Circulations are booming, in spite of staff reduction. We checked out nearly 3000 books to our students in September.
Students are ENGAGED, asking lots of questions about reading
and books. They are requesting books for our library that they WANT to read.
We had 1080 students through orientation in five days. Whew! We started off the month by getting students the information they need to start using all their resources: Blackboard, Destiny OPAC and access to the school network.
We had two promotions this month:
We are finishing a successful collaborative Banned Books Week celebration. The American Library Association dedicates the last week of September to celebrating our Freedom to Read. In HOWL classes, students are learning all about the First Amendment, hearing famous authors read from their own challenged books, learning about the history of famous banned or challenged books, and answering questions about their own ideas of intellectual freedom. Our banned books list is nearly all checked out. Way to go, WMS!
The NC Smartest Card Campaign features Beaux Foy, the lead singer for local rock band Airiel Down. I played their Hurricane Warning song, most commonly known for the music our Carolina Hurricanes skate out to after each period.
Beaux supports literacies of all kinds by asking teens to visit thier local libraries for all the awesome programs that are available to them. I handed out many applications to students and will be excited to get their cards back to them when they arrive! Thanks, Beaux!
If I had to choose only one word to describe this year, I would choose 'overwhelming'. We are all working at a frenetic pace to keep up with shortages: teachers, support staff, administrators, students and parents. I am amazed each week at the level of teamwork we are achieving. Veteran teachers are reaching out to help new teachers. New teachers are making an incredible effort to catch up with policies and procedures while teaching a rigorous curriculum. Support staff are working long hours to keep up with it all. Students are coming to school prepared to learn. Parents are active in our PTA and volunteering more hours this year. Custodians are working overtime to keep the building gorgeous. Administration is very supportive of us all.
We strive for excellence in educational support at our WMS Media Center. I'm happy to report that students are feeling supported this year. Many new students have given positive feedback about our collection, learning space and resources. I have often heard "you have books I like to read" and "I'll be back later this week for more books". The efforts to develop policies to support readers, hours spent on research and collection development and constant collaboration have paid off! It is with great enthusiasm that I exclaim, "We are boy-friendly at WMS!"
Here is a great article by award-winning and favorite teen author, James Patterson to explain what I mean:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/opinion/patterson-kids-reading/
The Top 10 Checkouts in September were:
1. Naruto. Vol. 25, Brothers
2. Rurouni Kenshin. Vol. 28, Toward a new era : Meiji swordsman romantic story
3. Dragon Ball Z. Vol. 23
4. Pita-ten : official fan book. Volume 1
5. 3D optical illusions
6. Cut (McCormick)
7. French phrases for dummies
8. Tales from a not-so-popular party girl (Russell)
9. Diary of a wimpy kid : the last straw
10. Diary of a wimpy kid : Greg Heffley's journal
Some activities coming up in October
:
- Poe's
Masque of Red Deathreading for our 6th grade students
- Big 6! Research process review with all grades
- Spooky Books display
- Bullying Prevention Month book display
