It's not an easy time to be an elementary librarian, particularly in CMS. Information literacy is evolving rapidly and for some, that change is really hard to accept. School funding in North Carolina is a perennial battle from every educational front. This forces administrators to make some tough staffing decisions and, more frequently, administrators are choosing to trade in their media coordinator for people they deem more necessary (despite data that prove the contrary). Recruitment is key, but that's a post for another day.
Those of us who do spend our evenings and weekends engaging with educators on Twitter, reading professional articles and attending conferences come away with great ideas to keep our instruction relevant and engaging. The biggest challenge is always the same: where do we get the money to implement? Our district budget keeps shrinking while our population is growing. So we hold book fairs. We write Donor's Choose grants. We look for outside funding sources.
If you follow my blog, you may recall that we submitted a video for the Belk Bowl Innovation Lab contest last year. Spoiler alert: we didn't win. (My friend, Anne, did though and her makeover looks amazing, as do the others.)
You know what they say...
Those of us who do spend our evenings and weekends engaging with educators on Twitter, reading professional articles and attending conferences come away with great ideas to keep our instruction relevant and engaging. The biggest challenge is always the same: where do we get the money to implement? Our district budget keeps shrinking while our population is growing. So we hold book fairs. We write Donor's Choose grants. We look for outside funding sources.
If you follow my blog, you may recall that we submitted a video for the Belk Bowl Innovation Lab contest last year. Spoiler alert: we didn't win. (My friend, Anne, did though and her makeover looks amazing, as do the others.)
You know what they say...
Wrong image. Sorry. I meant this one.
When Belk announced this year's grand prize was a $100,000 makeover (<---not a typo; it really was ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) and that it was only for elementary libraries in Mecklenburg and Union counties, I knew we would try, try again.
Sitting in the salon one night, inhaling the fumes of the chemicals in my hair, the concept for our video hit me and I composed the lyrics. With the help of our school's Drama Club sponsor and Talent Development teacher, Ashley Moore, we brought that vision into the 3-minute video at the end of this post.
Sitting in the salon one night, inhaling the fumes of the chemicals in my hair, the concept for our video hit me and I composed the lyrics. With the help of our school's Drama Club sponsor and Talent Development teacher, Ashley Moore, we brought that vision into the 3-minute video at the end of this post.
Spoiler Alert #2:
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wait for it...
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wait for it...
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We are so proud of the students whose performance MADE the video what it is.
We are grateful to companies like Belk who still see the value of school libraries enough to make such a huge investment in them.
We are excited about the opportunity to transform our circa 1980 library into a 2016 Innovation Lab and Learning Commons.
We are curious to know what ideas you have for our new space.
With no further ado, here is our video.
We are grateful to companies like Belk who still see the value of school libraries enough to make such a huge investment in them.
We are excited about the opportunity to transform our circa 1980 library into a 2016 Innovation Lab and Learning Commons.
We are curious to know what ideas you have for our new space.
With no further ado, here is our video.