Six steps to Processing new books

  The new books are rolling in . What do you have to do to get them ready for the shelves?? In case you have them come processed, there are still a few things  you need to do before you put them on display or on the shelves.
  1. Property Stamp
  2. Gentrify- If your fiction are arranged this way-We use opaque colored labels to go over the spine label. We also change the spine label in Destiny so it signified where the book is located.
  3. Cover the books if needed.
  4. attach labels if not complete
  5. Load mar records intro your system if not completed,
  6. Adjust records in your system: price, vendor, funding
  Display them in a new book section!!

Blogs for School Book Clubs

  I am going to create a blog for our school book clubs . I think I am deciding on  having two blogs (but am not sure yet) , one for 7th grade and one for 8th grade. 

 What I want students to be able to do is to leave comments on the books  they are reading within in the  group.  This will also allow between meetings   a way for students to bounce around question and ideas   about the story. Perhaps at the end , also creating a readers guide for the book When they are finished  we might even be able ( big wish) to get the author ot comment to questions! 

 Students may also bounce around ideas for titles  for the next month . They can suggest titles and we can vote on it when the  book is finished. 

 Use of the blog for the book group will allow for a constructivist   tool for he student  to  build their interest and ideas. Hopefully  this will encourage more independent reading by the students in the group. I am hoping to have it open to all students in the school and this will perhaps more students to joining the book groups! 

Blogging for School Students- First Steps

  Before your class (or group) starts blogging, it would be a good idea to send a letter hoe to parents and guardians  discussing how the group will work.

   Include in this also a permission letter with terms and condition that both student and parent will sign and return.  This will lay out students behavior  on the blog,  and what is expected of the student. This can also include consequences for students who do not follow the guidelines. 

  We want students  to become users of blogs by sharing ideas, analyzing the work/ book given  and participating/ collaborating with their classmagtes. This may lead to more global interaction thru the internet.

Career Services At the Public Library

    What kinds of services do you have at your public library for those seeking jobs?  Most libraries have some kind of assistance  for job hunters. At our library , we have  a valuable resource - our computer expert also provides career counseling on a one on one basis. She works with patorns who are looking for  work.
     The other service  she provides  is  she holds two workshops a month. One is on interviewing skills with many tips and hints on how to  have a successful interview.  Her other class is a resume class, where  she walked participants through what a good resume should have.  During these sessions , she also provides  many tips and hints  on being successful in the job hunt today.

  We also have printed information out for job seekers, and our data bases are also very helpful!
We also have computer classes that help patrons get up to speed on their technology skills that may be needed  for many jobs today.

We be reading

Webereading,com is a mother and son website that is professional looking and very intriguing.  K is a mom whose goal is to get people reading.  Z is 1 a0 year old who also loves to read and he writes his own graphic novels.  A very talented pair to say the least.

  There is a review policy and tabs that link you to Ya & Adult fiction review, non-ficition reviews, picture and chapter books, and film reviews.

  You will find very interesting review that are fair but critical.  I find this to be very helpful. I also like the film tab because they compare books to films  which is very helpful in my DVD selection.

Procrastination

   Are you a procrastinator?   Most of us procrastinate in one area of our lives or another.  There are many reasons why we procrastinate: fear of failure, wanting to do something else, feeling overwhelmed ,or being just plain lazy.

   First determine what situation cause you to procrastinate. The best way to overcome procrastination is to start small.  Figure out what it is you need to have done.  Take 10 or 15 minutes and tell yourself  you will just start the task.  (By breaking the task into smaller increments , you will feel better about starting, and you will see that you did accomplish a small portion of the task/ job.

  I like to break down large projects into do-able task.  The other thing that helps is writing down steps/ activities that need to be done and due dates when you want each segment done.

   Another help is to keep your written tasks in front of you , so you can grab a few minutes to do one part.
Then cross off /or date  each segment, and  you'll be able to see your self getting the job done.

   Some other tactics to stop your procrastination : offer yourself a reward/ bribe for the completion of the task or project, delegate part or all of the job, clean your workspace and leave only the task at hand out, or trick your self: I 'll only do one page today"

  Check out my book"The Organized Library" under the tab Books for Sale for more ideas on how to get more done.

Weekly Memo's For Staff

  About every other week, I will send out a weekly memo. The reason I do this is so I can keep the staff informed of various events, activities, policies, and  other items that I  need to tell them.

  The weekly memo helps me because  I can write it once and then know that I have told everyone what I needed to tell them and I don't have to ask- "Did I tell you.....?"  

   My next step will be to post the weekly memos on our library Libguide  ( More on that in another post), so that  the staff can refer back to the weekly memos easily and not have to search through their emails  to find the email I sent.

  Some items I might include:  updates to policies and procedures,  new programs coming up, food drive/pet drive month,  opening & closing procedures,  items to be done when at the circ desk,  birthdays and graduations,  monthly tasks, and other housekeeping items.

 

We Read/ Revish Reviews,

 WEREAD is a website that has been produced to assist adults ( Parents, teachers and Librarians)  to encourage youth and children to find the joy of reading and writing.  
   This site is free and one of its goals is to make reading more fun , stimulating, and enjoyable.On the left hand side of the page are links related  articles on reading, links to free  reading sites, book ideas for planning reading sessions, reading skills that students need. a parents group, and a link to reading groups.  
    One of the most helpful links is literacy and parenting resources. This leads to many links that will educate parents  about the importance of reading and writing.
   The best link , I think, is the 'Free Kids Books' .  This leads to sites where student can  actually read books online.

   Revish Review is another site that has great content . On Revish ,users can read and write book reviews, keep a list of books they are reading  Users can also participate in book discussions with other readers and reviewers.  Guidelines to writing reviews are green.  They look for meaningful reviews that help others decide if they will read and like the book reviewed.

  

New York Public Library- blog for librarians

    I n looking for blogs for public and school librarians , I happened across  The New York Pubic library's website   http://www.nypl.org, which has a link to quite a few blogs that are done by staff.  Why In have never been on their website is now a wonder to me!  There is so much there to see and explore. I am going to go back and explore some more because I think there is a lot  of information that I can use in my new position as library manager:  book lists,  reviews
   When you get to the site, look at the tabs on the top and click on Explore.  That will give you a drop down box and there you will find the link for the blogs.   You can select posts of channel or subject . Now these have a variety of topics, some will highlight up and coming programs. Many of these programs are past, but you will see what they  had and it may help give you some ideas for your library and your programs.
  The blogs  that are listed are very interesting and helpful, and provide a variety of topics that are educational for both librarians and patrons. The blogs cover a range of topics and are written by experts in their fields ,of which most are employed by the New York Public library.
 http://www.nypl.org/