Creating a community of readers

For me there's nothing more fun than the smile of a kiddo who has read a book and loved it.  And if it's a book that I recommended, that's an amazing feeling.

And creating a community of readers?  Making progress toward that wonderful and lofty goal would probably be enough for most of us to retire happy.

But how can we set the tone for a community of readers at our schools?  How can we create excitement for pleasure reading when many kids think that's an oxymoron?

Let's start with what it's not.

Creating readers is NOT:
*based on rewards
*mandated
*tested
*computerized
*censored
*judgmental
*solitary

And on the positive side...

What do readers need?
*Choice
*Adults to model a love of reading
*Someone to recommend books especially for them
*Time
*A variety of books in many formats
*An opportunity to share what they read

What can we do to set the tone for a community of readers?

*Read what the kids read
*Read a ton
*Have an awesome collection
*Talk to kids about books
*Provide programming that encourages reading
*Know a wide variety of authors to recommend
*Keep a list of what you read

I'd love to hear your ideas for creating readers--please do share! I'll be happy to post them here, along with a list of programs that may encourage reading.

In the meantime, there's a good book and a comfy sofa that's calling my name...

How to make a parent's day AND advocate for your library in one simple step

Sometimes a simple idea is best.  It's great to have a ton of ideas, but we're busy.  And overwhelmed.  And maybe stressed.  So if we could simplify, I'm betting no one would object.

Yesterday one of our wise librarians shared with me that as things get increasingly harried and fragmented, she copes with these multiple demands by streamlining.  She consciously steps back, identifies what is most important in her library, and then focuses on one or two things.  And because she is wonderful, these one or two things involve helping kids love reading and learning.  When she loses focus, she asks herself if the task at hand relates to her priorities.

Simplify.  Streamline.

In an earlier post I listed ten ideas to advocate for our libraries. In an effort to channel the advice of my smart friend, I'd like to feature one idea that several of our fabulous librarians have implemented.

Make one positive parent call a day. 

It takes only a couple of minutes.  Choose a student that you've had a special interaction with that day or one that may need a little affirmation.  The nervous flutter of calling a parent will dissipate once you find out how amazing it feels to make a parent's day.  And calling home isn't just for the little ones.  There's no age limit on feeling good.

The librarian I mentioned has recently started calling a parent each day with terrific results.  She left a voicemail for one parent at work telling the mom what a great kid her son is and how fun it is to work with him.  The mom called the librarian back and said, "I just wanted to hear you say those nice things about my son one more time.  Would you tell me again?"

"The Mind of a Researcher: Keith Curry Lance," is a great article from the April 2010 issue of Teacher Librarian about the critical role of a librarian. After 20 years of gathering data on the effectiveness of school libraries, Lance notes that the message still isn't being heard.  Why?  Lance feels that when we advocate for our own programs, it often sounds self-serving. 

And who does Lance believe are our best advocates?  Parents.

So today I challenge you to adopt the simple idea of making one positive parent phone call each day.  In this small act of kindness you will make the day of a parent and advocate for your library in one simple step.

And one small action can be powerful. 

If you call one parent a day x 180 days of school, that's 180 parents firmly in your corner.  We have 49 librarians in our district.  If each one would call one parent per day x 180 days, we would have 8,820 parents supporting our library program by the end of the year.

And if every school librarian called one parent every day...

Pass the word.

'Tis the season for a kinder, gentler library



Altered book tree courtesy Wakeland HS, FISD

'Tis the season for good will to all men (and students and staff).  So while you're full of eggnog and good cheer, I hope you'll take a few moments to perform a kindness audit for your library (briefly mentioned in a previous post--see tags).

Walk around your library and look at it with fresh eyes.  Pretend you're a kiddo or a teacher seeing it for the first time.  Better yet, ask a student or staff member to give you feedback.

Do you have a kinder, gentler library?

*When you step in the door, does someone smile and call you by name? 

*Does the library LOOK like a place you'd want to be?

*Are you bombarded by the negative or surrounded by the positive? 

Negatives:  NO food.  NO drinks.  The library is CLOSED today for a meeting.  You have an OVERDUE book. 

Positives:  Help us keep the library looking great--please finish food and drinks before entering.  We hope to see you again tomorrow--meeting in progress.  Your book is due when you've read it through.

*Is the library easy to use or intimidating?  (We get what an OPAC is, but do the kids?  We get Dewey, but honestly, they really don't have to--they just want a book! What do you mean I can't use Wikipedia?)

*Is the library a place where it's ok to make mistakes?  (Or does the self checkout system beep overly loud or whistle at you if you do it wrong?  I like the ones that a mistake gets a recording of the librarian's voice nicely saying, "Oops.  Please ask for help.")

*Are all legitimate requests listened to and fulfilled if possible?

*Are students inadvertently patronized (Calling them baby, honey, sweetheart; talking in a different tone of voice to kids than adults) OR is everyone treated with respect?

*Are ALL kids welcome in the library?  (Not just the ones who are easy to welcome?)

The list could go on, so I hope you'll weigh in with your own suggestions for a kindness audit.  Other ideas?

In the meantime, refill your wassail cup and toast to a happy holiday and a kinder, gentler library where good will to all is evident each day.

Cheers!

Happy New Year!

Today is the first day of school for most of the districts in our area.  I suspect it's a day of great rejoicing in public libraries, but my colleagues there are much too professional to agree out loud.  I do know some moms who work from home who are pretty happy today. 

And, in fact, most school librarians are also excited to welcome the new school year.  For us, this day is much more a new beginning than January 1. 

The first day of school brings freshly sharpened pencils, pointy crayons, clean lockers, and empty notebooks.  It's a day of optimism.

In the library, the books are completely in order and straight on the shelves for perhaps the only time all year (but that's ok--we want them to be used).  Our new displays are bright and catchy.  Our bulletin boards are fresh.  We have read tons of books over the summer and are ready to recommend them to kids. We have great ideas to collaborate with teachers.

A New Year's Resolution

Of course no new year would be complete without resolutions.  Let's do ourselves a favor and skip the ones in which we promise ourselves never again to eat sugar, to attend the family reunion each year, or to finally read Moby Dick.

Before I propose just one resolution, let me take a brief detour to connect a couple of seemingly unconnected sources.

1.  This summer I was fortunate enough to hear Raymond McNulty speak about rigor and relevance in schools.  One of the pieces that kept coming back to me is that in order to achieve rigor, learning must be relevant.  In order for learning to be relevant, relationships must be established first.  Relationships are critical.

2.  A book I'd recommend is Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard.  A piece that resonated with me is that complex problems need simple solutions. 

So...it may follow that in order to solve the complex issue of how to create students who are information fluent, the first step may be to establish relationships with these students AND their teachers. 

Even if you don't buy into my logic, it darn sure couldn't hurt, right?


I propose that we all make a new year's resolution that we can really keep.  
Work on relationships this year.

How can we work on relationships?

1.  Smile and greet every person who comes in the library by name.  Every time!
2.  Every time possible, walk over and ask how you can help.
3.  Listen.  Treat every request as important, even if you're busy.
4.  As Michael Stephens suggests, perform a "kindness audit" for your library. 
5.  Ditch the fines. Consider, as one of our wise librarians says, "Your book is due when you've read it through."
6.  Nix the millions of rules. Most of us behave in a civil manner without posting them.  Deal with those of us who don't individually and quietly.
7.  Ditto to the zillions of procedures.  Don't make us jump through hoops to check out a book or chances are we won't bother next time.
8.  Try to say yes much more often than you say no. 
9.  Look around at your signage and get rid of anything that says NO, NEVER, DON'T, and CLOSED.  Rephrase these negative statements.  Instead of "NEVER print without asking," how about the much nicer, "Please ask before printing."  Or even better, "You may print two pages a day if needed."
10.  Be the living example of Ranganathan's law, "Save the time of the reader" (aka any person who walks through your door).

Here's to a new year and new relationships!

Photo: http://www.maxgladwell.com/

Other things to help with flexible scheduling...

1.  Implement self checkout.  Yesterday! 

While self checkout takes time to get rolling, it's well worth the effort.  Self checkout frees librarians from the clerical task of checkout in favor of professional tasks such as reader's advisory and collaboration.

2.  Have teachers sign up for the librarian, not the library.  HUH? 

The old way is to schedule the library.  With self checkout, teachers may bring their whole class or send a small group of students to return books and get new ones at any time WITHOUT the help of the librarian.  This frees the librarian to help another class with research, read a story, do booktalks, or a million other things.  So...the teacher only needs to sign up when he/she needs the LIBRARIAN.  Major paradigm shift.

3.  See how other schools manage their schedules, especially if the campus is large.  Do they have creative ideas for keeping the library out of rotation?

4.  Build relationships with...everyone--your administrators, teachers, parents, and of course, students.  People are more likely to back your cause if you care about them as well.

5.  Be an advocate for your library.  Tirelessly. Positively.

MorgueFILE free photo