There were magazines from 1995 in some of the bins, something not very inviting to a student who would only be born a few years later.  In addition, we got rid of tattered magazines.  We weeded 2/3 of our magazines, and gave these to classrooms since teachers had expressed interest in having magazines to cut up for collages.   It was a win-win for everybody – a cleaner magazine area with more up-to-date issues and materials that other classes could use.

Magazines were in bins of different colors, sizes, and styles.  By weeding out 2/3 of the magazines and organizing what remained, I no longer needed all the bins and had enough of the same color and style to put the remaining magazines in.  This made it look professional.  Because I wanted to facilitate patrons being able to find magazines quickly, I typed signs to put on the front of the bins and laminated them for durability.  Each magazine is written in a different color, not only to add a little more pizzazz to the section, but to help kids identify their favorite magazines more quickly. 

Our magazine shelf's new, organized look

So, where did we end up putting the student magazines then?...next to the reference section.  The reference section (encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, certain specialty books) don’t get used as much as we’d love them to, so by now generating more interest around the magazines and having the reference section be right there too, the magazines also sort of serve as a small lure to that area.  Once the magazines were in their new location, we brought each class during library time over to show students where the magazines are and what we have.  I have noticed more kids using the section now because they are able to find issues that interest them more easily.     

Scholastic book fair

Books set up in our school courtyard for the fair

Today we are having our last day of the Scholastic Book Fair, and have designed the schedule to coincide with Back to School Night tonight so that parents can also have more access to the fair.  I always enjoyed these as a kid, and especially love them as a librarian because I get to see tons of kids excited about books!  Our fall book fair runs three days and I set up a calendar for our 33 elementary classes to go so that everybody can enjoy this great experience.  

We originally planned to hold the book fair outside in our courtyard during the full three days, but since the rains are coming, we feared that the books might get wet.  We moved inside to our rain day location (black box theater) for the first two days, but due to a schedule conflict with another event in the black box on the last day, we moved it back outside on day three and kept our fingers crossed to wish away any potential rain.  Our wishing paid off because it was a gorgeous day! To have all the books out in our beautiful courtyard was super fun and gave everyone much more room as well to peruse books.

More and more books!...Which one(s) are you going to buy?

We decided to make the book fair even more special by creating a huge bookworm to go around the courtyard (unfortunately no photos of this came out).  Each student designed a part of the bookworm's body by drawing and/or writing about his or her favorite book.  This was a colorful way to make the event more festive and to generate excitement for books in general.  

The Scholastic people were very friendly and helped with the book displays, running the cash desk, etc.  We cannot wait for the next book fair! Now what to do with all those points? Time to go book shopping! :)

Call number signage

Now that we have repositioned our shelves and moved books to their new locations, it is time to create our call number signage.  Many of the bookshelves do not have call number signage, especially in non-fiction, so the addition of signage is sure to be met with a lot of welcome!  We want to help our patrons become comfortable in their search for information, so they need to be able to find resources on the shelves once they have found a book of interest in the computer.  If they find a chapter book with the call number JF (junior fiction), but do not know where the JF books are, then it will be harder for them to find the book for instance.

Elementary non-fiction (ENF) in red

I created signs today for three sections ENF (Elementary Non-Fiction), JF (Junior Fiction), and E (Easy) books.  I color coded them so that we can also refer to the sections by color.  I'm even thinking of painting the shelves in the future for this purpose - to make sections even more clear and as a way to add more color to the library.  The ENF sign is done in red, JF in light blue, and E in purple.  I specifically did not choose red and green at the same time for signs because patrons who experience color-blindness often get these colors confused.  The signs are big (easier to spot) and posted on each row of shelves.  I laminated them to be more durable and to look more professional.  Under the section signs, I put Dewey Decimal numbers for the ENF books and letters to mark author names in the JF and E sections.  This way, patrons will know what books are in each aisle. 

This also makes shelving much more easy for me and my staff of course.

Junior Fiction (JF) in blue

Because we are an elementary library and some of the kids are still learning their letters or have trouble finding books, we have decided to make sure that letters are not split from row to row in the JF and E sections.  For example our rows now say in JF: A-D, E-K, L-Q, R-Z and E: A-G, H-M, N-U, and V-Z (I wouldn't want the books to end up saying A-Da and De-K).

Everybody (E) in purple

On a side note, we will not be refering to E books anymore as "Easy."  We are going to be calling them "E" for "Everybody."  This is because some kids, whether they be lower skilled readers or ESL students, might not find these books so easy.  We don't want students to feel bad if books end up being difficult when they are supposedly easy.  Books in this section tend to be more picture books, something enjoyed by a variety of ages, so that is why "Everybody" is a great word for this section and allows us to keep the letter "E." 

As we change the library around to make it as user-friendly as possible, ideas for additional sections have come.  As those sections are created, we will have additional signage and colors to make things easy to find. 

Bookshelves

Our library is every day more and more spacious! 

Just five of the shelving units we were able to free up.
We have more space now.

We have had a lot of shelves that are only 1/4-1/2 full, making some of our shelves look empty.  In fact, there were some without any books on them at all.  By carrying books from one shelf over to the next shelf in an attempt to consolidate, we've been able to make our shelves 3/4 - 4/5 full (which is a nice space for when we get new books and so that books can go on/off the shelves easily).  We have been putting lots of shelving units in storage.  In fact, over the past few days we have taken out 13 shelving units!  It looks great and staff and students have really commented how much they like the extra space! 

Each row of remaining shelves is double-sided.  All our shelving units are the same height.  In junior fiction this height is divided into 4 shelves, but in non-fiction and picture books, it is divided into 3 shelves since these books are normally bigger.  We now have three rows of non-fiction (74 shelves), two rows of junior fiction (64 shelves), and two rows of picture books (48 shelves). 

There are still other shelves in the library with some books needing to be put into new sections we will create and some needing to be shelved back into sections we already have.  Most of these are in the younger kids' reading area but there are some on the other side of the library also.  I want to do something with these, but for now, it's already a huge step forward. 

I love that all our shelving units have wheels on the bottom, so it is very easy to move shelves around.

Because of all the extra room, we have been able to pull the shelving units away from the walls and make wider aisles (115 cm of distance between each row).  This means that patrons can now walk full circle around all the book shelves, allowing them to follow number and letter sequences more naturally when trying to find call numbers.  As there are wider aisles and two entrances/exits to the rows, there is less congestion. 

In sum, the shelves look full and healthy, there is more room to walk, and less shelves that kids have to search through to find books. 

Email signature

I have changed my school email signature so that quick important links are permanently there and easy to find.  This reduces the need for staff members to hunt for links if they can’t remember them – they can go to any email I send and find the information in any one. 

In my email signature, I have my name, position, and our school website.  Below that, there are three things that people can click on.

1. Our online card catalogue

By clicking on this link, patrons will be taken straight away to our

school’s online catalogue.  This provides them another quick and easy way to find books and other resources they need quickly.

2. Our library sign-up calendar

We have regularly scheduled library classes (33 out of 35 instructional blocks in the elementary school), but teachers can also sign up to bring their classes in for projects, looking for books, etc.  This calendar allows them to do that and also make sure that there aren’t already classes who have reserved the spot. 

3. Book suggestion form

I created a short online form in Google Apps so that teachers can suggest future books and other resources for our library.  Their suggestions get sent to a spreadsheet that I can view anytime.  This  greatly facilitates the process when the time comes to make orders.  The order form is really user-friendly, with no log-in required, and even has a picture of Indian spices to make the page more appealing since my school is in India.     

I find that having these things readily available, each time someone reads one of my emails, reminds patrons about the links and encourages them to use them.