Value of School Librarians

   The true value of school librarians is  the  helping of students to become successful at learning. The question should always be : How  can we help our students to become more successful at learning?

   The message that school librarians needs to be focused on is this: The students !!   The key to the library program is helping the students learn how to keep on learning which will lead them to be successful in all avenues of their college  or work years.,

  Determine what tools the students need   and let those items be the goals of your work with the students. 

  Then it s your goal to share  what these tools are  with your staff , administrators, and parents,.  about the library assists and helps make the students successful.

Fantastic Fiction.com

   Fantastic Fiction is a web site  for librarians and book lovers .  Through this site you can find  information about authors and  their books.   The site is easy to use  and you can click on a title to see the book cover, the description , and the details on the publication of the book.
  There are also links to book awards,  books from different countries( it is a UK based site),  Series books, and Year. There are also links to hardcover, paper back , audio books, and kindle editions where visitors can  click and search.

 Along the right side you can also see  information about books that are coming out in the next several months  This will be a great source for librarians looking to see what is coming up by their  favorite authors.

 There are also genre pages ( towards the bottom) which includes: science fiction, fantasy, YA, horror,  mystery, historical, western, romance, sagas  just to list a few ..

Value of Public libraries in their Communities

   Do most communities value their public library?  Yes they do- most especially the patrons who use the library on a regular basis.
  Community members agree that the materials, resources, and  the technology  available at the library play an important  roll in giving everyone a chance to  grow and succeed. 

  The value of the library  are those unemployed  and retired   members use the library in finding information  regarding  jobs, career workshops , and other career  building services ( resume, interviewing , ect)   Patrons can receive assistance  and the technology need for applying for government services.
Manny members still value their library because  of the  accessibly of the use of computers and the Internet.

  Special programs of the library are also valued to many members of the community. There are children's, teens, and adult programs that patrons enjoy for entertainment and fellowship.  Use of the library for information, books, media, and research assistance continues to show that the library does have an effect of the members of the community.
  

Staff Development

  Staff Development is important to all  Libraries whether there is staff or just a single person.  Behind staff development is simply continued learning and understanding of key topics and technologies.

  Staff Development can be either formal (  a class, in a group, a webinar,  power point or slide show, handouts  & discussions,)    Informal staff development also count. This can again be done singly or in a group. It can be as simple as an email updating staff to something important, an on the spot instruction in a report or procedure. It can also be done on a per person as needed basis , or when a staff member has a specific question or needs and answer.

  In my daily routine with staff, I will always keep in mind when something new comes up that may not have been discussed in detail.  This is especially important with newer staff or when changes  have occurred in policy or procedures.

    Staff development is a process of learning more  and growing in our professional life.

Fictiondb

     Fictiondb is a great resource for those that love fiction. This site will   be valuable to librarians who are looking to expand their fiction and select books that readers will love to read.

    This is an easy to use tool that helps you discover a great book to read.  You can browse  author book list, series, reviews, and  author pseudonyms. There are also links on the main page to lots of interesting  content:  most popular authors,  essential reading lists,  if you like, try...,   and new fiction  (  has a monthly list of every new book with link to short description). There is also blog news, and  definitions of  different genres.

    Also on this site you can keep track of  your books and series that you have read in one convenient place. There is lots of information here that will help both readers and busy librarians.

My favorite book review sources part 3

 This is the last post about book review sources - I was trying to think of 10 all together but not sure  if I got to 10. Oh well.

  One of the most pleasurable ways to get reviews and recommendations is through some of my womens magazines that I get in the mail or at the store.   So here goes

  Good Housekeeping: is one of my favorites.  They almost always have an excerto of a new best selling book in the back of the magazine. This gives me a really good idea of what the book is about.  Then they also have  a list of similar reads with brief summaries.

 Woman's Day:  They have just started a new book club page. On this page they have recommendations from book clubs.  They include about 5 descriptive summaries of good books for groups can read .

All You is another my favorite magazines.  Every month they have a recommendations page which alwys have  at least one book, and also a good movie.

First for Women has a page:" The 6 paperbacks we are reading" Some are brand new , some are not but they have a good cross-section  of Types  and also good summaries and comments about  the books.

  Womens world  also has a nice page every month where they post a 'woman's world book club: giving a very brief summary of their new books and also a movie recommendations

Setting up your file cabinet

    Take some time to set up your filling cabinet so that materials are easy to locate when you need them.  If you are just beginning   to set up your file cabinet, here are a few ideas to have it go smoothly and be easy to use.

  First of all, arrange all your files in alphabetical order. It is a great idea to keep a listing of the file folders that you have. ( see my ebook The Organized Librarian ) 

  If you are lucky , you might have more than one filing area,  I have  a small filing  cabinet in my desk drawer. This is where I keep items filed that I use on a daily basis.  I can pull them out easily and then file them away when I am done with them at the end of the morning or the end of the day.

 I also am lucky to have two other filing cabinets.  I have one in my closet . In this one I keep items that I use on a monthly basis.
The third one is in our storage area.   The files I keep in here are more historical in nature.   These are budget files or grant files that I must keep for 7 years  before discarding. 

  So when you are setting up your cabinet s, depending on the size, you will need a area that you will use on a daily/ weekly basis and also at least on drawer for your historical files.