Practically Paradise

November 23, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

While I am not in total control of what happens TO me, I can control how I respond. So... today I am reading and re-reading monster books. Vampires, werewolves, witches, pixies, you name it. Good is going to triumph and evil is going to get what it deserves. 

One of those titles was an Advanced Reading copy of NEED by Carrie Jones. (Look at the cool countdown widget I found created by Devyn Burton) I would have reviewed it sooner, but teachers kept grabbing it from me to read. Since these were mainly English teachers, they returned the copy to me marked with any errors, notes on paragraph mistakes in the wrong section, etc. When I asked them to overlook that, they raved about the content and to...Read More

November 22, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (8)

When the going gets TOUGH, the tough put on lip balm.  That's because sometimes you just have to press your lips together and get through those tough times. Let's look at this weekend:

Friday morning we learn of the Nashville mayor's confusing proposal to merge public and school libraries - without working with the school librarians on this and faultily assuming we do the same activities/have the same collections. This happens while 400 Tennessee school librarians are meeting at the Tennessee Association of School Librarians annual conference to Be A Guiding Light @ your library and where advocacy gurus Debra Kay Logan and Sara Kelly Johns are speaking.

Friday night I learn my house has been robbed and my son's electronics (plus some hotdogs and pizza) were stolen. I learn how to conduct an investigation, how to interview neighbors, a...Read More

November 22, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Small town librarian left a comment for me in the post on Valuing My Time. I truly respect every librarian who has no budget and want to stand on my soap box to preach throughout the halls of administration because I know what you are talking about. I have taught in districts that gave me $500. My response wouldn't fit in the 7,000 character limit for comments so I'm opening the discussion up to others. I need each of you to comment on your budget situation so our community of readers has data. How much do you receive for books and media? Does it meet your needs?

I understand what you are talking about with budgets. I get horror stories from so many librarians about having no budget. It is important that you have a place to tell others about this. I would encourage all...Read More

November 20, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (6)

Imagine bookfairs done differently. Jason Johnson visited my school last spring to share information about Imagine Nation Books School Book Fairs. You might know the company for their corporate book fairs at hospitals and corporations. If you click through the About Us pages, you'll recognize their history in the industry. Now they are reaching out to more schools. Have you heard about them?

Key points Jason mentioned (but which could vary according to your local rep):

• They will have a team onsite to setup your event and will stay until its completion.
• Point of Sale System will be provided at each fair for those who want to use it. (Does that mean a cash register?)
• An amount of merchandise will be awarded to the school at each event simply for hosting the

...Read More

November 20, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

You librarians need to start valuing your time more. That's what Eric Fitzgerald from Capstone Press told me. We were discussing book processing and librarians' obsessive need to do it ourselves to have it perfect. 

Did you know that you can make special requests of vendors? You can ask them to stamp your books or put a printed label inside identifying your school so you don't have to stamp it. (Can you tell I don't like to stamp books?) You can request that vendors use their best judgments and create spine labels that don't wrap around. If the label needs to be printed sideways to fit, they can figure this out as well as you and get it done alot faster. 

Most vendors have people sitting there doing nothing but perfectly placing labels all day long. That sure beats how I pro...Read More