November Library Bulletin Boards

           November  Bulletin Board Ideas:

   Elect to read!-  Election decor
   Children's Book Week - Have students make covers of their favorite books or put up covers of books.
   Don't be a turkey, Read!- Make a turkey with feathers - print out titles on the feathers.
   Be Thankful for great books.
   What are you Thankful for?- have students write down on slips what they are thankful for. Put on bulletin board. Color code by class.
   Gobble up these  great books - turkey with book covers of book chosen by you or students
   Pick a winner- football theme

Collaboration- Begin with Books!

     When you have true collaboration with your teachers, it is the most ideal situation for your students and your teachers. I think most everyone knows that. There are many different ways librarians can collaborate with their staff. If you are just beginning and trying to get teachers to collaborate  with you, one way to start if with books.
    If you can provide books for students and teachers  for teachers to use is just one way to start the process. Books can go to the classroom or stay in the library, depending on where the class will meet,         
    Books can be on display or for use to support teacher units. Books can be used to help with project research, fact finding, or extended information, or further enrichment/ engagement. They can be used to expand on units studied. 
    If teachers or students need books you don't have, many librarians can do inter library loan to get them. If I have book requests from teachers for units, I usually put them on the purchase list for the following year, if I know they will do the unit the next year.  I also keep lists of books that go with units so I have it the next year.  

Monthly Report- What should I include?

    What are the basics you should include in your Monthly Report?  First and Foremost  , your circulation shows what books and another items( eBooks, audio books, other items you circulate and are in charge of)  went out during the month.
   Another stat to show would be how many students came in during the month to check out books, or even in your classes. This shows how much student contact you have during the month. If you have a sign in ( sheet or log in)  to account for student use.
   Just these two items will show how many students you see each day. In a basic report like this , you could also indicate the number of new books that are received and processed each month.  You could also report funds spent on books and materials.
 See Part 1 of Why should I do a monthly report in my last post.

 If you do a monthly report, what do to include? Leave a comment below - join the conversation! When you follow me or leave a comment you will be entered to receive a copy of "The Organized Librarian"- Drawing to be held at the end of the month.

Monthly Report- should I do one?- Book Giveaway!

   I think every librarian should do a monthly report.  Even if you have loads of classes,  maybe no help, and are crunched for time, make time to at least do a brief report.  I am suggesting that a basic simple report  to administration leads to greater understanding of what librarians do.
    Why? First of all, doing a monthly report  demonstrates that you do more than just classes  or just book check out.   Many Administrators and staff   have no  idea of what is involved in running a library. If you give even the basic details you can show what else you are doing to maintain the library
  It is our job as librarians to  educate our Administrators and staff of what librarians can do and should be doing!
  If you do a monthly report, what do to include? Leave a comment below - join the conversation! When you follow me or leave a comment you will be entered to receive a copy of "The Organized Librarian"- Drawing to be held at the end of the month/1

Library Bulletin Boards for October

  These are just a few ideas for October:

 Fall in love with reading!  leaves falling down to the ground from a bare tree- could put titles of books on the leaves

Scare up some good books- ghosts with titles on it

Pick of the patch- lots of pumpkins!( include book titles / authors)

Reading is a Scream - put up covers of
scary or horror  books all around the letters!

 Have students create starting in early Oct. Make a whole bunch of plain orange pumpkins- Have them write on a good scary book that they would recommend.

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!!

Free Easy Lesson for GRs. 4-7: Internet versus Print

 I have an easy lesson plan for grades 4-7, that involves students in a completion and shows them the importance of using both books and internet sources for information,
 For the set up , I have  some non-fiction books, a set of encyclopedias, and computers - laptops, desktops, or chrome books.
  Think of some simple questions that students might need the answer to- What year was Lincoln president? When did the civil war start?  Link the question to what the students are doing in Social studies or science so it has some significance.
  For class prep: Go over /ask students to tell the class how to find items in books and encyclopedia quickly/ ) use the table of contents, index, know the Encyc are in alphabetical order.
  Hand out the questions to each group. Students will work together to find answer. One person in each group should be a time keeper, writing down how much time it takes to get the answer. Students write the answer down with the time.
See who gets the correct answer first!! Each group can state the answer , their source, and how much time it took to get  the answer.
 If time permits, students can do another round of questions.
  Exit ticket: Have students determine  what source is best for the quickest answer.