Here we go - 2022!

Welcome to 2022 - and whatever that will bring for us all!   It has been an interesting couple of years so far! 

A big welcome to our new staff as well.  And please don't listen to any scary stories that the other staff tell you about me - it's all fibs!  I am truly the sweetest person around here!  

Please see below for a brief run through of what is available/offered through the Library.  If you have any questions, please just ask and any suggestions would be appreciated as well. 

"Below is a list of some of what we can help you with. I put this list up each year, so if you go back through the posts, it is all there. Anything else? If there is something that you think we can help with, just come and have a chat. We have learned to be fairly good at pulling rabbits out of hats and we also like a challenge - most days anyway!  

• Looking for a particular book or resource? Come and talk to us. We can organise an Inter-library-Loan or help you find where to purchase it.
• Resources: Books, DVDs, Magazines and Newspapers, iPad sets, Digital Cameras, Video Recorders, Computer Mice sets, Data Projectors, Teacher Reference, Chess sets,.. 
• IWB area and a bank of computers, as well as laptops that are available to be booked for classes.  The B3/B4 laptop trolley is only to be used in the Library area, however.
• Help with research, proofreading of assignments, suggestions for books to read - we are your people.
• A place to display your amazing class work.
• Collation of websites and ideas for subjects/classes
• Booking sheets for: Library areas, F Block Laptops, Headphones, iPads and now for the Computer Room as well. 

Students have a 3 week borrowing period while staff have a month. For most of the resources, we can adjust the loaning period for whatever is needed - at least till the end of term. However, this doesn't include the AV materials - that is a 1 week loan period only.

The school also subscribes to the TV4Ed system so if you are looking for something that has been screened on TV at some point, let me know and I will do my best to find it and put it on the school system for you to access.  This often solves the problem of staggering and buffering while streaming the program.  I can usually have the required programs up on the system within 24 hours - assuming that they are available on TV4ED, of course. "

So ... here's wishing you all an awesome term/year with lots of books and reading involved.  Let me know any way that I can be of help to you this year. 

How to restore Civil Society

Take a quick look at the link below - it is certainly food for thought.  Libraries are about SO much more than just a collection of books and magazines.  Today they are truly more about people and communities.  
Of course, they always have been, but in today's 'disconnected' world, they have the capacity to bring people and communities together - and in many ways, they offer a quiet haven in place of the hustle and bustle of today's uncaring world.  
And while 'disconnected' may seem like the wrong term - I do truly mean it.  Everyone is so 'connected' that they have no idea how to connect - with family, friends, people and community. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/opinion/sunday/civil-society-library.html

Week 10 - and 2 weeks break coming up.  Enjoy!

Carry on being awesome!  

Hello Semester 2

Well, I hope you all had a good break because - scary thought ... we are more than halfway through the year already!  Second semester is no longer hovering on the horizon - we've hit the deck running!  

The Library carpet was replaced with a vinyl flooring during the holidays, but somehow they managed to run out of vinyl BEFORE getting to my office.  Now the cupboards that were pulled out so the flooring could go down are sitting outside the door of my office, the drawers from the cupboards are in store rooms, or stacked in corners of my office waiting for the rest of it to be done ... and the stuff I carefully packed 'safely' away in said cupboards is who knows where!  And this includes my barcode reader!  (I should have thought that one through a bit better!!)

However ... you can't rush these things - and it will look pretty snazzy once it is all done, shelves moved, everything back in place - or a new place ... and maybe a compactus to store ALL sorts of stuff neatly away in the office.  

Term 3 always seems to be the busiest for the year and this one is no exception, it appears. Careers Expo, Sports Day, School Formal, Opera Australia .... and along with everything else happening, the Desert Harmony festival kicks off next week with a multitude of things happening throughout the town.  

Anyhow enjoy the start of Term 3 - and carry on being your usual awesome selves!

Ideas for the Library

As mentioned at the start of the year, a revamp of the Library has been discussed - especially after the carpet got flooded and needed to be removed. And it still smells damp and soggy in here! 

I have spent a little time playing with floor plans and ideas just lately - although we are still waiting for floors to be done, so we can move on.  Hopefully this will happen during the July holiday break.  However I am getting quite fond of the rustic cement flooring look, I have to admit. 

Anyway, it has occurred to me that maybe the question I really should be asking is: what do people actually WANT in this space?  Print? Digital? Space for classes? Other ideas? Do you even need a 'Library' as such - or could it possibly be reborn in some other way? Maybe you have some radical thoughts for a vibrant learning space?? 

Lots of resources in here are rarely used and often just seem to be taking up space or helping to create corners for students to lurk in - so maybe there is another way to utilise this area, as well as the resources, that will work for everyone ... and really, I can't always see the forest for the trees.  

There are some awesome ideas out there in the Pinterest world - although I suspect that we may also need a bucket of never ending cash to make some of them a reality.  

So ....... input and ideas please??

2017 and a new school year.

New Year, new start - isn't that the phrase?  Certainly a new start here in the Library - or it will be once we get everything sorted after being flooded due to the heavy rains during the holiday break.  We have had a large part of the carpet ripped out due to mould and the rest will go soon, when the new flooring goes down.  
I had been talking about a revamp of the Library space and it appears that the Universe decided to help out. 

Books and resources are scattered in various places at the moment - and although I have a fair idea as to where to find what - please don't expect miracles.   
There are also a few issues with printers, phones and so on - again probably to do with the flooding, so please be patient.

For the new staff some information about the Library and what we (usually) offer is below, but if anyone has any queries, please come and see me.  I will need to get all your names and details anyway to add you to the library system so you can borrow. 

Below is a list of some of what we can help you with. I put this list up each year, so if you go back through the posts, it is all there. Anything else? If there is something that you think we can help with, just come and have a chat. We have learned to be fairly good at pulling rabbits out of hats and we also like a challenge.  (Although maybe no challenges just yet till the Library is running the way it should)

• Looking for a particular book or resource? Come and talk to us. We can organise an Inter-library-Loan or help you find where to purchase it.
• Resources: Books, DVDs, Magazines and Newspapers, iPad sets, Digital Cameras, Video Recorders, Computer Mice sets, Data Projectors, Teacher Reference, Board games, Chess sets, Kits........
• IWB area and a bank of computers, as well as laptops that are available to be booked for classes.  The Library laptop trolley is only to be used in the Library area, however.
• Help with research, proofreading of assignments, suggestions for books to read - we are your people.
• A place to display your amazing class work.
• Collation of websites for subjects/classes
• Booking sheets for: Library areas, F Block Laptops, Headphones, Ipads.

Students have a 2 week borrowing period while staff have a month. For most of the resources, we can adjust the loaning period for whatever is needed - at least till the end of term. However, this doesn't include the AV materials - that is a 1 week loan period only.

The school also subscribes to the TV4Ed system so if you are looking for something that has been screened on TV at some point, let me know and I can find it and put it on the school system for you to access.  
However, the subscription was recently upgraded so you can access a wide collection of YouTube materials that have been collated for schools and following the National Curriculum Framework.  Hopefully we can organise a training through TV4Ed soon, so you can all do your own searching.

So ... wishing you all an awesome term with lots of books and reading involved.

New LMS is Go Live!

Well, finally the day is here.  Our new Library Management system in the Northern Territory  is actually Go Live in the schools.

I have made my first student loan using the system and all worked as it should.  (Phew!)  We have a little bit of a work-around at the moment due to some student data - but it's not making much of a difference.

Now comes the real learning - as this becomes the everyday system.  It's a little sad after 20 years of using Virtua - but this system more aptly reflects the global aspect of libraries in today's world.

Another new title

Another resource gracing our display shelves at the moment which has been generating a lot of browsing time with the students, is a non-fiction title written in picture book style.  It is about the creatures who live in our Australian deserts and how they have adapted to survive comfortably in these temperatures.  (See the blurb below)

The author, a former teacher, has lived in the Arctic all her life - such a totally different lifestyle to what she is writing about here.  Her passion for nature inspired her to start writing nature books for young readers, which fuse gentle narratives with incredible facts about the natural world.

Travel to one of the hottest places in the world, and discover the amazing animals who call the desert home. Meet the unique creatures of the Australian desert, from the Sand Goanna and Red Kangaroo, and find out just how these incredible creatures have adapted to survive in temperatures as high as 40 degrees! Packed with fantastic illustrations which beautifully depict these animals and their desert habitat, this title will captivate, amaze and inform readers.

New titles in the Library

I am often surprised how quickly time slips away - you get busier than usual and then whoosh - here you are nearly 6 weeks later and no new posts.  And it isn't as if nothing has been happening either ... Sports Day, PD Day and so on.

We have had a few new titles arrive in the Library, which are all now processed and on display ready to be borrowed.  A couple of these were requests from the students - if bitterly complaining that the next in the series they are reading wasn't available could be called a request.  (I chose to see it as such)

Ghost in the Billabong: by Jackie French
 This is the fifth title in her historical fiction series which is loosely based around the song 'Waltzing Maltilda' and follows the lives of a family through from the 1800s.  
In this book, hippies wear beads, demonstrators march against the Vietnam War, and the world waits to see the first human steps on the moon's surface. But at Gibbers Creek, Jed Kelly sees ghosts, from the past and future, at the Drinkwater billabong where long ago the swaggie leaped to his defiant death. But is seventeen-year-old Jed a con artist or a survivor? When she turns up at Drinkwater Station claiming to be the great-granddaughter of Matilda Thompson's dying husband, Jed clearly has secrets.  Set during the turbulence of the late 1960s, this was a time when brilliant and little-known endeavours saw Australia play a vital role in Neil Armstrong's 'one giant leap for mankind' on that first unforgettable moon walk.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 3: by Jeff Kinney
 Let’s face it: Greg Heffley will never change his wimpy ways. Somebody just needs to explain that to Greg’s father. You see, Frank Heffley actually thinks he can get his son to toughen up, and he enlists Greg in organized sports and other "manly” endeavors. Of course, Greg is easily able to sidestep his father’s efforts to change him. But when Greg’s dad threatens to send him to military academy, Greg realizes he has to shape up . . . or get shipped out.


Wool: by Hugh Howey 
 'Wool' is another of the dystopian books that the students seem to love and is billed as the 'next Hunger Games'.
 In a ruined and hostile landscape, in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive, a community exists in a giant underground silo.
Inside, men and women live an enclosed life full of rules and regulations, of secrets and lies.
To live, you must follow the rules. But some don't. These are the dangerous ones; these are the people who dare to hope and dream, and who infect others with their optimism.
Their punishment is simple and deadly. They are allowed outside.
Jules is one of these people. 
She may well be the last. 

 These are available and ready for loan now so come on in and have a browse.  Lots more stuff here to catch your attention, I promise.

Just something to think about

While looking for websites with Library activities, resources and all sorts of other stuff that may be handy for you all - I came across this site.  

http://momastery.com/blog/2014/01/30/share-schools/

The article stopped me in my tracks and I just wanted to share it with you all and to remind you all of just how awesome you are! 
And to say, both as a mother and a grandmother - THANK YOU!

Games Day in the Library

On Friday we ran with the theme of International Games Day in the Library, which is an activity promoted by ALIA. (Australian Library and Information Association)   Various board games were set out, especially the ever popular Connect 4, along with Pick Up Sticks and Chess.
  
There were also a variety of Minute to Win It Challenges happening during recess and lunch as well, which were very popular with the students.... or maybe it was the M&Ms contest and eating them that was the highlight?

 Kalheel currently holds most of the top scores, successfully defending his title against all comers.  He came back when the lunch bell rang to go back to class, concerned in case he had been toppled off his perch, and was very happy to be assured that he was still top dog.


A couple of the boys challenged Mr Marday to a game of chess - so he took them both on at the  same time.  Very impressive!
 
On asking the students for feedback, it seems they all had fun, and would like to see more of that type of thing happening in the Library -so something to plan for - although maybe not everyday as was requested.  And nobody appeared all that upset that the computers were off-limits for the day, so bonus!  

A very enjoyable day for all involved it seems.  My thanks to the teachers who came in and helped supervise, and challenged the kids to some of the activities.

Library System Upgraded

Virtua, which is our Library Management System, has now been upgraded.  Aside from a few small glitches across the NT system, it all seems to be working  pretty well.

Fun part now is that I will need to learn the new ways of doing things.  I already know that the Inter-Library-loan area has become a whole lot more complex.  There will be further areas to be ironed out as it is a cloud-based system so a learning curve coming up - but hopefully not too steep.

Thank you for your patience while our system was down and while this has been happening.  It has been really appreciated.

Library Management System

Just a quick note to let you know that Virtua is running again, albeit with a few little glitches. I can check out and in but cannot catalogue anything or update people's cards if they have expired.  For the moment, it is refusing to save to the database, so I am still using spreadsheets to keep records till we get it fully operational.

As the upgrade to the new fancy version is due middle of May, we may have to deal with it until then - but we are more or less back on track.

Thanks for your patience.

2015 - and a new school year.

Welcome back to everyone for 2015.  I hope you all had a nice relaxing break with lots of time spent with family and friends and are all refreshed and ready to go. And a big welcome to all our new staff as well - looking forward to getting to know you all.

Well, here we go - the start of 2015 and a whole new year of opportunities for books, and reading. How awesome is that? 

For the new staff - and a reminder for some of our previous staff - below is a list of some of what we can help you with. I put this list up each year, so if you go back through the posts, it is all there. Anything else? If there is something that you think we can help with, just come and have a chat. We have learned to be fairly good at pulling rabbits out of hats and we also like a challenge.

• Looking for a particular book or resource? Come and talk to us. We can organise an Inter-library-Loan or help you find where to purchase it.
• Resources: Books, DVDs, Magazines and Newspapers, iPad sets, Digital Cameras, Video Recorders, Computer Mice sets, Data Projectors, Teacher Reference, Board games, Chess sets, Kits........
• IWB area and a bank of computers, as well as laptops that are available to be booked for classes.  The Library laptop trolley is only to be used in the Library area, however.
• Help with research, proofreading of assignments, suggestions for books to read - we are your people.
• A place to display your amazing class work.
• Collation of websites for subjects/classes
• Booking sheets for: Library areas, F Block Laptops, Headphones, Ipads.

Students have a 2 week borrowing period while staff have a month. For most of the resources, we can adjust the loaning period for whatever is needed - at least till the end of term. However, this doesn't include the AV materials - that is a 1 week loan period only.

The big deal for us this year is the new way of using the DVDs.  No more borrowing a disk and playing it in your laptop..we have gone more upmarket and digital this year.  Thanks to Kate and her brilliant ideas, most of the DVDs are now on the server, and by following a few simple steps you can play it through your laptop without ever having to borrow a DVD again.  The school also now subscribes to TV4Ed so if there is a TV program that has been screened that you think would be handy with your class, please see me and I'll do my best to find it and and download it for you.  (All legal and allowed!)

Wishing you all a fantastic school year with lots of READING involved. Now carry on being awesome.

Picture Book Month

We have received some new books in the Library recently that people may be interested in.  One of them is 'Resist' by Sarah Crossan, which is the conclusion to the story started in 'Breathe'.  These are based on a future and dsytopian world, where all the trees have died out - or been chopped down - and what little oxygen is available is inside a dome, where you follow the rules or are put outside the dome to take your chance. 

There are also a couple of new Choose Your Own adventures: 'The Jungle of Doom' and the 'Desert of Dread' along with 'Vampire Hunter', so you have a choice of adventure or horror in this area.  As well, we have a couple of Interactive stories, which are basically the same style of book, but are about real life happenings.  We have one about the making of Facebook and another about Hurricane Katrina.

There are also some Shakespeare plays,  but in Graphic Novel format which is a different way of reading these classics. 

I would also like to share with you all that November is Picture Book Month. Personally speaking, I am a HUGE fan of Picture Books and there are many reasons to read them or to use them in your classes.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does that say about the power of a picture book?  And the world needs picture books. There’s nothing like turning the pages of a beautiful  picture book. They are not all Fiction either and are often a great way to share with kids - and their parents - little known facts.  (See the post a couple of weeks ago about the 'Lone Pine' picture book)
 
Please check out the link below.
http://picturebookmonth.com/

Who reads this Blog?

Just out of interest, I went through some of the statistics that are kept on the Blog to get an idea of usage.
I wasn't really suprised to find out that it doesn't get a lot of interest here, but what did intrigue me was when I realised that it does get well read by a number of overseas countries.

Apparently, for this week anyway, it has been used fairly well by China, France and Romania, with a smaller amount of usage by United States, Hong Kong and America. 

At least it is being used, I guess.

 

Train yourself to be Happy - really.

The latest offerings from the e_list.  Can you really train yourself to be happier?  Check out number 4 and find out.  The link for this site is at the bottom if you want to see what else they have on offer.  As I understand it, all of the sites they promote are free to use. 

6 apps that train your brain

1:     Elevate sends you games designed to improve your most needed cognitive skills

2:    Lumosity increases memory, attention, flexibility and speed with a daily training program

3:    Neuroscientists designed the games on CogniFit to improve memory and concentration

4:    Train yourself to be happier with Happify

5:    Eidetic helps you memorise things

6:    Fit Brains has over 360 unique training games and puzzles

http://the-e-list.tumblr.com/

Reading Hour and Holidays

August 19^th from 6-7pm is the day and time set for The Reading Hour, which is an event that grew from the National Year of Reading 2013. William McInnes has been announced as the ambassador for the 2014 event.
 
Check out this link for more information:

 

http://www.love2read.org.au/
 

This could be an ideal time to promote reading in the classroom or at home. Personally, I would think that it doesn’t have to actually run from 6pm onwards, but at a time that is convenient. Maybe a read-in evening, a shared story-telling activity, a morning or afternoon tea with pages read from favourite books, a book and bookmark swap…. anyone have other suggestions? Maybe we could make this a Library event?

 
On a high note, I have recently had a win with getting a handful of very reluctant readers with their noses in books. They hadn't come across 'Choose your Own' novels before, and it looks like we are going to need some more because they have read almost all we have in the Library - in the last 3 days! Lots of time has been spent sprawled on my office floor reading and sharing books, or searching the shelves for more books.  And isn't that what it is all about?

 With school holidays coming up in a couple of days, and cold, windy, miserable weather outside, it sounds like it is the perfect time to snuggle up with a hot chocolate and a BIG pile of reading material. Get some of that work/life balance happening and enjoy some downtime. 

Wishing you all a wonderful mid-year break, and let’s do it all again next semester.

My Job

How I see my Job:
The main job I do is not about books, or research or inquiry. The job I do is all about people and it is about helping people. It is about making a connection with people so they trust me enough to enable me to help them. My job is to try and make sure that I am interrupted all day, every day by people who need my skills, my expertise, my problem solving, my suggestions, my conversation, my smile and sometimes my hugs. And maybe even a firm voice once in awhile.

How you see my Job:
??????????

 It is rather suprising really - when you think of librarians/library technicians, you think of books. However, over the last 30 years spent doing this job, both here and at the Public Library, I have come to realise that books are only a very tiny part of that, and who knows, maybe they are mainly there as the conduit needed for me to be able to do the rest of my job, as I see it anyway.

So my question for today is..... how do you see my job?  Am I providing what you need? What else could I be doing to make the Library work better for you?

Science, QR Codes and Chess.

I have had Mrs. Anderson's 7O class in today for a QR Code Hunt around the Library.  She was working on Classification so it seemed an interesting way to both demonstrate classification and have a small Library orientation at the same time.

The class started in the Lab with a QR code directing them to the Library, which brought them to a QR Code on my office window, so that I knew they were there and could assist with the rest of the hunt.
They then checked out the Dewey Decimal charts and moved round a range of areas, taking photos to prove they had been able to follow the instructions.

The students had a ball and got right into QR Codes.  I believe that this could be used with almost any class, whether for revision or just as a novel way of teaching something.  It could even be used as a craft activity - maybe printed t-shirts or keytags?  Thank you, Mrs Anderson, for letting me show your class another fun side to learning.

Another activity that has become popular again is Chess and we have a few students taking the opportunity during recess and lunch to challenge each other. Plenty more chess sets available, so certainly room for more games to be happening.

In fact, we also have Monopoly, Battleships, Uno and various other games to use during break times, so it is not just chess. Maybe we should set up a regular board game session every week?

* EDIT:  Whoops, sorry it was actually a Yr 7 class.  My apologies to everyone.  Sorry Mrs Anderson. I have fixed it now.

International Listening Awareness Month

Just thought I would share the information with you all that apparently March is designated as International Listening Awareness Month.

And today is also World Read Aloud Day. 

Doesn't this sound like something we should be celebrating??