I geek mha library

When I moved into this position, I was unaware of the amount of marketing came with the job. I was so amazed with the amount of literature and conversations in the library community about how important it is to promote your resources. I really thought people just knew about the library and of course they would come. So naive!
In August, Buffy Hamilton brought the geek campaign to my attention. I have been thinking "geeky" thoughts ever since! It is a brilliant campaign that I have tried to embrace at my school. I slowly started to use the term, hang signs, place "geek" stickers around and definitely created a buzz. We officially unveiled the geek campaign this week and it was the talk of the school.
Here is an outline of the geek lessons
1. Shared why I geek mha library.
2. Led them to define geek using geekthelibrary.org site.
3. Viewed a slide show of what their teachers geek from my geek website.
4. Students then created black signs to display in the library to share what they geek.
5. Challenged them to find their geek at our library!
The kids were excited about the geek idea and were proud when they found what they geeked on our shelves. It was such a valuable way to gain insight into their interests! Teachers told me that the students were coming up to them and saying, "I didn't know you kayaked." or "You geek bats?" "Why?" It created a lot of dialogue and excitement. Some students reported talking about it at dinner with their parents!
I am thankful the the library community at large is creating these tool kits to help librarians like myself. I feel that even my little school is doing its part to promote the importance of libraries on a larger scale. My hope is to carry the theme throughout the year and keep the excitement going! So look for more "geeky" posts.

Kathleen and I finding our Geek @MHA Library this Halloween!

Making a difference

Throughout my teaching years, I have had the experience of feeling I made a difference in a child's life. I have to say it is one of those things that keeps me going when I am frustrated with the "details" of being a teacher. When I was a classroom teacher, I had parents tell me their kids constantly talk about my class, loved a lesson or were so happy their kids could read now. I am finding you don't always get that immediate feedback from parents as a specials teacher. Recently I did and I wanted to share!
Kate Fitzgerald is my contact at the public library near our school. We collaborated in June in hopes of increasing the number of students participating in the "Be Creative @ your library" summer reading program. Two students from my school logged over 124 hours of reading and were honored this week for their accomplishment! Kate and I were thrilled for many reasons. We are both looking at the success of our collaboration and making plans to continue the relationship between the school and public library. We also have formed a relationship with these girls around the love of reading. Getting to discuss books with kids is a perk of the job! Kate and I love to hear their thoughts, opinions and suggestions about books. One of the girls is even interested in "working" in the library for a girl scout badge!
This little interaction has helped me to see the stepping stones of making a difference in kids lives one book at a time.