Guest Blogger - Maura Rhodes

Patron Self Sufficiency

Maura Rhodes, Teacher Librarian | Fairview High School

Preserving My Sanity

I began the journey to create student self sufficiency as an elementary librarian. It was necessity that led me to put self checkout in place. I was teaching 33 classes a week with over 650 students per week and no support staff. I initially looked at self checkout to help with crowd control and to help “me” be more available to the students to help with book selection, work with teachers, time to teach, etc. The students took ownership of their book checkout, circulation exploded, and my sanity was preserved. Now, did all those students read every single book they checked out, I don’t know, but I do know that I personally don’t read every single book that I checkout from the library. What mattered was students were checking out in a timely manner and they weren’t giving up or getting frustrated because I was dealing with other patrons.

everything was centered around the circulation desk

At Fairview High School’s library everything was centered around the circulation desk or the Command Center as I refer to it. If a student needed anything, most of the time they had to ask. The desk was cluttered with everything under the sun. Pens, paper, 3 hole punch, markers, coloring pencils, 2 or 3 staplers, scissors attached by a chain, electric stapler, pencil sharpener, bookmarks, paperclips, toys, the magnetic desensitizer, a computer for book checkout/in, a drop hole for book return and two other computers one for the para and another for students to use that needed to print quickly. Plus a printer and fax machine. Behind the circulation desk was a “free stuff” corner with more supplies, binders, paper, notebooks, etc.

I was overwhelmed with stuff...

...it drove me crazy and I slowly tried to peel away the layers and remove things and pare down to the essentials. This summer I contemplated this even more after the loss of one full time and one halftime support staff positions. I knew in order to help things flow I would need to make the library more self-sufficient and the space more user friendly. I started by clearing out non-essential stuff. I used three old laptop carts and removed the doors and cubicles to make them into an area where all the askable things could go. For example, pens, pencils, notebooks, paper, rulers, markers, pencil sharpeners, etc. All these items now live in these three carts and I call it the “supply area.” I have had to retrain the students of where this stuff now lives. The circulation desk is a mammoth size 25’ X I wanted to cut one whole end off, but was told I couldn’t, due to the power that runs under the floor embedded in the concrete. I opted to remove just 2 feet off of one end and this has made a big difference in the flow of the space. I also removed a metal file cabinet and other items that were cluttering up the circulation desk.

3 easy steps to checkout

The demagnetizer was removed and self checkout was set up for student's to use with a directional stand and poster explaining the 3 easy steps to check out a book.

This is the first year with many of these changes in place. I hope to add more features and always look to improve my processes to make learning and using the library space as simple as possible.

Guest Blogger-Sheena Kelly

Managing the Minutiae

Sheena Kelly, Teacher-Librarian | Peak to Peak K-12 

 

“stress free productivity”

The start of the school year is anxiety laden and, if you’re anything like me, is always accompanied by a fresh set of stress zits. But after about a week I remember...I’ve got this. My organizational system keeps me relatively sane while juggling the endless tasks I have to do at any given moment. My journey to “stress free productivity” (a phrase I literally lol’ed at when I first bought David Allen’s book circa 2009) has been one of steady progress and even though I’ve been getting things done for years, I’m still discovering better ways to organize my commitments.

The problem with doing a thing is that it’s never one thing. Working on a blind date with a book program involves creating display signage (which involves making a digital flyer or assembling die cuts and butcher paper for a bulletin board), pulling books, wrapping books (which involves finding/gathering paper, tape, scissors), promoting the program (which involves creating/printing/posting more flyers, intercom announcements, email blast to English teachers), assessing the program, and this list could go on and on. The thousand little things that have to be done in order to be successfully with the end product of a single endeavor can be overwhelming. Each of those “open loops” buzzes around in your brain until you accomplish the task (sometimes the same “oh! don’t forget to...” popping up several times in the same hour/day/week). That’s where Getting Things Done comes in.

Step 1 : Brain Dump

Use the Incompletion Trigger Lists to identify the open loops in your life. Get several blank sheets of unlined paper and write down everything that comes to mind as you look over the lists. A key tenet of Getting Things Done is getting things off of your mind and turning your open loops into actionable tasks. This “brain dump” is a good exercise to do weekly.  

Step 2 : Werk

Use the Mastering Workflow diagram to work your way through each task/commitment you identified. The workflow takes you step by step as you process the “stuff” in your life. I recommend using the app Todoist to keep track of tasks identified during processing. Once you’ve finished with the trigger lists, move on to the other “stuff” in your life (email inbox, stack of mail, notes from that meeting...).






My personal organizational system is heavily influenced by GTD but also very different. I’ve settled (for now) on a hybrid paper/digital system for organizing personal and professional goals and obligations. You’ll discover a system that works for you, and remember to be patient with yourself along this journey. Here are a few screen shots of my Todoist to inspire you to organizational bliss!

Suggested Resources

“Getting Things Done” by David Allen 

This is a must own for ready reference and writing in the margins. If you want to save a few pennies, the first edition is just as good as the newer one.

Listen to GTD podcasts online for free!

Todoist task manager (web and mobile)

I lived quite happily with the free version of Todoist for many years before upgrading. The paid version has some nice perks (notifications for example) that are indispensable now that I’m used to them.

Boomerang for Gmail [Add-On]

With only 10 free messages a month, the paid plan ($4.99/month) is necessary if you want to make truly effective use of this tool.

Password Manager Template

I created this to help me manage the hundreds of oddly specific passwords and security questions/answers I have to manage. I have one of these spreadsheets for work, and one for my personal accounts!

Guest Blogger - Tracy Huffman

Summer Library Program Cultivates Community

Tracy Huffman, Teacher Librarian | Superior Elementary 

"...libraries are no longer the sole source of literary nutrition"

Hello, I’m the new Teacher Librarian at Superior Elementary where I have been a classroom teacher for many years. The Summer Library Program has been a fixture of Superior Elementary for the last twenty years.Throughout much of that time, it remained constant with the same goals to incentivize reading and minimize the “summer slide” in a community that doesn’t have a local library. This summer my 16-year-old son and I ran the summer library program, and it was a valuable introduction into the ongoing changes of the school library for me! Our students live in an age of plentiful and readily available information, and libraries are no longer the sole source of literary nutrition for growing readers. In looking at ways to revitalize the Summer Library Program, we knew we wanted to make sure that the library was not only a place to check out books, but also a place for community interaction.  

“Read for the Stars”

As is tradition, a theme was implemented to tie together activities and incentives to foster excitement for the Summer Library Program. This summer’s theme was “Read for the Stars” to capitalize on the upcoming solar eclipse. Various structured and unstructured activities provided the foundation for increasing engagement time at the library. Over the course of the summer, families spread out throughout the library and worked together to build spaceships, telescopes, space stations, 2-D and 3-D stars, planetariums, and even more using Legos, blocks, magnets, and geoboards. They also gathered at tables to create constellation tubes, pinhole projectors for the eclipse, space bookmarks, aliens, and astronauts. And, students still checked out books and snuggled up on couches to read. I believe that activities increased engagement time and provided an incentive to come to the library each week. 

"...capitalizing on the curiosity to learn and collaborate"

Activities increased checkout because summer book circulation was up. Reflecting on the Summer Library Program, I know that adapting the library to meet the needs of students, families, and staff is and will continue to be a crucial part of my job as Teacher Librarian. Yes, I want to promote literature and foster a love of reading and want to continue to cultivate community by capitalizing on the curiosity to learn and collaborate in the heart of the school, the library. In fact, maybe the most successful libraries are happening where those two mutually beneficial ideas are occurring. 

After Pam Sandlian Smith’s presentation during Day 1 of the Future Ready Librarians Professional Pathway, I am inspired to create meaningful and plentiful experiences in the library that cultivate community.  

Guest Blogger - Barb Miller

March Madness? No, Weeding Madness!

Barb Miller, Teacher-Librarian - Manhattan MS






What do you get when you combine two middle schools, don’t keep up on weeding and then remodel the library? I wish this were the set up to the start of a joke, but it’s not. It’s what happened to me when Baseline Middle School combined with Burbank Middle School to become Manhattan Middle School and I took over as the librarian.

...weeding was one of those tasks that just never got done... 

I must admit that I had plenty of things to do and somehow or other, weeding was one of those tasks that just never got done (especially nonfiction). A few years ago, my shelves were past bulging and I could no longer ignore the ugly truth that I had better start weeding. I was incredibly lucky to have help from one of our parents, and none other than the Colorado Librarian of the Year -Beatrice Gerrish. Beatrice was extremely helpful and generous with her time. Since this wasn't ‘her’ library, she wasn’t attached to the books and we started weeding in earnest. I would highly recommend asking a fellow librarian to help with this; as a matter of fact, BVSD will provide sub time to make this happen- email Zoe.

...9,356 books (over 50% of my collection) were weeded

Fast forward to this year with a library remodel on the horizon and architects telling me there would be room for a maximum of 8,340 books. Yikes!  I dug in with gusto and with the support of my principal, 9,356 books (over 50% of my collection) were weeded. Of course, I didn’t do this alone; I had help from our incredible PTO, library aides (slave labor), Mackin’s phenomenal Bobbi Craig, Insignia and Mackin’s Collection Analysis, and Rae Ciciora (helpful weeding advice). 

A couple of pieces of weeding advice which really stuck out and helped me were - 1) Fiction and NF were going to flip. In my new library, I’d have more fiction than nonfiction, and 2) weed the NF by date of publication (try not to have items over 15 years old) and the FIC by least circulated. Most books not checked out in 3 years probably need to get the heave ho. 

We’ll be developing a 3-year plan for purchasing both print and e-book resources

Yep and get ready for this - in all, from 2012-now, we’ve weeded a total of 29,420 books! 
The library is looking pretty barren and forlorn but I’m looking past what is and imaging the gorgeous new space that will be here next fall. Since our library is closing early (May 5th), I’m looking forward to having time to explore Overdrive and Mackin Via, as well as help teachers develop curriculum maps. We’ll be developing a 3-year plan for purchasing both print and e-book resources for the gorgeous new library.  


Now I just need to go home and start spring cleaning. Somehow, that doesn’t look very daunting anymore...

Guest Blogger - Kim Butler

Critical Thinking in the Library

Kim Butler, Teacher Librarian - Birch Elementary

Project-Based Learning Pilot Program

This year I have focused my with students on critical thinking skills and teamwork. I have been fortunate this year to work toward this in a couple of areas. I have been working with our TAG Coordinator to provide extensions for students on ALPs, and other teacher selected students. These extensions became Project Bulldog; a project based learning pilot program. We meet with the students twice a week for about 40 minutes each and the students work on various projects. Project based learning takes authentic learning opportunities and gives the students freedom to explore a topic thoroughly while producing a project to share with an authentic audience.

How can we, as innovators, create a space that will meet all of our needs?

Our first project was all about the furniture. The driving question was: How can we, as innovators, create a space that will meet all of our needs? We were a Phase One school and so the majority of our construction happened over the summer. The furniture we ordered did not arrive until late November. In preparation for this we took the Project Bulldog kids on a field trip to a school that had similar furniture and had some speakers address the kids for our entry event.

From there the students created projects that centered around the furniture. Some of them developed floor plans using feedback from teachers and research on appropriate classroom set ups, some made safety videos, some even delved into the history and evolution of furniture. Some students created a persuasive video for how to use the furniture in the cafeteria, and some made video games that set a furniture layout based on individual responses to questions. They shared their projects with their classmates and parents in a gallery setting. The completed projects were put on the Birch site for people to explore.

How can we, as community planners, provide Mars colonists with a full and satisfying community life?

Our second Project Bulldog project took on a different flavor. We decided to aim this more towards the standards in the individual grades and offer a little more guidance and background knowledge. For 4th and 5th grades we decided to center our work on exploration of Mars.With the driving question: How can we, as community planners, provide Mars colonists with a full and satisfying community life? This would hit the exploration standards for 5th, space for 4th, and also provided an authentic topic because of all of the incredible work that is currently happening in regards to occupying Mars.

We did some work around Mars as a planet, comparisons to Jamestown, and even had an expert in to share some information about travel to Mars so far. The students are now developing projects centered on government development, entertainment, “a day in the life”, job recruitment, and transportation. So far their projects range from recruitment videos to 3d models of games, and even the best way to tax the community. These projects will be explored by a panel of “experts” including the speaker from earlier.

...projects will be explored by a panel of “experts” ...

For the second Project Bulldog project in 3rd grade, we decided to focus on a more authentic and school centered need. Each year the third grade students take a trip to Ecocycle to learn about recycling, and the kids in Project Bulldog are leading the charge toward better recycling within the school. Students had visits from a recycling expert and then developed a plan to share the things they’ve learned with the school. Their plans included a trivia slideshow that plays during lunches and culminates in a trivia contest complete with prizes, a video game that also instructs about proper recycling, and a video sharing the importance of recycling. Projects will be presented to the entire school as well as within the Third grade classrooms and on the Birch website. We’ve expanded the Project Bulldog work to include 1st grade, and they are learning about composting to accompany their classroom investigations of plants.

Rae's March Blog

Part II:
You’ve gathered the low-hanging fruit and tossed the sour milk. Now what?

Get your inventory game-plan started. Determine which section to start with and how long it will take. Smaller sections allow a bit more flexibility when you are interrupted through the process. Perhaps you can start with the 000-300’s. And remember you can do a shelf or two a day.

Inventory-Get'r Done!

Hints:

• Be sure to use the Copy Call No range, it will be the easiest way to get a complete inventory.
• Scan over the course of several days, if needed. You can always stop scanning and come back later to begin scanning again. Just use the top drop down menu to find the inventory you are working on to resume.
• If you are Importing from a list, the missing items report will include books with invalid barcodes.

How-To:

1. Initialize Library System - It will ask you to name the inventory when you click Initialize Library System. Be descriptive enough to know what section you are inventorying.

2. Attach a barcode reader to your laptop and make sure the cursor is in the Scan Copy Barcode box. Start scanning. The books will show up in the list below.

3. When you have finished scanning the section* you’ll want to Finalize the Inventory by changing all unscanned items to missing. You will sleuth out the missing items next.  

Do not do Step 4. It is an optional step that doesn’t work well for our district.

Troubleshooting the Inventory Process

1. Gah! Invalid barcodes or barcode not in range: what to do?

If you are scanning your inventory in Insignia (there is the option of importing a list of scanned items. Troubleshooting a scanned list will be more difficult) this is your opportunity to really make sure your data matches your shelves. When a barcode comes up invalid, open the Find/Add window. Then try these:

• Try typing the barcode number instead of using the barcode reader. If that works, you might need to reprint the label. Now type the barcode into Inventory.
• Type in the title. If it returns the title without a copy attached, maybe this copy has already been deleted. If you are keeping the copy, add it back in as a new copy, but use the already attached barcode.
• Take a look at the Material Type, or Collection Type of the title. Perhaps the copy is attached to the wrong title. You can relink the copy to the correct title. For example: a print copy of Little Women is attached to the DVD version with the same title.
• If the barcode is one of the old 6 digit codes, you might need to type “3 + school code + the old barcode” into the inventory window to get it to “read.” See this list for school codes, add zeroes in the middle as needed to make 14 digits.
• Let Rae know if you have any other situations that aren’t covered here. Screenshots in an email are very helpful.

2. Grrr! The Find/Add search results show titles that I've weeded!

The Find/Add window will show titles with no copies. The reasons are various, but include: the title was originally cataloged in your library, you once owned a copy and now you don't. Don't worry about these.

• Titles are held at the district level. Other schools may have copies attached to those titles. I know it's frustrating to think you've weeded yet still see these titles in a Find/Add search. The Find/Add window is geared toward cataloging: adding new books to existing titles, etc.
• To see what you have on your shelves (or rather, what Insignia thinks you have on your shelves) use the Search feature. Then use the filters on the right to narrow the search down if needed. These search results will tell you at a glance what copies are In, Out, or Reserved.

Reconciling the Inventory

After Inventory is finalized for each section, you’ll want to run some reports. The Missing Items list from Inventory (or Report>Reports>Catalog>Inventory - Missing Items) allows you to track down missing books to determine whether they are really lost. If you find missing books, be sure to change their Copy Status in Insignia to “In” or if they are lost, change status to "Lost" or “To Be Deleted.”

Weeding in Earnest

1. The Least Circulated report is popular for weeding. It will list titles of books under a certain number of circulations within a chosen timeframe. (Report>Reports>Circulation>Least Circulated Items)  It is easy to print off this list and hand it to a trusted helper to pull books for your review at a later time. Be sure to “Order By: Copy Call No” for quicker work (at the bottom left of the report window).
2. Consult the MUSTIE
3. Delete weeded items from Insignia

Use the Comments section below to reflect on these questions:

• How’s the collection looking now?
• Are you ready to develop the collection plan?
• How will you market your collection using the space you’ve gained from weeding? 

Resources

Professional Development titles in the OverDrive Teacher's Lounge

  

Inventory

Weeding and Deleting

Shipping label

Collection development

Collection Development PLC

BVSD Materials Selection Policy

Guest Blogger - Regina Hoskins

Putting Unstructured Play Back into Schools

Regina Hoskins, Teacher Librarian - Southern Hills Middle School

Building Relationships with Students

About a year ago, I was sitting in a 21st Century Cohort meeting with three teachers from my building, having a conversation in response to Kevin Carroll’s TEDxHarlem talk entitled Play is Necessary. His message that “there are hundreds of organizations around the world using sport and play to make a difference,” resonated with me in terms of building relationships with students. Someone mentioned the Global School Play Day and after looking at their website and seeing that mostly elementary schools participated, I said to the teachers from my school, “Why can’t we do this at the middle level?” So we did.

“You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

Less than two weeks later, I decided to implement the 1st SHMS Play Day during lunches in the library. I advertised it over the announcements to students as an option during lunch and sent an e-mail to staff asking for volunteers to bring games, inviting them to come play, and help me supervise the students. The Global School Play Day motto comes from Plato and reads “You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” The rules, I explained, were simple: No screens. No electronics. Just let them play! I was hopeful teachers would give up their duty free lunch to take time to play and connect with students and they did not disappoint. I had just over a dozen teachers show up and all said they would definitely do it again. Students asked, “Can we do this every Friday during lunches in the library?” Word spread about the positive interactions staff had playing with students, and we knew this was something we wanted to fit into our schedule again, but for a longer period of time than just 30 minutes over lunch.  

"This has nothing to do with academics or even reading, but everything to do with connecting with kids and building relationships."

So we settled on a shortened schedule in April, with roughly 5 minutes off each class period to have a Play Day at the end of the day and offer a variety of indoor and outdoor games to take advantage of the nice weather. In addition, we strategically scheduled this second Play Day after a week of state testing. Again, the student and staff feedback was strong and positive. We realized that this time was valuable to let students and teachers have fun playing games together. We just completed our third Play Day and have another one planned after testing later this semester. The games staff offer each time vary and change with interest, but it is important for us to provide both athletic and non-athletic games, so there is something available for everyone. Students have even started bringing their own games once they hear a Play Day is on the schedule. This has nothing to do with academics or even reading, but everything to do with connecting with kids and building relationships.