Erin Go Bragh

I’ve been working on an assignment for my School Library Management class of late, and today I asked Jody and Lisa for some feedback in regards to the direction I’ve been headed in with it. My assignment is to create an action plan for the Bush School library to somehow make it better. Some of my classmates working in different school libraries have their work cut out for them, but the Bush library happens to be in a very enviable position. So how can I make a great library better? Well, part of my assignment is to incorporate the new AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner, which the Bush library doesn’t currently use. So that was one new thing to include in my plan. But what else could I do? As of now, I’m recommending that the library create more learning artifacts as evidence of what they teach and that they publicize their value to the school more aggressively (using the ALA “@ your library” promotional tools). But I’m still working on it…

Getting back to my DFW duties, today I helped fill in the St. Patrick’s Day display (a picture is forthcoming).  I also helped Jody collect books for the Kindergarteners on gardening and collect more St. Patrick’s Day picturebooks. Then Jody and I talked about my lesson plan for the third graders on Wednesday. I’m working on a lesson plan that reinforces my previous lesson (on how to use the catalog) and also gets the kids thinking about their inquiry process. I’m going to have them sing “Plan, Do, & Review” (a Mike Eisenberg hit) and then write about their experience in their journals.

Today at the desk I helped two girls with known-item reference questions. They were fifth graders, so I expected them to be able to use the catalog, which they could. But I was a little disappointed when they seemed lost as to where to find the book on the shelves. So I guess it certainly won’t  hurt the third graders to get in more practice.

There were some major technology problems today (and one or two non-major problems). I accompanied Lisa on  a trip to help a teacher whose projector wasn’t projecting so I could get a taste of what it’s like to be the school-wide go-to person when gadgets misbehave. It turned out to be an easy fix, but there were bigger problems waiting in the library when we returned. No one was able to log on to the computers! For this size of a problem, Lisa calls in the technicians-by-trade (as opposed to the librarians-by-trade/technicians-by-default). They came and fixed it, but we were out of touch for a while. We had to write down check-outs by hand! The madness!

Huck Finn and the Canon

I got to school early today to sit in on an interesting discussion. Lisa Keller visited Andy’s 10th grade English class to talk about why they read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and why they maybe shouldn’t. Mark Twain’s classic novel has been required reading in many high school English classes for decades, but it’s also controversial because of its use of racial slurs and its portrayal of Jim. Lots of important questions got asked, such as:

• Why is it important to read classic literature?
• What is it about some books that makes people want to ban them?
• Why is it important to read things that may make us uncomfortable?
• Who decides what we “should” and “should not” read in school?
• What if Young Adult novels were added to the English curriculum?

It was great to see Lisa advocate for YA literature. At the end of the class she offered to send the teacher a bibliography of great YA books. Maybe he’ll consider adding one (or two or three) to the curriculum? Time will tell. In the meantime, here are a couple YA books that would be worthy of being taught in IMHO:

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin
• The Pigman by Paul Zindel

Today was also my day to teach 3rd grade classes how to use the catalog. It was much harder than I thought it would be, particularly because the kids seemed to have a bad case of the wiggles. Still, I got through it. I’ll look at their worksheets on Friday and go over things they didn’t get next Wednesday.Jody and I talked about Groundhog Day with the Kindergarteners and 2nd graders. I read aloud several different books about groundhogs (including a book from the Fluffy series that was a big hit). Because of the Kindergarten bake sale, we had quite a few interruptions, so it was a bit of a challenge to keep the kids focused on the stories.

I have noticed that I haven’t been asked many true reference questions since I’ve been working at Bush. The most common question I answer is how to find a particular book (which we call a “known item” question at the Engineering Library at UW). It’s usually a matter of looking the book up in the catalog and then locating it on the shelf. I make an effort to demonstrate to the younger kids what I’m doing so it will be more familiar to them when they learn it. And for the older kids, now that they’ve had their lesson I’ll be asking them to try to find the book themselves before I help.

The other kind of questions I get are readers’ advisory, which means suggesting something to read for fun (I never get to answer these kinds questions at the Engineering Library!). I tend to automatically suggest books I myself have enjoyed, but I’m trying to train myself not to jump right into “Oh I just love so-and-so” and instead ask more questions and think harder about what would be best to recommend. So far I’ve pushed:

• Encyclopedia Brown on a 3rd grade mystery-seeker
• Clarice Bean on a boy looking for a picture book about a girl
• The Stinky Cheese Man on a kid in search of fractured fairy tales.

Happily, a lot of the Batchelder Award winners I book talked have been checked out. Jenine and I filled the display table up again with more award winners today.

I <3 Libraries

With Valentine’s Day coming up, the American Library Association is urging enthusiastic library users to show their love by sending “I Love Libraries” valentines to politicians.

More information is here:

http://www.ilovelibraries.org/takeaction/index.cfm

Another Snowy Day

No school today, so I’m curled up with my laptop by the fire. Today I was going to work on the “Let’s Get Trivial” bulletin board, but I don’t have my materials at home. Luckily, I can work on writing up the content with the books I’ve checked out from the Seattle Public Library: 15,003 Answers: The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia and The Giant Book of Bulletin Boards.

Also, I’ve been asked to spread the word about Fund Our Future, a group of mothers trying to pass legislation in Washington State that would require schools to have at least one professional librarian each. Bush is lucky to have four amazing librarians, but many schools in our state don’t have any.

There’s a rally this Friday in Olympia. Here’s the information:

RALLY IN OLYMPIA!
Support School Libraries
and Senate Bill #6380

Friday, February 1st, 2008 12:00 noon

Capitol Steps, Olympia WA

wear black and white it’s a black and white issue
bring signs posted at our website
bring your favorite book for a group READ poster photo
bring a carload make it a day!

Say THANK YOU to the Senate sponsors!
Senators Eide, Brown, McAuliffe, Marr, Shinn, Kohl-Welles & Weinstein.

Senate Bill #6380 will provide permanent essential funding for school library programs across Washington State, and will benefit every child, every teacher, every school, and every community.

To RSVP, sign the petition, and get all the information you’ll need, please visit our website:
www.fundourfuturewashington.org

After the rally visit your legislators’ offices and voice your support for Senate Bill #6380. We’ll provide you with talking points.

Join your legislators at a reception for Bill # 6380 from 4-5pm in the Pritchard Building. More info available at the website www.fundourfuturewashington.org

Thank you, and please pass the word!

Lisa, Susan and Denette
WCS-Lit
www.fundourfuturewashington.org