Merry, Merry, Merry

Finally, the winter break has begun. I left my library on Friday afternoon, with a sense of accomplishment. My car was packed with the annual peppermint candles from students, and a bag of kid lit for winter reading. I could actually see the wood surface of my desk, though I never did find that scrap of paper with the phone numbers of library supporters. The books are all shelved in order & dusted, ready for the New Year. I have the well wishes of my staff and am now looking forward to some well deserved rest and relaxation....after I clean my house for Christmas, of course.

The first half of the year is history. As I reflect back, I realize I experienced some triumph. "Aldo" is reading! His fear of failure has been eased, and he is experiencing success.

My presentation at the CSLA conference on reading motivation was well received. The District actually reimbursed me for all my expenses. The check is in my purse, ready to be deposited into my bank account, so I can now pay off the credit card. Hurrah!

I have a terrific crew of library minions. Although one staff member, after checking out the regular morning crowd gathered outside the library door, suggested I be nominated for sainthood. I must say, I do have a couple of rather trying children that have decided to take me up on the library being a safe place. One can only be described as OCD on amphetamines, and another has the volume control on his voice continually set to maximum whine. That's the good thing about working at a two year school, a person can put up with just about anything for two years!

Then I had a former student visit, to wish me a happy holiday. He is a sophmore attending York Academy, a prestigious College Prep School in our area, who told me that I had three former students attending. He actually thanked me! Wow, what a year!

I am looking forward to some new challenges during the second half of the year. I am working with a local group hoping to set up a chapter of "Friends of School Libraries" in my district. I have been invited to write an article on the wikis in my life for the CSLA journal...dum de dum dum. I feel a bit like the old Leon Russell song "Tight Rope", flanked by life and the funeral pyre, the altitude seems to be getting to me. Well, we just have to continue on our merry, merry way, and see what life has to offer.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Christmas Tree by "Somerslea" on Flickr, used by Creative Commons Licence

A New Beginning

How nice! School Library Learning 2.0 is beginning again. I hope all the new students will have as great a time doing the Winter 2.0 Fun course, as I did the Summer Fun. Believe it or not, I learned about tools that I actually use. I can't the count the classes I have taken that ended up in the, "Good in Theory, but Unpractical in Reality" pile of my life experience. From Blogs to Zoho the tools I learned this summer are being put to use in my library daily (or at least weekly).

Mountaintop Letdown

It's interesting how quickly that mountaintop experience feeling fades. Monday evening I got to spread a little of the conference enthusiasm to my school's site council. I was invited to give a feedback report on CSLA Onterio. Everyone was very excited and happy for the good report. Then reality returns and it's back to the daily grind.
The bad news is, there really is no money at my school. They really aren't kidding! I got a chance to look at the books; direct donations are down, magazine sales are down, no-one bought tickets for the big car drawing, escript is a bust, they actually had to pay the fireworks people $8.00 for tickets that didn't get sold... all the fundraising efforts are doing very poorly this year. I felt positively embarrassed to ask for the money to cover the books I bought at the conference. So I am thankful the site council funded me at all; it looks like they gave me the lions share...now that's a sad comment if ever there was one.
What makes it so difficult is the difference between last year and this, last year we were flush, this year we are busted. Oh how I long for the days of steady state funding.

Harvest

Tuesday morning, and I have finally gathered together all my thoughts on the CSLA conference. First, I had a great time. There is much to be said for getting together with like minded people. Just walking the halls and watching the people checking their schedules was fun. Meeting the vendors, and getting to see the products in 3D, not just catalogs, was fantastic. Meeting the SL2.0 folks in person was warm and wonderful. Hey Janet, Rob, & Kathleen, you guys are the best!

Second, I learned a lot. The money magnet session was really practical advise on how to get funding for the library. The poster sessions were really interesting, there is a lot of great stuff going on in the school libraries of California. I LOVED Kathleen Baxter, it was great to get advise on what to look for in non-fiction books. I think its a good time to weed my states books. I most likely have the Minnisota book she slammed. I now have her e-mail and after the holiday I want to get in touch with her to get more practical advise on middle school titles.

The one thing that gave me pause for concern...No youth. Where were all the young librarians? I had this idea that SJSU and was turning out some of the younger set. I saw far too many orthopedic shoes and not enough high heels. We need to start recruiting in a big way. We need to turn our attention to bringing in the harvest.

Progress, we're making progress!

All things happen for a reason.

Last summer when I was at the dump, I picked up the historical German magazines, which I blogged about on July 11th. Then in September I blogged about my concerns for a young man. All this time I have been struggling to make a connection with this boy. About two weeks ago "Aldo" and I were talking, when I discovered his interest in World War II, Nazi's, and the Holocaust. I showed him the magazines...you should have seen his eyes. He immediately understood their significance. When I had him put on the white gloves so he could turn the fragile pages, he was so respectful. I pulled out, Rose Blanche, Cats in Krasinski Square & Legend of the Yellow Star. He began to read. Connection established.

Then comes last Friday. "Aldo" comes into the library, where he is sitting drawing some stuff that could get him into trouble. I gently let him know that it's probably not a good idea to draw those particular patterns. He looks at me and says, "Can I talk to you? Can I talk to you in private?" So we step outside and "Aldo" proceedes to tell me he is having a really bad day. Some kids had been calling him names at lunch and throwing things at him. He tells me that, though he really wanted to fight, he turned and walked away. I told him that I was so proud of him. Then he says, "When those kids pulled your braids when you were little, didn't it make you want to fight?" Chills ran through me, as we talked about appropriate ways to deal with harrassment.

You just never know what kinds of things are going to affect your relationships with students. Who knew that Hitler, Carmen Deedy,and George & Dan from my youth, were all going to meet in 2007, and work to positivly influence this troubled young man!

Integrity

The bookfair opened and two girls were immediately suspended for theft. And so the the Sword of Damocles fell. What is it about the trinket trash that causes such a stir? Have these students never seen a pen before? Are glittery pens so amazing that one needs $50.00 worth of them?

The good that came out of this is that one student, faced with the moral dilemma of staying silent, and letting her friends get away with the theft, or telling, and facing the wrath of her group, chose honesty. That choice gives me hope! Integrity, ethics, and moral fortitude are alive and well in Aptos.

Book Fair Mania

Book Fairs, ya gotta love 'em. They certainly are a double edged sword. The students just love all the books & trinket trash, and I certainly love the funds they raise, but oh my gosh the stress! There's something about crowd control that drives me nuts! Being responsible for all that cash floating around is SCARY. Of course its during the bookfair that the teachers always want that special lit set that is stored out in the back of beyond. I am pretty good at multi-tasking but during the book fair I just shut down mentally.

On the positive side, this year my library club members have really taken on the fair. They made the cutest shirts to advertise the fair. The theme, "Welcome to Wondeland" supports the All School Read of Alice in Wonderland. My contest is to Make a Mad Hatter Hat. I am giving out gift certificates to the fair for the "Most Outrageous" and "Most Beautiful" hats made out of paper plates & bowls.

I hope its a success. I can sure use the money!