Day 5 Bradley Central Library

Questions:
1. Why did the library seem so packed today? How many non-library events are held here?
2. I noticed a card catalog in your library. Are you still using one of those?
3. How often do you collaborate with teachers?

Answers:
1. Goodness! Everybody in this school seems to want to use the library for purposes besides reading and instruction! Today was a busy day for two reasons: Signing Day and Court Day. Signing day is when the senior athletes sign the papers for the college they will attend. It is an exciting day for them! Representatives from the college come, as well as coaches, parents, grandparents, friends, sometimes the local news, and today we even had a priest! We have a special sign we put out for photo ops, and of course I take yearbook photos! Usually they will set up refreshments and then mingle for a while. On top of that, it was also court day. Court day is usually held during report card time, and students who have missed too much school will have to bring in their parents or guardians and meet with the attendance officials. If you noticed all the extra parents and students waiting in the library, it was because the "courtroom" is just off of the library. I don't mind the activities held in the library as long as I can stay open, to provide access to my students. It really pushes my buttons down when I have to close the library so that students can be tested. Sometimes they will make me close my whole library for just 10 students! Seriously? Is there no other place in this facility?
2. You noticed my card catalog? I love it! I had more than that but the county took them away! I had to fight them to let me keep it! Can you believe it? You may have noticed that I enjoy displaying relics of the past in the library; there is a collection of old phones, typewriters, and of course my beloved card catalog. We do not use it though, it is purely for decoration. There are still some cards in there and you should check them out! Mostly cards for the old media like filmstrips and such. As much as I love the card catalog for decoration, I am so glad we do not have to catalog like that anymore!
3. Sadly, I do not get to collaborate with teachers nearly as much as I would like! I am almost always available for them, but many of them have so many time constraints to cover curriculum that they don't utilize me as much. In the beginning of every school year many of the ninth grade teachers will collaborate with me so that I can help orient the freshmen with all of the library resources. I am happy that I am able to support them with curriculum needs though; our class books sets collection is pretty extensive, and I never say no when I am asked to purchase more titles. I will do anything I can to help get books into the hands of the students.

Reflection:
Another teaching day! YIKES! I had collaborated with the librarian for a lesson with theater students; a fun activity involving fractured fairy tales. My librarian (who used to be an English teacher, and  involved with theater and drama) warned me that while this was a fun activity, it might be difficult to reign it in. She was right. I had the lesson about fractured fairy tales, and we discussed elements, so the actual lesson went pretty well. Students seemed engaged and even a little excited. When we broke into groups for the activity, things got a little loud to say the least! I found it difficult to gauge how much time was needed for group activity, so we were not able to see all the groups' work, and then suddenly it was time for them to go. The one big difference in teaching in high school and teaching in elementary school is checking out books! In elementary school the students come to the library for a lesson, and then get to check out books. In high school the students have the lesson and then they just leave. I wanted to call them back and say "Wait! You forgot to check out a book!"😢

Day 4 Bradley Central Library

Questions:
1. How do you schedule the library's computer labs?
2. Do you have librarian meetings with the county? If so, how often?
3. I noticed that you still use due date slips in the back of the books...why?

Answers:
1. The library's computer labs are scheduled on a first come first serve basis. We keep track of which class is scheduled for which computer lab and when, with a calendar. My library assistant uploads the calendar onto the library website monthly, but checks the schedule daily to see if updates need to be made. On days when the computer labs are not being utilized by classes, students will come with library passes to work on research or assignments in the lab.
2. Yes, we have countywide librarian meetings; they like for us to meet once per month. Usually during the school day, in fact, we will be having one this afternoon at 1:00 PM. You should come with me, and see what a Bradley Librarian meeting is all about.
3. Probably the best reason why we still use due date slips is ease of use. I know that many librarians are using printed receipts nowadays, but in my opinion, those receipts are easily lost, and then you forget when the book is due. HA! I probably have a dozen of those receipts in my purse from the public library! The due date slips are nice! The students who check out books only have to look in the back of the book to see when the book is due, instead of having to keep track of a printed receipt. It also helps a lot when I am weeding. I literally have a printed record in the back of the book showing me how often or how recently a book has been checked out. To some these are relics of the past, but we like them!

Reflection
Today was a busy day! My first day of teaching and that was stressful! When you are used to teaching elementary school students, high school students seem huge and terrifying! Thankfully, the librarian was right there with me, and she knew the kids, so there were no discipline issues. But NERVOUS MUCH??? When we were discussing the features of Tennessee Electronic Library, and I was showing students some of the features like the citation tools, I was glad that the students seemed so engaged, wanting to ask questions, but later my teenaged daughter said, "MOM, we do that to student teachers all the time: ask questions to get them off track!" In any event, they seemed especially interested in the citation tool, because in the words of one student, "It's one less thing we have to do!" I am not sure the group activity went as well as I would have hoped. As I circulated the room there were some groups where it seemed that only one person was doing the work and the rest were off task, so it got a little bit rowdy, and then we ran out of time before I was able to hear every group's paragraph, but overall it went better than I expected.
In the afternoon I went to the librarian meeting with the librarian. I thought it was nice having it during the day. The librarian meetings in my district are always after school. They spent a good part of the meeting talking about ways to "Breath new life into the accelerated reading program," because apparently there are rumors that they may lose some funding for that. A guest speaker came to invite us all to attend The Children's Book Festival at the University of Southern Mississippi on April 5-7. Kate DiCamillo will be there to receive the "Southern Miss Medallion." I would love to go, but sadly I have a book fair to oversee in my own library that week. Oh well! Maybe next year.

Day 3 Bradley Central Library

Questions:
1. How do you select new books for the library?
2. How many books do you check out on an average day?
3. What do you need to do to get new books ready for the shelf?
4. How do you promote new books in the library?

Answers:
1. Usually I keep an ongoing list with Follett. If a student or teacher asks for a book we do not have, I will try to add it to my list. I try to select books that have at least 4 reviews from sources such as Kirkus or Booklist. I will refer to Bestseller lists (New York Times, Goodreads, YALSA, etc.) for ideas as well. Once I have enough books in the cart, I will place the order. I actually just started a new booklist with Follett today, when a student asked if we had the book Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.
2. On an average day, we check out anywhere from 10-20 books...sometimes more, sometimes less; it just depends. Sometimes a teacher will come in and check out a class set of books, and the class sets have anywhere from 30-35 books in the set. Obviously on days like that, the totals for the day go up.
3. The books come barcoded from Follett, so we just have to upload the MARC records, stamp the books with the library stamp, add a barcode (from Follett) to the inside of the back cover, and attach a due date slip to the inside back cover. Then the books are ready for the shelf!
4. We always display the new books on a cart in front of the circulation desk. I would love to advertise new books on social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, but the county blocks these sites.

Reflection
The librarian and staff at Bradley are lovely people! I will be spending my spring break with them, and if I can't be at the beach, being in this library is the next best thing. I was able to take a little field trip with the librarian to get some photos for the yearbook. The facility seems huge, but everywhere we go, people greet the librarian and are happy to see her. Getting a little more comfortable with the computer system; able to check books in or out without assistance, as well as assist students with usernames and passwords.

Day 2 Bradley Central Library

Questions:
1. How do students utilize the library?
2. How do teachers utilize the library?
3. How do you handle discipline in the library?

Answers:
1. Most of the students come to the library to utilize the technology. They type their papers, send emails, and print papers. Many come in for the coffee shop, and when time permits, some of the students will play Jenga at the game center or peruse the magazines. I have some regulars for checking out books, but sadly, many students do not have a lot of time for recreational reading.
2. Most of the teachers use the library's computer labs when conducting research with the students. They will bring the whole class to the computer lab whenever they can reserve the space. Some will come to check out class sets of books or other teacher resources. The teachers will sometimes use some of the spaces for meetings, or will just come and work on lesson plans. We have a beautiful library, and it is convenient for them to grab a cup of coffee and sit in the library to work on their lessons.
3. I haven't had many discipline problems lately, but the school has a Student Resource Officer (SRO) that can be called in if there was ever a problem I couldn't handle.

Reflection
My second day in the library went a little smoother than the first. I knew where to park and I felt at home with librarians. I was able to navigate the Destiny program a little better, and I helped the librarian's assistant shelve the returned books. I learned to dress warmer today....the library is FREEZING in the afternoon, so plenty of layers and constant coffee helped save me from hypothermia. I explored some of the resources available to teachers and helped a student get paper from the paper storage closet (there is enough paper to survive a zombie apocalypse!).

Day 1 Bradley Central Library

Questions
1. What is one of your biggest responsibilities as the librarian?
2. What kind of a budget do you receive for the library?
3. What made you decide to become a librarian?

Answers
1. My biggest responsibilities can vary from day to day. Currently my biggest responsibility is meeting the deadlines for this yearbook production. I am in the process of editing and proofreading the entire book, and you can see by all these piles that this is no easy task. Fortunately my library assistant is able to lend a hand whenever she is between tasks.
2. Bradley is a Title I school, so I receive a $10,000 budget for the school year. Our library also runs Joe Bear's Coffee Shop, and I am able to utilize the profits from that to further benefit the needs of the library. The coffee shop profits allow us to purchase things for the library that we would otherwise be unable to acquire. For example, I am looking into purchasing a treadmill with an attached reading table, so that students or teachers could come in and get a little exercise while they are reading their books.
3. My daughter was the person who influenced me to become a librarian. While she was teaching, she pursued her librarian degree, and upon starting her new job as the librarian (which she loves!), she encouraged me to do the same.

Reflection
My first day of this high school practicum began with severe feelings of apprehension. I couldn't find the correct parking lot and my first attempt landed me in the senior's lot. A kind student put me on the right path, and I was able to make it to my post on time. I was nervous about meeting the librarian, and my apprehension doubled when I realized there was also a librarian's assistant. My nerves were quickly put at ease after introductions and a good laugh about my parking fiasco. The librarian was very busy trying to meet yearbook deadlines, so I spent a good part of the day with the assistant. It was interesting learning about the Destiny Follett program utilized by the library. The layout and tools are far different from Atriuum Book Systems; the system used by my county. Overall it was a day filled with learning about the routines of a Bradley librarian. The traffic in the library was pretty slow that day, so at one point the assistant stepped out and left me to handle the circulation desk. I was like a "deer in the headlights" when I student asked me if I could give him his computer login information. Fortunately for me, the librarian was close by in her office and was able to come and assist the student.