My Wordle

 

Click on this to make it bigger and easier to see.

Obviously, my being a MOM is bigger part of my life than I've put here, but is as it relates to my new job at Manson Northwest Webster Schools in Manson, Iowa, as the K-12 teacher-librarian/technology integrationist!

Library without books?

Well, not without books, but without printed books.  That's what Cushing Academy, a private boarding school in Massachusetts, has.  It seems to be working for them.  It's a high school with a 1:1 laptop initiative and e-readers with those.  I remember scoffing when I first heard about this school, but students do learn differently now, or should, if we're doing it right.  But reading is reading is reading, is it not?  Does it matter the form it takes?  (In fact, the Wall Street Journal quotes a study saying that people read more with e-readers.)

I wish the Kindle would work with the Overdrive books that are free from the public library already - then I'd buy one and see for myself!

My favorite things

One of the best part of librarianship for me is how varied it is.  Every day is something new! Seriously, at the public library, you just never know what will happen.  I asked my mentor once what a typical day for her was like and she said there was no typical day, and then described what the previous day had been like, which involved all sorts of things you just don't learn in library school.  

My favorite thing about my job, though, is when a child comes up and wants help finding a book to read.  The other day, a girl came up and she totally soaked up every book idea I put in front of her.  (Of course, there's been some who don't like any book I suggest!)

But by far my favorite part of librarianship in general is the idea of information literacy.  I imagine that for those who have been librarians for awhile, it's been amazing to see the transformation from a bricks and mortar institution to one where there are no limits to information.  Seriously, people don't need librarians to find information.  There is no dearth of information out there.  But then that goes into the idea of information literacy - finding, assessing, and using information.  Finding is finding good information which of course is done through assessing.  But assessing is also figuring out if information is good for your purposes - it might be a solid, trustworthy resource but not have anything to do with what you are doing.  Then using information is not only writing a report or making a Power Point - it's using alternative methods like Glogster and Jing and Prezi (or, like I've done here, creating a presentation using HTML - isn't so much more interesting than a Power Point?), and even more, creating content.  My oldest daughter is great at doing things like this.  She made a video for her sister's birthday using iMovie and posted it on You Tube (not listing it, so you have to have the link to see it).  That video totally makes me cry!

I graduate in 168 days! 

Practicum!

I try to be a ducks-in-a-row sort of person.  You might not believe that if you saw my kitchen right now, cluttered with dishes, or you knew that there's two library books I can't find in this house (one an ILL!).  But I do.  So I emailed my advisor in early January about doing my practicum in the fall.  She misunderstood me, and wrote back saying oh sure, there was enough time to get my practicum together yet this spring.  I wrote back and said, "Wha- wha- what?"  I try to be completely on top of things as far as my classes go and I thought I had to have cataloging done before I do the practicum (taking that this semester), but apparently it's 4 out of 5 mandatory classes and I have the others done.  Well this changes things!  This means I can GRADUATE in July!  (I won't walk until December, though.)  This changes career path sort of things too because I can say I'll have my endorsement by the new school year instead of needing a temporary endorsement.  Woo hoo!!!

Here's a great little video that we've been singing all day this lazy Sunday ("Don't you ever interrupt me when I'm reading a book!"):

Helping

I've done a lot of readers' advisory lately, most of it very satisfying.  I mean, two people read Ook and Gluk by Dav Pilkey while in the library, laughing all the while, and then someone else checked it out later the same day.  A mom and son promised to both read My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen.  There were others, too, but the saddest was on Sunday when a woman called and asked for me to find books about the death of a pet.  I asked a few questions (it's a dog) and she said she'd be in later that day.

I got busy with other work, and a couple of hours later a woman came to the YA desk and looked distracted.  She started to talk, without looking me in the eye, and then saw the pile of books I had on the desk for her.  She started to cry.  She told me that the dog wasn't gone yet, but was going to be by the end of the week.  The daughter was there, oblivious to what was going on around her.  I book talked some of the books I had chosen, gave her the stack and told her she could look at them here, take some of them, all of them, or none of them, whatever she needed, and I could help her with anything else she needed.  It got busy again and I didn't see her leave, but she did take about six of the books I'd picked, leaving four or so behind.  

I'm sure she'll have a hard week, but I think it will be better than it could've been, because she came to the library.

Here's a picture of our dog who died three years ago.  She was about seventeen years old, but that didn't make it any easier.

P.S.  I've done a storytime since I last wrote, but I'm busy with the new semester so I'll write about it later.  I have my next one planned with a super-de-dooper topic that I'm really excited about.  More later!

The Ghost and the Goth

YA isn't my favorite genre.  After being forced to read Twilight in a YA class, I was happy to never go back.  (Seriously, why is Twilight so popular?  It portrays a TERRIBLE example of romantic relationships.  Edward is not romantic, he's abusive.)  

But this book came through our YA workroom as a new title, and I was so intrigued I had to read it:

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

I was not disappointed!  It was fun and funny.  I like how the narrator switched from Alona (the ghost) and Will (the goth).  Good writing = good marketing, I guess - this book will appeal to lots of different teens.  (Though none of mine.  Boo.  But my husband read it.)

My 16-year-old son pinpointed it for what it was from looking at the cover.  "Ugh, they're going to make a TV show out of it."  I don't know about that, but there's a sequel coming out this June . . .

Storytime - Winter Wonderland

I did the evening storytime this month at Main Library!  The apropos theme was "Winter Wonderland."  First our opening song, then the line-up went:

 

Snow Dance by Lezlie Evans, illustrated by Cynthia Jabat,

 

All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Barbara Lavallee,

If You Were a Penguin by Wendell and Florence Minor,

Touch the Sky, My Little Bear by David Bedford and Jane Chapman.

I also told a super-cute story on the flannelboard about a penguins.  The kids loved it!  I also did a few fingerplays and songs, and we all had a great time.  My secret weapon for storytimes is definitely the fingerplays and songs.

Until next time!