Successful Programming

Middle school and high school libraries are entirely different beasts than elementary school libraries.  Usually in elementary schools, students get library instruction at least once/week.  This allows teachers to have plan time and breaks.  In middle school teachers might sign up to visit the library every couple of weeks for their students to check out books.  Some teachers decide not to bring their students to check out books.  There is so much curriculum that needs to be completed in the classroom that often teachers don't have the time to bring their students to the library for an extended period of instruction.  In high school, class attendance to the library falls even further to the wayside, with the library usually utilized for class research projects in which a teacher might bring an entire class once or twice a year.

Because of this, I believe that programming can play just as important a role in a middle school library as it does in a public library.  Some students might not have frequent chances to visit the library with their teachers, so I have been trying to offer a variety of opportunities for students to come in during lunch period or study halls for special events and activities.

Our first special event of the year was Halloween Storytime, which was offered waaaaaaay back in October.  (Hey!  I'm getting caught up!  Did you miss my previous post??)  Students could come to the library during their designated lunch period to listen to stories.  I thought I might have a couple dozen students per lunch period.  Man.  Was I wrong!

As students came in, I had Michael Jackson's Thriller playing.  It set the tone perfectly, and students could eat a bit as they watched before they started reading stories.

6th grade was the largest group by far.  Kids on the floors, sharing seats, and being completely awesome and respectful the entire time.

Our last group was 7th grade.  The "smallest" group still had over 30 attendees.  This is when our principal stopped by to listen to some stories, too!

I have to admit, I didn't expect this type of turn out, but it was great!  I also didn't expect so many students who wanted to participate.  I had printed out several stories to read, but I only read one very short story at the beginning of each lunch period.  The rest of each period was spent with students volunteering and sharing their own stories (like in the 6th grade photo) or reading stories they had selected and brought themselves (the 7th grader above).  This was a great kickoff to what has been a year of successful programming so far.  I'll describe more events we've held over the next few days.  I know you're excited to read about more!

"You Mean We're IN the Future??"

It's almost here, folks: the future.  October 21, 2015, is a day I've waited for since I was 9 years old and saw Back to the Future, Part II for the first time.  Tomorrow is the day.  The future of BTTF, the greatest film franchise of all time.  I wouldn't be a good librarian--or BTTF fan--if I didn't make a display to commemorate this momentous date in pop culture history. 

The Display

I've created a display with historical and popular fiction books from the 1950s and 1980s.  The middle section of the display are all books that have to do with time travel.  Let me just tell you all this: it was awesome fun going through our collection to find books for this display.  I only wish I could bring some of my own time traveling adventure books from home, like Audrey Niffeneger's The Time Traveler's Wife, Jack Finney's Time Again, or Richard Matheson's  Somewhere in Time. 

I also created some sings for the display, and I brought in my awesome Marty McFly art print that my even awesomer brother gave me for my birthday last year.  Like the Dude's rug does for his room, I feel that it really brings the display together.

The Trivia
I've created more Bulldog Buck Trivia (one question/day), and for the last two weeks of October all of the questions have to do with the Back to the Future trilogy--three questions for each film.  (We have no school this coming Friday, so I needed nine questions instead of ten for two weeks.)  By now the students should know that the trivia questions coincide with the big display in the library, but some were a bit confused why I was asking questions about Back to the Future.  I have been pleasantly surprised with the amounts of "I LOVE THAT MOVIE!" or "Man, I just watched that.  It's awesome!" and other variants of enthusiasm I've received.  

The Outfit???

Why haven't I been working on completing this outfit since I was 9?  I have NO idea.  :(

Well, I'm still bummed I don't have a size-adjusting fit jacket or power lace Nikes, but I do have a Marty McFly cap.  I'm going to ask my principal if I can wear it tomorrow.  She's pretty cool: I'm hopeful she'll say yes. 

10/21/2015
Tomorrow, I'll be way too excited.  I'll be playing the music in the library, gushing about the film to anyone who asks, and hopefully I'll get to go to a screening tomorrow night.  I love this movie so much, and I feel like if students see what I'm excited about and see me grinning and geeking out, they'll know that even though I'm a teacher they don't see that often, I'm still approachable and can have fun, too...even if I do spend most of my time in a big room filled with books. 

Great Ideas to STEAL!

April and the beginning of May got REALLY busy, because of final projects/end of the semester, so I'm just getting caught up on some blogging right now.  I want to quickly post about a couple of great ideas that came to my attention last month.

As I previously mentioned, April is National Poetry Month.  On the last day of April, Paul, our library technician extraordinaire, copied a variety of poems.  He left them out on one of our tables for students and staff to take with them throughout the day.  He wanted to make sure we all had a POEM IN OUR POCKET.  His selections was varied, eclectic, and all around awesome.

All of the poems Paul had ready.  Most were gone by the end of the day!

The Uni Student Council also did a great thing at the end of April.  During the last week, students could come in and write brief (or lengthy) notes of appreciation for the teachers, for the first week in May was Teacher Appreciation Week.

I was so glad they chose the library as their main hub for this activity.  It was great seeing students huddled around the tables writing notes of thanks to their wonderful, dedicated teachers.

 My favorite poem that I carried around in my pocket on 4/30/15 and the Appreciation Station we had at the Circ Desk.

Muwahahaha!  I love being a Library Thief!  I plan to use both of these ideas for my future library...wherever that may be.  I hope you consider stealing them, too!  

Relaxation Station

It's Finals time round these here parts, and Amy and I feel that it is our responsibility to not only offer a space for students to prepare and study for the finals, but also offer them a place where they can come, relax, and take a moment to breathe.

We've brainstormed a couple of ideas for the Library's Relaxation Station.  We have a puzzle out and ready for the students to work on.  By the end of the second break period (there are two each day during Finals Week), the frame had already been completed!  We also have come coloring sheets out.  Coloring is so therapeutic, so never be ashamed of coloring, even as a teen or adult.

At the end of the week we'll also be offering a Very Merry Morning.  We'll be listening to David Sedaris' recording of his story "SantaLand Diaries" from his collection Holidays on Ice.  We'll also be having our monthly games offering and treats.  

Yes, we definitely want the students to do well on their Finals, but we also want them to have a bit of fun to relieve their stress.  We just hope it doesn't get too loud.



*OOPS!  I forgot to post this before I left for Holiday Break!  I still thought it was cool for everyone to see the puzzle that was completed by the Uni students.  :)

Teen Read Week!

It's Teen Read Week!  

I promised I'd let you know about the shenanigans I'm trying to get our students to participate in, so here we go:

1.  FLASH US YOUR BOOKS!  I'm collaborating with friend Kristi Danger Murray Costello at Arkansas State University Writing Center for this one, everybody.  Her group had the great idea that everyone should flash their favorite books.

They are meeting at their campus' fountain, by the student union, on October 22 at noon.  Everyone will read aloud the first line of their favorite book.  Sounds awesome, right?  Well, we might not have a fountain to gather round here, but I am hoping students AND staff will come take a picture holding up their favorite book, so I can create an iMovie/slideshow.  So far we don't have any takers, but it would be a great way to participate with A-State's Writing Center, and I'd upload the iMovie to our YouTube channel at noon on 10/22, as the A-State students are reading.

2.  RECORD A BOOK TRAILER!  Supervisor Amy and I are hoping that this week's recorded book trailers are just a jumping off point for a year-long trailer drive.  We want to post these on our YouTube channel.  We ask, however, that the students have a small index card to consult during their reading/recommendation recording, so it's not just a bunch of rambling.  We'd like them to have a bit of structure and to have their book with them.  We want to continue to record these throughout the year.

3.  TEEN READ OUT!  We want to end the week with a read out.  During our Uni Period on Friday, we want students to come in and read their favorite poem, short story, or the first chapter of their favorite book.  We will have snacks to try to lure those teens in....MUHWAHAHAHA!

Didn't like my ideas?  Well, for Teen Read Week Inspiration, visit the official website.  There are programming ideas, products for purchase, and other information for this awesome week of reading.

I'm super excited about all of these activities, and I hope there's a high level of participation.  I'd love to have at least ten students present for the Teen Read Out on Friday.  We'll just have to wait and see!  Read on, Teens!  Read on, EVERYBODY!!!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Here's a lesson for student advisory groups: If you ask for something or make a suggestion, there's a good chance that your librarian will in fact listen!

My supervisor has a student advisory group, and so far we are doing our best to implement what they desire.  Their requests are reasonable, well thought out, and will make their library a better place.  The first thing they wanted was a book to movie display.  I have started working on this, but with limited display areas in our library I haven't quite found a "home" for it.  My vision is for it to be a rotating display, constantly updated as the movies are released throughout the year.  More on this if I actually get it up and displaying.

The second thing they want is to know about the new books.  We try to do this with our New Books display, which is constantly updated, but the shelving unit we have is well...kind of horrible.

It's really hard to see the books through the black bars, so I decided to do another new book bulletin board.  (This is another Pinterest idea.  I've simplified it a bit, but I still think it looks good.)

The display has pictures of all of the library's newest acquistions since the school year started.  I will have to do this "new book" bulletin board throughout the year but with different themes.  I like this one: it's bold, eye-catching, has a fun border, and includes a text message and rhetorical question that will hopefully gets students' attention.

Finally, they asked for games (games, games, games, GAMES!).  No, not these games:

These games:

We tested this out for the first time today during Uni Period, and though it might not look like a lot of students attended, I thought it was great for a first go.  I love this programming idea from our student advisory board.  I want to keep the games coming.  Maybe once a month?  First Friday Game Day?  I'll work with the title.  Maybe by the end of the year we could even have this game to play:

Oh, a librarian girl from the late 80s/early 90s can dream, eh?