Nonfiction project update

Remember last summer when I said that I really wanted to figure out how to draw attention to the nonfiction section by using it to display…

New nonfiction titles include books on coronaviruses, space, BIPOC artists, spies, environmentalism, sports books, and video games.

Making our nonfiction more accessible

Grad school is having a “catch up on your reading week,” and I thought I’d use this pause between catching up on my reading and getting started on the two papers a week I have due between now and December 6, to report on how it’s going nonfiction-wise at my middle school library. TL;DR: Nonfiction circulation is up. Way up.

Experiment #7264532: “So You’re in Middle School, Now What?“ Pop-up Display

In my last post, I mentioned maybe doing pop-up displays with a mix of themed books from all parts of our collection to increase interest in our nonfiction offerings. Here’s my first attempt, themed around figuring out middle school. It includes a mix of graphic novels, fiction, biographies, and nonfiction books on various school, relationship, & health topics.

Making our nonfiction more browse-able: Part IV

My goal for this school year is to boost circulation in our nonfiction section. So far, I’ve rebalanced the entire collection to remove gaps, eliminate overstuffed shelves, and add more front-facing books. This week, I used WordArt to redo the nonfiction signs using thematically shaped word clouds that reflect the topics contained in each section.

Revamping our fiction shelves

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about our fiction collection. Before leaving for the summer, I redid our fiction shelves to make them more browse-able too.

A snippet of my one-page poster that reads, "A Year of Reading: 2021-2022". In the lower right corner, there's an open book. Design by Canva.

An end of the year library report & why it matters

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.

Photo of me having lunch outside in the middle of a warm, sunny day.

Hello, summer!

Hello, friends! It’s summer and at last I’m back!

Mother duck + ten very fluffy ducklings swimming in a pool.

It’s spring break, and you know what that means…

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.

Update: Middle school library life in these Omicron times

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.

Photo of the interior of a middle school library, showing the fiction stacks.

Guess who was not prepared for how hard it would be to juggle a job and home life?

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.