The Joy of Being a Teacher Librarian

          At the end of the last school year I surprised myself by leaving my beloved third grade classroom for my school's Library Media Center. Although the decision seemed to come from out of the blue, working in a library is something I have always secretly wanted to do, and my path unfolded perfectly to this joyous new position. 

          My new role as teacher librarian is a harmonious blend of my two previous careers. Before I spent 10 years in the classroom, I worked in technology as a systems support analyst and a software trainer for a large investment bank in S.F. What I do now in my library combines the skills of these two jobs beautifully. 

          I have also just started grad school and am working towards a Master's in Library and Technology. I am so excited...and also so inspired! To be the person who's job it is to turn kids onto reading, to update the library collection to be current and abundant, to be the teacher who has a special connection with each student in the school...It's just so wonderful! I have dedicated myself to creating a true multi-age 21st Century curriculum for my school's library. I know it will take time, but I absolutely love what I am doing!

          The following two videos I find inspirational in creating a new library experience for my students. Take a peek to see where I am headed!

In this video, five authors share their fond memories of school libraries.

School library and information technology programs are a vital resource for student learning. This video highlights the essential role teacher librarians play in information and technology literacy instruction, reading advocacy, and information management. 

What's Hot in the Library this Week

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In the last two months I have had the pleasure of purchasing hundreds and hundreds of books for my school library. It’s been an exciting endeavor and the students at Edison Elementary School are buzzing about the new selections. There is barely a new book on a library shelf because students are checking out books like they never have before!

So what’s hot in the library this week? I have recently found the funniest picture book called The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt. The hilarious illustrations are by Oliver Jeffers. This book is so funny that I actually read it 18 times last week to each class visiting my library, kindergarten through fifth grade. And you know what? They ALL loved it! And I didn’t get tired of reading it, either!

The story starts off with Duncan reaching into his school desk to get his crayons box. But instead of finding it, he finds a stack of letters all saying the same thing: We quit! Red Crayon is overworked and it tired of coloring santas and hearts. Purple Crayon is having a hard time because Duncan colors out of the lines too much. Sad Beige Crayon is tired of being compared to Brown Crayon and feels he is sorely underused. Black Crayon would like to do more than just outline things and Green Crayon actually loves his job and congratulates Duncan on a “successful coloring things green career.” What Green Crayon doesn’t like is the fighting between Yellow Crayon and Orange Crayon, who are competing to the be the REAL color of the Sun. The story goes on and on through the colors in the crayon box, including stubby Blue Crayon (Duncan’s favorite color) and the unused Pink Crayon. The story ends hilariously with Peach Crayon, who is complaining about being naked because Duncan peeled his paper wrapping off. As you can imagine, this has the kids laughing hysterically, and probably most adults!

This book easily lends itself to several different writing innovations. Students could write from Duncan’s perspective and write a letter in response to one of the crayons. Students could also create new letters from their favorite color, or even branch out to other school supplies too.

Whether you read this book in a classroom or as a bedtime story, I highly recommend “The Day the Crayons Quit”. It’s what’s hot in my library this week.

For the Love of Books!

I am creating this blog as part of my Teacher Librarian program at Fresno Pacific University. Over the course of the next few months I expect it to grow and change into something I envision being useful to not only my elementary age students, but also to teachers and parents.

What I would like to create is a blog dedicated to children's literature. I would like to include book summaries, reviews (by both adults and children), book  lists, author information, recommendation lists (for a variety of types of readers), ideas for book groups, and teaching ideas for units that tie to the Common Core State Standards for California.

One of the most fulfilling parts of my job as the new Teacher Librarian for my school has been finding the right book for the right student. It's easy to find books for the average reader. But the real challenge lies in finding books for those kids who don't like to read, or more painfully, only like to read Garfield comic books or Where's Waldo? books. (This drives me nuts, but I don't want to discourage these kids from picking up a book and checking it out of the library!) I have been methodical about the books I select for read alouds in my school library, and I am happy to report that after only a few months in the library I am barely checking out Garfield comic books anymore! So what did I select to read aloud? You will have to wait until I develop this blog a bit more!

The other end of fulfillment comes from finding books for my voracious readers. I came into a library with one of the worst collection of chapter books I have ever seen in a library of any kind. My fourth and fifth grade students had basically given up on even looking for books when they came to visit me weekly. My voracious readers bought all their books or checked them out of the public library. I immediately went to my high-functioning PTA with the story. With their overwhelming financial support, I have been able to purchase almost $6,000 worth of books for my library in the last two months! (Do you know how exciting it is to be the person who gets to choose what books come into the library??? Book heaven, People!) It's been A LOT of work getting these new books into the system, but oh so satisfying when I am introducing these new books to students. Have you ever seen a room full of fourth graders scream (yes, scream in the library!) because I have brought a new series in for them? Or how about 32 fifth graders jumping up and down begging to be chosen to bring my latest selections home? I have, and it's happening on a weekly basis in my library now. I have even done something special for my handful of students who can't stop reading...I let them make private selections after school, before the books where even ready to be put on the shelf, and then had these books ready for them the next morning. You should have seen the smiles on their faces. I also knew I would get the books back within a day or two; they read so quickly!

So what I have chosen? And now that students are reading these new books, what do they really think of them? If you really want to know, you will have to stay posted to this blog. I am just getting started!