Several sleepless nights agonizing over lack of class meeting space in my new library. Two sets of low shelves allowed only three tables in area with view of projector screen. Was warned in advance that no projectors or other electrical or technology items could be moved.
How would I be able to invite classes into library? Many options crossed my mind, got measured and reviewed and eliminated. Nothing would work without moving projector and screen. Nothing would work . . .
And then inspiration hit! I was in the building by 6:45am. I had measured and committed by 7:15 and was working up a sweat before 8am. By ten I had every cart and most of the tables covered with books and the shelf units moved into new position. My plan was going to work!!!
How many times have I created a plan in my head and discovered after hours of labor that I did not have enough shelf space in one area or another to accomodate needs? (Many, I assure you!) NOT THIS TIME!!!! Everything went back into new configuration better than it came out!! Ok, I eliminated some stuff, but I, who hate to get rid of anything, had no problem with this purge.
It looks great!!! I created an area to highlight and spread out my graphic novels making room for more purchases this year. I moved both biographies and short stories to more accessible areas. I achieved my primary goal of space in front of projector screen with comfortable room for six tables. As a bonus I was able to maintain a barrier between this and the front of the library to allow additional students to work even with a class in progress.
Principal walked in as I was finishing up (shortly after noon). Had to be reminded of previous layout but very complementary once he realized what I had accomplished. Patting myself on back now, while I can. I know it all gets harder once the teachers and then students get into building. Looking forward to it though. Can't wait to use my new class space!!
Showing posts with label career satisfaction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career satisfaction. Show all posts
Friday, August 23, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
Employed in Henrietta NY !!!!
Oh so happy! I was finally offered and signed a contract as a teacher-librarian! Six years training as a Tech Integration Coach and Teaching Assistant in our high school library, a Masters Degree in Library Science and two months as a long term substitute at our stand alone Ninth Grade Academy Library last spring and voila, finally, complete with interview process and suggestion that I might not get the job, I got it! I got it! I got it! I got it!!! I am so excited!!!!!
Ok, its been a year since my last post. I will be busier now than ever, but, perhaps, on my own and on stage, I will focus more on this blog. My apologies to anyone who has followed in the past but hopes that you may continue in the future.
"New teacher" orientation next week. I have already been in library every day this week and am wishing I had two months before school starts. So much to do to try to get ahead of the curve and the oppressive knowledge that as soon as teachers walk through the door I will be behind and probably won't catch up all year. Ugh. I know it will be fun, but am sure it would be more fun if I felt prepared . . . . . Oh well . . . . Ready, Set, Go!!!!
Ok, its been a year since my last post. I will be busier now than ever, but, perhaps, on my own and on stage, I will focus more on this blog. My apologies to anyone who has followed in the past but hopes that you may continue in the future.
"New teacher" orientation next week. I have already been in library every day this week and am wishing I had two months before school starts. So much to do to try to get ahead of the curve and the oppressive knowledge that as soon as teachers walk through the door I will be behind and probably won't catch up all year. Ugh. I know it will be fun, but am sure it would be more fun if I felt prepared . . . . . Oh well . . . . Ready, Set, Go!!!!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Explosion of Expression
Welcome to the Grand Illusion . . . Not exactly sure why but these Styx lyrics popped into my head when I finally realized I was going to give myself permission to write again. My fingers are twitching I am so excited!
Yes, gave myself permission. I am behind on some projects that I really need to get done and I have stopped myself every time I tried to express my thoughts here with the admonition that I should be using my time wisely to get my projects done. Months have gone by and that strategy has not worked and so today I am giving in and will look for new motivation on those other fronts.
I have had a great summer with the family. We enjoyed several weeks at the lake and a couple other roadtrips to add a little spice. I worked a little and played Mr. Mom as my wife embarked on a new career. Perhaps most enjoyable, we actually made time to do a few projects around our own house this summer.
I had one great interview for a secondary position. It would have been a great job for me and, though it meant cutting lake time short I was very excited. Turns out over 60 people applied including five with professional library experience. Of the 60, eight were interviewed and three called back to teach a lesson. It sounds as if I was a strong second choice but was edged out by one of the more experienced candidates.
My strengths, according to the interviewer who notified me of the results were my knowledge of technology but more importantly, my understanding that technology is not the answer without a strong curricular link. He said my answers that focused on a scaffolded approach to teaching 21st Century Skills and preparation of students for life beyond high school with regards to research and presentation were very impressive.
Alas, summer is over and the job did not come my way but I am blessed that I have such a fantastic venue to continue to learn and grow as an educator and librarian. Our team, two librarians, two clerks, and myself returned intact to greet a new year in a freshly painted and exciting library. The computers are warmed up and the books dusted and we are ready to go!
Perhaps it is a line later in the song, "deep inside we're all the same," that made this song relevant to me today. Though I am technically still a Teaching Assistant, in my mind this year I am a librarian and plan to conduct myself as one at every opportunity.
Yes, gave myself permission. I am behind on some projects that I really need to get done and I have stopped myself every time I tried to express my thoughts here with the admonition that I should be using my time wisely to get my projects done. Months have gone by and that strategy has not worked and so today I am giving in and will look for new motivation on those other fronts.
I have had a great summer with the family. We enjoyed several weeks at the lake and a couple other roadtrips to add a little spice. I worked a little and played Mr. Mom as my wife embarked on a new career. Perhaps most enjoyable, we actually made time to do a few projects around our own house this summer.
I had one great interview for a secondary position. It would have been a great job for me and, though it meant cutting lake time short I was very excited. Turns out over 60 people applied including five with professional library experience. Of the 60, eight were interviewed and three called back to teach a lesson. It sounds as if I was a strong second choice but was edged out by one of the more experienced candidates.
My strengths, according to the interviewer who notified me of the results were my knowledge of technology but more importantly, my understanding that technology is not the answer without a strong curricular link. He said my answers that focused on a scaffolded approach to teaching 21st Century Skills and preparation of students for life beyond high school with regards to research and presentation were very impressive.
Alas, summer is over and the job did not come my way but I am blessed that I have such a fantastic venue to continue to learn and grow as an educator and librarian. Our team, two librarians, two clerks, and myself returned intact to greet a new year in a freshly painted and exciting library. The computers are warmed up and the books dusted and we are ready to go!
Perhaps it is a line later in the song, "deep inside we're all the same," that made this song relevant to me today. Though I am technically still a Teaching Assistant, in my mind this year I am a librarian and plan to conduct myself as one at every opportunity.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Summertime And the livin' is easy
Wow! How do the days pass so quickly?
My kids had a great summer with play as a priority. We travelled many miles between Rochester and the Rideau Canal in Ontario trying to earn a living, enjoy life, and help our parents as much as we could. Though it is easy to feel as though we failed on all counts, there is no doubt we extended our best effort and enjoyed a personal best in the category of balance of our many responsibilities.
While we hope our parents appreciate the efforts we made on their behalf, and beat ourselves up when we feel we haven't done enough, we are proudest of the time we spent with our own kids camping, fishing, swimming, boating, skiing, kayaking, canoeing, bike riding, reading, playing the alphabet game in the car and board games at night and enjoying life along the way. (One of our highly recommended summer vacation destinations - Lloyd's Cottages -)
Though I took a break from classes, I am satisfied that I read some great books over the summer and am excited about the beginning of a new school year. I fell WAY Behind in reading of other blogs and advancement of my knowledge as a librarian but hope to catch up as the new year gets underway. I hope also to comment on this blog as I read, learn, and investigate new things.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Quality service = Priority one
"Why can't librarians learn to serve?" OK, maybe I shouldn't try to re-write My Fair Lady, "Why can't the English learn to speak," and maybe I shouldn't judge librarians before I technically am one, but with budget cuts and the pressure to compete against book stores, the Internet, television, and more, I believe that as individuals and as a group, when we are faced with an opportunity we need to step up.
In the last several weeks I have observed some exceptional librarians: ones who can answer multiple requests simultaneously and who can often predict upcoming questions; who in many cases have prepared pathfinders and brochures to answer them before they are even asked. I have seen librarians doing three different things at once with ten successful results and am in awe of how they do what they do!
Sadly though, not all librarians are as talented or as committed. I have seen school librarians create atmospheres that cause teachers and students to stay away; whose strategy seems not to be to collaborate but to hibernate. I am frustrated each time I see a school where the library seems "off-limits" and the librarian unreachable, but I am just as frustrated each time I visit a community library where patrons are not offered the best service possible.
A couple interactions I witnessed at a larger, local public library recently are representative of the type of failure that I find most irritating. I was aware of complaints regarding the service at this library but was truly frustrated to witness the lack of motivation firsthand. I was trained in retail with a customer first mentality and I believe, as did my reference professor who works as the head of reference at a local university, that librarians should be pro-active, often in front of the desk, in their approach to library service.
Contrary to this approach is the lack of service I saw offered during a one hour visit last week. In one instance, a young adult patron asked where the Stephanie Meyer books were located. The YA librarian, as indicated by a badge she was wearing, who was building a rather pathetic display, answered, "They'd be under MEY in the next aisle, but they're all on waiting lists right now because they are so popular." With this she ended the conversation. She made no effort to offer this student the option to join the waiting list and, in my opinion, more importantly, she made no effort to conduct a readers advisory interview and suggest possible alternative books.
In another case, just a few minutes later, a patron approached the reference desk while I was seated nearby. This patron asked if the library could get copies of a rather obscure television program from the 1970's that he had already discovered was owned by another branch. The librarian checked and told him the tape was checked out and not available. Again she did not offer a hold or any other alternative and was in the process of turning the patron away.
In both cases I took it upon myself to help the patrons, the first one without the librarian's knowledge, and the second right in front of the librarian at the reference desk before she had time to dismiss him altogether. The first patron, a veteran of Harry Potter and Eldest series', left the library with the first two books in the series by Rick Riordan beginning with The Lightning Thief. (I have not read them but my son has and says they are very good.) I suggested to the librarian and the second patron as he was leaving the desk, that all 24 episodes of the TV series he was looking for were available on Hulu.com and showed him, on library computer I was using, how to access the site.
Both patrons, and a third that I assisted before leaving the library, thanked me. The reference librarian (working the desk) also thanked me, claiming she had never thought to search Hulu, but sadly, she never thought to search anywhere. She and the other librarians at this branch and, sadly, many others are willing to put forth minimal effort and the easy answer without regard for the true, often underlying needs of our patrons. If our patrons can't get more from us than they can from their own search online or poring through the stacks themselves, what good do we serve, and what right do we have to be employed in this "non-essential" service position?
Part of what we learn as librarians and what good salespeople and retailers and even doctors, lawyers, and therapists learn is that customers, patrons and patients do not always know how to ask for what they want or need. It is the job of the professional to discover and to satisfy the true want or need. If we do not step up, as individuals and as a group, to make this satisfaction a priority, we will, as individuals and as a group, be out of a job.
Putting our current economy aside for a moment but not putting aside the reality of our modern, techno-savvy environment and communities, it is my opinion that library services and hours are not usually cut because of lack of need, but because of lack of perceived value. It is our job as professionals to prove our worthiness every day through the benefits that we return to our patrons and community. If we do not offer these services and benefits, the perceived need for the library and the librarian plummets and it becomes our own fault that jobs are lost.
In the last several weeks I have observed some exceptional librarians: ones who can answer multiple requests simultaneously and who can often predict upcoming questions; who in many cases have prepared pathfinders and brochures to answer them before they are even asked. I have seen librarians doing three different things at once with ten successful results and am in awe of how they do what they do!
Sadly though, not all librarians are as talented or as committed. I have seen school librarians create atmospheres that cause teachers and students to stay away; whose strategy seems not to be to collaborate but to hibernate. I am frustrated each time I see a school where the library seems "off-limits" and the librarian unreachable, but I am just as frustrated each time I visit a community library where patrons are not offered the best service possible.
A couple interactions I witnessed at a larger, local public library recently are representative of the type of failure that I find most irritating. I was aware of complaints regarding the service at this library but was truly frustrated to witness the lack of motivation firsthand. I was trained in retail with a customer first mentality and I believe, as did my reference professor who works as the head of reference at a local university, that librarians should be pro-active, often in front of the desk, in their approach to library service.
Contrary to this approach is the lack of service I saw offered during a one hour visit last week. In one instance, a young adult patron asked where the Stephanie Meyer books were located. The YA librarian, as indicated by a badge she was wearing, who was building a rather pathetic display, answered, "They'd be under MEY in the next aisle, but they're all on waiting lists right now because they are so popular." With this she ended the conversation. She made no effort to offer this student the option to join the waiting list and, in my opinion, more importantly, she made no effort to conduct a readers advisory interview and suggest possible alternative books.
In another case, just a few minutes later, a patron approached the reference desk while I was seated nearby. This patron asked if the library could get copies of a rather obscure television program from the 1970's that he had already discovered was owned by another branch. The librarian checked and told him the tape was checked out and not available. Again she did not offer a hold or any other alternative and was in the process of turning the patron away.
In both cases I took it upon myself to help the patrons, the first one without the librarian's knowledge, and the second right in front of the librarian at the reference desk before she had time to dismiss him altogether. The first patron, a veteran of Harry Potter and Eldest series', left the library with the first two books in the series by Rick Riordan beginning with The Lightning Thief. (I have not read them but my son has and says they are very good.) I suggested to the librarian and the second patron as he was leaving the desk, that all 24 episodes of the TV series he was looking for were available on Hulu.com and showed him, on library computer I was using, how to access the site.
Both patrons, and a third that I assisted before leaving the library, thanked me. The reference librarian (working the desk) also thanked me, claiming she had never thought to search Hulu, but sadly, she never thought to search anywhere. She and the other librarians at this branch and, sadly, many others are willing to put forth minimal effort and the easy answer without regard for the true, often underlying needs of our patrons. If our patrons can't get more from us than they can from their own search online or poring through the stacks themselves, what good do we serve, and what right do we have to be employed in this "non-essential" service position?
Part of what we learn as librarians and what good salespeople and retailers and even doctors, lawyers, and therapists learn is that customers, patrons and patients do not always know how to ask for what they want or need. It is the job of the professional to discover and to satisfy the true want or need. If we do not step up, as individuals and as a group, to make this satisfaction a priority, we will, as individuals and as a group, be out of a job.
Putting our current economy aside for a moment but not putting aside the reality of our modern, techno-savvy environment and communities, it is my opinion that library services and hours are not usually cut because of lack of need, but because of lack of perceived value. It is our job as professionals to prove our worthiness every day through the benefits that we return to our patrons and community. If we do not offer these services and benefits, the perceived need for the library and the librarian plummets and it becomes our own fault that jobs are lost.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Woohoo! What a great job!
Woohoo! What a great job! Every once in a while, after successfully assisting three or four (or maybe even only one) student in a row, I just have to smile! Topics today included finding resources about airline regulation, tests and treatments for ailing heart muscles, teen stress, self mutilation, biographical info on great American women, and sources for poetry criticism. I helped a small self-contained class of high-needs students create citations for a paper they are writing and felt the wash of relief when our network came back up (after being down) just as a class walked in the library door.
Sometimes things just go right! I am reading again (for YA resources & services class) and loving it. I have thoroughly enjoyed books in the last couple weeks by Joan Bauer, Melodie Bowsher, K.L. Going, and my favorite of the week, Orson Scott Card. I became so caught reading about 11 year old video gamers in Ender's Game, a science fiction novel, that I couldn't put the book down. I have always loved YA fiction and the opportunity to immerse myself in some of the best that is out there is very satisfying.
Trying to build LibraryThing account with books I have read recently (to help my failing memory, remember). As many things as are right with this application, and there are many, there are also quite a few that are wrong! I am a new user and may be missing something but in early use, I am amazed at some of the things that are missing:
Sometimes things just go right! I am reading again (for YA resources & services class) and loving it. I have thoroughly enjoyed books in the last couple weeks by Joan Bauer, Melodie Bowsher, K.L. Going, and my favorite of the week, Orson Scott Card. I became so caught reading about 11 year old video gamers in Ender's Game, a science fiction novel, that I couldn't put the book down. I have always loved YA fiction and the opportunity to immerse myself in some of the best that is out there is very satisfying.
Trying to build LibraryThing account with books I have read recently (to help my failing memory, remember). As many things as are right with this application, and there are many, there are also quite a few that are wrong! I am a new user and may be missing something but in early use, I am amazed at some of the things that are missing:
- No tag prompts or suggestions -- when user begins typing a tag description, it would be beneficial if the program prompted or suggested "most popular / similar" tags. For example should the tag be Young Adult, YA, YA fiction, ya fiction, young adult fiction, teen fiction, etc. (This is essentially what Google does when typing into the search bar.)
- No tag pool to select from -- when tagging a book, it would be beneficial if user did not have to type every tag. Available pool to "quick pick" from could be tags previously used by the user, tags previously used by other users to describe the book, or a combination of the two. (Blogger does this if you are familiar with this host site.)
- Tags can not be reorganized -- would be nice if tags for each book could be reorganized alphabetically or even by priority or relevance. They seem to remain, forever, in the order they came to mind and were typed into system. (Blogger automatically alphabetises.)
- Unable to create different shelves -- I may be wrong, but have not found way to create separate shelves with, for example YA lit, children's lit, and career focused materials.
Ahh well, not to ruin a great day with complaints. Hopefully someone out there will write to correct, and explain to me, how each of these issues I describe can be corrected. I am sure the sun will be shining and the temperatures warm when I head for home. OK that went over the edge. Trying to limit my sarcasm. It truly has been a great day!
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