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Hi LM_NETters! I can't resist jumping in at this point. I have read the article in=20 question, as well as most of the responses at this point. My job (last year= =20 was my first year ever!) has always been that of luring people into my=20 domain. I work in a HUGE library, that has been underutilized for years. W= e=20 have 1,300 kids in our school with my library serving approximately=20 1,000-1,100 kids. The kids are all in grades 4-6. There is a small K-1=20 center that has a separate small library. Last year I taught 30 classes per= =20 week/fixed schedule. That much will probably remain the same. At the end of last year, my school received a large amount of money as part=20 of an educational expense fund to increase student test scores. My principa= l=20 announced a meeting to discuss how to best spend these monies. I showed up.= =20 Just me and three administrators. She asked the staff for written proposals= .=20 She received two. So I was pretty much given a free hand to develop a user= =20 friendly library. The first thing that I asked for was a couch, a settee, 2 arm chairs, and 5=20 bean bag chairs for a reading corner. Coincidentally, they will be the firs= t=20 things people see when they enter our library. The rules to use this area=20 are simple, you must be reading, you can't talk or you will have to move. A= t=20 my principal's suggestion, I also ordered a coffee table and an end table. =20 In back of the furniture, I have 2 covered chalkboards that I have been=20 hanging bright, colorful posters promoting reading. On the other side of=20 those 2 chalkboards, I have my teaching area. Both of these sections are in= =20 the middle of the fiction collection. My circulation desk resides squarely in the center of the library. Last yea= r=20 I always had a CD playing music in my circulation computer. By the end of=20 the year, I had decided that I would purchase a small stereo this school yea= r=20 so that I wouldn't burn out my CD player on my computer! The music and the=20 stereo are mine, but I did order in a shelf unit for my printer and the bran= d=20 new copier, that has room on it for the stereo. I mention the music because= =20 of the comments made to me by both the students and staff that it was so=20 relaxing and friendly feeling when they came to visit. I also purchased a=20 cordless phone since the one in my office didn't stretch to the computer, an= d=20 when I purchased a 100 ft. cord, people tripped on it. Next to the Circulation area, I am placing a large cabinet to hold my poster= =20 collection. It took a lot of talking to convince my principal that this=20 would be a great investment, but she finally came around. In case any of yo= u=20 have doubts, I have a poster collection of about 1,000 posters. Either on o= r=20 about books or various aspects of the curriculum. There are a lot of source= s=20 out there that are happy to send posters if they think that a teacher will=20 use them. At the far end of my library, the reference collection resides. When I go=20 back in two weeks, most of the volumes will be weeded out. Since they have=20 an average copyright age of 1965, I'm sure that you will agree that this is=20 no great loss. I used the age of this segment of the collection to talk a=20 contribution of $3,000 and 2 brand-new sets of Compton's Encyclopedias out o= f=20 district office. My principal had agreed to match whatever they gave. The=20 first of my new reference tools started arriving several weeks ago. =20 Immediately adjacent to the reference area is where I'm putting 10 brand-new= =20 computers. Once I do the initial lessons, and establish ground rules, this=20 area is our new "Reference/Research Area." The teachers will be able to sig= n=20 up for time slots to bring their entire classrooms down to the library to do= =20 research projects while I'm teaching at the other end. Needless to say, the= y=20 will be required to stay with their classes. Many of our staff have=20 expressed thanks for this privilege. It's something they have never been=20 able to do. The next area that received attention had to do with providing a pleasant=20 place for the faculty to come in and make use of the facility. Again at my=20 principal's suggestion, I reclaimed one of the small library rooms that had=20 been used for small group instruction, and will be turning it and the one=20 adjacent to it into a Faculty Workroom/Professional library. I purchased a=20 table, 6 comfortable chairs on wheels, 2 wall mounted magazine racks, a=20 credenza (to hold a coffee maker that I purchased out of my own pocket), a=20 paper cutter, etc. We will be moving the letter press down from the backroo= m=20 it was in on the third floor to this room as well. It also holds two large=20 bookcases. I need to weed the bookcases of materials like filmstrips that=20 very few teachers ever use anymore, to hold the professional collection whic= h=20 had gotten mixed into the general collection. =20 I was also given a free hand to order various supplies for the workroom. =20 Book jackets galore, tape dispenser for applying the reinforcement to=20 paperbacks, paperback covers, bookmarks, etc. With my inexperience,=20 sometimes it was hard to estimate what I would need in the coming years, but= =20 I did my best. The final area that I concentrated on was purchasing the books. I had been=20 interested in writing a couple of grants before I was given the go ahead to=20 get what we need. I started with biographies. I ordered more than 500 new=20 biographies in various reading levels and page lengths. I looked at the=20 ethnic population in our school, and tried to purchase a collection that=20 reflected the large African American segment and the smaller Hispanic segmen= t=20 as well as the Caucasian population. I purchased biographies about women as= =20 well as men. I tried to reflect curriculum needs in the areas of social=20 studies and science with this purchase as well. Then I moved on to our Science Fiction/Fantasy collection. We had 77 titles= =20 on our shelves. Several of our teachers require kids to do books reports on= =20 these genres. There were not enough to adequately do the job. I then=20 progressed on to the picture book collection. We had some. Not many. Many= =20 times a teacher can use a picture book to start off a unit. There have been= =20 a lot of high quality picture books written over the last several years that= =20 are NOT for small folks. We didn't have many of these in our collection.=20 From that point, I went into the Social Studies State standards. I have=20 several 6th grade teachers on our staff that regularly visited the public=20 library because we didn't have any materials on W.W.I, and very few on=20 W.W.II, and the Holocaust. They shouldn't have had to do that. I then=20 progressed to the 4th and 5th grade topics, and purchased accordingly. =20 The next area to be ordered had to do with Science. Our teachers are=20 teaching to the state standards, and as a result have 3 new Smithsonian=20 science kits per grade level. Every time they came in to check out a book t= o=20 use with their units, we either didn't have it, or a child would already hav= e=20 it out. The PTA had agreed to provide $600 per unit to provide a separate=20 collection of books exclusively for teacher use. These books will have PRO=20 placed at the top of their call number to indicate that they are only to be=20 checked out by the staff. They will also be shelved in the Professional=20 Library. =20 By the time I got done ordering, we estimated that I had spent at least=20 $40,000 just on books! The bulk of them haven't arrived yet, but when they=20 do, it will be a huge task just to process the order. So today, I spent 2=20 hours on the phone and my computer, contacting the PTA to start recruiting=20 parent volunteers to help me set up the library. Oh yes, did I mention that= =20 I couldn't get into the library all summer because of the ceiling renovation= =20 work? =20 Now the point of all this is not to brag about the incredible success that=20 I've had, but to say that realistically, change is a part of life. Things=20 are always changing. When they remain static, they die. The needs in the=20 school have changed, so the library must reflect that. My library became th= e=20 favorite after-school meeting place last year. This year it will be worse,=20 because I've made it so inviting. But on the other hand, do I fear for my=20 job? Not at all. Of the 6 new librarians hired last year, I was the only=20 one not automatically terminated at the end of the school year. Now I expec= t=20 that most of my colleagues will have been rehired at this point, but when I=20 mentioned the possibility to my principal, she hit the ceiling. I had made=20 myself and the library an indispensable part of the school and the=20 curriculum. =20 I suggest that we all need to take a look at what our schools' need, and=20 start dreaming about what we could ask for if the sky was the limit. Becaus= e=20 once they tell you that you can have your dream, they don't give you a lot o= f=20 time to find it! I think that that is a lot of what Jim Trelease's article=20 is about. What kind of a library would you or your patrons have if you coul= d=20 have your dream? Marcy ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> =20 Marcia Berbeza Library Media Specialist=20 Grades 4-6 Bayard Elementary School 200 South DuPont Street Christina School District Wilmington, DE 19805 (302) 429-4118 Mberbeza@aol.com berbezam@csdmail.k12.de.us ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> =20 "It is our choices, =E2=80=A6that show what we truly are,=20 far more than our abilities." J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv. 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