The New Librarian

The New Librarian
My colleague Thien Pham created this strip to record my first year on the new job.

Collaborative Weeding

I have a personal goal and an administration mandate to weed the library. We have 18,000 books, many of which have not been checked out in 30 years. We also have a library that's filled to capacity before and after school, during lunch and at MP. We need to make more space for the kids.

I know the school library's mission is not to be a book archive and that the collection should support the curriculum and promote life-long learning. It's clear from browsing the shelves, we have a lot of outdated stuff that has to go. But where to start? What if I make a bad discard? As a first year librarian, weeding is a daunting job.

I decided not go to it alone. I bribed the new U.S. history teacher into helping me weed the U.S. history section. I got to brush up on my US history and historiography and, just as importantly, I got to know a new faculty member who is interested in collaborating on some lessons. Our weeding collaborative effort was highly successful. We have lean, mean collection with room to add newer titles that will support the assignments Jonathan plans for his students.

The only downside was I forgot to bend my knees when I picked up a big box of discards. I hurt my back something fierce. Oh, well. My back hurts, but the US history section looks great.

Book Club

I was amazed at the kids' enthusiasm for Book Club. I made a short podcast announcing the formation of Book Club and at the club fair, several freshmen manned our booth, distributed candy and collected club sign-ups. At the first meeting nearly 30 students showed up. Most of them were freshmen and sophomores, but the few seniors vowed to recruit their buddies. The first meeting was an open discussion about goals for the book club, and lively debate over most loved and most hated books. The members made a long ballot of books from which the members would select the first title for the Book Club.

The members voted for My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult. The first meeting will be November 29 during MP.