Mrs. White's Library World

RIF Hearings

2011-05-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I report to the Reduction in Force hearings downtown, in hte basement of the California Market. I will try to defend my job as a teacher librarian from extinction in LAUSD. I will provide documentation for the lawyers and the judge that will decide if I and the other TLs deserve a right to be teachers when the district decides it does not need anyone to run their libraries.

When I went back to college for the second time to get a second credential so I could teach in hte library, I never thought that my additional credntial and my Masters in Education would actually keep me from being employable by my district. The only RIFed teachers who are not being allowed to return to the classrooms where they previously taught are the Teacher Libraians who left their old classrooms to teach in the library and effect the lives of hundreds of students per day through instructional technology and information literacy. Life is so ironic.

My district has decided that students and staff will check out and in hteir own books. No one is scheduled to shelve, repair, or replace the books. No one will teach students how to use databases or the brand nwe circulation system. No one will be responsible for the library collection or computers. Teachers will be expected to take their classes to the library and supervise circulation on a new system with no training whatsoever. Teachers who can also expect their class sizes to jump by 5 students per class next year.

I have worked in this library since my school opened. I have helped develop the collection, taught databases to teachers, staff and students, teach three classes per four period day, and have served as department chair for the electives department and member and secretary of the School Site Council. We have extended library hours to accomodate students and teachers before and after school and at lunch. I have served on the California Readers and the Westchester Fiction Committee to discover great books for my classes. I will be very sad to see everything I have worked for destroyed by short term planning. I love helping people find reading materials and research that means something to them. If the district proceeds with closing the libraries and leaving students no access, I am sure our reading and literacy scores will drop. If the doors are left open with no one accountable for the collection, I am sure that the materials will be missing, lost and a mess within weeks.

Every choice has natural consequences. If either of these things happen look for me at the local public library, working or volunteering in children's or YA literature.

Westchester Fiction Committee

2010-12-03T11:28:00.000-08:00

I originally voluteered for the WFC because I was promised free books for my library and my students love new fiction as much as hot Cheetos. The committee is mostly school librarians and literacy coaches and we read all the submitted books and then eliminate the books that are too young, boring, simple, or unable to stand alone, without the other books in the series. The goal is to choose the ten outstanding new fiction books for 2010.
So far, I have probably read about 70-80 books. We try to make sure that at least four of us read every book that might make the awards list. The books range from SciFi to realistic, Fantasy to History. Some of the ones I really enjoyed are:
Blood Ninja by Nick Lake (Vampire ninjas, need I say more)
Beat the Band by Don Calame (made me laugh out loud)
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (I cannot keep this on the shelf)
Draw the Dark by Ilsa Bick (still reading it, but it made the list)
Green Witch by Alice Hoffman (lyrical, interesting, lovely)
Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork (dealing w/ death)
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (alternate history of WWI)
Salt by Maurice Gee (adventure set in another world, compelling)
Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson (teen angst in a NYC hotel w/ actors)
Struts and Frets by Jon Skovron (a band book for music lovers)
Sweet 15 by Emily Adler (biculturalism, humor, family life, skating)
Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards (historical fiction, Johnstown Flood)
Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen (historical, Revolutionary War)

and of course I am still aiming for three to four more books per week until we make our selection. My students are loving Personal Demons, The Agency, Addicted to Her, Butterfly, Claire de Lune, The Complete History of why I hate her, Beautiful, Efrain's Secret, How to say Goddbye in Robot, Hushs, Hush, Legacies, Roses are Red, A Small Free Kiss in the Dark, Wish, and so on.

So, if you are looking for new fiction and needed some titles let me know what genre you are looking for and I will try to be helpful. In the meantime, I love free books!

After Inventory

2010-06-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

As I listen to the Graduation Rehearsal taking place right outside the library, I am cataloging donated materials from our first retiring teacher at East Valley high school. I have about three more boxes of video cassettes and dvds that were used to teach Economics, American History and American government. This is what I get to catch up on, after I complete a full inventory of our library.

Inventory is a long process. We completed the count on the Professional and Reference sections in May, but did not close to regular circulation until June. We had classes signed up every day, sometimes one per period, sometimes more. If I had not had help from my own children after they finished their college semesters, I do not know if we would have made it. But we finished the full inventory and ran a list of the lost or missing copies. Thus, if and when we get our fine and lost money back from district, we will know what materials need replacing. ;)

As the school year winds down, early, we try to prepare for next year by prepping all new materials and getting our hands on any available categorical funds to buy new requests for our teachers and students. We may be able to get about $10,000 of new books, dvds and playaways for next school year! Hallelujah!

November begins: Looking for natives

2009-11-02T11:18:00.001-08:00

As the new month begins and librarians everywhere take down their Day of the Dead and Halloween displays, we are putting up a display of Native American books, authors and posters about tribes. I find it sad that I have so few books by acknowledged Natives and wonder if anyone knows some authors or works that I should put on my library wish list for when our phantom funding becomes reality? I have Joseph Bruchac, Sherman Alexie, and Russell Freedman, but am looking for more sources to celebrate this rich heritage.

First Author Visit

2009-10-16T15:06:00.001-07:00

East Valley HS had our first ever author visit on October 8, 2009. We won the 2008 Ed Pert Award from California Readers and the last part of the award is a visit by a California Author. We chose Caroline Arnold. She has published over 140 books in mostly fact format. Our library had nine before her visit and we purchased a few more and had them autographed for our school.

Ms. Arnold was prompt, organized, friendly, knowledgeable and patient. She spoke to seven classes of history students and even stayed after school to sign books for teachers. A lovely lady who shared her experiences with travel, choosing a career, editing process, and the creation of some of her artwork.

Banned Book Week

2009-10-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

We just celebrated Banned Book Week in the EVHS library with a large display of banned classics and books challenged in the last year. And it is true what they say, "If you want a teenager to do something, tell them they aren't allowed to do it." We had great circulation and lots of interest in why was this book banned?

I talked about Banned Book Week in my freshman library orientation and the freshman class took off and ran with it! Obvoius favorites were the Bunny Suicide books and Rennison's Full Frontal Snogging, but I really enjoyed the renewed interest in reading and the busy open lunch periods with over 100 students per day.

Now to prep for our Author VIsit from California readers and get read for Teen Read Week.

May 2009

2009-05-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Life has gotten very busy. We won a grant from California Readers and got 100 new books by CA Authors and Illustrators! So we are processing and shelving on a special cart so students can start reading new books.

We also finally got some School Library and Improvement funds from the school site council and spent it on new books and videos and playaways for our school. We got nine boxes of books, and two more of audiovisual materials. I love unpacking new books and seeing the excitement on student's faces as they see things they requested finally arrive. The bad news is that we already have a new wishlist of over $300 of books that we now want. But we are always trying to improve our collection and make it more accessible to all students.

I still have a job! Budget concerns are very scary in a cash-strapped school, district, and state but it looks like I will still be here to serve the North Hollywood community for at least one more year. We are going to start inventory in a few weeks and are reminding our seniors of overdues and fines so no one is held back from graduation by uncleared debts to the library.

We will be losing at least one administrator, our literacy and math coaches and at least two, maybe 6 teachers. I repair and reuse as much as possible, but new books and videos are a must in today's society. Wish us luck and government funding.

Cambric- I still cannot view your blog. Please re invite me since it is listed as private.

Finishing First Semester

2009-02-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

I have finished grading all the research project powerpoints and am waiting for the last January bookmarks to hit my desk today. I thought I would share the subjects students chose for their research. They were allowed to choose a person, place, or thing. The last research paper was a biographical paper so no one chose a person this time, but we did get lots of animals. ( This may have something to do with the last database we wrote up, Science Online from Facts on File.)

Anyway, I got projects on African Lions, giant pandas, chimpanzees, wolves, Bengal tigers, Panthers, hurricanes and Amsterdam. Even their bookmarks are reflecting diversified reading interests: manga (Tsubasa and Bleach), Fantasy (Skellig and Harry Potter), Biography (Tupac Amaru Shakur) and Adventure (the Ranger's Apprentice series). It makes my job much more fun, to read the reviews they do in bookmark format and provide them to our patrons on cardstock. Kids pick them up almost everyday and we are getting the news out about books that other students are reading now.

I will get allnew students in a week to train about OPAC, Dewey Decimals, order and database uses and citations. Life is good. I love living where the temperature can change 35+ degrees from 7 AM to 3 PM. I love having an avaerage of 200 studetns per day come through our library and I'm glad I have a job in this economy. Good reading to all.

Only three more weeks

2008-12-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

We have officially made it to December and our financial accounts at school are still frozen. I keep getting resource requests and we keep a list but hope is fading for new library books and videos. An article in today's LA Tmies says some are trying to oust our superintendent. Hmmm. Will that save us over $200k a year even after the buy out of his contract? It might be worth it, but why did they hire him if they didn't want to trust him?

We have made bookmarks for Diwali, Hannukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Years and Thanksgiving with an emphasis on how so many festivals of lights and family togetherness are similar. They are disappearing fast. We also put up a book display of multiple celebrations and my student practice workers hung up small stockings behind the circulation desk. I love the cooler weather, finally, and the fact that I don't care to brae the malls any more so I go straight home and try ot sort out my house and presents to mail off packages to loved ones far away. I wrapped for a few hours last night and my memory is not what it used to be, so I need to send the packages before I forget what I gave to whom.

My college daughter texted me today about a title she must have. It looks like the last Georgia Nicholson novel is called, "Stop in the name of the pants." So I have to go find it. They are hilarious books. The first is called, "Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging." Musings of a teenage Brit with boy issues and cat quirks, they make me snort out loud. Thus the joy is spread to another reader who asks what is so funny...

I did see "Twilight" and "Transporter 3" but the movie I most recommend is "Slum Dog Millionaire." The otehrs are fun but not worth the 8-12 dollar admission, I think. Edward worked better for me as an ideal, not a Brit trying to sound American, who lets off steam when you want him to be marble perfection. Jason Statham is nice but I don't find the female character very sexy. She reminds me of Eurotrash. So Sad.

We loved having time off over Thanksgiving. Most of my family were home. We played games, watched Tivo and movies, ate pie and bird, and spent time together. What bliss! Now mi esposo has a screening coming up that has been added to the schedule so we may not see him except nights and an occassional early morning. Blech. I like when he has a day off now and then. I guess there is another holiday coming up soon, so I will make it. But I treasured our weekends and now there will not be any until late December.

Life is good. Circulation is up, my students are learning the Cengage databases and I haven't been tagged yet this week. So I am hopeful. Have a great December and I will share some more great books soon.

I am reading "Three Cups of Tea" and need to review a few more books for CA Readers over my weekends. V

November news

2008-11-19T14:48:00.001-08:00

We are halfway through November and we have put up a Native American display, a Veteran's Day display and materials for reserach on Pilgrims, immigration, feasting, etc. We are still fairly busy because the computer lab is down, so we get the classes that just want ot use our twenty computers as well as the ones who are doing fresearch including all sources, not just internet.

Our funds have been frozen so that multipage report I prepared and gave to my principal last month is sitting in a file somewhere until the funds we got six months late are finally released for spending. Hmmm. Our magazine subscriptions are also expiring. I no longer get the Wall Street Journal or eight other monthly, weekly or daily resources because our funds are expired, defunct, or frozen. Soon we will be down to the five new subscriptions I bought to support my niece and her school in Montana. Life is full of little ironies.

I look forward to the holidays and some rest. I must say every year I dislike the few days after Halloween. I always forget that sugar has a downside and the speed and then lethargy around here is easily discerned and possibly clinical in its scope. They are back to normal now and are pining for more holiday treats and time off.

We are moving into our new addition at home, so I must keep the school library in great condition so I am inspired to work harder at home for matching order.

The biographical research projects were all over the board. People who did the first and second drafts really didi well and showed distinct improvement by the second draft. Students who neglected the first draft are currently failing my class because their points are so low. One who is usually an A student has not turned in either draft so is about 150 points behind everyone else who completed the assignments. I guess he'll figure it out when the 5 week grades appear, but he is not listening so far.

Databases, Research, and Lesson plans

2008-10-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

Did you ever notice that when you are bored nobody needs you, but when you are crazy busy somebody wants/needs your help right now?

Last week started a busy season in our library. We were having three or four classes per day in only four periods which means I don't get a period off to eat lunch and I become... Grumpy librarian cliche. Of course, this is when someone asks me to do my real job and teach a class how to use databases, how to access Digital Library, how to cite sources correctly and how to use the online catalog. All in one class period. To kids who didn't seem to want to be there. Hmm.

SO, Of course, I really went for it. I sat them in front of our bank of 20 internet linked computers and showed them how to access the list of databases. Then I talked baout what each of the databases was for. Then we explored two for about half an hour. I chose Ebsco for its usefullness to studetns trying to attempt research for any subject. I showed them how to limit to just magazine and newspaper articles or how to find video clips, sound bites, etc. They explored. I made sure everyone found at least a few sources. Then we talked about citing the source and the handy slips (pink for database) that I have available for their use.

Next we used WorldBook online. I figured this would be fairly comfortable and accessible as it was the end of the day and they started to drag. They found articles on their chosen subjects (Obama, Marijuana, police brutality, 50 cent, etc.) and saw how to cite them. Then we talked about plagiarism and its consequences. Whew. Then I talked baout how to find books, reference books and other sources and how each type of material had its own MLA format for correct citation. I showed them the colored slips for each reminded them that I am here to help and wound up having to remind them that the bell had rung and they were free to leave.

Sometimes being a busy librarian is good. :)

High School and high heaven

2008-10-03T15:05:00.001-07:00

We are in the middle of a high school book fair and have lots of people coming in and out and the new fields we have been expecting are still under construction upwind. Today they must have laid down a ton of steer manure because our whole school stinks. I am not sure why they didn't wait for the weekend, but the whole school is enveloped in a stinky cloud which permetaes our air conditioning and our clothes. I can't wait to go home and shower. No air freshener can combat this.

Otehrwise, we are doing well. We have sold a little over $100 in books so far and hope to get at least ten new books for the library. Life is always interesting. I liked Lovely Bones and am Reading about a spy academy for girls next.

New books, packing and unpacking survival

2008-02-26T10:21:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a while since I updated, so I thought I'd fillyou in on my life. We unpacked over 3000 new books for my library and it took me just over a week to get them processed, organized and shelved. Our shelves are very full and needed to be rearranged a bit.

Then, every night I would go home and box up my life. We are adding onto the back of our house and needed to box up an old bedroom, a bath, and the garage, plus patio in two weeks. Now we are getting our new pantry and bath while the rain dries up enough to cut ground for the new part. I've taken a few progress pictures to show my children and others interested. I gave up on the gym for a few weeks as the boxes wore me out, but now I need to go back...

Tonight I'm going to the temple, as I have not gone this month and feel the need. I have a week until Maddy flies to Sapporo, the mester ends, March hits, and life picks up tempo again. I have actually enjoyed the rain for the clear skies and green land that it brings. My joints feel it, but what good day is without pain anyway? We are working on cleaning up boxes which got moved/packed too fast and may send out some clothes/books/ etc. to DI, but need to clear out clutter or die amongst it. :) I get to go get Afton in 6 weeks or so and Stills seems to enjoy his college drama class on Monday nights. He is planning on going to a local college after graduation and working for a while. A friend just got to the Brazil MTC and will be serving/learning Portuguese for a few weeks in Sao Paolo. I need to write him and let him know his mom seems OK. The first few weeks are hard. Now Maddy has been gone for 10 weeks and I'm almost feeling I can do this. ;)

I look forward to visits from Giles and Jimenez family reps. and will fly home to dad in March. Please keep in touch, V

End of first semester

2008-01-31T10:57:00.000-08:00

We are reaching the end of first semester and after tomorrow I will get a whole new batch of students to teach about the library and how it works. I will miss a few of my questioning or helpful students. There are one or two I will not miss, as they have to be prodded repeatedly to do anything at all. I had at least three students who stopped completing assignments a few weeks befreo the semester ended and dropped to a C in my class. I had no As for final grades; a disappointing statistic. However, most of my students leave me with knowledge of where the sourcess are, how to get to them and cite them, and how to maintain a library in good order. Most can process a new book and shelve it. A few know how to find other titles online and which book jobbers I recommend. They all know about more databases than they did when they started. Now if I can just reach a few teachers...
We'll be half way through the school year on Monday and expect over 3,000 new books on Friday for my new students and I to unpack, organize and shelve. Life is good. Happy February all.

CSLA Conference

2007-11-19T09:34:00.000-08:00

CSLA is the California School Librarian's Association and has a conference in Southern California every two years. The alternate years the conference is held in Sacramento. This year the conference started last Thursday in Ontario. I always overestimate how long it will take me to drive 50 miles on five freeways and end up with time to spare and no where to go. However, the workshop I attended on Thursday afternoon was about how to create or perfect a library website and I am enthused about pushing harder to get EVHS's official website up ASAP and to get a library website up with OPAC and Database links that the staff and students could use from home.
I want our website to be user friendly, simple, logical, and useful. So, I will be trying to get our web coordinator to start building the site and all the necessary pages before East Valley hits it's second birthday. Anyone out here want to help?

First Academy Assembly

2007-11-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

DId you ever notice that when something must be accomplished by a group, there are movers and helpers, naysayers and MIAs? Our little academy only has about 12 teachers in it and we couldn't get them all to our first assembly, or get them all to nominate students for the October awards, or get them to pay toward prizes. We have the go getters who do everything on time, ask if help is needed or even step in to make events flow more swiftly... but we also have the no shows who are not absent, just not willing to participate. how does one motivate someone who refuses to see a need? Who does not feel one of the team but also doesn't want to be on any team? Our small cadre of people who show up to meetings and events on time, prepared and motivated are slowly being dragged into the morass of apathy and doubt created by the few but vocal negative members of the team.
I sometimes feel that therapy or relaxation massage should be a required perk of teaching, part of the medical program htat we fight to renew every year. Am I alone in my frustration? I know I am not; but I feel like I am sliding across thin ice toward a deep hole from which I may never recover and I want to find a mental crampon or icepick to halt my slide before it is too late and I lose my joy in helping students discover their joy in learning.

Campbell's labels for Education

2007-11-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

Has anyone collected soup labels as a fundraiser?

I have been collecting them for a few months and don't even have enough for a palyground ball. I would like ot know if this is normal and how to publicize the collection w/o antagonizing people. If it is not a good fundraiser I would like to know, so I won't waste too much time.

A new Beginning

2007-11-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

I am a High School librarian in North Hollywood, CA. I am the parent of a few teenagers and work with teenagers all day, so I decided to see how they spend their time. This blog will record some observations from the "trenches" and hopefully give them a chance to ask me questions. I just gave my studetns their final project template and showed them my sample research powerpoint. Now they are choosing their subject and beginning research on their selected person, place or thing.
I will probably learn way more than I wanted to know about tatooing and reggaeton bands.