Telling My Library's Story

A picture is worth a thousand words.

There is a need right now for librarians to tell their story, or rather to attempt to show others the amazing things that are happening in school libraries across the nation.

And this year has been absolutely amazing. I sound like a broken record, but I am so blessed to work in a school district that understands that the library is more than just a place to house books and that the impact of the library reaches well beyond the physical space itself.

There were so intangible things that we did in the library this year, but I did my best to document some of the major events and to celebrate the wonderful things happening in my library this year. Here is my attempt to tell our story:

Why #mwlibchat?

I had never met her in person, but I knew from our first Twitter interaction that Cynthia Stogdill and I were kindred spirits. From our adoration of Scooter's coffee and scarves to our love of the same obscure children's book about a beloved squirrel named Miss Suzy, Cynthia and I are cut from the same cloth. But of all our connections, our passion for our calling and our desire to connect with and celebrate other teacher librarians was what connected us most.

Thinking about connecting with other kindred spirits like Cynthia got me to thinking. I had been thinking that I wanted to continue to reach out and connect with my fellow librarians through the medium that has changed my professional life: Twitter. Twitter has been one of the most powerful tools I could have ever hoped for as a Teacher Librarian. I am an island unto myself sometimes. Although my school district is fortunate enough to have three other librarians (in the lower elementary, middle school, and high school) and I have a part-time retired teacher who supports our 2nd and 3rd graders during specials, I found myself constantly wanting to know what others are doing. I'm not satsified with the status quo. I want to provide every opportunity for my staff and students' success! Twitter has been my life saver. Through Twitter, I've cultivated relationships with other TLs who share my passions, shared (and stolen) brilliant ideas to support literacy and reinforce learning for my students, and celebrated the awesome opportunity I've been given. And I wanted to pay that forward.

There are some great Twitter chats for Teacher Librarians. I have loved participating in many of them, especially #tlchat and #txlchat, but wanted to celebrate librarianship and my fellow teacher librarians a little closer to home. As a Teacher Librarian who lives in one state, but works in another, I wanted to celebrate librarianship in both places. Hence, the idea of a midwestern teacher librarian chat. But who did I know who would be on board?  My kindred spirit: Cynthia!

When I messaged her about starting up aTwitter chat for Teacher Librarians in the midwest, Cynthia quickly responded "Me too!" And so the brainstorming began. 

When we finally met face-to-fact at NETA in April, no introductions were necessary. We hugged. And then we got to it. We spent an ample amount of time holding down the NETA's Social Butterfly Lounge. And #mwlibchat was born.

Cynthia and I will be launching our first chat tomorrow evening. While we hope to launch fully in the fall, this first chat (and the few to follow this summer) are meant to be a bringing together of our fellow teacher librarians, whether from the midwest or not, to celebrate the beauty of our roles and to connect to each other. Because as (a very wise) Helen Keller once stated, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

Cynthia and I hope you'll join us!

Reading Resolutions

Anyone who thinks that librarians just sit around and read books all day has clearly not stepped into a modern library lately. Those who think there's even such a thing as down time in the world of a librarian make me burst into a fit of maniacal laughter. Silly people.

In my former life as a reading teacher, I often found time in my day to sit and read with my students. After all, isn't modeling a behavior one of the most effective ways to demonstrate it's importance? In order to recommend books, I needed to be in the know. I needed to read what they were reading. And it justified my love for YA lit (as though it need any justification in the first place). It would be no big deal for me to crank out a few YA books a week, sometimes (okay, quite often) more.

Little did I know my position as a Teacher Librarian would severely cramp my reading style.

I am now the Librarian who doesn't read.

Okay, okay, I read, but nothing like I did before. My "To Read" list and the subsequent pile it has created on my nightstand (and the floor next to my bed and under the bed and on the coffee table and the kitchen table) has become a bit of a hazard and a had prompted me to take a stand. It's not okay. Something must be done.

So, as we start this new year, I'm having my students write their own Reading Resolutions and take on a Reading Challenge (Reading Resolution and Reading Challenge). I am a firm believer in doing everything I ask my students to do before I ask them to do it, so here are my resolutions and my commitment to them (and myself):

1. Read one professional article a week and one (whole) professional journal a month

I'm an avid Tweeter and definitely get my fair share of professional development via my beloved PLN I've cultivated there. However, I'm horribly guilty of seeing a Tweet about a great article, saving the links of these great articles I want to read . . . and then not quite getting back to them.

I also have quite a collection of library journals (School Library Journal, American Libraries, Knowledge Quest to name a few) just begging to be devoured. Sure I've thumbed through them, perused an article here or there, but there's such a wealth of information and inspiration to absorb, I'm missing some good stuff.

I owe it to myself and to my students to constantly grow as a professional (and as a person). I used to read articles and journals constantly. It's a practice that I sorely miss, and I'm publicly recommitting myself to it!

2. Read more Children's Lit

This is the challenge part of my Reading Resolution. I taught 7th grade Reading for 13 years and proudly proclaim my adoration of YA Lit. However, my role has changed. I now serve roughly 950 readers in 2nd through 5th grade. I have discovered that I've got a major deficit with Children's Lit (for the purposes of clarity, I'm referring specifically to those early chapter books) which is a disservice to my 2nd and 3rd graders. I intend to remedy this one very quickly.

Having my own children (ages 6 and 9), having been a Golden Sower reader for the Primary Grades while teaching in Nebraska, and the Children's Literature classes I took while getting my Reading Master's and Library Science degrees, have given me some familiarity with Children's Lit. However, I need to be in the know about all the new good stuff that's out there! Luckily, thanks to my solid Twitter and librarian PLNs, my monthly deliveries from Junior Library Guild, my own children, and all those library journals I've amassed, I'm fairly certain I can choose some quality reads to start with.

My plan is for every YA book I read, I will read two Children's Lit books (they do tend to be a little shorter and quicker reads). I'll feel okay if I can read 4 Children's Lit books a month to start. Not ideal, but it's a start.

3. Increase my literacy promotion

As a librarian, one of more important roles is to build a culture of readers. As I'd mentioned in my previous post, I feel like I've done a fairly good job of increasing literacy promotion at my school, but there's so much more that could be done.

The biggest thing I want to accomplish is to create a group of student reviewers. I have a library website that I maintain (not always well) and had originally intended to post recommendations weekly for picture books, early chapter books, and more advanced chapter books. I admit this endeavor has been an epic fail. So I want to turn over the power to a group of students I've been slowly nurturing during these last few months. The plans are in place, so be on the lookout for the student reviews to begin to appearing by the end of the month on the Titan Hill Library page.

I've also got some great book displays, Tweets, and some literacy celebrations still up my sleeve!

Are those the only reading goals I have for 2015? Absolutely not, but in trying to find balance with every aspect of my life, I figured these were the most important for me at this very moment.

So there you have them. My Reading Resolutions for 2015.

So the question is:

Reflections and Renewed Resolve

It's the last night of break, and as I sit here contemplating my return to my responsibilities as a Teacher Librarian, I can't help but pause and reflect on how the first few months of my tenure have gone. Clearly from my lack of blog posts, to say that I've been busy and it's been eventful might be the biggest understatement of the century. But when I really attempt to articulate to myself what I've accomplished in the last 5 months, I can honestly say, I feel like I've made tremendous headway.

So what have I done?

1. I completely overhauled a library space.

My predecessor, to her great credit, truly built a tremendous collection for our students. However, as things came in, nothing went out. I inherited a collection of baskets scattered around the library, the organization of which was known by only one. And I wasn't her.

In order to familiarize myself with my newly inherited collection and to truly make the library space someplace accessible and functional for all, I spent countless (and by countless, I mean simply that I quit counting after I hit 100) hours weeding, reshelving, and rearranging.

My library serves roughly 945(ish) 2nd through 5th graders. In addition to adhering to the teachings of Lucy Calkins, the staff had recently adopted the Fountas & Pinnell leveling system. All this meant that it was vitally important to ensure that our students could find a "Just Right" book. While I don't believe in strictly adhering to a reading level (insert my belief that students can often read about their assigned level if the subject matter truly engages them, and that it is equally okay to read books that are "below" students' reading levels from time to time), I did want to ensure that the students weren't entirely overwhelmed when they walked into my library and that they had a sense of where to start. To this end, I divided my fiction section into three subsections, simply labelled "Section 1," "Section 2," and "Section 3." Anyone who has ever worked with any leveling system knows the variance between systems, but roughly each section corresponds to a group of Fountas & Pinnell levels (with some overlap between sections).

Needless to say, my work in overhauling the library is an ongoing process (isn't managing any library space?). I've already got visions for reorganizing the physical shelves (right now, the Fiction Sections are split apart and there are quite a few supervision blind spots), reorganizing the fiction section (to start) into a bookstore/genre format to further allow for students to find their "Just Right" books independently, and to create a more inviting atmosphere in general.

2. I have promoted literacy.

Okay, so this one most librarians might read and scoff at . . . after all, that's truly why a majority of us got into the business of librarianship. We love reading. We love books. We want our students to experience the same positive experiences we've had. We know that knowledge is power. And we know that reading gives us the keys to the kingdom . . . it allow students to live multiple lives, to view the world from multiple perspectives, to stretch their imaginations and to broaden their horizons.

We know all this, but from what I've gathered, literacy promotion wasn't necessarily a previous priority for my students. Sure students checked out books, but literacy promotion wasn't a big thing.

I believe strongly that the library should be a place where every child can find themselves, to cultivate a love of reading and the power of knowledge. To this end, I've been very intentional about promoting literacy in general (via various writing activities and vocabulary activities . . . my library has a "Word Nerd" that my 3rd graders "feed" words they encounter in their reading), but I've worked especially hard with book promotion. I always share the books I've been reading or books that correspond with the curriculum our students are working on in their classrooms via book talks and recommendations via my library site. We've done several book "tastings" and "samplings" (beyond their normal visits to the library), we've taken part in numerous literacy celebrations (such as National Picture Book month), and we have student and staff recommendation displays.

I have so much more I want to do with this, but it's more than there was before. And it's just the start. I can't wait for some of the literacy promotions I still have up my sleeve (think student recommendations and book clubs).

3. I have promoted information literacy via technology.

Prior to my arrival and that of another recently hired colleague, the integration of technology to enhance students learning was both desired, but was often hindered, whether by access, apprehension, or a combination of both. As a librarian, I understand that access to information, no matter the format, is integral to our students' success. I also know that our students and staff are inundated with technologies that allow them to access, manipulate, and share information. The demands on a teacher's time make it difficult to keep up with all the potential ways to utilize technology in the classroom and the astronomical amount of choices of apps and websites available. Now, more than ever, it is essential that they have someone to help them navigate the sea of infinite possibilities. My colleague and I have worked very intentionally to be supportive guides.

We have worked with our students and staff to create lessons and units that allow students to explore technologies that support and enhance their learning, that allow them to acquire and explore the curriculum in new and different ways, to reflect upon and share their learning, and to do both of these in ethical and responsible ways. We've helped our students and staff integrate several Google apps, we've helped them utilize Google Classroom, we've promoted various apps that support literacy, we've explored information literacy and the requirements of responsible online citizenry via authentic learning experiences. We created experiences that have allowed our students to interact with others beyond their classrooms, to explore coding, and to publish their writings. We've helped acquire additional devices for our students and we've implemented professional development for our staff to explore ways to enhance their curriculum via technology.

We've worked very hard to make technology a regular and authentic part of what we do.

3. I extended the reach of the library program beyond the walls of the library.

I have never liked conforming. I've always liked to make my own path. And, although I do love traditions, I am by no means traditional (an eclectic mix of irony and oxymoron right there). I have never wanted to be a traditional librarian. I don't want to spend my days in quiet isolation, keeping watch over the books that line my shelves. I want to be out among my students and staff. I want to promote literacy. I want to promote technology. I want to support learning in any shape or form.

Libraries should be the heart of the school, and I want to ensure that I have a firm grasp on the pulse of my school. And to do that, I have worked extremely hard to show both my students and staff that I'm there for them. I have made it my mission to constantly seek out opportunities to demonstrate what my library and I have to offer. I created a "Library Services Menu" for my staff that showed them what I could do for them (anything from pulling resources to co-teaching lessons), I have made it my mission to learn the standards and know the curriculum, I have attended leadership meetings, I have attended grade-level meetings. And I will continue to do so, because it's what I believe a librarian should do.

So overall, I look back at my first few months with a sense of pride. Not too shabby for a newbie. And, of course, I have so much more I hope to accomplish by the end of May (creating a MakerSpace, additional technology professional development, actually keeping up my blog).

As I return to school tomorrow, there will be a schedule change that will limit my amount of time outside of my library. My reflections on the first few months of my time as a Teacher Librarian have filled me with a new sense of resolve. I am resolved to keep moving forward. I'm resolved that I will continue to work for my students and staff. I am resolved that my reflection on the last few months of my first year will fill me with as much of a sense of pride as the first few have.

I'm proud to have joined the ranks of Teacher Librarian.

Best of intentions

You know when you start a new project and you have this perfect vision of everything you're going to accomplish and all that you're going to do, but then reality sets in and you realize that you had the best of intentions, but you've kinda dropped the ball on some things?

Welcome to my reality . . .

I had the best of intentions in starting this blog. I really did. My intent was to chronicle my experiences as a first year Teacher Librarian. To document the ups and downs, the triumphs and tribulations. To share my progress with my fellow librarians who were embarking on a similar journey to define (or redefine) what it means to be a librarian and what a librarian's role should be in schools.

And then reality set in . . .

If you've read my previous post about striking balance, I'm admitting epic failure with this blog. But I've got a very good reason.

I've been given the most amazing opportunity to create my dream job. I shouldn't, but I feel almost guilty when I tell people this, especially other librarians. I mean how many people get to say that they were given the go-ahead to fulfill their vision? I am so blessed to have had this opportunity fall into my lap.  I am blessed to have an administration who got "it," who were visionary enough to understand that our school's library could be so much more than a room to house books and that the librarian could do so much more to support literacy and technology if given the opportunity to extend beyond the walls of the library. I'm so blessed that they saw the potential of rearranging the specials schedule to allow for collaboration and support of the classroom curriculum. I'm blessed that they truly value literacy and want students to have access to an abundance of literature and technology. And I'm blessed that they've entrusted me to make it all happen.

And my students and staff! How do I even begin to talk about how amazing they have been, especially the staff? Without them, my dream job would have faltered and failed. My staff has welcomed me into their classrooms and their lives with open arms, constantly giving me opportunities to prove my worth and to help support student learning. We've been working hard to develop lessons that integrate technology and allow students the opportunity to practice their literacy skills and see the value of reading (okay, I fully admit that last statement sounds like some sort of idealized mission statement, but I totally promise that it's true).

So, basically, I'm saying that I've been a little busy. And I dropped the ball.

And with that having been said, I want to recommit to myself (and to you) that I will reflect and document my journey with more regularity. I'd love to commit myself to something as ambitious as once a week, but the reality is . . . that may not happen. But you're busy too, so you'll understand! But just know, I truly do have the best of intentions!

Why THLibrariZen?

Some of you may be asking yourself why I chose THLibrariZen as the name of my blog (and as part of my Twitter handle: @THLibrariZen). 

Well, let me enlighten you.

I'm an inspiration kind of person. I love reading through inspirational quotes, filling my own proverbial bucket and challenging myself to be a better (fill in the blank of the part of my life I'm working on that day). Those quotes give me warm fuzzies and give me a refreshed outlook on situations when I often need it most. But one day, I stumbled upon this great quote from Thomas Merton (and, yes, I had to look up who Thomas Merton was . . . turns out he was an author) that states: "Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm, and harmony." 

And I busted a gut.

I am a firm believer in that attitude is everything. You choose your own attitude, and you control your own happiness. And as a devoted yogi, I most definitely seek to find harmony (please note the use of the word "seek"). Yep, I'm a regular optimist.

But striking a balance? Order? Rhythm? Well, those are sometimes a little lacking in my world. Especially the balance part. More accurately, I should say, balance is something I have yet to figure out. I'm a wife, a mother, a friend, a reader, a new librarian, a techie, a reading teacher, a life-long learner and 30 bazillion other things/roles (30 bazillion is most definitely my favorite hyperbole). We all understand that there numerous demands on our time and attention. As I say in my header, I'm constantly attempting to find the balance in all things: between work and home, between print and digital literacy, between old and new . . . just to name of few.

If there's someone out there who has been able to strike that balance to perfection, please do share your secrets. I'll take copious notes.

The eternal optimist in me recognizes and celebrates the journey. If finding perfect balance were easy, life would be pretty boring. It's the journey, not the destination (to paraphrase Emerson . . . didn't have to look him up). 

As a reminder of that sentiment, I wanted to choose a name that was representative of my attempt to find balance in my work and personal life, of my journey as a new librarian and my attempt to find a balance between the traditional role of a librarian and the new approach my school district has been visionary enough to support. 

So my name is an homage to my new school (Titan Hill) for giving me the opportunity to create my dream library (that's the library part of my name) and to the pursuit of my own enlightenment and perhaps, one day, a perfect balance (Zen).

Wish me luck. 

A Year of Firsts

Today, it was a pretty significant first for me. It was my first day of school . . . as a Teacher Librarian.

For the first time in my 14 year career, I didn't spend the weeks before school preparing for 145 7th graders to enter my Reading classroom. Rather, for the first time in my teaching career, I found myself in a new school district, in a new position, working with a new staff, and with a whole new group of students (obviously, since I'm starting my 14th year in education, I'm an "old hat" at welcoming new groups of students into my reading realm each year . . . it's just that these ones are younger than my usual crew).

The reality of the last few days have prompted me to take pause and reflect on a few of the firsts I have already experienced as part of my new career path. In addition to those mentioned above, I've started to make a mental list of all the firsts I've experienced thus far. The list that follows is simultaneously amazingly incredible and horribly terrifying (I'll let you decide which ones are which):
            - first time being in charge of a library (I'm still reeling on this one!)
            - first time redesigning a library space (in later posts, I'll share that adventure . . . it's quite the story)
            - first time raising my hand as an elementary teacher
            - first time sitting through professional development as a Specials teacher (this is also another experience I'll blog about . . . it's been an adjustment that may trump all others)
            - first time realizing I don't have a single group of students to call my own (that just means they're ALL mine, right?!)
            - first time blogging
            - first time changing a laminating roll (oddly enough, this was not part of my Library Science program)
            - first time asking students in the bus line to "sit on their pockets"

And this isn't the first time I've counted my lucky stars for the what all these firsts signify. This collective list (and all the firsts yet to come) mean that I have started my dream job.

Today is was real . . . for the first time I could really own these words: I AM a Teacher Librarian.