Moran: On occasion, a librarian makes a mess

Over the last few weeks, in Moran, I pulled books, books and more books off the shelves to fix their catalog records in Infocentre. Now, it’s worth noting that the library was very neat when I started coming in September – thanks to dedicated staff and parents – and so I really appreciate the staff’s [...]

Kelly: Mac attack! (Weeding and shifting)

Using the MUSTIE guidelines two weeks ago, Mac, Jan S. and I went through the reference section at Kelly to determine what was outdated and now inaccurate/not current (lots of reference materials focus on “current events/world leaders/etc) so they can be outdated quickly. We looked at what should be updated with new purchases, what was [...]

Alta: The transformation

While there are still hundreds of books to process and get on the shelves, the library itself is becoming more functional every day. It has gone from this:

To this:

Alta: hunkering down on the records transfer

There is a matter of 467 partial records imported into Infocentre from the public library to deal with.
Jan S. came down this week and we plugged away at de-processing former public library books – taking off the call numbers we don’t use in a school library, such as “J” for juvenile, since all of our [...]

Wilson: Posters, reading dice and JH book hunting

I was happy to get a blog comment from Joan B., the librarian before me. Hopefully she’ll come visit from Alabama soon and do a “guest spot” at Wilson!
For now…
At Wilson, the 3rd grade is studying genre. This month it is historical fiction; last month it was mystery and the month before, realistic fiction. We [...]

Moran: new organization, re-orientation

Getting used to the new/updated sections:

Looking for the Wyoming Buckaroo and Indian Paintbrush award books:

Checking out what’s new:

Kelly: “Searching is fun”

Today our classes focused on searching in Infocentre using keyword, subject, author and title. We practiced the 1-2-3 method to get to our catalog online, from the school website, then found the most relevant and least relevant results we could in each of the 4 basic search options. We’re focusing on what it means to [...]

Kelly: An introduction

Kelly Elementary School is the 4th library I manage and teach classes at, half a day a week (the morning of the same day I go to Moran). It is in the closest to me as it is essentially in my backyard.
Kelly is an unincorporated township/village/whathaveyou bordered by Grand Teton National Park, north of Jackson. [...]

Wilson: Big 6 projects and classy catalogues

We keep the old card catalog as a display in the hall because it’s so fun to look in:

Below are the binders the 3-5th graders will fill in during library class during their Big 6 research projects. Wilson is the only school where I teach single grades – the other schools have combined grades, so [...]

Wilson: Hub for cataloging and processing

A typical Wilson pile: pages from encyclopedia for student’s Big 6 research project, receipts to record in the various school budgets, books on hold, catalogs to go through and orders to phone in. It’s a paperwork blitz!

Gumdrop books, ready for cataloging…

Books from Alta, cataloged there and ready to be processed and brought back (no processing [...]

Wilson: At the end of the day…

The circ desk, where the check-out magic happens, and much of the processing, cataloging, and other administrative work.

One of the computers the students use for classes and labs, and then our non-fiction section.

Displays (and the goose) still in tact…

But some lesson planning to be done in “the horseshoe!” (Where the kids sit during presentations and [...]

The Wilson library: home base

While my time is divided amongst the four libraries, I spend the most at Wilson Elementary School, in Wilson, Wyoming, which has about 200 students. I teach grades K-5, two sections of each, and teaching is mainly what I do. I have a fabulous para there, Patty, who works there on the days I am [...]

Moran: Moving on, to fiction

The fiction collection here has a lot of paperback books and very long shelves, which means the books get out of order easily and they fall, or even explode off of the shelves when students are using the bookends – if there are bookends. I am hoping to get more soon.

But, for now, on the [...]

Moran: The school at the junction

I get to spend about 3-4 hours a week (an afternoon) working at the Moran school library, which is up north, right near Yellowstone National Park, at the Moran Junction. It is about 40 minutes drive each way, depending on road closures. There are two teachers and a dog, and sometimes in the playground, you’ll [...]

Alta: A circulation desk arrives; the library begins to function

Hooray for furniture! We got our Smartboard, too, for the library and computer lessons. And CHAIRS! And, on the floor, you can see the storytime rug. It is finally coming together, furniture-wise.

Of course, what is the point of a desk if you don’t fill it with piles of books to process and catalog, and your [...]