Tag: Librarians (Page 1 of 4)

Book Week: Announcing a New Pinterest Board

February 15, 2021 / madisonslibrary / 0 Comments

Book Week – Announcing a New Pinterest Board

A few months ago I launched a new Facebook group, where school library enthusiasts could connect chat about their plans for Book Week. If you would like to join our growing group, please find us under Aussie Book Week: Displays, Events, Activities and Planning

However, I realise that Facebook isn’t everyone’s thing (it’s not really my thing either, if I am honest) so I also created a shared Pinterest Board. https://www.pinterest.com.au/madisonslibrary/aussie-book-week/ Hopefully this board will give the team on Facebook as well as those who do not wish to use Facebook a place to join and share ideas about Book Week.

Just request to join the board and start pinning.

Please leave any suggestions for the Group or Board, comments or ideas and feedback below. This is an experiment that I hopes help us coordinate a massive event and makes it a little easier for library staff. All feedback welcomed.

Ramblings: Social Media for School Libraries series

February 10, 2021 / madisonslibrary / 0 Comments

Social Media for School Libraries series

Social media accounts for school libraries are something of which I am hugely supportive. Many school libraries have now joined in and have a social media account or two. I am in no way an expert, but I thought I would share my reasoning behind my thoughts and the steps I have been through to create my school libraries social media accounts and what I do to create content each week. In this series I'll also share some of my favourite school library social media accounts to follow and gain inspiration from, as well as some further reading and research.

Why social media for school libraries?

Connection. Marketing. Communication. Promotion. Networking. Ensuring parents, students, staff and leadership know what's going on in the library.

So often, the role of the school librarian now includes that of marketing director and advocate. If we do not promote our libraries and our roles they will continue to go unnoticed. Social media is an easy way to spread the word about the amazing things happing in your library, as well as the everyday awesomeness.

It's also a great way to connect with your students, parents and fellow staff members.

Promoting the school library is so important. Even more so in today's climate of disappearing school libraries and the undervaluing of school library staff. Social media accounts allow an insight into the daily happenings of the school library. It creates excitement and engagement. It also meets students where they are. Most teens are on social media of some sort and connecting with them in that environment can allow modelling of good conduct and positive social media engagement.

Connection

Networking

Advocacy

Promotion

Part 1 of the series is all about Getting Started. Maybe you need some ideas about where to start, want help around writing a social media policy document or are unsure about which social media channel to choose. I'll discuss how I approached these first steps. We'll also talk about creating a brand and I'll share some of my favourite resources for learning about branding for your school library.

In Part 2, we'll talk about creating content and making a way for this to be easy and manageable. I'll share my favourite scheduling resources and templates.

Part 3 will give you some inspiration for your own social media accounts. I'll share my top favourite social media influences, school libraries you can follow and lots of further reading.

Coming soon

Book Week: Announcing a New Facebook Group

January 3, 2021 / madisonslibrary / 1 Comment

Book Week – Announcing a New Facebook Group

As a school librarian, I’ve always wanted a place to connect with other library staff and chat about plans for Book Week. How were they interpreting the theme? Did they run a Book Fair every Book Week? What sort of activities did they run each year?

This year, I decided to try a Facebook Group, thanks to a comment someone shared about having a collaborative space to share ideas. I have created this Group for like-minded library staff and teachers and book professionals to share ideas, inspiration and other details about Book Week. You will find it under Aussie Book Week: Displays, Events, Activities and Planning

You can request to join the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aussiebookweek

Please leave any suggestions for the Group, comments or ideas and feedback below. This is an experiment that I hopes help us coordinate a massive event and makes it a little easier for library staff. All feedback welcomed. And if Facebook isn’t your thing (coz it’s really, really not my thing), let me know if another platform might suit you – perhaps we could create a collaborative Pinterest board?

Ramblings: Two Goodbyes and a Hello

December 11, 2020 / madisonslibrary / 0 Comments

Two Goodbyes and a Hello

The end of 2020 has been a bit of a busy, wild and yet very exciting time. Coming to the end of 2020, it has come time to say goodbye to two schools and hello to a brand new school and school library.

Two Goodbyes

I took on a long service leave contract at a Junior School Library in Term 4, 2020. This short-term contract was such a wonderful opportunity and I loved getting to know a new student body, group of teachers and fantastic, amazing library staff. Despite only being there for 9 short weeks, it was lovely taking library classes each week and getting to know the students and what they loved to read. It is always so interesting and inspiring to see how other school libraries are run and what they promote. I loved how visually appealing this Junior School Library is. Honestly gorgeous. I also learnt a lot about using beautiful artwork and nice frames to highlight literature in a very classy and appealing way. The library had a great aesthetic that I can attribute to a wonderful teacher library and library aide. It was a privilege and pleasure to step into this role and while it was sad to say goodbye at the end of the term, it was a wonderful term. I want to thank the school community and leadership who were so welcoming, the teacher librarian who very trustingly let me step into the role and the amazing library aide who helped me through the entire process.

Ramblings: Book Clubs series 3 – Activities and Interactives

November 26, 2020 / madisonslibrary / 0 Comments

Book Clubs #3 – Activities and Interactives

Over the course of this mini series we have looked at starting a book club and all the things to consider when you are setting a book club up. We have also looked at how to promote your new (or old) book club and recruit members. Now I want to talk about all the fun activities and interactive things you can do with your book club. These ideas range from the simple and quick to the more complicated. Some you can do for free or with the resources you have, others will need planning and budgeting.

Ramblings: Book Clubs series 2 – Promoting and Recruiting

November 17, 2020 / madisonslibrary / 0 Comments

Book Clubs #2 – Promoting and Recruiting

If you haven’t already checked it out, start by reading part 1 in this 3 part series about creating and running book clubs. In this second part, I am talking about promoting your book club and recruiting members.

Spread the Word

So, you’ve decided to start a book club. Maybe you already have a few students on board. You have talked to possible recruits and decided your who, what, when, where, and how. If you have done this in consultation with your possible members you should already have some people ready to join. But, whether you are starting from scratch or just want to swell your numbers, you will want to let people know you have a book club and how they can join.

Ramblings: Book Clubs series 1 – Getting Started

November 8, 2020 / madisonslibrary / 2 Comments

Book Clubs #1 – Getting Started

I love, love my school library book clubs. So much love. I love having the opportunity to chat with our readers, to compare ideas, argue about what makes a good book, laugh, have fun, celebrate reading and just chill out. When you think about all the extra curricular activities that happen in a school, so many of them are focused around sport, music or art. Reading is so important and yet there are only a few extra-curricular activities that give readers a chance to connect. Reading can also be a very solitary hobby, so it is important to give our young readers a chance to get together in a safe space. Book clubs are the perfect solution.

When I think about what I love most about the school library I work in, my answer is without a doubt the students and especially the members in my book club. I use them as a place to connect with the students, as a chance to bounce ideas off my keen readers, get their insight into new books and the best books in the collection.

So, you want to start a book club. You’re convinced, you think it’s a great idea. But maybe you’ve tried to start a book club before and it didn’t work out. Or maybe you are just not sure where to start. In this 3 part series, I will share all my book clubing experience, the ideas that worked for me, and those that didn’t. I encourage you to give school library book clubs a go (or maybe another try).

Book Week 2021: Theme Announcement

November 6, 2020 / madisonslibrary / 6 Comments

Book Week 2021

Ready or not, here it comes. Are you ready for Book Week 2021? No one could have predicted everything that 2020 threw at us. Let’s hope 2021 is a little more predictable – in a good way. And there is nothing better than locking in Book Week and marking it in big, bright letters on your calendar. Book Week 2021 has returned to it’s usual late August date. And the theme for Book Week 2021 has already been announced –

Book Week 2021 will run from the 21st to the 27th of August 2021. See the official theme announcement here.

Book Week 2020: Activity Ideas

October 14, 2020 / madisonslibrary / 0 Comments

Book Week 2020 – Activity Ideas

I don’t know about you, but Book Week has kind of snuck up on me this year. I went from super organised to, oh, it’s not happening until October, I’ll prepare later. The new dates means Book Week is being celebrated in the three schools I am working in this year from 17th to the 23rd of October.

More details are available on the CBCA website.

Here are some of the ideas for activities during, before (and maybe even after) Book Week this year. Most of them are pretty easy to throw together, especially if you are in a rush like I was.

Display Ideas

Story Box Library Activity Pack

God bless the team at Story Box Library. They send out a link to the most AMAZING teacher resource kit for Book Week. Download it here. It is chock full of amazing activity ideas. I have done the Solve A Curious Message in two of my schools. The students are LOVING it. They might be going a little crazing trying to solve them all! I cut out the 11 clues and stuck them up around the library, so the students must first find and then solve each of the 11 puzzles. And they are not easy. The students have been reading the shortlist books to find the answers, teaming up and generally having lots of fun.

The kit also includes a digital escape room plan, a letter template for writing to a curious creature, and so much more.

Ramblings: Exciting Term 4 2020 Updates

October 13, 2020 / madisonslibrary / 0 Comments

Exciting Term 4, 2020 Updates

I know 2020 has been a massive, scary, horrible year for many. I have been blessed to ride through 2020 pretty smoothly, thanks to some wonderful employers and a great country in which to live.

Term 4, 2020 is set to be massive for those of us in Australia (and for many around the world, no doubt). I am so pleased to say that I have taken on a Teacher Librarian contract for Term 4, working in the most beautiful junior school library. This means I am working across 3 schools during Term 4, 4 days a week as teacher librarian and 1 as a library aide. It’s going to be a very busy, but very exciting term.

Here are just a few of the exciting things that are happening in Term 4 to get involved with.

Tag: Librarians (Page 1 of 4)