Top Ten Books

It's that time of year when we look back at the most checked-out books from the entire school year! Here they are!

What a great representation of students' interests and reading habits! New releases and old favorites? Yep! A variety of genres and formats, along with both fiction and nonfiction titles? Sure! Stand alones and series books? Yes! Screen adaptations? Of course! A celebration of readers and reading, for sure!

Students Take the Lead

In the last two months, several students have offered to lead different advisory sessions on topics they're interested in or excited to share with others. Usually once a week, different students have stepped forward to showcase their interests or teach something to their peers.

Topics have included subjects like unusual animal facts and different varieties of frogs, the longest words--we even practiced saying them together!--favorite television shows, women leaders and pioneers, and creating online content. Students sign up to sit in on the sessions, and at the end of their peers' presentations, there have been great questions, interesting connections shared, and appreciative applause. What a great way to celebrate kids' interests and passions in an inviting environment! 

3D Printer News!

After nearly a year of conversations about how a 3D printer might be a worthy addition to the library, we now have a 3D printer!

While it looks great set up on the counter, it didn't always look like this! "Some assembly required," as the saying goes. . . and sometimes that meant putting pieces together, then taking them apart to put them together in the correct way! 

We're using a PC that our technology department had on hand, and we're working to connect the printer and computer. While it's frustrating to not be able to immediately print right away, the problem solving and trouble shooting continues.

So how do we expect to use the printer? Teachers will be invited to use it with their students in classes--the art teacher has already expressed an interest--and students will primarily use it during advisory time. Using the 3D printer will be part of each month's advisory offerings, with students using existing templates from Thingiverse or modifying templates to best fit their needs. Hopefully we can run a print or two before the end of the school year to promote the equipment with students, and in beginning in late August, students will have the opportunity to see the printer run and sign up for advisory sessions to learn more about using the software and creating.

👏👏 Celebrating Collection Development & Improvement

 After a two years of deliberate weeding and intentional purchasing, the nonfiction part of the collection is something to celebrate!

In just one year's time, the average copyright age has improved by four years, and the nonfiction books are now nearly 20% of the entire collection vs. 15% in August of this school year. 

Upon moving to the high school a year ago, it was evident that the nonfiction collection had been neglected. Years ago--under different building leadership--the nonfiction collection was significantly impacted by decisions related to a library remodel. It's taken more than five years to recover to this point, so while the current stats might be paltry by some standards, they're pretty impressive considering where we started. 

So how did this happen? Small steps with focus! Because of the popularity of graphic novels, that was the focus area last year. Using grant money and a portion of the budget, including using a subscription to graphic novels from a vendor, the graphic novel shelves began to fill and appeal more broadly to students. Gone were the older graphic novels and those that primarily appealed to younger readers; instead, students could choose current, full color, popular titles. Here's how the case looks now:

And this year? After hearing from students about what they were interested in, the nonfiction collection grew in these areas: biographies, true crime, poetry, and history. Many of the true crime and history purchases also fell under the "narrative nonfiction" umbrella, like Blood and Germs, and American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South, as well books by Erik Larson and others. Another focus area this year was agriculture-themed books. After receiving a grant from the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation (see earlier blog post), these 12 books also helped bolster our growing nonfiction collection and were popular among a broad range of students.

With measurable improvement so prominent in the nonfiction collection, it's inspiring to think of where the collection can be in another year's time! 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

As we enter our last month of school, there's still time to promote reading and some of our newer books. The most recent library display features several of the SEMH titles included in social media posts throughout the year, as well as other titles that highlight responsible decision making, self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills.

Many of the books appear in the Slides presentation below: