Winding Down

Last week's events at the library were awesome!!
All activities planned went great and we had terrific attendance at each event.  During the winter break we had sparse attendance and even a snow day.  The spring break was the opposite.  We advertised as we always do with bookmarks at the desk and advertising in the local paper.  We were able to attend morning program at the elementary school and shared with students in grades K - 5th and believe this helped attendance.   We are excited to be planning another morning program visit to launch Summer Reading Program.  Our circulation statistics were up in March and I hope Aprils were up as well.  Many children announced they were going to look for science books when they finished programming since they were excited about what we had just finished.
Today, Lisa mentioned to me that she noticed the science non-fiction display  in the children's room didn't move.  I had noticed the same thing and was planning to replace it with a display of classics today.  Other displays for non-fiction of poetry and biographies for black history and women's history did circulate a little.  Some of the display books for new non-fiction of mythical beings such as ogres and giants did circulate but the books on how the body works (mouth, nose, ears) did not.  The science books on the window sill don't move either and I wonder if children know they can take them or if they just don't notice them. I had a display of unusual animal books and another display of books on meteors, astronauts, space stations and the planets.   I have made colorful signs saying  Check Me Out and hope this will make a difference.  I have been weeding the children's fiction and putting out books that have not circulated recently but look interesting and many of them have gone out.  We just received many new books so I will create a new display of those as they are processed and identify them as new.  

Spring Break Week

Science week at the library!!!
When planning programming during school break, you'll never know how many participants you will have.  We have planned one or two activities each day this week and have been very pleases with the turnout so far.  We were optimistic that we would have a good turnout since we were able to share some of our activities with the elementary school morning program.  Many were interested in making the tornado tube.  Tuesday was very successful with twelve families for our science stations event and twenty-five teens and tweens for our Pizza and Karaoke event.  On Wednesday we had seven families for our growing story hour and a smaller turnout for our Multicultural teen storytellers but still many enjoyed their performance.  We are looking forward to tomorrows Moving machines program and the teen gaming event tomorrow night.  When I discuss with families that they can  pick up a bookmark at the circulation desk with events listed, they tell me that they have looked up events on the web site.  This is something new we are hearing.  We have also had several new families who are getting library cards for the first time.   It is exciting to be a part of bringing in new families and having children excited about coming to the library.  They are recognizing that there is more to the library than just books.
I am sad that this experience is coming to an end but look forward to continuing as a volunteer several days a week as their preschool storyteller and working the circulation desk.  I will also be a part of planning Summer Reading Program also.    

Observations

This week I began to notice a significant difference between the community library and the school library.  I have been running around town this week to gain support and supplies for several of our spring break activities.  Our focus is science and fun.  We went to the school and showed students at morning program several of the projects we are planning for the spring break.  One of the projects is making a rocket using alka seltzer and a film container.  I neglected to remember that no one uses film anymore so I could not get film containers.  Someone mentioned pill bottles with a non childproof cap so I went to the local drug store who was able to help me out.  Another activity we are presenting is a Teen Pizza tasting Karaoke night so my job was to solicit pizza from four local restaurants.  Everyone was great about donating the pizza.  We are also having teen storytellers sharing multicultural faith stories next week and I went to the local churches to share a flyer describing the program.  I began to realize that maintaining a connection with the community is a great deal of work and planning.  I collaborated with the local library and Stewarts when I was in a school library but did not spend as much time looking for additional resources to help support my program as I have during my internship at the local library.  I have contacted many local businesses asking for support of one sort or another for a series of programs that we have or will hold, and we haven't begun summer reading program yet either.  Luckily, we have a very supportive community when it comes to encouraging reading for our children.  One of the restaurant owners was asking about the other spring break programs we are having, he saw our demonstration at morning program and wanted to make sure he brought his children.  I am going to mention to the director we should call the local paper to repoet on our science programs and the grant we are using.
I am looking forward to the spring break kick off this weekend with a Saturday storytelling addressing the topic of Fairness,  Aprils Character of the Month.  Another opportunity for collaboration with the school.  

Message to New York State Senators

After reading the attached article on LM-NET today, I decided to write the following letter to our state senators.  As many schools  are struggling to retain teachers and programs all over the country, I felt the need to express my frustration to our state representatives.   Following is the letter I wrote.

 

 The Houston Chronicle had a great editorial last weekend.

At least they "get it."

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2011_4958826

I am an unemployed elementary teacher ready to obtain my School Library Media certification, I am distressed about the lack of positions available in the upstate New York area due to the shortage of money going towards education.  I am sad to hear President Obama discuss the need for teachers and their importance and then hear about all of the teachers who are losing their jobs because schools do not have sufficient funds to adequately provide the means for what is necessary to adequately educate our young people.   I began working on a third certification as a librarian because of the need for librarians in schools two years ago but now many schools are eliminating the librarian because they are not required in elementary and middle schools.  A library is required in each school in New York State, but not a qualified person to oversee the lifelong learning that should be taking place.  Children do not just receive a book when they go to the library, they receive guidance about quality literature, a love for reading, knowledge about how to locate correct  information and how to discriminate between  accurate and false information, just to name a few.  Some children don't get read to just for the pure joy of listening to a story anywhere but a school library and many are losing this with the loss of a school librarian.  The schools who retain an aide in the library may get the story but won't learn how to locate information for a project or how to use technology to demonstrate knowledge because they don't have a library media specialist who can show them how.  With New York State trying to increase student ELA  scores, taking away a valuable resource as the school library seems a foolish decision.

 If states can't come up with the resources to provide a quality education for their children, I encourage the federal government to work harder at providing the resources necessary to keep teachers and aides in the classrooms.  Our country spends millions of dollars each day providing assistance to other countries and causes.  While many would believe these causes worthy, I believe we need to focus more on the citizens of our own country before providing assistance to others. If we are going to produce a nation of educated citizens, it begins in schools where students are encouraged to ask questions, and are provided the resources, including teachers and aides, to produce the answers.

I encourage you to pursue this issue for the sake of our future generations.

Making plans for spring break activities

Over the weekend I began to work on specific plans for the spring break activities planned for the week of April 19th.  We are focusing on a science theme since we were fortunate to receive a Stewart's Christmas Match Grant.  We will use some of the funds to purchase non-fiction science materials and supplies for our activities.  The week will begin with five science stations where children can explore water, air, sound, texture and color experiments and activities.  Teens will meet Tuesday night for a pizza tasting and Karaoke night.  Wednesday is an extended story time with planting sunflowers and popcorn.  Wednesday afternoon we have teen storytellers who tell multicultural stories.  Thursday is a day of motion activities where children will make planes, rockets and submarines.  Teens will have a gaming evening.  Friday, Earth Day, children will make an edible landfill and several other food related activities.  Saturday ends their break with a Super Hero Saturday Avatar creation activity.  We are going to the school on Friday to share this information with the morning program grades K - 2 and then give info to the librarian to share with the 3-5th grade classes.  We are planning to show several activities scheduled and I am trying to create a Prezi to show.    I am having some difficulty with the Prezi and making posters, brochures and  bookmarks.  We wanted to do a poetry slam with the teens but couldn't work it out, and still need some info on the storytellers.  We are working on what we can until all the details are worked out.   On top of all this, we finished working on our brochures and displays for poetry month.  Story hours and Headstart visit plans need to be finished for the month so we can advertise.  Wow, how do we get it all done in time!  Next month scheduling begins for Summer Reading Programs.   I am looking forward to staying on as a volunteer to help with the program.