The First Six Weeks

OK.  So this post might be a couple of weeks late, but time flies when you are having fun.  In my previous district, we would prepare monthly statistics.  This year I decided to wait until the end of the grading period.  Here in Mansfield ISD that is every 6 weeks...although some 6 weeks are longer and some are shorter.  However, the students receive a report card 6 times a year to mark the end of each 6 weeks.  All that to say, I decided to send out my reports every 6 weeks instead of every month.

Being in a new place, I did not know what to expect.  My last school was twice the size of my current one.  So I did know that the statistics were going to be a tad bit smaller.  To be honest, the numbers  did not "Wow" me overall, but it's always good to have a starting point so I know where to focus my energy.

Here we go... my mediocre data.  I created two versions of the library usage report.  As I described it in my email, the Library at a Glance is for the visual learners, and the Detailed Report is for those who want to see it all.

I sent the reports out to my school first, and then I shared them with the other high school librarians.  Many were impressed with the organization of the data, and the administrator in charge of the librarians wants me to do a brief presentation at the next library meeting.  She wants me to cover the information from my report.  So much for staying under the radar here in Mansfield!  Of course I do not mind talking about data or my library.  Both are very important to me.  I truly believe that we are our own advocates.  It is good to remind administrators and teachers (and anyone who will listen) what we actually do.  Many of the teachers on my campus indicated they had not seen a library usage report before mine.  My principal was so impressed he forwarded the reports to his "bosses" and my "boss" which is how I made the agenda for the November meeting.

What we do should not be a mystery to anyone especially when you believe in what you do.

Every day is an adventure!

The Introduction of Monthly Reading Challenges

I'm in a new place now, Mansfield Summit High School in Arlington, TX.   For me, personally, I tend to observe, take notes and immerse myself in the current environment before making any substantial changes.  It's good to have a baseline because if there are processes already in place that work, why change things up?  That is my philosophy, and I can be pretty slow and methodic about it.  Luckily, my principal seems to be allowing me to go at my own pace.

Having said that, I did already institute a monthly reading challenge.  As I was analyzing the library's collection and running reports in early August, I noticed that the average books checked out each month was about 100.  In a school with about 2100 students, that number seemed a bit low.  In addition, I also noticed that the collection was only 2% fiction, and the nonfiction (overall) is pretty old.  So now I see why our check out statistics were and are struggling.  Instead of lamenting the age of the collection and the spartan representation of fiction books, I decided to take a more proactive stand.  A monthly reading challenge seemed to be the best way, for now, that I could encourage leisure reading and not disrupt the flow of the library.

I went to the place I love when creating new stuff for the library...Pinterest.  From all of the reading activities I had saved, I was able to piece together the September Reading BINGO challenge.

At the beginning of September, I made posters and created a display both inside and outside the library.  I had the morning announcement crew on duty spreading the word.  I was ready.  On the first day, only one student came to the library to pick up the BINGO paper.  It was not my finest moment.  So I had to rethink my advertising strategy.

The following week, I advertised on the morning announcements, gave a copy to the English teachers, and put the information on Twitter and Instagram.  Quite a few more students came by the library to pick up their BINGO board.  I also had a couple of teachers do the same since I advertised it for both students and staff.

As word spread, so did the amount of students participating.  We handed out about 50 BINGO boards, which seems pretty low, but I prefer to look at it as a baseline for improvement.  Overall, only a handful of students and a couple of faculty members completed the challenge.  Those who did participate seemed pretty happy with their prizes, and our check out statistics did go up.  We checked out 356 books in September.  

Now we are in October, and I just introduced the challenge on Monday.  It is not a BINGO board, but it is similar in task.  

I did add a bit more nonfiction and poetry due to the English I teachers.  I attended their PLC meeting, and they were going over what they needed to do for the second 6 weeks.  Both poetry and nonfiction seemed to be prevalent in their lessons.  So I am reinforcing that with the October challenge.

Everyday is a new adventure!