Mission Statments- Planning & Writing

    Are you ready?  Ready to start thinking about and planning your mission statement for your library? 

         1:  Think about and determine what your long term goal / goals  would be for your library.  If you are  in a school and they have a mission statement- get that out and look at it.  What does the school want to accomplish?   Interweave that  into your mission so that it fits!  
               Start jotting down some ideas of what your school wants to accomplish. Make sure that  some of those goals are also  the libraries goals
               If you are in a school remember - your mission needs to align with the school mission , but you need to make it specific to the library and what you want to accomplish.
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        2:   A mission statement is short and serves as a guideline that steers  the library staff and programs on a daily basis.    Some times specific goals or objectives  usually accompnay the mission.


  One of my first Mission statement ( or how I remember it- may not be exact- will have to look it up)
  
                The D.V .Elem. School 's  Library mission is to promote reading and learning to the students  and staff.  The library will support curriculum and extend  and  engage  the work done in  and out of the classroom


      Would anyone share their mission statement? It would be great to see some more mission statements.

Wired Wednesday- Technology Tools

         I discoverd this site a while ago and thought  I would share it with you. This site is  Childrens Book A Day Almanac. Each day of the year Anita Silvey gives book recommendations  and reviews which are very detailed.  There are  book recommendations for students of all ages. Also for each day, you can see more events, author birthdays, and anniversaires amd other notable facts about books and authors.

       There are several tools on  this site. You can search the archives to see books review, and also look by age group, subject and date. If you are looking for some new ideas for titles for your students , check this out. I think you will find it to be very helpful.
  
        This would also be a great resource for your staff if they wanted some new ideas for books.
       Childrens Book A Day Almanac   could also be used by older students  in their search for interesting reads.

February Bulletin Boards For Libraries

      I've been floating through  January but now it is time to think about February and what to do about the bulletinn boards.   Here are some ideas :

We love to Read!- Give pink or red hearts  to students and have the write their favorite books. Students can write I Love...   and give the title and their name. Place oin BB with letters of slogan on top in black letters - Can use a light background and heart /scallop edges.

Black History Month- Place pictuires of famous african americans. You can number them, Give some clues under each one. Students can use references or online sources to find out . Students can give guesses in to you- At the end of the month, place names under each one.

Tech tie in- Tweet a sweet Book! Give students an enlarged note. Place a cute bird on each side of the BB- Students can write their favorite titles on each note and then placed on the BB.

Presidents Day- You  can do this similar to Black History Month.( Use presidents that students do not know) Or you could place some presidents  and have students find little know facts on each person.

Fiction to Film: Scan covers of books that you have in your library that have been made into movies.  Place the slogan in the middle and the covers around. A slogan to add  would be: Have you read these?

Library Mission Statement

     Do you have a mission statement for your library and your Career?  If you do not , you may want to think about doing one and having your library mission statement  posted in your library.
     Why should you do this? For starters , with a focused mission statement  you will find yourself referring to it . It will help you in your daily focus of your work. In the middle of a project , you can ask yourself - "Is this  part of what I really should be doing in the  mist of my day? Does this task/ activity help me with my mission. What can I do to move my mission forward?"
     Before you start writing , do some thinking and planning. What is your mission? What do you want to accomplish with your library, staff, and student's. Take some time , make some notes  and begin to formulate some ideas of your libraries mission.

Technology Tools- Wired Wednesday

    Snow Day today!!!  We have about  4 inches - not to bad! 
    Today I want to talk about Thinkfinity!  I was looking at my blog notes and way surprised that I had not yet written about it.   ThinkFinity   is   supported by the Verizon Foundation ( and some partners- AAAS, NCTM, Smithsonian, National Geographic) and is a lesson plan data base. There are may free lesson plan data bases  but this one is heads and shoulders above the rest. 
    Educators who join ( which is free) can collaborate through groups, blogs, and discussions.  They can share resources and  explore best practices  in teaching and learning.  The star of this site however is  the lessons which are digital resources  for students in K-12. They are interesting, engaging, and aligned to state standards and the common core.
    Check this out and show your staff. I think  you will find it very helpful and interesting.!

Common Core Standards and School Librarians

      On Friday I wrote about Librarians , CCS , and literature/ fiction texts.  But the main push of the CCS is the need for students to read and understand  increasinlgy complex non-fictionand informational  texts.  As librarians we need to supplement teachers and classrooms witgh more non-fiction, and informational texts.  Each classroom can not possibly have or afford the amout of informational needs  of its studdents.

     We need to provide Scienc, Math, and Social  Studies  books and passages that will help students become  more able to comprehend the  increasingly difficult books.  We need to find out/ become aware of the content areas and what the teachers are doing. Essentaily, school librarians  will become integrated into each classes currcuilum  to help students and teachers make connedtions among the learning in each area.
       Begin to take a leadership role in your school . If you have yet , learn each grade levels curriculum, Provide resources  ,and assistance   so the students will become career and college ready.
 

Common Core Standards and School Librarians

    I received a question just the other day about my book pass article  in Library Sparks and what CCS that activity would be related to . So I really started to think about the CCS and how they fit into the library program .
    Reading is at the core of the ELA common core standards, so really most of the standards go along with the library program of reading readiness for college- even in the youngest grades.  Each and every book that students read will help them on their way to becoming better readers.
  As librarians we build collections for students to read for pleasure - we have story hours, read alouds, reading incentives, and use award lists to promote the best books.

  As students read they are also gaining confidence  in pulling out main ideas, parts of the story  characters, plot, and  story curve.  The standards give some great examples of stories, poetry  and drama that apply the range of reading text types.
  We need to be aware and know the CCS and be an advocate  to administration , teachers, parents, and students that school librarians are at the core of learning within  the standards.  When you dive into the standards for you state, you will begin to see the important job we need to do to help students in all areas.