Change is good

Since my last post last year about this time (I must have a fit of conscience around the holidays), my professional life has taken on a change yet again. After 6 great years at the elementary level, I am back at the high school level where I was an English teacher for 11 years. However, this time, I am the librarian, and it has been a fun and interesting transition.

Using this year as a test lab for some ideas, I am slowly changing the way our LMC is used and viewed. This summer I painted. I put in a reading corner with comfy furniture. Together with my LMC paraprofessional, I am trying to display books in a way that gets students to pick them up. We've set up presentation "areas" in the LMC via SMARTboards and projectors to facilitate actual teaching "in" the library, as opposed to teaching "out" of the library.

My thoughts so far are that I want to create more casual seating areas for students to work and read. I want to secure better technology so that multimedia projects and research are easier and faster for students. I want to promote e-reading and audiobooks, because so many students always carry a mobile device with them; they could always be carrying an ebook as well.

I also want to find a way for kids to learn how to act in this new environment. It seems like the stone silent model of old libraries will work no better than a cafeteria-style free for all....how to create space for the students who need quiet and for the students who want to socialize in the same room...that is the question:)