Coffee an Curriculum

Well it is back to school time of year again.  This means a lot of hard work for students and staff.

I have some changes in my library this year. Some are great others made my heart crack. As they say change is good, and I do feel in the end it will all work out for the best.

One of my the most enjoyable parts of my job is reading to the children. This year, or at least for now, I will not be reading aloud in the library.  I know, you are probably thinking what I did...."What the H..."  I was mortified when first told this, and could not make sense of it. 

I am the "Library Lady" as the students affectionately call me. I was able to build relationships with the students last year , by the simple act of reading with great animation and passion to them. They would ask me to read on the playground, in the halls, it was a great feeling knowing they were enjoying my storytelling talents as much as I was.

After reassessing what I at first thought was an unreasonable and sheer joy killing demand , I have come to some terms with my lack of reading aloud this year.  My library is very old and has it's share of different Librarians over the years. This has led to a complete chaotic system. Barcodes on books are not uniform, filing is a miss, it is clear to see many had pack-rat syndrome who lived in the library before me, (and I too have this affliction to a degree).  Inventory has not been done in years and shelving of books had gotten out of control. (I take the blame for this , although when given the library last year I walked into stacks, piles, tucked away books all needed to behshelved from the prior year, talk about the Welcome Wagon)!

I can now see the sense behind NOT taking the time to read aloud and do a mini-lesson with the K-4. The Library at this time needs a good dose of TLC.  Attention I was unable to afford last year due to many factors.

So, with some sadness, yet hope I will not be reading aloud at least until the Library is manageable.  Not reading and discussing books, doing Dewey hunts,  setting-up the projector for e-books, Author discussion and activities of the same will afford me the time needed to finally after many years of neglect at the hands of many, including my own,   allowing me to get my Library in tip-top shape.

So, off I go with dreams of reading aloud, scanner in hand to scan 26,838 titles in a much needed inventory!