Van Meter Library Voice Monthly

August 2012 Edition

a place to be heard through learning, creating, technology, connecting, collaborating, reading & noise.

Please Come To The "Spice Up The Shelves" Open House In The Library During Back To School Night

Monday, Aug. 13th 2012 at 5-7pm

Van Meter School Elementary Library

Please come and see how we have "spiced up the shelves" in the library when you are at school for Back To School Night.


There will also be information about the library and technology program. We will be sharing information about our eBooks in Mackin VIA, the Iowa AEA Online Resources like BookFlix, TrueFlix, and Encyclopedia Britannica, and tools that we use in the curriculum.


You will be able to put the "Library In Your Pocket" too by scanning several QR codes around the library...so don't forget your phone or device to do so (students are encouraged to bring theirs too). This information will also be available to take home and online.


And please don't forget to check out the Van Meter Library Voice Blog, Van Meter Voice Facebook, and Van Meter Voice Twitter for lots of updates on the "Spice Up The Shelves" project, daily happenings in the library, special events, and more.

Get Directions

We Have Spiced Up Our Shelves!

We Are Also Spicing Up The Shelves By Adding Over 800 New Books To Our Library

When we started this project, almost 1,000 outdated and uncirculated books were weeded from our collection. This made lots of room on our shelves for new books.


With the new organization and tons of amazing new books, our students will be even more excited to read a variety of nonfiction and fiction. We are confident this will increase circulation, expand their reading interests and abilities, and make the library a place that they want to visit even more than before.


In a few weeks we will be kicking off our "Spice Up The Shelves - Funds For Books" campaign. This will be a chance for our community to put even more new books into our library and into the hands of our students, teachers, and families.


Thank you for all of your support with this project and throughout the year.


"Spicing Up The Shelves" is going to make a wonderful difference at Van Meter.

The Love Behind The "Spice Up The Shelves" Project

Last spring Greta Rhoads father Alex passed away suddenly. Greta will be a fifth grader this year at Van Meter. The memorial money was gifted to the library, so Greta, her mom Jennifer, and I created a very special project for the library.


Alex owned the spice store Allspice Culinarium, loved cooking, books, and learning so we decided to name the project "Spice Up The Shelves." We would use the memorial money to purchase new nonfiction. Greta wanted to find books about cooking, travel, countries, spices, and penguins.


Thank you Greta and Jennifer for such a special gift to all of the children at Van Meter. We will remember what a special person your Dad was every time we open and read one of the beautiful new books.

The Blank Park Zoo Visited The Van Meter Public Library and Our Mackin VIA This Summer!

In July, we were so excited to have our friend Mallory from the Blank Park Zoo bring five animals to visit over 60 children and parents at the public library. Everyone had a fantastic time learning new things about each of the animals and even had a chance to touch them.


To tie this into the eBook Summer Reading Program, we purchased ten new eBooks and print books about zoos and all of the animals that we saw.


So remember, if you participated in the eBook Summer Reading Program please bring your reading log back when school starts to get a special treat.


You can read all about this day on the Van Meter Library Voice blog.

A Little More Information For All Of You...

I hope everyone enjoys the start of the new school year. If you have questions or would like to come visit us in the library and computer lab, please let me know or just stop on by.


The Van Meter Elementary Library Schedule and the Van Meter Library, Digital Citizenship, Technology, and Library Science Curriculum can be found online.


Also, the Van Meter Elementary Library and Technology website has tons of great information too. Each grade has their own page where links, resources, projects, and news from their library and technology time is posted. The students use this site each week in the library and lab, so are very use to visiting littlevanmetervoice.com.


This year I will be seeing all of the K-5 students for 65 minutes every four days. I will be collaborating and connecting with the teachers and students in the classroom as well.


It is going to be an AMAZING year. I am very excited to work with all of our young people this year.


Shannon McClintock Miller

Van Meter District Teacher Librarian


@shannonmmiller Twitter

shannonmcclintockmiller Skype

shannon.miller@vmbulldogs.com