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Mrs. Readerpants Blog

This week I read the Mrs. Readerpants Blog which can be found here. I found this blog by looking for library blogs specifically for high school librarians. Leigh Collazo has been both a head librarian and a secondary English teacher. After the pandemic, she left the profession to homeschool her children and run her blog full-time. She started the blog in 2011 as a way to review books, but she gradually switched to management tips for librarians and classroom teachers. She talks about how new librarians are often "on their own" and that she wants to be a part of the community that helps these new librarians. I chose this blog because even though I work in a library with another librarian, I haven’t been given many responsibilities or even taught them so I want to learn as much as I can for when I am handed the reigns. All the resources for specifically new librarians are amazing and it’s comforting to know that there is support out there. I read several of her blogs and found a few that I would like to share here.

First Days of School In a New-To-You Library

Leigh talks in this post about how new librarians can be overwhelming because there are so many things to get done. Teachers in the new school may ask things of you that you don't know the answer to. There are a few suggestions that Leigh makes for new librarians to use in the first few weeks of school.

1. Take notes on what’s most important to you, questions you have, questions others ask you, things that need to be done ASAP, things to do soon but not immediately, and ideas for future lessons.

2. If you get questions from other teachers; write them down, ask the teachers if the procedure worked in the past, take suggestions from them, and don’t commit too soon (think about it and research first).

3. Watch out for “warnings” from teachers. Things about student behavior, administrators, teachers, etc. The teachers giving these “warnings” are just projecting their feelings and fears. Leigh states, "Your students–even those from the best families and home environments–are going to misbehave from time to time. Some school administrators are ineffective leaders and nothing you say or do will make them “get it.” And some of your co-workers just plain won’t like you, no matter what you do." I LOVE this quote! I hate when teachers try to "warn" you about issues because everyone has different ways to handle things and build different relationships.

4. Look for safety issues. Check outlets, lights, a/c, shelving, and carpet. Look for bugs or anything that looks strange. I had an issue with this last year, before school started last year our room with professional materials had water all over the floor and soaked into the carpet. The A/C unit had backed up into the library. As soon as I noticed it, I put in a work order and it was fixed in the next few days.

5. Decide on YOUR library expectations. What do YOU want in the library? What rules will you expect to be followed? Currently, there are several arbitrary rules in the library that I don’t agree with, but anytime I suggest anything it is shot down.

6. Be mindful of how your school handles change. You don’t want to shake things up too quickly. You may have to ease your staff and students into things.

7. Try to say yes as much as possible. Your goal should always be a yes, and if it has to be a no, you should offer solutions. People crave positivity. When in doubt smile! Making people feel good will make them feel safe and allow you time to figure things out so that the library is successful for everyone.

New School Librarian? 10 Things You Should Do First ...

In this post, Leigh gives us 10 things that librarians should do when first starting out.

1. Prepare yourself and your circulation area for checkout. No matter the state of your library someone will need to check out books. See if there is a good area for checkout and set up. The basics you’ll need are a computer and a barcode scanner. If need be set up a manual checkout system.

2. Take photos. See how you started. What’s there, what isn’t, how things are organized. You can’t have an after photo without a before photo.

3. Find the Library Handbook. See the expectations and rules of the library. This may be from the district or the school. If there isn’t a handbook, start making one.

4. Create a tentative library schedule. What kind of schedule would you like? This is more for elementary/middle librarians. As a high school librarian, I use a Google Calendar and fill it out as teachers request dates.

5. Find a mentor. Maybe another librarian in the school, maybe a teacher who used to be a librarian, but more than likely another librarian in your district. Unfortunately, my mentor is the other librarian in my school and I feel as though I haven’t really learned much from her. Whenever I have a question about things, I call a few different librarians around the district.

6. Investigate your library’s computers and printers. What do you have, what do you need, what’s obsolete? In the age of Chromebooks, this isn’t as relevant. We have one computer for printing because we have so few students who ever need to use it.

7. Examine your library layout. How are things set up in the library? Where are the shelves? Is there a good place to present? Do things need to be adjusted?

8. Review existing circulation policies. How many books can students check out? How long can they have them? How many times can they renew? Are there late fines? What about damaged books? You can always change these. This year 9th grade can only check out one book at a time because of the transition from middle to high school. Last year our 9th graders lost more books than any other class, so we made an adjustment.

9. Attend department meetings. Go find out what’s happening around your school. Get ideas from teachers. Form relationships. Plan lessons together.

10. Join librarian groups. Hear from people in your same situation. Get ideas. Ask questions. Help others.

Genrefication Update: 2 Years Later

Leigh genre-fied her library in the Spring of 2011. She collected data from the years prior to and after the switch. The results a shocking. In 2010 the library had 12,394 circulations, in 2011 the library had 19,463 circulations, and in 2012 the library had 19,783 circulations.

This is very encouraging because I would love to genre-fy my library, but I'd have to do a lot of convincing of my school and the other librarian. Since the change, they have only gotten positive feedback from teachers, administrators, other librarians, and the students. Leigh's students claim that it makes the library look “cool” and that it's much easier to find a book now. It is also easier on the librarians because the books are color-coded which makes shelving easier.

Hook New Readers With First Chapter Fridays

Leigh describes First Chapter Fridays as an event where librarians read the first chapter of a book to students to “hook” them.

Suggestions for books to share on these days;

-books where the action begins quickly

-books that have a strong narrative voice

-make sure the entire book is exciting not just the first chapter

-books should have diverse characters

-the dialogue in the book should move the story along

-the first chapter that you're reading should be less than 10 pages.

You can use physical books, or eBooks, but don’t forget audiobooks. This is something that I have never done before, but I would love to try it. I listen to audiobook samples on Audible before selecting what book to read so I don't see why I couldn't do the same thing with my students.

I really enjoyed this blog and it made me feel seen. I will continue to reference it as I move forward in my career. I think that this is a great blog for any school librarian or anyone thinking of entering the profession.

Tall Tales:

Cut from the Same Cloth: American Women of Myth, Legend and Tall Tale by Robert San Souci

Davy Crockett Saves the World by Rosalyn Schanzer

Kumamoto’s Fish: A Tall Tale from the Far North by Michael Banda

Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria by Aaron Shephard

Mountain Men: True Grit and Tall Tales by Andrew Glass

Pecos Bill: A Tall Tale by Steven Kellogg

References

‌College, I. (2015, April 7). Production Tool Ref. IStock. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/friendly-            hispanic-librarian-is-assisting-adult-student-in-college-library-gm469062498-62192730

Home - Mrs. ReaderPants. (2019, April 25). Mrs. ReaderPants. https://www.readerpants.net/

Love, N. (2020). First Chapter Friday: CLEAN GETAWAY [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqANX1NUNJE

The, I. (2015, June 17). Pretty librarian working in the library at the university. IStock. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/pretty-librarian-working-in-the-library-gm477706958-66852487?phrase=smiling+librarian+helping+a+woman+check+out+books+in+library&searchscope=image%2Cfilm

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