Library News
Live, Love, Read!
Library Services
This year, I will be teaching on a fixed schedule with less flex time than usual but I do still have periods every day that I can push in and teach special sessions, just let me know when you'd like me! Some of the topics I can work with you and/or your students on are:
Research
- How to use all the amazing Discus resources
- How to web search effectively
- How to critically evaluate web and print resources
- How to effectively synthesize information (note taking, etc)
Digital Literacy:
- Familiarizing students with devices
- Working with Google and Microsoft tools
- Finding and using awesome educational apps
- Cybersafety/Digital Citizenship
Curriculum Enhancement:
- Reading aloud to your class
- Making digital choice boards
- Working with your class on a specific skill, like finding a just right book or using reference materials
- Pulling books off our shelves on specific subjects or requesting books from other schools when needed
- Pulling together reading group sets of books
- Accessing the professional resource library
I'd love to collaborate on projects that integrate the curriculum with any of above and more!
Teaching Schedule
Below is my teaching schedule--I will be seeing each class for two weeks before rotating with another related arts teacher and then I will be back six weeks later. This ensures that we see both the A and the B halves of the class on C days.
Like so many other things this year, the library is a little different--students will not be checking out books until further notice. I'm hoping we get to a point where we can open things up, but for now, I will be coming to your room for lessons and activities only.
A Future Ready School Library
In a Future Ready library, students:
- make their own choices about what to read
- have access to a diverse and inclusive collection of print and electronic resources
- practice critical and creative thinking skills through abstract and hands on activities
- problem solve both through collaboration and independent work
- spend hands on time using various kinds of technology
- learn how to be good digital citizens and practice cybersafety
Normally, if you stop by the media center, you would find students doing the following activities. This year, we will be doing as many of these as possible in the classroom!
- reading or choosing books
- having a mini-lesson on anything from taking care of books to making a strong password
- singing or dancing
- being read to
- listening to book talks or watching book trailers
- working at centers, which could involve legos, ozobots, puzzles, an art project, etc
Together, all of these activities help improve literacy skills, encourage flexible thinking and innovation, and increase self-direction and teamwork, but the most important goal is to create readers!
Our First Literary Celebration!
Other Activities
When I'm not teaching, I administer the library, which is just the official way to say that I run things and make sure that we meet the state standards for school libraries. Those lay out requirements for the library, including the number of books per student and their age (the material's age, not the student's), the number of periodical subscriptions, the variety and currency of reference materials, and more. This means weeding materials that are damaged, out of date, or contain misinformation, as well as using our budget to best of my ability to order both replacement and new materials. I also catalog new materials to prepare them for shelving, inventory our current holdings and collect and analyze circulation data to assess areas of greatest interest and need. In addition, we circulate around 800 books a week, so a significant amount of time is spent putting books back on shelves in their correct "driveway," as we explain it to the kids, so students can find them again.
So basically, I do a lot of paperwork, number crunching, research and dealing with the books hands on, but my favorite part of the job, and what I think is most important, is facilitating reading! I get to find those books that turn reluctant readers into avid page turners and help kids who love to read discover new books and authors. As I work with students throughout the year and develop relationships, I can match books to their interests. Not every kid comes in to the library excited about reading, but I want them all to be excited when they leave, whether it's with a graphic novel or a nonfiction book on snakes or a new dystopian fantasy--there is something for everyone here!
Charlotte Evans
Email: cevans@rhmail.org
Website: https://ebeslibrary.weebly.com/
Location: 242 Ebenezer Avenue, Rock Hill, SC, United States
Phone: (803) 981-1444
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EbenezerAvenueLeadershipAcademy
Twitter: @ebeslibrary