First, the successes.
By any account, the circulation numbers are speaking. Between September and November, more books have circulated than circulated all last year! That is an amazing accomplishment. Clearly, the books that I am adding to the collection are resonating with the students. What did I do? My approach was to limit my focus. I decided that the fiction section of the library was filled with holes, and if the students were going to use the library, they needed to find books that they wanted to read on the shelves. They also needed to be able to actually locate the books that are in the library. In order to fulfill this goal I needed to look at the books we purchase AND the physical layout of the library. As a result, there have been lots of changes.
In terms of the layout of the library - I have numbered each bay of shelves and created signs stating what each section is. This makes it much easier for students to find things. I have signs for Manga, Graphic Novels, New Books, Fiction, Non-Fiction and Reference. It's amazing how much easier it is for students to navigate when there is clear signage. I've also physically separated the new purchases so that students can always see what we have added to the collection.
For purchasing, I knew that I wanted to take my direction from the students. If they want to read it, I want to have it in the library. This has led to what I call the "Sarah Dessen Dilemma", but I really don't feel that it's my job to tell the students what to read. It is the job of the students to tell me what they want to read and what they are reading. We have more than 100 suggestions every month, and the students enjoy telling the teachers about the books they are reading. This is really working.
Now, what isn't working. The other teachers aren't using the library resources (particularly the human resources) nearly as often as I would like. In November, out of 95 possible library periods, only 5 were used. This is going to be my next big goal.
Wow, I used the word 'I' a lot in this blog. Something to be looked at. It isn't all about me, so what am I writing all about me.
