The Eliterate Librarian App

After reading this post from the Wikiman, I had to give this a try. The process is outlined in his post and it was very simple. It took me a few minutes to verify my website because I just didn't notice the Edit Html tab when I looked at the design page of my blog. As soon as I noticed that I pasted in the Bloapp's code and finished personalizing the app.

I've made an effort to create a mobile friendly site and felt like this was another part of that process. Give it a try with your blog so I can add you to my new iPhone.

Thanks to Gwyneth Jones for the heads up tweet about the Bloapp site.

Graphic Novels for Middle School

I was very happy to see this post about graphic novels on The Book Whisperer's Blog. I have read research about the positive effects of reading graphic novels and this supports that idea. I have significantly increased my collection of graphic novels and manga this year. Last year when I moved to the library the only manga series was Naruto. They were VERY popular so I knew I wanted to increase the collection. This summer I added many more series including Tsubasa, Shaman King, Hikaru No Go, Dragon Ball Z, Kitchen Princess, Maximum Ride, Zelda, One Piece, Full Metal Alchemist, Cross Game, Library Wars, Chibi Vampire, Choco Mimi, Bleach, Bakuman, My Boyfriend is a Monster, Claymore, Kamichama Karin Chu, Tegami Bachi, Yu-Gi-Oh Gx, Yuyu Hakusho, Whistle and more.

While some are not technically manga or graphic novel, I have purchased many titles that will appeal to the Wimpy Kid reader including Totally Lame Vampire, Smile, HappyFace, Milo, Doodlebug, The Popularity Papers, The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda, The Accidental Genius of Weasel High, Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading, The Defense of Thaddeus A. Ledbetter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Boring, Kill Shakespeare, Max Quigley: Technically Not a Bully, Meanwhile, Page by Paige, Splurch Academy series, and My Sister the Vampire.

Many of these I heard about in this article in School Library Journal.

There are even a few fun nonfiction graphic books I purchased including the Monster Science Graphic Library (Vampires & Cells, Bigfoot & Adaptation) and Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty.

The new manga section is always teaming with students. The books have stayed high on our top ten lists. I even had students hugging me the first week of school when they saw our new area. I have had several requests for other series that I'm considering. A few I think might be too mature, but I will check it out.

School Library Journal has an archived webinar on graphic novels here if you would like more information.

I am always open to more suggestions so I would love to hear about manga series you have in your schools.

Library Brag Board

This one is for you, Library Girl! You must check out this post from the inspiring, Jennifer LaGarde. This is my first attempt at creating a library brag board. It is probably difficult to see here, but the categories that I have on display are Library Events, Top Ten Titles, Circulation, Students of the Month, Hot Titles. Right now the Library Events area has information about due dates for our summer reading logs and a few pictures of the first few lessons we have had in the library. I have more lessons next week so I left room for more pictures. We put up the top ten titles for fiction and nonfiction. For the month of August Soul Surfer and The Hunger Games are topping the charts. I created a bar graph comparing circulation by grade. Instead of the typical Excel bar graph I overlapped the bars with clip art of a stack of books and stretched it to fit the size of the bars. I was going for a more infographic style. I took pictures of the students of the month for each grade. These are the students with the most check outs in August. Finally I created a Hot New Titles area that includes little printed book covers of new or popular books.

There is still too much blank space on there, but I will definitely be adding to it and improving as the year goes on, but I think this will be a fun way to show off the library and the programs we plan.

What would you put on your library brag board?

Creating a Culture of Reading

One of my goals at school is to create a culture of reading. There are many ways that I try to accomplish this. A few things I am doing this year is "Currently Reading" signs, education about SSR, book talks on the morning news, and Edmodo discussion groups.

I created "Currently Reading" signs for every teacher and staff member. They are on display outside each classroom or office. Studies show teachers are notorious for being non-readers. I know for some teachers at our school this is the case because they have told me. I just hope they do not tell our students the same thing. It is vital for our school population that our teachers be a reading role model so the intention of the signs is to show that adults continue to read and the signs may inspire conversations about books with teachers other than me and the ELA teachers.

We have a school-wide SSR program in place. I am so grateful for administrative support for this program. I hear from students that not every teacher participates in the program; therefore, I added SSR to a professional development class we are putting together. There are resources about SSR, research findings to support the program and tips on having a successful program. One of the main reasons for the failure of a SSR program is when the teacher supervises instead of reading with the students. I am hoping for 100% participation after sharing this information with our faculty.

Last year a few of my book club members presented book talks on the morning news. We plan to continue this and even increase how often the students share books on the news.

This summer I led a book discussion group for our ELA teachers about the book, Readicide. The two other middle school librarians in the district and I used Edmodo for summer reading discussion as well. It worked so well that I plan to use the site with the book club this year.

How do you create a culture of reading in your school?

Cute, Easy Way to Highlight Books

I first saw this idea on the amazing Sharon Matney's Pinterest page of library decorations. As soon as I saw the picture I remembered an old lamp I had sitting in the garage. I grabbed it and cleaned it up. Right now the display spotlights hurricanes so I pulled a few nonfiction weather books and a few novels with hurricanes in the plot. I have the bonus of a few windows to the hallway so I put this in one of the windows and students can see it on the way to class. I plan to change the display often depending on holidays, current events and library programs.

Thanks for the Spotlight

Big thanks to the Library Games website for highlighting the work of librarians. Here is a link to my interview for this week's Spotlight. While you are there take a look at the library activities, free things including some funky signs and book markers, and all of the fabulous "Funbrarians" the site has interviewed. You will be sure to find a new idea or two for your own library on the Easy Ideas page. If you have an idea you would like to add go to the Share page. This is definitely a site you will want to add to your arsenal.

That's What's Up in the Library

Check out this post from the creative and amazing Library Girl, Jennifer LaGarde. I am definitely going to create a board so that I can highlight programs and data about the library. I want to put up pictures of our lessons and activities, the top ten fiction and nonfiction books, top students, new titles, book club updates and class visits. I create a monthly report for my principals, but I have been struggling to think of a creative way of sharing our activities with the rest of the school. I am hoping this board will help others understand what goes on in the library. How do you communicate your events to the rest of the school?