How to Coordinate the School Library Collection & Lessons with Subject Curricula

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Barbara Paciotti

School Librarians develop a school library collection based on the curriculum needs of teachers and students, not a ‘balanced’ collection based on arbitrary numbers of some purported authority. We know that we are the authority for our school library and better able to determine our print and digital needs than anyone else. We must be bold enough to trust our own judgment—to ignore ‘balance’ and support as much of our school’s curriculum as possible.

But it’s not enough to just add materials based on topics of study in the classroom. We must think deeply about how we can integrate resources into classroom experiences so they are actively used by students and teachers. That means anticipating Library Lessons, especially those that bring authenticity and higher-order thinking to assessment products. Let’s follow the development of one such example.

BEGIN WITH CURRICULUM ALIGNMENT

Early on I began to apply subject sticker-labels on fiction books to aid student choices. I noticed a large number of historical fiction books cover the time period our 8th graders study in U.S. History—discovery of the Americas through Reconstruction. Instead of an Historical Fiction label, I put a Historical America sticker on those books, already thinking I can promote them to 8th graders during their library orientation.

I know that each semester 8g English Language Arts does a novel study using a classic historical fiction novel with a tie-in to Social Studies. It occurs to me that a novel study might be more engaging for students if they could choose their own individual Historical America book to read, and I keep this in mind as a possible Library Lesson.

DEVELOP THE TOPICAL COLLECTION

Though we have a considerable number of suitable historical books, there aren’t quite enough for the whole grade level. Determined to increase the Historical America collection, I run a report for relevant books owned by other district middle school libraries, but not ours (we’re only a couple years old), and find a good number to purchase right away.

Periodically combing through book reviews for good books of the time period adds titles to my acquisition book list. About this time one of our major book vendor representatives shows me how to do various searches in the online book vendor catalog. I perform one for “Popular” (which is as it sounds, the most popular titles purchased by other librarians) and filter for “Historical Fiction” and “U.S. History” which adds more titles to the book list.

Each year, as I begin my collection development, I search for newly published titles. As our school population increases, so does our special Historical America collection.

SEIZE A LESSON OPPORTUNITY

One day a new 8g Social Studies teacher approaches me: he wants students to “hear another voice of history” beyond the textbook by reading an historical fiction book. Because I coordinate our collection with our school curricula, I could show him our, by now, substantial collection of Historical America titles.

We plan the Library Lesson for shortly after the start of the 2nd semester. We’ll co-present the lesson to students, then allow them to move around the library to choose from the Historical America books I’ve arranged on tables by time period. The U.S. History project criteria focus on the historical events of the story and how they align to what students study in class:

historical time period and location of the story
character’s conditions and lifestyle in historical context
political, economic, religious, environmental, or sociocultural issues of the historical event
historical accuracy of circumstances that lead to the character’s decisions

We decide students will have multiple product choices:

Academic – research paper or slideshow
Artistic – mural or foldable flipbook
Speaking – talk show interview or debate

REALIZE THE VISION

Returning from winter break, I discover the 8g English Language Arts teachers plan to assign a book report instead of doing the novel study. I see my initial plan coalesce into my true vision for building our topical Historical America collection. I approach ELA about the upcoming Social Studies Historical America project, and they agree that students can use the same book for both projects! I assure them we have enough books for the entire grade, with a few additions through Inter-Library Loan.

Always alert for unique and meaningful assessments that fit with my lesson ideas, I’d found a Bio-Cube on ReadWriteThink that, with a few modifications for content, will be perfect for this assignment. I show the ELA teachers and they are delighted to use it. On each side of the cube students write “biographical” information about a chosen character from their historical story:

character’s name and personality traits
personal background
time period and location of story
significance in U.S. History
biggest obstacle to overcome and pivotal choices (grading period theme) character makes
important quotation from story

Copied to colorful paper, then cut & pasted together, finished cubes are suspended from the ceiling in the ELA classrooms. They are a real conversation starter for classroom visitors. Students also write a one-page summary of bio-cube information that contains a reflection segment.

LOOK AHEAD FOR POSSIBILITIES

We’ve done this cross-discipline project off and on over the years…all because I could envision a curricular Library Lesson and build a collection to implement it. I’ve used this same process to build other mini-collections, such as careers books, print/audio book kits for ELL, Spanish language books for grade level Spanish classes, science fair project books, earth science books & environmental books for science classes, and multicultural craft books for art classes.

As school librarians, it’s our responsibility to develop a library collection that doesn’t rely on generic ‘balance,’ but one that supports our grade level curricula. More than that, we must also create Library Lessons that use those materials for meaningful classroom activities and worthwhile assessments.

5 Tips for Buying Non-fiction Books for the School Library

Posted on April 28, 2019 by Barbara Paciotti

One of a School Librarians most pleasant tasks is purchasing books for students to read. Many school librarians are former English Language Arts teachers, so choosing fiction books is relatively easy. I, however, am a former science and social studies teacher, so I seek lots of input from my ELA teachers when choosing fiction titles for my middle school library.

On the other hand, many school librarians are intimidated by choosing non-fiction titles for their students. While Non-fiction is my strength, it isn’t just my background that helps me choose quality non-fiction for the school library. Allow me to share these 5 tips for buying non-fiction books to guide your nonfiction collection development.

TIP #1 – USE MULTI-PUBLISHER BOOK JOBBERS

I find it’s OK to buy fiction titles unseen because the format is standard and there are reliable book reviews for the content. That’s not the case for non-fiction. There is such wide variation in non-fiction books by format, by publisher, by grade level, and by topic, so regardless of book reviews, we need to see the book and page through it to be sure it will engage our students and serve the purpose for which we need it. Holding a non-fiction book in our hands, looking at the table of contents, flipping through the pages can give any school librarian a pretty good idea of content suitability, reading level, and appeal for students.

As a second-year librarian this became clear to me while analyzing my 900s country books. Of the 4 different—and all reputable—publishers, one was far too elementary for middle school (few pages and low reading level) and one was far too advanced for middle school (too many text-heavy pages). The other two were comparable in length and reading level, with shorter paragraphs and colorful illustrations spread throughout the book. I knew right away which ones were most useful and would be checked out more frequently.

Coincidentally, a book jobber representative phoned me at that time. A book jobber handles several publishers and the rep brings books out to the school so I can see them and select exactly what I want. When she arrived toting 3 huge carts of middle school non-fiction books, I knew I’d made the right decision, and vowed to invite other book jobber reps for non-fiction purchases.

After a few years experience with several district-approved book jobbers, I settled on two who provided the widest selection of middle school titles and offered reliable processing and speedy delivery.

TIP #2 – FOCUS ON JUST A FEW TOPICS

Book jobber representatives have access to hundreds of new and recent titles, on a wide range of subjects, but there’s a limit to how much they can transport—or how many books we can look through at one sitting! Before scheduling a visit, survey your collection and target 3-5 specific topical areas for which you need books, and relay those topics to your jobber. This allows them to bring as much as possible for those topics, along with the newest publications and a few topics other middle school librarians have chosen.

For my first book jobber appointment, I focused on country books (for 6g social studies), energy resources (for 6g science), and the Civil War (for 8g U.S.History). These were topics that had been requested for projects the year before and we needed more books. Additionally, I added biographies and careers because students had been asking for them.

I’m always amazed at the ample range of materials my reps show me and, because I focus on both curriculum needs and student requests, my choices are valuable additions for many, many years. With just 2 book jobbers, I’m able to address 6-8 different topical areas of the library collection every year.

TIP #3 – SET A LIMIT ON HOW MUCH TO SPEND

If your collection is like mine, it’s about 60% non-fiction and 40% fiction, so I allocate book budget funds the same way. Keep in mind that the quantity of books purchased won’t be the same: non-fiction books are pricier due to illustrations and better bindings. Since non-fiction tends to be useful over a longer time period than fiction, weeding is less extensive and the collection balance stays about the same.

Book jobber reps like to have a ballpark figure of your probable purchase to help them decide what to show you. It’s important to keep the spending ceiling in mind, because so many wonderful titles make it easy to go overboard. My reps create a computerized booklist and give me a running total. Some books are clearly “yes”, but I always have a “maybe” pile that I can add from if I still have have spending room.

Book jobbers rarely offer discounts like huge bid vendors, but I’ve learned how to save money on series books. The rep usually brings 1 or 2 of a series with a list of the rest. I’ll choose a couple enticing titles, then after the rep leaves, I can purchase additional titles in the series from my main bid vendor at a significant discount.

TIP #4 – ALLOW AMPLE TIME FOR SELECTION

When scheduling a book jobber, pick a slow day with no classes scheduled into the library. Sometimes that’s pretty difficult, so look ahead—even 3 or 4 weeks—to find a day that will probably have only incidental student visits. I’ve tried mornings and afternoons, and afternoons are better for me; I’ve gotten my “To Do’s” out of the way and am able to concentrate on choosing books.

For my first jobber meeting I figured about an hour. Big mistake—I spent more than 3 hours with her! Fortunately it was a slow afternoon with few interruptions, and we were able to get through most of those 3 carts of non-fiction books. Now I allow a 3-hour window as my default time period.

A few students do come into the library, so I invite them to look over the books. Not only do they appreciate having some input, they often offer choices I wasn’t considering. Students spread the news about the great books I’m buying, so when the order arrives students are already excited to check them out!

TIP #5 – CHOOSE QUALITY OVER PRICE

When you have a couple hundred books spread out on tables in front of you, it’s tempting to choose less expensive books in order to buy more within the spending limit. But, that undermines the whole purpose of using book jobbers and viewing each book individually. I always choose the book that best meets student and curricular needs.

First I look at the table of contents to be sure it has the topical coverage I’m looking for. Then I look for charts, graphs, and other illustrations that amplify the topic. I want the text in readable chunks with plenty of white space around the pages. I try to stay between 60 and 125 pages in length: fewer has too little content at a lower reading level and more has too much text and is too daunting for middle school readers. (The exception is books specifically for ELL and Special Education—those need to be shorter and with lower reading levels.)

I consider DK (formerly Dorling Kindersley) books an exemplar of non-fiction. They have a wealth of organized information in small chunks with beautiful illustrations, so they work well for casual reading and for research. School library publishers realized their appeal and now it’s rare to find a middle school non-fiction book that is packed with text-only titles. Still, we need to look at the features in each book to find the best quality for our students.

SOME FINAL DO’S AND DON’TS

Most school districts send out an RFP (Request for Proposal) to dozens of vendors for district needs, and keep a list of approved bid vendors from whom they want us to purchase. The bid list for school library books and media should include both high volume vendors and book jobbers. It’s always best to go with those, since they offer perks for the expected high-volume purchases of a school district, such as discounts, free processing, and free shipping, plus the purchase order approval process is automatic.

Service from various jobbers varies widely, so if you don’t want to “sample” each one, talk to other local librarians for recommendations. Here are some general recommendations on what to look for:

Coordinate book jobbers to view many different publishers. Some crossover is OK, but it doesn’t make sense to look through the same books you’ve already seen from another rep.
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Don’t use anyone who doesn’t bring books. I had one lovely lady who brought me catalogs to look through—I can do that myself! The exception is for very narrow topical books. I used a small local jobber who only carried materials about our state; they earned my trust, so I’d buy books directly from their catalog.
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Expect high fill rates. Good book jobber reps want your business so they won’t haul around useless titles that aren’t available. Still, it’s not unusual to have a few titles that are delayed, but not more than about 10% of the amount spent.
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Processing is important. If they don’t do a good job, drop them. You don’t have time to redo and there are plenty of jobbers who offer good reliable processing.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Should you have questions about buying non-fiction books, leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you!

20 Essential Supplies To Have in the School Library

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Barbara Paciotti

There are some things you just can’t live without…and that’s especially true in a school library. When we talk about supplies and tools for librarians, we usually mean for processing or repairing or circulating books.

After 25 years in education, half of them in the library, I always keep these 20 essential supplies and tools on hand. Some are for me, for library management, but I make available certain materials specifically for students and teachers. If you haven’t discovered how useful these supplies and tools are, I know once you invest in them you’ll never regret it.

SUPPLIES FOR STUDENTS

We expect students to have their own school supplies, but often students don’t bring those to the library. In order to make sure students have writing implements to complete a library activity, I always have available:

Golf pencils – These are the 4½” ones with no eraser. A box of 144 costs about $10 at any office supply store. I usually get a couple boxes at the start of school to last the whole year. Since kids don’t really like them (no eraser & hard to sharpen) they rarely carry them out of the library.
Small pencil sharpeners – These are perfect to sharpen golf pencils. I got a couple dozen for well under $1 apiece at the start of school one year in order to have one for each table plus a few extra. (I do need a few replacements each year because they break or “walk away”.) Students use them for their own pencils, too, and it’s a lot quieter than electric or hand crank sharpeners.
Small plastic baskets – These 4”x5” baskets are so useful. I place one on each table, one between each pair of OPAC computers, and one at the circulation desk, so I have about 2 dozen. Each one holds a few golf pencils and a sharpener, along with several copies of my IT IS FOR ME checklist. They stack inside each other, so I can easily gather them up and store them on a shelf when they aren’t needed. I got mine at Target in the dollar aisle, but I’ve also seen 5″x5″ ones in cool colors at the dollar stores.
Tiny sticky notes – The 1½”x2” ones are the perfect size to write down a call number, so I always have a pad in each of the baskets by the OPAC computers.

We also do more elaborate activities for Library Lessons, so I keep these student supplies stored in a closet, and set them out when needed:

Color pencils – When we have a graphic organizer for a library activity, being able to use colors makes these simple worksheets into a fun experience for students. I get these very cheaply through my school district warehouse, and have one set of assorted colors per table. I’ve also seen golf-pencil-size ones in a dozen assorted colors for a buck and a half at the office supply store.
Color markers – A great dollar store item, around a dollar for a set of 6-8, depending on the tip type. My middle schoolers prefer the skinny ones with pointed tips, but I also keep a supply of chisel-tip ones for poster projects. I discovered some of the cheap ones don’t bleed through paper as much as more expensive permanent markers, so a double benefit.
Small scissors – I set out 4 per table so each student has a pair. I get the cheap utility ones through our warehouse, and because they’re ugly, the kids never take them out of the library. You can also find them for around 60¢ apiece at office supply stores, and they’re even cheaper in bulk.
Small metal buckets – I use the 4” tall decorative ones on each table for scissors, color pencils, and markers. By having 2 per table—one for color pencils and one for markers—I can put scissors, if needed, into whichever one we’re using that day. I find these for about $1 at various places, especially at the start of school or just before the holidays.
Glue sticks – For our cut-and-paste activities, tape just doesn’t work well, so I invest in 3 or 4 dozen glue sticks at the start of each school year. I put a couple in each table basket when we need them, and they’re so much cleaner than glue in a bottle. They last all year if kept in gallon sized zip-lock baggies when not being used.
Clipboards – Another really cheap warehouse item, I have a storage bin full of these in the back room. I use them for my 7g orientation scavenger hunt, as well as other walk-around activities, to make it easier for students to write on worksheets. With a barcode on the bin cover, I can also loan them out to teachers.

Taking care of, and setting out, these student supplies is an excellent task for student aides or to have a student work off the cost of a lost book. One day the baskets & buckets of supplies were out on tables when we had a faculty meeting, and my principal liked having them available for teachers, so she asked me to put them out for future meetings, too…and she’d cover the replenishment cost!

TOOLS FOR TEACHERS

In addition to those clipboards, there are a few other items teachers don’t need in their classrooms, but when they want them, I’m their one-stop-shop:

Sidewalk chalk – I find big buckets of assorted colors for a couple bucks at different stores, so I always keep 2 or 3 of them on hand. Invariably in late spring a teacher wants to take students outdoors for an unplanned drawing activity, so they come to the library knowing that their handy-dandy librarian will have the chalk they need!
Mirror – You know those hand-held mirrors with normal view on one side and close-up view on the other? Well, I’ve got one and it’s borrowed…all…the…time.
Specialty Staplers – I have 2 different ones: a long-reach stapler for stapling in the center of a sheet of letter or legal paper, the other a heavy-duty stapler for stapling up to 50 sheets of paper. I use the long-reach one quite a bit for the various library information booklets I create for teachers, aides, and volunteers. The biggest user of the heavy-duty one is the counselors!
Electric glue gun & glue – I can’t tell you how often during my first couple years I was asked if I had one, so finally I purchased 2 small ones. I discovered they’re also a great way to make quick binding repairs for books with loose covers!
Extension cords – A school librarian can never have enough extension cords. I keep various lengths, from 2-pronged 6′ lightweight ones to 100′ 3-pronged heavy duty ones. I also found it advantageous to keep a few surge protectors handy, especially ones with very long cords. And I barcoded every one of these for teacher checkout, because when I didn’t, I never got them back! Velcro ties in different lengths are very handy to keep each cord neatly wrapped.
And here’s a video on the proper over-under way to wind up those long cords and cables we have in the library:

TOOLS FOR THE SCHOOL LIBRARIAN

The items listed here are not typically included during a library set-up, but once I acquired them, I realized how valuable they are:

Desk bell – This sits on my computer presentation cart for use during lessons. I do a lot of discussion activities, and this is the best way to regain students’ attention—high-pitched enough to be heard over voices, but not too loud. I give it 3 quick taps then wait, and within a few seconds students stop talking and turn back to me. It’s even distinctive enough to gain their attention when in the aisles browsing for books!
Paper cutter – This stays on a shelf behind my circulation desk because I use it so often for cutting apart sheets of overdues, my IT IS FOR ME checklist, cardstock bookmarks, and for trimming signage or paring down protective book covers.
Reacher assistive tool – I’m average height, but I have trouble reaching DVDs and kits on shelves above a bank of computers along one wall, as well as things on top shelves in my back room. Once I got this gadget, I was amazed at how often I used it!
Engraving tool – When the school decided to purchase class sets of calculators for math classrooms and enough individual ones to check out to algebra students, they wanted me to keep track of them. I knew paper barcodes wouldn’t last long, so I invested in this tool and etched a barcode on the back side of every one. It works on headphone headpieces, too…in fact, I kinda went nuts etching so many things!
Tool box – I love tools. I’d rather visit a hardware store than a dress shop. I even keep a tiny (1¾”) bubble level on my key ring! I bought no-name-brand tools on sale, so I didn’t shell out much for these valuable items. Over the years I’ve fixed everything from audiocassette tapes to audio/video carts to tables and desks, but you know who uses my tool box the most? The custodians!
My library tool box holds:
- set of screwdrivers- very small for digital equipment to huge for adjusting metal shelves
- small pairs of regular and needle-nosed pliers
- fold-up set of hex wrenches
- tiny hammer and larger lightweight one
- cutest little hacksaw for PVC pipe or lightweight metal
- cloth tape measure and metal locking one
- box cutter and razor-blade knife.

This completes my list of the 20 essentials that made my life so much easier as a School Librarian. It made students and teachers very happy, too…and isn’t that what “wise professional decisions” are for?

Looking Backward – No Sweat Library Lessons & Management That Works

Reflections from A Middle School Librarian

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