What does an Admisitrator Want from a Librarian?

      I have been thinking lately about what administrators want and expect from a School Library Media Specialist. I've also been thinking that many administrators  really do not have any idea about how valuable a school librarian can be.
      Do they have classes when they are taking courses to be a Principal  about the value of a school librarian?  I think not, but I do think they should.
      Number one item on my list is a Library media Specialist is a TEACHER. They work with students in the library, the computer lab, and in the classroom! What do they teach?
     They teach the love of reading and literature. Think  about interactive read aloud' s and author studies.  Think introducing students to genres, and  series, chapter books, and graphic novels, award winning books.
    School librarian also teach students how to be information literate . They teach how to use the resources of books, references, data bases, and the internet. to find the information they need. They show students how to use the latest web based programs to   produce information pieces  to share with there their learning.
     Later in the week or next week  week I have some addoitioanl  items to add to this list of what an adminsotrator wants from their librarians. Keep reading for more.
    Any additional items the librarian does as a teacher?  Please add your comments.
What should you do with this information? Share this in some way with your p;principals and school board and teachers,. Let them know what you can do to assist the students in the quest for 21st century learners.

Last Week of School

It is the last week of school and everything is winding down.!  Hard to believe that another year has gone by.
Inventory done and print outs printed. We did not do to bad- but it is surprising that so many of our professional books have disappeared / I wonder who could have taken them?  Any guesses? So this week I have a few classes and I have to clean up and taken everything down for cleaning. -and bring my plants home. That's about it. I will be writing this summer occasionally  ( probably  twice a week) in preparation  for the new school year.
  I hope to spend time working on my book and hopefully will have it out soon.( it all depends on my editor- my husband)- when he can fit it working on it with me.

Inventory

Yes we have actually started- scanning. It took a little bit to the scanners sycned  but now we are going strong. Stopped a bit yesterday to have a great Caldecot challenge party. It was fun. Tomorrow our break will be the second round of the Battle of the Books.  Still getting books back and in.

Beginning Inventory

 I am getting ready to begin inventory tomorrow, so today I am printing over dues. ( Yes , there are students who still have books out even though the due date was May 31st.)  Then there are the pre- inventory printouts that must be done before we even start scanning. Of course books are still coming in and classes are in here researching and typing!
 Also this week we are doing the Caldecott Pizza party- which is given to the class that reads the most Caldecott's. And we have the second round of the Battle of the Books! Busy Week~

Steps to Inventory

 We are still working towards doing inventory. The books are due but not all in yet. Teachers still have books out that they are using. So besides shelving and reading, the next thing I will do is overdue notices to teachers for student books. I will also send an email to staff asking that all books they are not using be returned to the library so they can be inventoried when we are scanning.
  I also just "ordered"  from our tech person, our two carts with laptops or computers and speakers. We are lucky enough to have wireless and can use the system right at the shelf. It 'beeps'  if there is a problem with the item scanned and the screen tells what the problem is.  This is a long way from what inventory used to be - even when  the first technology came along- we had to upload our scans to the main computer, and print out and them check for problems. Hurray for updated Technology!

Inventory- on going

      We are continuing on in our inventory process. As of right now , students have the last week to keep reading . All of our books are due on May31st.   So as we get back the books , we are shelving , shifting, and reading the shelves. 
      Many of the shelves have to be shifted because we have a lot of books . During the year, we shift many times to accommodate the collection.  Certain shelves need to be read- those are the shelves that see the most use. Some shelves only need a quick glance to make sure they are okay.
     What is a great help is that since we are an elementary school, we only go to one or two digits behind the decimal for the non-fiction section.( My predecessor did this and It actually works out very well, both in the keeping of the shelves in order and also the shelving and finding of the books.

It's Inventory Time Again!

     Yes it is inventory time again- well almost. Today was the last day for students to check out books. All our books are due by May 31st.  This gives us time to print our over dues and get them to the Students. There are students that have VERY VERY overdue books.  These students are not allowed to take out any more books- even this week.
    We have begun reading shelves. In my book  ( The Organized Librarian)there is a whole chapter on organizing  the reading and inventory process. We read shelvess while we are shelving books or when we come to a shelf that needs it.
     Many of the shelves are pretty good, many are really out of order. It just depends how much the shelf is used by the students.  What really takes the most time is shifting the books so that all the books fit on the shelves.  We really need more shelving in both libraries , but I know that is not going to happen anytime soon.
   While I am reading shelves, and shelving books,  I look for books that are obviously out of date, falling apart, and ugly. Then I usually check the stats on the circulation system to see : how old the item is( if nonfiction - is it accurate?,  how many times it has been checked out- do we need to replace with the same item or an up to date book)  These questions help me decide if I should pull the book and discard it, or write down the title/subject to order for next year.