KASL

Promotions Update

Ruth McCauley, Promotions Chair, sent updates to the webpage, so if you are looking for programming ideas for your library, check it out!

Promotions Page Update

Ruth McCauley updated the links on the promotions page this week.

How to Create Nonreaders

Programming

Though aimed at public librarians, school librarians can find much to love on the newly revamped Programming Librarian site.

Celebrate Your Library

Teen read Week: Oct 18-24, 2009

Computer Learning Month:  October  (not all links are active at this site)

International School Library Month: October

International School Library Day: October 5, 2009

National Book Month: October

National Family Literacy Day: Nov 1, 2009

American Education Week: Nov 15-21, 2009

National  Young Readers Week: Nov 9-13, 2009

     A collaboration between Center for the Book and Pizza Hut

Ruth McCauley

KASL Promotions

An Inviting Library

Gwen Bartlett presented an interesting session at the spring KASL conference, Update your Library using the Bookstore Model (MS Word).

If you have been working in the same library for as long as I have, looking at your space with fresh eyes and sprucing it up is worth a little thought and effort.  Consulting some of the students isn't a bad idea either. 

The spectacular Unquiet Library has an inspiring post about how they shook their library up a bit.

Our own Amy Brownlee told us how she made over her library a while back.

And just yesterday, I watched the following webinar by two Topeka Shawnee County Public Librarians on how they are in the process of redesigning the nonfiction section one bit at a time. Though not everything they have to say is applicable to every other library, their thoughts will make you look at your collection in a little different light.  Get the details and archive information for Why Do We Dewey? Redesigning the Customer Centered Experience on WebJunction Kansas.

You also might refer to the thoughts of Stephen Abram and the work of the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative.

The key to an inviting library, after looking at the work of these people, is looking at the library in terms of user experience, making the space as inviting as possible while anticipating the needs of your students and teachers and empowering them to effectively interact with the information available. While maintaining the integrity of the database, the collection should be as browser friendly as possible.

Though the grand idea sounds overwhelming, any library, no matter how understaffed and underfunded can start small by:

1. Improving visual merchandising.

2. Improving organization.

3. Creating displays in stacks.

4. Creating shelf headers.

5. Creating effective shelf labels.

6. Creating better end cap signs.

7. Developing space for more face out books.

8. Creating relevant art work.

9. Stickering the books with broad subject or genre headings.

 

Anniversaries and celebrations for you to enjoy with your students....

2009 is the 40th Anniversary for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". 

2009 is the anniversary for Jean Craighead George's "My Side of the Mountain" one of my favorites! 

April 12th 2009 is not just Easter Sunday but also time to celebrate DEAR day and Beverly Cleary's Birthday. We can probably celebrate on Monday 13th April too.

-Ruth McCauley

Promotions

Ideas to include and incorporate as you celebrate National Library Week April 12-1.

YALSA will help you celebrate Teen Literature Day April 16.

For those of you who teach very young children, here is the site for the National Association for Education of Young Children, Week of the Young Child April 19-25, 2009.

Ruth McCauley

School Library Media Month

Prepare to celebrate School Library Media Month 2009 in April!

Poetry

It's probably not too early to begin thinking about celebrating National Poetry Month.  Each April, the Academy of American Poets creates and distributes—for free—almost 200,000 copies of the current National Poetry Month posters to U.S. schools, libraries, bookstores, and community centers to help promote the month-long celebration and to increase poetry awareness.

Here is a look at the poster for 2009.