I am furiously working away through my Plan to Read list. I've read some really amazing books in the last few months, but I seem to keep adding titles, both new and classic. I kind of feel that I'll never catch up with Junior titles the way I want to and be able to keep up with the Adult Fiction and Young Adult fiction I read. I hate having to drive on long trips because it's time I could be reading - yes, I'm one of those lucky people who can read in the car. That being said, the girls and I have a 7 or 8 hour drive to Grandma & Grandpa's house coming up next week. My husband isn't going, and so that leaves all the driving to me. It occurred to me that I should take some audio books with me that I can enjoy with the girls. I picked a few titles from my Plan to Read list and a few that I hadn't thought of yet (those got added to my Shelfari shelf.) I know we won't get through all of those titles on our trip, but at least 1 or 2 would be great to mark off my list.
Then I realized that I've been wondering how to upload and play more of my music on the computer at the school library while I'm working in the summer. Duh. I should be listening to books! I don't have to listen extremely closely, I just need to catch the gist of the story. And if it really intrigues me, I can go back and read the book itself. I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner.
As for eBooks, I am still waiting to hear from the school district tech team if I will be able to install Adobe Digital Editions on my school computers. I'd like to use the public library's Overdrive to check out picture books to read to the kids during story time on my projector screen. I do appreciate the quick access that Overdrive allows me. Today I was in training for classroom management, and I finished Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan - 5 star book, by the way - on a break and wanted something on my lunch hour. I jumped onto Overdrive using my Kindle Fire and grabbed Angus and Sadie by Cynthia Voigt. I don't think either the public or school library owns it as a print book so this is the only way I'll get it read. (I didn't realize it until I started the book, but Angus and Sadie are the dogs who appear in Voigt's later book Young Fredle. I love story connections!)
Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Reading kids' fiction
I have been working very hard to catch myself up on a lot of kids' books. I've read middle grade fiction off and on for years, sometimes out loud to my girls and sometimes just for my own enjoyment. I started reading adult fiction when I was about 11 and so I missed out on a lot of those great childhood classics. I since starting the Daydreamer's Book Club at the public library, I have read at least 1 junior title a month, and when I took the job at the school, I started alternating 1 adult fiction to 1 junior fiction. As school draws ever closer, I've decided I probably need to read just junior titles for awhile.
As you can see from my Shelfari widget, I have a lot of classics picked out to read as well as some contemporary works. It's funny, with adult books I stick to 1 or 2 genres, with kids books, I'll read about anything. But I have officially come across the first book I couldn't stand -- so badly that I quit before even reaching page 50. That's pretty shocking for me with a kids book. I tried to read the first of the Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell, but I couldn't do it. The language bothered me and the references to pop culture bugged me too (I'm a pop culture fan but I don't think kids as young as 3rd grade need to know celebrity girls go partying without their underwear!)
But these books are popular and the school has the whole series. I'm not going to stop purchasing them, but I'll treat them with kid gloves. I have never had a qualm telling kids that I didn't enjoy the Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snickett - I didn't like that Count Olaf told the kids outright that after he got their money he was going to kill them. I don't believe you can hide children from the realities of the world, but I also think that some of the saddest facts about mankind can be learned later on. Let them have their innocence for a while longer. I'll just have to explain that about the Dork Diaries: the kids don't need to rush into being popular or not popular based on clothes, electronics or your parent's income.
As you can see from my Shelfari widget, I have a lot of classics picked out to read as well as some contemporary works. It's funny, with adult books I stick to 1 or 2 genres, with kids books, I'll read about anything. But I have officially come across the first book I couldn't stand -- so badly that I quit before even reaching page 50. That's pretty shocking for me with a kids book. I tried to read the first of the Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell, but I couldn't do it. The language bothered me and the references to pop culture bugged me too (I'm a pop culture fan but I don't think kids as young as 3rd grade need to know celebrity girls go partying without their underwear!)
But these books are popular and the school has the whole series. I'm not going to stop purchasing them, but I'll treat them with kid gloves. I have never had a qualm telling kids that I didn't enjoy the Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snickett - I didn't like that Count Olaf told the kids outright that after he got their money he was going to kill them. I don't believe you can hide children from the realities of the world, but I also think that some of the saddest facts about mankind can be learned later on. Let them have their innocence for a while longer. I'll just have to explain that about the Dork Diaries: the kids don't need to rush into being popular or not popular based on clothes, electronics or your parent's income.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Breaking out the books
Well, I didn't know how to title this post. I have been putting up a lot of fun ideas and pictures of the decorations I've done for the library, but not what I've actually been working on book-wise.
I was able to sub 4 days before the end of the school year, as the previous librarian left 1 month before school let out. During those days, I got a feel of some of what I needed to do to get ready for the coming school year. The shelves are extremely full - to the point of books being incorrectly shelved because of lack of space. One of the first big jobs that I did was to reorganize the Special Collections. Not my favorite section, but it serves a purpose. I recently shelf-read and weeded Fiction (anything with AR levels over 3.9). I wasn't aggressive with my weeding, I just don't know yet what the teachers assign the kids to read and so forth. Mostly I just go rid of severely out-dated books (like the novelization of Gremlins), and duplicates of low-circulating series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. My other solution to the space problem was to pull series of books with AR levels averaging above 5.0. These books are going to be moved to a new collection called Intermediate Grades.
I spoke with the school's principal and she agreed wholeheartedly to buying a bookshelf for this new collection. I ordered a double-sided shelf even though it will be flush with a wall, since eventually it will stand on it's own with the other Fiction shelves (after the new school is completed and the Intermediate books leave my library.) In the same meeting she cautioned me about weeding too aggressively. She agrees that books become outdated but teachers have absolute favorites and I would possibly burn bridges if I got rid of something deemed a "must have".
I have recently started re-working the Nonfiction. The previous librarian had separated the 921s and moved them to the end of nonfiction. I just can't abide that. So while I was shifting them back, I started weeding. I have a huge stack of books to go through. I've decided to sort them into 3 categories:
I also worked my way through the Reference section and cut it down. I plan to eliminate 2 sets of outdated encyclopedias - and possibly the third set as well if it is older than 5 years. I read online that you should replace them after at least 5 years. I am not discarding all of the books, some of them will be re-cataloged and put into Nonfiction. I'd also like to look into replacing the atlases.
I understood the basic principle of weeding but not exactly how to go about it. I found the CREW system and read through it. I found it amazingly helpful. I will keep the guidelines from CREW in mind while I finish shelf-reading and shifting the Nonfiction.
I have a lot more to go before school starts but I feel like I'm making the school library into my library. A place where I can enjoy myself while I help the kids enjoy themselves. I want them to be excited to come to my library. I want them to take pride in learning library skills and library manners. I want them to love books as much as I do!
Okay, one last thing. Did you notice the bookshelf on the right side of my blog? It's called Shelfari and I LOVE it! I'm not using it for everything I read, simply because I read things I don't want on my school library blog. I do have a reading life away from children's books. But I love sharing what I'm reading and have read - I post all my books on Facebook when I start them. Since starting the 1 adult book 1 kid book routine, I have read so many good books. I hope you'll find the suggestions to your liking and maybe start a bookshelf of your own!
I was able to sub 4 days before the end of the school year, as the previous librarian left 1 month before school let out. During those days, I got a feel of some of what I needed to do to get ready for the coming school year. The shelves are extremely full - to the point of books being incorrectly shelved because of lack of space. One of the first big jobs that I did was to reorganize the Special Collections. Not my favorite section, but it serves a purpose. I recently shelf-read and weeded Fiction (anything with AR levels over 3.9). I wasn't aggressive with my weeding, I just don't know yet what the teachers assign the kids to read and so forth. Mostly I just go rid of severely out-dated books (like the novelization of Gremlins), and duplicates of low-circulating series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. My other solution to the space problem was to pull series of books with AR levels averaging above 5.0. These books are going to be moved to a new collection called Intermediate Grades.
I spoke with the school's principal and she agreed wholeheartedly to buying a bookshelf for this new collection. I ordered a double-sided shelf even though it will be flush with a wall, since eventually it will stand on it's own with the other Fiction shelves (after the new school is completed and the Intermediate books leave my library.) In the same meeting she cautioned me about weeding too aggressively. She agrees that books become outdated but teachers have absolute favorites and I would possibly burn bridges if I got rid of something deemed a "must have".
I have recently started re-working the Nonfiction. The previous librarian had separated the 921s and moved them to the end of nonfiction. I just can't abide that. So while I was shifting them back, I started weeding. I have a huge stack of books to go through. I've decided to sort them into 3 categories:
- Discard
- Not sure (is this sports star still playing? Is he/she some kind of legend?)
- Update - instead of 4 books about Princess Diana written in the early 90s, I could buy 1 new one on her that encompasses her whole life, and then purchase biographies of Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton.
I also worked my way through the Reference section and cut it down. I plan to eliminate 2 sets of outdated encyclopedias - and possibly the third set as well if it is older than 5 years. I read online that you should replace them after at least 5 years. I am not discarding all of the books, some of them will be re-cataloged and put into Nonfiction. I'd also like to look into replacing the atlases.
I understood the basic principle of weeding but not exactly how to go about it. I found the CREW system and read through it. I found it amazingly helpful. I will keep the guidelines from CREW in mind while I finish shelf-reading and shifting the Nonfiction.
I have a lot more to go before school starts but I feel like I'm making the school library into my library. A place where I can enjoy myself while I help the kids enjoy themselves. I want them to be excited to come to my library. I want them to take pride in learning library skills and library manners. I want them to love books as much as I do!
Okay, one last thing. Did you notice the bookshelf on the right side of my blog? It's called Shelfari and I LOVE it! I'm not using it for everything I read, simply because I read things I don't want on my school library blog. I do have a reading life away from children's books. But I love sharing what I'm reading and have read - I post all my books on Facebook when I start them. Since starting the 1 adult book 1 kid book routine, I have read so many good books. I hope you'll find the suggestions to your liking and maybe start a bookshelf of your own!
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