What Does National Library Week and School Library Month look, sound and feel like in the “Ideal” Setting?

Let’s just jump on in, now remember, this is today, ONE DAY, only from 7:45 AM to 12:45 Pm, after that more great things occurred that are hard to retain because, well, I can only hold onto so much without lunch.

Here we go:

School Library Month and National Library Week Observations that make being a Media Specialist Librarian the best job, and one of the most important jobs for those that are serious about the success of their schooL;
 
1) Walked into school and 8:00 and 6 seniors ask if they can use the project area/ Smart Board to practice their speeches for their Senior Project (hint – that is like every librarian’s dream to be asked to use a project area for exactly what you hope it would be used for ) fast forward to 45 minutes later, and all seniors, a few freshmen, sophomores, are in the audience providing feedback, laughing, giving each other a hard time, but also constantly giving feedback like “Do something with your hands, and not in your pockets!, don’t rock back and forth!, look at us – you are talking to us, remember? Do NOT say Um, uh, or like AGAIN!, PLEASE do not read to us word for word from the slides!) You have to love the fact that students were laughing, LOVING this process even though they had been stressing out about this for 7+ months, and students from varying levels were willing to sit and critique, and rotate and evaluate their peers, 9th – 12th grade. Impressive to say the least to see how far they have come and where senior project has led them.
 
2) Students overhearing me asking the students to please double side and add 4 notecards per page when printing out their notes because we can’t keep wasting paper like it grows on trees (they laughed) and student brings back a ream of paper for me before lunch and said, ” I overheard you needed paper so I brought you back some to replenish the paper used earlier…”
 
3) Meeting with UDLib and an amazing Career Counseling setting aside time – despite makeup testing today he was conducting – to listen to the new FREE Delaware links to test prep, science and Math curriculum aids, Ebooks, and amazing singular databases all academic teachers can use to save their lesson and curriculum planning time – an amazing experience.
 
4) An amazing freshmen giving a tour to the guest representative for EduLib through the wings where students run a farm, a chicken house, a florist shop, and a Structures area and helping connect this EduLib representative with other teachers…
 
5) Seeing vocational structures students put together their senior projects and to take time to brag on a new project they have taken on their own – (in this case a student chatted me up for 20 minutes about a 1967 moped he rescued from the garbage, and the owner’s manual he found on line and put in a binder – and the excitement he had on attempting to restore this as his now current project)
 
6) Having over 25 students throughout the course of the day bombard the library on opinions of their product summary, the length and content of their project synopsis, as well as the “Do you have a binder?”, “Do you have page dividers?”, but realize the need the library is filling for them to be successful.
 
7) Having students stop at the desk and excited to share their idea for a Student Government poster for elections and their decision to run together and running possible ideas past the Media Specialist Librarian…
 
8) Being invited to a student’s family birthday party
 
9) Having one of the most talented artists stop by and share their illustrations and idea to create a “passport” that all students could have and use at the May 5th Comicon at Greenwood Library as they go from station to station
 
10) Students coming asking, if the Red Apple Grant field trip to Delaware was going to happen, asking me to call RIGHT NOW PLEASE to see if we could nail down the YES to the bus on that day, the YES to from the museum, and after doing so finding out the students were more at ease knowing they had a chance to to the Delaware Art Museum…
 
11) Producing new faculty id badge holders for an upcoming celebration for staff, creating custom made trophies in the 3D Printer for one of many upcoming 5k run and walks and students rushing the printer asking, when can we begin our projects using the 3d Printer, (yes, even the students who usually have no interest at all in school).
 
12) Student seeing the phone ring every 5 minutes to the Library Media Center and planting herself by the phone, answering, relaying messages to me, answers relayed back for her to relay to the caller…after 35 minutes of this, she walking away saying, “I could so do this job, I am going to take your job one day Mr B as librarian…” with a smile on her face and a huge smile on mine… 
 

13) Hearing a story of visiting teacher/tutor – “Schools and libraries are so different.  I went to Y#@Y@))@, and the librarian was absent, and the students simply pulled out a television and watched SpongeBob SquarePants the whole time.  Another administrator came into the library with a checklist and clipboard, I was sure that this would fo down differently.  Nope.  Happy the students were “busy”, stated “At least they are not tearing the place apart” and left.  This is so much different than walking into a library where students are playing chess, practicing presentations, on the computers asking you questions about Google Slides, piecing puzzles together, and brainstorming ideas across the country with you, the phone ringing off the hook in the background.”  You realize as a person there was a reason you put so much time into being different than the typical library = satisfaction with the craziness that occurs within the confines of your space.

14) A spunky, crazy but talented young student, who had a run in with you as a librarian earlier in the year and had a referral, working on her senior project, spying you, – and spitting out “Sir!  Does this look too short for the summary of my product?” Paper right in front of my eyes as if I am taking a eye test, her watching me read every single word out loud, me giving a few lines that can add to the length and detail of her summary, her grabbing, running to her station, making adjustments, running in the next lab and grabbing her finished product, smiling, laughing, speeding past you with a “Thank you SIR!” and what just happened?

Is it lunch time yet?

 

About Harry Brake

Employee of Woodbridge High School, Library Media Specialist, Media crazy! :)
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