Amy Townsley's Bookish Corner

  I enjoyed comparing different online public access catalogs through Capterra  with my partner this week. This is an incredibly helpful website for librarians to make informed decisions about what library management system fits best their needs.  I am currently using Follett Destiny and always thinking about areas of improvement and costs, so I found this week's module very practical and helpful. I am posting our comparison to reference later on and am looking forward to reading through other team presentations. The analysis includes our interview notes as well. I have found Follett, although widely used, to be somewhat clunky but am thrilled to have discovered as a result of the class discussion that I do have access to Titlewave for in-depth analysis and genre tags. This is an incredibly useful tool. I am currently working with our school's IT Department to help give access to students so they can log into their accounts (as well as working with the Administration to ...

 I know-- most people still think of librarians and Library Science as rigid but I actually think there is a lot of creativity necessary to be able to successfully push forward as substantial changes are being made within the school libraries. I think the biggest takeaway from Kaplan's book was that there is room for decision-making based on the library situation. I found Kaplan's first chapter in Catalog It!  to be the most helpful for me in terms of finally learning about how we can best, "...move information from the source to the user" which is contingent upon how information is organized. A big takeaway too from this chapter was that "smaller libraries have muddled through by adapting rules when possible or simply creating their own" but that "in today's world of online catalogs and Web access to catalogs, it is not only impossible but also unwise to ignore cataloging standards." Chapter 4 was also helpful in articulating the "why...

 Topic: selection of Professional Development article- [1] why you chose this one, [2] what the main thrust of the article is, [3] what did you take away from it.   As mentioned in my discussion post this week, I picked Keeling's article, "The AASL Planning Guide: A District Guide to Powerful Professional Development" because there is currently no centralized district librarian/supervisor in the school district I started working in recently and my many questions about what/how to best implement research lessons with departments has led me to so many questions about what incoming freshman do and don't know about how to research for papers and projects. Although I have worked hard to meet with the other librarians in the elementary schools (there is no librarian in the middles school), I feel like at minimum, centralized best practices and check-in must exist for students to have a consistent experience.   As also mentioned in my discussion post, I wrote that "...I...

It was helpful to revisit reading and previous blog exploration of top tools...but HARD to identify top five tools on my list after discovering the vast amount out there.  So here it goes: 1. The first tool(kit) would be my go-to of all thing Google (classroom, slides, sheets, forms, docs, translate, Jamboard and podcasts)! That is a lot but this would be my number one for sure.  I actually use a lot of these for student evaluation too via forms, for example, and love seeing what kids learn via podcasts and writing). 2. Padlet to promote new books on our library website and get kids involved in their own readers advisory with images. Super easy layout and quick/to the point for easy consumption and good visuals.  3. In terms of design, Canva is my other clear go-to! I love the QR code option, elements, graphs/charts and ease of formatting/download and sharing options... apart from the watermark issues. I use this for making flyers for the newsletter, book clubs promo a...

 The first day of spring AND getting my learn on with fellow school librarians!  That was fun and informative. I really enjoyed the Keynote Speaker, Martin Garnar, Director of Amherst College Library.  I attended The Importance of Policies: Promoting our Principles in Practice with Dr. Garnar. It was very timely and addressed a lot of issues on my mind (helping me face my fears ahem around book challenges). We can be prepared through policy!  For reference as I work on my school's policies:  https://www.mursd.org/page/ school-committee-overview https://z2policy.ctspublish. com/masc/browse/ mendonuptonset/mendonupton/IJL And notes from Session 1: The Importance of Policies  Collection Dev.: Describe the scope and objectives of the collection  Important to their development Identify the people who have the authority to make decisions Identify the criteria used in selection (review- vol as librarian) How make small press materials- as a way to get in revi...

  Image Creator: Rachel Kruzel  Although I hit a lot of walls trying while investigating my school district's assistive and adaptive technology resources and implementation, I learned a great deal about what my school's media center could benefit from and other ways I can support the integration of various technology through student discussion and reading.  Here is a brief summary and links for reference:  Suggestions from Discussion Post Librarians can also work with the aides of students who have special needs to ensure library-vocabulary is loaded onto a student’s chrome book if a student uses a voice-speaking device for communication Large, colorful communication board/signs posted to students to point to, symbols for key items Low-Tech assistance like pencil grips, slant boards, triangular crayons with easy grips available at any station designed for art work or school work. Quiet areas designated for students who need special quiet areas. Wide aisles and e...