More than half of our collection is nonfiction, yet only about 14% of the books checked out in our library are from the nonfiction section. Most of those are for class assignments. And yet, this section is full of gems. Is it possible to entice students to browse our nonfiction section like they do our fiction stacks?
News broke this week of particular interest to us here at Caterpickles Central because it touches on a 10-year-old question of ours: Did dinosaurs have belly buttons? Y’all, I think we may finally have our answer.
The teacher librarian at my school constantly talks about the importance of advocating for our school library and its services. So when I saw Kelsey Bogan (@kelseybogan) tweet about her one-page end of the year library report, I knew I wanted to create something similar for us. Here’s what I learned in the process.
Hello, friends! It’s summer and at last I’m back!
2022, like 2021, 2020, and 2019 before it, has been a lot so far. Between the news, some difficult events in our extended circle, and everything going on at school lately, I am emotionally exhausted and in the market for a distraction. You may be too. So in that spirit, I offer this update from the mini-wildlife refuge we call a backyard.
If I were you, I’d be really curious to know what it’s like to work in a public school library during Omicron. With the caveat that our district has done a lot of mitigation work during this pandemic (ventilation upgrades, mask mandates, vaccine mandates), and is located in California so eating outdoors and opening windows is possible, Omicron is still having an impact.
My job is amazing, and I love working with both middle schoolers and books, but I do have a tendency to use up all my words at work. But we have a day off today, so I thought I’d spent at least part of it telling you how things have been going at the library.
Packed with recommendations for diverse and relatable books on topics such as immigration, adoption, body image, and gender/sexual identity, Melissa Hart’s Better with Books has proven invaluable to me as a library assistant and Book Aunt.
Guess who gets to spend the 2021-2022 school year working as a library assistant at her favorite middle school?
My 14-year-old was completely obsessed with this book for at least two days, so of course I had to read it to see what all the fuss was about.
CATERPICKLES 