MC Organization and Management

I read a post from Sonya on the Library Patch a few weeks ago about how she is using baskets for her series books.  Love the idea, although I do something a bit different.  (See my post about Wildcat Favorites)  But it got me to thinking about how I've organized the MC.

Here are some of the things I have done in the MC to help manage check out.

First, I use a number pad for students to type in their patron number.  This keeps them from having to keep up with a library card.  Their patron number is the same as their lunch number that they have to punch in on a  similar key pad if they buy their lunch, so most patrons know their numbers already. It really has worked out well.

Pinterest inspired, I made two of these Due Date reminder frames.  I got the frames at the Dollar Tree and made my own sign to go in it.  I use a dry erase marker to change the date each day.  Easy peasy!

I also made this sign that hangs near the exit to give them another reminder of their due date.  It is laminated so I can use a dry erase marker to change the date and made days of the week signs attached with velcro to make it a bit more colorful.

Students bring MC passes with them when they come for open checkout.  To help remind them to pick up their passes, I made this sign that I taped to the top of the circulation desk.

I also have a pass reminder sign near the exit. 

Students still seem to be forgetting their passes, so this week I made new passes using badge clips I got at Wal-Mart so that they don't even have to hold onto their pass, just attach it to their clothing.  We'll see how it goes.  Each grade level has a different color pass.  K and 1st get 2 passes and 2nd-5th get 3 passes.  I guess I will take the pass reminder off the circulation desk so that they don't take off their new passes.   But I think I will still keep up the reminder on the window just in case they did take their pass off.  I'll keep you posted on the new passes.

On the other side of the window, coming into the MC, I post the weekly MC schedule.

Sometimes I am by myself in the MC and I might be shelving books where patrons can't see.  So I put out a little bell for patrons to ring if they need help and can't see me.

I also recently finished organizing my office.  Here are the before and after pics.

This was my office at the beginning of the summer, before I moved in.

Here's what my office looked like a few weeks later.

And a few weeks after that.  That is about as far as I got until about a month ago when I started organizing again.

And here's what it looks like today.  I still need to organize the file cabinet, but it's much more livable now.

Here's my wall next to my desk. I have my schedule, calendar, school year calendar and other important info on this wall.  I use the clear plastic protector sheets to change the weekly schedules out each week.  It works great, for now, but I'd like to eventually get a big bulletin board for the wall. It will also help to hide that lovely yellow Internet cable going down the wall.

And here's my beautiful desk, clean and clutter free at least for this shot. I keep the files I use the most on my desk.  I love my wireless keyboard and mouse.  It helps keep the wire clutter down.

So that's just a small snapshot of my MC.  One of these days I will get around to doing a video tour, but for now, I hope you enjoyed this small sneak peak.

DK books

Do you have any of these Eyewitness books in your library/media center?

 

They are from Dorling Kindersley (DK) publishing and they are FABULOUS!

I recently had a parent donate a set of these books and as I was processing them, I realized that we already had several sets of these books in the Reference section.  No one ever uses the Reference section and I hadn't, at the time, gotten around to weeding, rearranging and organizing that section yet. 

When I discovered that we had so many of these books that were just sitting on the shelves collecting dust, I decided to move them to the non-fiction section and allow students to check them out.

WOW!  Those books fly off the shelf every week.  You would think they were Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries books.  I don't know if it's because they are easy to spot on the shelf or if it's because the pictures in the books are fascinating, but whatever the reason, I am so glad that I decided to move them because those books are attracting kids that don't normally enjoy non-fiction reading.  I wish I had done it sooner.

So if you have these books in your library/media center, where do you keep them and are they regularly used?  If you don't have them, I highly recommend getting some the next time you have some money.  If you do have them, I highly recommend keeping them in the non-fiction section making them readily available for check out.

Just something to consider.

VOTE!!!

Have you voted yet?

Children's Book Week is sponsoring the Children's Choice Book Awards. Vote online for your favorite K-2nd, 3rd-4th, 5th-6th, and Teen books, and illustrators. Teachers, librarians, and books stores can enter group votes, too! Voting ends May 3rd and winners will be announced live at Children's Choice Book Awards gala in New York city. Just click here to vote.

Fun Day

I attended the West Georgia Media Consortium at RESA last week.  What  a great day!  It was kinda like a small convention just for MS in our area.  Lots of great ideas and resources were shared.  I wish we could do that every month.  We don't get enough time to share ideas with each other. I wish I had taken pictures, but I was so busy chit chatting and sharing ideas that I didn't even think about it.

Here are some of the things we discussed, though:

Lexiles
Common Core and resources for common core (got a few good websites to look at)
Benefits of using Google Docs
QR codes
iBooks

I gave out a handout at the meeting that has a list of some great library/media center blogs, websites, Pinterest Boards, and more.  Click here to get the Google doc or click on the picture above.

And we wrapped up the day with a demo from a fun children's book author who does ventrilaquism.  His name is Ed Spruill.  He writes children's books with a character education theme.  I signed up to have him come visit my school next fall.  I think the kids will love the message behind his books and find him entertaining as well.  And he only charges for travel and lodging which can be split with other schools in the area who also would like him to visit.  You can find out more about him at http://edspruill.com/

It was a super fun day.  I wish we could do it once a month.  So what about you?  Does your district provide any type of collaborative meetings/planning time with other librarians or media specialists?

What Are You Holding?

What's on hold in my Media Center?  That's the question that librarians and media specialists are being asked to answer and share in order to get a better idea of what kids are wanting to read. I thought I'd jump on the band wagon myself so here's a picture of the hold shelf from last week.  Paw print books are in the Wildcat Favorites section (favorite series titles).  You can read more about the Wildcat Favorites here.

Want to join in on the hold shelf fun?  Check out the dets on 100 Scope Notes.  

Exciting Opportunity!

You may have noticed that my posts have been far and few between lately. That's because I've been working on something exciting just for my fellow librarians and media specialists.

I've started a brand new COLLABORATIVE blog and I would love for you to be a contributor on it.  It's called...

I am inviting any public or school librarian to contribute on this blog.  Share what you're doing in your library or media center, link to an innovative library idea, freebie, or lesson on your blog, even join a linky party for TpT and TN stores.  My hope is that Sharing the Shelves will be a one stop shop for some great media lesson ideas, organization, book recommendations and anything else that might be helpful to those of us in the library field.  It's also a great way to drive more traffic to your blog.  That's just a little perk.  ;)  Check it out for yourself by clicking on the picture above or by clicking here.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, email me and let me know.  I'd love for you to share your shelves.

jnase1 (at) gmail (dot) com

P.S.  You may have also noticed that I've also been playing around with a few items on my blog.  I was able to remove that annoying border around images and I am playing around with my signature. What da ya think?

Strange Things Are Afoot in the Media Center

Maybe it was the full moon this week or the whole Daylight Saving thing, but this week was totally weird. The kids were wild as could be, as was the weather.  Not that I don't enjoy warm weather, but it went from like 40 degrees to 86 degrees in a matter of days.  No wonder we're all sick.

Midway through the week, a DEMCO, Library Video Company, and Bound to Stay Bound order came in, but not everything was there. Only half the Bound to Stay Bound order arrived and 2 books out of that order were on back order...the first two books of the Hunger Games triology.  Of course the third book came in, but I really don't want to put it out yet.  Reading the third book first will ruin it for anyone who hasn't read the first two books.  *sigh*  Hopefully they will come in soon.  In the meantime, I am still waiting for my Permabound order to even process.  It was sent in on the same day as the DEMCO and btsb order, but it is much further behind in the process, I guess.  That's what I get for trying to order for the lowest price.

Then the strangest thing of all happened.  Random socks kept popping up around the Media Center several times this week.  No kidding...SOCKS!  Luckily I always have my camera with me so I was able to snap a picture of these strange happenings, cause otherwise, who'd believe me, right?

I found a pair of socks under a chair.

And I found a very dirty, smelly sock laying on the story time rug.

Still don't know who left them there or why.

Like I said, strange happenings in the Media Center.  But I tried to keep my sanity as best I could with an unusually full week of classes scheduled for Media lessons.  Don't get me wrong.  I was tickled pink that so many teachers signed up for a lesson this week and now I have taught all 2nd-5th grade classes about the Genre of the Month for this month...Biographies/Autobiographies.  I made a PowerPoint to cover the basics and had an activity to check for understanding at the end.  I even made bookmarks for the kids, cause you know they love their bookmarks.  =)

You can snag your copy of these bookmarks here or click on the picture above.

All in all, it was a good week.  I definitely felt like I earned my paycheck.  And I get to do it all again next week. Thank goodness Friday was a furlough day holiday, in my county.  I needed the day to recoup.  I also rewarded myself with a bag of some plain ol' fashioned deliciousness.

Yummo!  I didn't even check the nutritional facts so that I could thoroughly enjoy every chip.  =)

Next week it's all about research for third and fourth graders and I will be reviewing with second graders how to use Destiny to search for books in the Media Center.  I have found that many of them need a refresher course.  Tuesday I go to our system's Media Consortium to meet with other Media Specialists across the area. Super excited about this.  Lots of great stuff on the agenda.  Thursday I meet with my Media Committee to talk about Media plans for the rest of the year and I will wrap up the week with an AR party for the 3rd nine weeks.  I have a "Bug Carnival" planned to go with my "Catch the Reading Bug" theme for the Media Center this year.  I have only managed to get 2 parent volunteers to help me out, so I hope it goes smoothly.  I'll have to post pictures afterward, if I am able to get any. Chances are I will be busy running 2 or 3 carnival games at the same time if I can't round up a few more helpers.  Here's hoping.

In case your week is as busy as mine and you need a little pick me up, here are a couple of fun websites I came across this weekend:

Wimp Yourself is a fun game that allows you to customize a "wimpy" character to wimp yourself.  Cute!  This would be fun for the kids to do as a promo for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.  There isn't a way to print out the characters, though.  Bummer.

Wimp Yourself

Here's me all wimped out.

Draw a Stickman is a website I came across a while back.  It was a fun site that allows you to draw pictures to go in the story, but the storyline didn't change so after using the site a few times, it got old.  Well, now there is a second episode!  Hopefuly that means there will be more episodes to come.  Check it out for yourself.

Draw a Stickman

Hope your week is a fun one!