Monday, January 25, 2016

How to Draw Students into the Library

Hello,

What can we add to our libraries to attract the students? Many of us require certain books for book reports or science fairs or information gathering, but what about other kinds of books to draw students in?

First, I would check with the students and ask them what kinds of books they would like to see in the library. Keep in mind they will have lots of ideas and many of their ideas will not be appropriate for your school library, but if you go with nonfiction, you will probably be OK. Someone might want a book about platypuses, or chimpanzees, or building their own cell phone. (Let me know if you find a book like this!)

I have found that many of our students love cookbooks for children, drawing books or how to draw books, books on origami, pet care (especially unusual pets), and building things such as a tree house. Lego books are very popular here, too. If you have a Lego robotics club, it would be great to have books to support that hobby.

What other hobbies do your students participate in? If you have lots of students that own horses, get books on horse care, horseback riding, or dressage. If you buy books that even one student uses, you will really impress upon him or her how important reading is and also how important he or she is. Imagine if the public library bought a book you particularly wanted to read.
Have a great week!

Audrey

Currently reading:
The Head of Kay’s by P. G. Wodehouse
In a French Kitchen by Susan Herrmann Loomis
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by Kenji Lopez-Alt

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

First Sentences Display Idea

Hello,

I don’t know if you like to use Pinterest or not, but I found a great display idea there. It takes a little set up, but is not difficult to do.

Sometimes all you need to do is to read the first line of a book to be hooked in. The picture on Pinterest showed a line of books displayed in a long window or counter top with the first line enlarged to fit on a sheet of paper. The book was behind the paper. If a student wanted to read the book, all he or she needed to do was to take the book from the counter and check it out.

I decided to tweak it a bit. I do have a long counter, but it is taken over with another display, so I needed to do something a bit different. I went through my 813 section of stories and looked at the first line. I pulled off about 30 books that I thought students in grades 5 – 8 would like and then went to my computer. I typed in the first line and enlarged it to fit a page. At the bottom on each page I typed in small print the spine label and the title of the book. I did this because my display area is a locked display case outside the library door and students would not be able to just pick up the book.

I have seen a number of students standing in front of the display case and even parents and teachers. I was pleased with most of the first lines I found. Tell me that you don’t want to read a book that starts with “I am twenty-five years old and I can’t tell time.” Or Ðear River, I cannot tell from your name if you are a boy or a girl so I will just write to you like you are a human being.” Or “Patrick and I became friends because of a vegetable.”

I don’t know if anyone has checked out any of the books, but I have gotten good feedback because of the display.

I hope you have a great week.

Audrey

Currently reading:
The Gold Bat by P. G. Wodehouse
In a French Kitchen by Susan Herrmann Loomis
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Watership Down by Richard Adams (Audible book)
The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by Kenji Lopez-Alt
The Gold Shoe by Grace Livingston Hill
The Skeleton Tree by Iaian Lawrence

Monday, January 11, 2016

Donated Books and Disposal Ideas

Hello,

I would be willing to bet that all of you have people in your community who clean and cull their libraries from time to time. Now they have piles of books that they feel should be useful to someone and you are the recipient of these books. This is very common especially to our school libraries since so many people really want to help, but don’t realize that their books might not be what the school needs.

I have a mantra that I say to anyone who wants to donate books. I say, “I’d love to look through and see if there are any books that we need for our library. If there are any that won’t work for us, is it OK if I find somewhere else for them, or would you like them back?” They don’t usually want them back, so I am free to do what I want with them. I get rid of books by the following methods:

1. Look through and find books that the library can use and then process them for the library. If appropriate, put a bookplate inside the front cover to honor the person who donated the book or books.
2. Child-friendly books that would be duplicates for our library are put on a sale shelf. Cost for a book = 25 cents or less. Set your own price. Money goes into a library petty cash for incidentals. I have a couple of parents who regularly check this shelf at my school. Books that sit too long are ready for another method as listed below.
3. Send appropriate books to the church library if needed. If your church doesn’t have a church library, suggest they set one up.
4. Donate to the local library book sale.
5. Turn into a used book store for cash or credit to buy other books.
6. Check the internet to see if they are valuable enough to sell through an online book store. You can set up your own ‘bookstore’ through Amazon.com and sell your used books. This can be a tiny bit time consuming, but you might have a parent who will take this on for you.
7. Use the books for craft projects. Check out Pinterest for some great ideas. Make sure you tell students that the project is using books that aren’t good anymore – and be specific about what the problem was with the book. Missing pages, defaced pages, missing covers, etc. Otherwise, you might have young ones doing a project with a perfectly good book.
8. Find a dumpster.

I know I have mentioned this previously, but some of you are new to this and it can always be repeated. I would not discourage people from donating old books to your school, because someone will have some wonderful treasures for you one day. Be kind but you don’t have to keep books that you don’t need. Make sure the books on your shelves are ‘shelf-worthy’.

Have a great week!

Audrey

Currently reading:
The Gold Bat by P. G. Wodehouse
In a French Kitchen by Susan Herrmann Loomis
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Watership Down by Richard Adams (Audible book)
The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by Kenji Lopez-Alt
The Gold Shoe by Grace Livingston Hill

(Yes, you probably can see a theme of sorts here. )

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Cataloging Questions

Hello,

I recently answered a few questions from a reader and thought they might be helpful to many of you.

One question was regarding the number 920 and Biographies. I can certainly see how this can be confusing. The Dewey number for Biographies is 920, so you could use either one. However, it seems to be easier for children to find biographies by going to the ‘B’ section rather than trying to find the 920 section. Also, if you use ‘B’ for your biographies and you don’t have room in the section for Dewey, they can be shelved separately which also makes them easier to find.

Another question was regarding the 813 or fiction section. I know that in the past the word “Fiction” was almost considered the ‘F’ word in our schools. Many of us used the word ‘Stories’ instead which works nicely. Our teachers in the upper grades use the term ‘Realistic fiction’ which actually accomplishes two things. One, it helps students know what fiction is, and Two, it defines the kind of book they want for a book report. If they said the book report could be fiction, then some of the students might bring fantasy books from home expecting to use them for their report. But if they say ‘Realistic Fiction’, it must be a story that is realistic and could actually happen. You will know what your community is like and which terms work best for you.

I love a new year and the time to make a new start. As a teacher, I always feel that I have at least two ‘new years’ every year – the official one in January and the other one in August when we start a new school year. Mini fresh starts also begin after each quarter which add two more for us.

Best wishes to all of you in this New Year of 2016.

Audrey