2019-2020 Annual Report

Edward B. Shallow Library - Olga Nesi - Librarian

A Shifting Landscape...

If nothing else, this year certainly has been eventful! Starting early in the school year, we were well on track to surpassing last year's library use by a long shot. Then, the Coronavirus arrived and with it, our goal of beating out last year's statistics left the stage. As this annual report will show, however, with remote learning in full swing, an entirely different set of statistics emerged.

Pre-COVID-19 Pause

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Brooklyn Public Library Librarians Visit Shallow

AM Library Program, Class Visits and Library Lunches

  1. The AM Library Program was in session a total of twenty-five days before we went out on the pause. A total of 449 students attended these twenty-five sessions, making the average daily attendance eighteen students. This program gave students the time to work on projects, print and complete assignments with assistance from Ms. Nesi.
  2. All the sixth grade classes visited the library for a Library Orientation. Ms. Michelangelo brought her classes in several times to work on note-taking and Main-idea/Supporting Details lessons. Mr. Gleason brought all his classes in for a lesson on innovation in preparation for the STEAM fair. Ms. Corbett's ENL classes came if for a lesson on how to use Playaways.
  3. Any day that the library was not being used for workshops, Ms. Nesi ran the library lunch program for each grade during the three lunch periods. An average of twenty-five students signed up for each of these sessions. They used this time to work on assignments, book check out and return, crafts, printing and, of course, independent reading!

Library Orders & Collection Maintenance

Two library orders were placed this year: One in the Fall and one in the Spring. A total of $14,000 was spent on new library books. Much of this was spent on well reviewed fiction, books in Chinese and Spanish, and a susbstantial amount of graphic novels (to encourage reading by all students, especially reluctant readers). In an effort to keep the collection current and attractive, 233 books were taken out of circulation and seventeen titles were deleted.
Classroom Libraries

Classroom Libraries

Fourteen ELA teachers (Ms. Recchia, Ms. J. Longo, Ms. Gambaro, Ms. Cheung, Ms. Ryan, Ms. Sica, Ms. Shann, Ms. Abdelhadi, Ms. Klioutchnikov, Ms. Michelangelo, Ms. Saccaro, Ms. Ballow, and Ms. Curran) participated in updating their classroom libraries. Orders were placed for $10,000 worth of books to meet the needs of these teachers and their students for new materials. Nine of these teachers (Ms. Bello, Ms. Recchia, Ms. Abdelhadi, Ms. Corbett, Ms. Danvers, Ms. J. Longo, Ms. Cheung, Ms. Ryan, and Ms. Charles) also requested spinner racks to accomodate their new classroom libraries. An order for nineteen spinner racks was placed.
Classroom Libraries

Miscellaneous Pre-COVID-19

  1. Set up a lanyard and origami maker space in the back office of the library.
  2. Sale of 400+ triboards for Science and History Day Fairs.

During the COVID-19 Pause...

Phone Calls to Student Homes

During the early days of the lockdown, Ms. Nesi joined a school wide effort to get students to register for their Google classes and PupilPath. In total, 113 calls were made.
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Emailing Students About Reading

Ninety-five students emailed Ms. Nesi directly for usernames and passwords to access online graphic novels. The same ninety-five students were emailed directly two more times with information about the Stay Home and Read page and the Summer Fun page of the library website.

Teacher Collaborations During the Lockdown

  1. Created a Going to the Ballet ThingLink for Ms. Klioutchnikov’s classes to extend the reading of a short passage about a young girl and her mother going to see a ballet.

  2. Created a screencast for Ms. Klioutchnikov’s classes to go with the reading of the folktale: Stone Soup. The screencast explains how to complete the assignment properly.

  3. Created the screencast: Accessing a Particular Story in Scope for Ms. Klioutchnikov’s classes when she explained that the students were having a hard time figuring out how to access articles she was assigning them to read.

  4. Attended several of Ms. Klioutchnikov’s meets with students to discuss reading options including: How to access all the e-book options available during the lockdown (on the Stay Home and Read page), and how to use the Summer Fun Page, apply for a public library card and download the Libby e-reader app.

  5. Created the ThingLink: Thank You Ma’am for Ms. Miyashiro’s classes to extend the Langston Hughes story and assist with vocabulary instruction.

  6. Created the ThingLink: China’s Major Rivers for Ms. Miyashiro’s classes to extend the reading of the folktale: The Four Dragons.

  7. Created a wakelet entitled Postcards from Denmark for Ms. Kinal’s students in 615. The wakelet features postcards created by the students.

  8. Worked with Mr. Rabkin, Ms. Dinkins and the Peer Mediators – attended most of the meet sessions and assisted with planning several sessions.

Creating Digital Content for Our School Community

During the COVID-19 pause, Ms. Nesi created the following digital content for students, teachers and families to use:
  • Nine library website pages
  • Nine screencasts
  • Five ThingLinks
  • Twelve Wakelets

Links for each of these are embedded below.

Library Website Pages

Summer Fun

Stay Home and Read

Resources for Teachers

Content Specific Resources for Teachers

Digital Citizenship

Resources for the Whole Family

Caring for Yourself & Your Family During COVID-19

Create a Home Environment That Works for Your Family

Audible – Free Audio Books

Website Views from 9/4/19 to 3/13/20

192 Days: 2,348 Views

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Website Views from 3/14/20 to 6/19/20

96 Days: 5,433 Views

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Screencasts

Tutorial: Applying for a BPL Card

Tutorial for Ms. Klioutchnikov’s ENL Classes: Stone Soup Assignment

Tutorial for Ms. Klioutchnikov’s ENL Classes: Accessing a Particular Story in Scope

Tutorial: Accessing Books on MyOn

Tutorial: 12 Story Library

Tutorial: Comics Plus

Tutorial: Audiobooks

Tutorial: Lerner Sports Books

Tutorial: Summer Fun Library Page
No analytics available for Screencastify. This is not a capability that they have made available yet. The general impression about the screencasts is that they have been useful.

Five ThingLinks Created

Going to the Ballet – Created for Ms. Klioutchnikov’s classes to use with a reading assignment.

Thank You M’am – Created for Ms. Miyashiro’s classes to use with class reading.

China’s Major Rivers – Created for Ms. Miyashiro’s classes to use with class reading.

2020 Summer Reading at BPL Grades 6 & 7 – Created for Summer Fun library page.

2020 Summer Reading at BPL Grade 8 – Created for Summer Fun library page

ThingLink Statistics

96 Days: 2,036 Views

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Twelve Wakelets Created

Pear Deck Resources from Teq PD

SEL Resources from Teq PD

Postcards from Denmark created for Ms. Kinal’s students to feature their work

Summer Reading Book Recommendations

Peer Mediators Confront Racism

Brain Teasers and Riddles

Cooking Fun

Get Crafty!

Listen to a Podcast!

Virtual Field Trips

Learn to Draw

Teq Resources for Avoiding Summer Slide

Wakelet Statistics (6/8 to 6/19)

11 Days: 596 Views (no visual of analytics available with free subscription).

Professional Development


  • Completed sixty assorted Teq OTIS for educators professional development sessions. Submitted all certificates to Carol Pizzuto.
  • 5/15 9-10 am TeachingBooks Overview
  • 5/15 1-2 pm Brooklyn South PD: Scaffolding Remote Learning Through the Lens of Advance Literacies
  • 5/18 Bklyn South - Making a Remote Connection: Best Practices on Instructional Design
  • 5/19 3-4 pm Saddleback Webinar: Accelerating English Language Learners’ Literacy Skills.
  • 5/21 1-2 pm Don Johnston eLearning for ELLs: How to Make a Difference With the Right Tools and Strategies
  • 5/26 Magination Press Preview

Miscellaneous on COVID-19 Pause

  • Tracking and working on finalizing deliveries of all classroom library materials.
  • Tracking and working on finalizing delivery of spinner racks to the building.

Goals for 2020-2021 School Year

  • Transition to blended learning model
  • Collaborations with at least five more teachers
  • Master at least three new technologies