Greetings!
I was checking my email this morning and something caught my eye. It was a question on an email digest about shelving and safety issues. The writer asked this question.
“Can anyone tell me what is the correct type of shelving to be used in a Media Center to place books on? We currently have shelving units that you can purchase at Lowes or Target, but I have noticed that they are beginning to “bow” plus the shelving units are not attached to the wall so they can tip over easily. Is there a certain requirement by law for school shelving? If so, what is it?”
I thought that was an interesting question. I decided to see what I could learn about safety regulations for school library shelving and was a bit surprised to not find a lot. What I did learn is that any shelving – library or other – that is over 6 feet tall must be attached to the wall or floor and ceiling. The shelves need to be attached to studs, not the drywall. One other thing is that ADA regulations give a minimum of 36” between stacks and 42” is preferred if there is room. My information comes from the FEMA and ALA (American Library Association) websites.
So check your library shelving and also any other shelving in your school. Make sure that any shelves 6 feet or taller are attached firmly to the wall.
If you are using shelving from Lowes or Target or other similar places, check to make sure your shelves aren’t bowing. (I have this kind of shelving at home and am having no problems even though they are FULL.) If you are looking for new shelving, consider bookstore shelving. The shelving is a slight triangle from the side, and the shelves are slightly slanted to make reading titles easier. Ours are just under 5 feet tall and are very sturdy.
I hope you have a great week.
Audrey
Monday, February 23, 2015
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
My Library Blog
Hello,
This week I sent out a quick email letting my readers know about this blog. Since you are here, you already know, so obviously you don't need that email, too.
Have a great day.
Audrey
This week I sent out a quick email letting my readers know about this blog. Since you are here, you already know, so obviously you don't need that email, too.
Have a great day.
Audrey
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Math Books
Greetings!
This week I will focus on math books. I happen to love math but even if you have students who don’t enjoy math, they still will likely enjoy these books.
Panda Math by Ann Whitehead Nagda gives information about the baby panda that were born in the San Diego zoo. Each right hand page gives information about the pandas and the left hand side has math information along with graphs to illustrate the principles. Full color photos illustrate the story.
I have a set of math books that focus on careers and give information of how math is used in the different careers and subject areas. Examples include military time, time zones, calendars in the Time Math book, the metric system, area, bridge spans in the Construction Math book, and notes, octaves, beats per minute, buying music and MP3s in the Music Math book. These are part of the Math and My World set. These three are the only ones that I have, but there are more titles available in this set.
Another set of books on how math is used in careers is Real Life Math. I opened this set and loved it at once! In this book, Zoo Vet, students learn about parts of the job, and the logistics of caring for zoo animals. I include some of the inside pages so you can see more of what this book is about. Other titles include Extreme Sports, Be a Stuntman, Fly a Jumbo Jet, Win a Grand Prix, and Solve a Crime.
For Good Measure by Ken Robbins discusses measurement such as how much, how far, how heavy, how big, and how old. I read this book to middle grades and we all learned things we hadn’t known previously.
Jerry Pallotta is known for his wonderful alphabet books. If you don’t have any of them, you really must buy some of them. They are not childish ABC books, but informational and suitable for all ages. But, I digress. He has written math books, as well. Two of his books are on fractions and subtraction using Hershey candy.
Loreen Leedy is also well known for her math books; particularly the ones about a dog named Penny. In Measuring Penny, dogs are measured by using a ruler, a yardstick, a scale, a stopwatch, and other non-standard units of measurement such as a dog biscuit. It’s Probably Penny helps to explain predictions and probability. Ms. Leedy has other books on addition, subtraction, and fractions.
Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander is really more story than math, but there’s some clever word play in them. In this one, Lady Di of Ameter (and their son Radius) helps her husband the king decide which kind of table will work best for all the knights. If you like this book, check out the others in this series.
David Adler has written How Tall, How Short, How Faraway, a book on measurement. Measurement units from ancient times and where we get our modern units of measurement are explained along with metric units. It appears to be more childish than it really is, so don’t be deceived.
Check out your school library and see if you have books on math in the science section. The Dewey number is 510. I tell the children that math is also a science and belongs in the science section along with biology, astronomy, and chemistry. This is often a big surprise to many of them.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Audrey
This week I will focus on math books. I happen to love math but even if you have students who don’t enjoy math, they still will likely enjoy these books.
Panda Math by Ann Whitehead Nagda gives information about the baby panda that were born in the San Diego zoo. Each right hand page gives information about the pandas and the left hand side has math information along with graphs to illustrate the principles. Full color photos illustrate the story.
I have a set of math books that focus on careers and give information of how math is used in the different careers and subject areas. Examples include military time, time zones, calendars in the Time Math book, the metric system, area, bridge spans in the Construction Math book, and notes, octaves, beats per minute, buying music and MP3s in the Music Math book. These are part of the Math and My World set. These three are the only ones that I have, but there are more titles available in this set.
Another set of books on how math is used in careers is Real Life Math. I opened this set and loved it at once! In this book, Zoo Vet, students learn about parts of the job, and the logistics of caring for zoo animals. I include some of the inside pages so you can see more of what this book is about. Other titles include Extreme Sports, Be a Stuntman, Fly a Jumbo Jet, Win a Grand Prix, and Solve a Crime.
For Good Measure by Ken Robbins discusses measurement such as how much, how far, how heavy, how big, and how old. I read this book to middle grades and we all learned things we hadn’t known previously.
Jerry Pallotta is known for his wonderful alphabet books. If you don’t have any of them, you really must buy some of them. They are not childish ABC books, but informational and suitable for all ages. But, I digress. He has written math books, as well. Two of his books are on fractions and subtraction using Hershey candy.
Loreen Leedy is also well known for her math books; particularly the ones about a dog named Penny. In Measuring Penny, dogs are measured by using a ruler, a yardstick, a scale, a stopwatch, and other non-standard units of measurement such as a dog biscuit. It’s Probably Penny helps to explain predictions and probability. Ms. Leedy has other books on addition, subtraction, and fractions.
Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander is really more story than math, but there’s some clever word play in them. In this one, Lady Di of Ameter (and their son Radius) helps her husband the king decide which kind of table will work best for all the knights. If you like this book, check out the others in this series.
David Adler has written How Tall, How Short, How Faraway, a book on measurement. Measurement units from ancient times and where we get our modern units of measurement are explained along with metric units. It appears to be more childish than it really is, so don’t be deceived.
Check out your school library and see if you have books on math in the science section. The Dewey number is 510. I tell the children that math is also a science and belongs in the science section along with biology, astronomy, and chemistry. This is often a big surprise to many of them.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Audrey
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