Library story

These are not my words but I thought the story too important to lose so I'm putting it here.
Crutcho Public School

Four years ago a woman I know, surveyed 6th grade students at Crutcho school. This was her first year at this school as their new librarian. She asked, "Do you ever read a book because you want to, not because you have to?" Answer: No She asked another question, "What was the last book you read that you liked?" Answer: none or Cat in the Hat in second grade.

The library had been closed and books were piled everywhere. Nothing was organized much less cataloged. Most students hadn't ever been in the library.
Things have changed since that first encounter. Now they are not only reading but they are particular about what they read. They browse the books and they will say things like, " Oooh so and so will like that one. He likes this or that author or this or that type of book." So not only are they reading they are also discussing the books. They talk about the books with their new librarian and request certain books that are not available in their library.

There are just over 300 students kindergarten through 8th grade. The librarian estimates that about 1000 items are being circulated per week now as compared to zero just 2 years ago. The students are in the hall waiting to get into the library at 7:45 a.m. They are sneaking in during their lunch hour. They're upset when the librarian isn't in the library to check out books.

She began leaving a clipboard for them to record their names, the names of the books, and the barcodes so children could check out on their own when she wasn't available. She says that if she is away from the library for 20 minutes she returns to a clipboard filled with names and book titles. The children have become readers that value the books and their library.

She gets donations from other places like Feed the Children but the books are mostly old and not of much interest to her students. Those books that can't go into the collection, go out on shelves in the hallways for students to take away and keep if they like. She also puts tables full of books and magazines out at parent/teacher conferences and invites parents to take what they want. The first couple of years people would just take everything they could get just because it was free. This year she noticed that parents were actually sifting through the books and asking questions like, "Is this a good book for my 3rd grader?" or getting excited because there was a dictionary that they could take home.

She told me that all donated books are very much appreciated but about 90% of the books from our discards are added to her collection mostly because they are of interest to her students. They are the type of books that the kids want to read. Our teen librarian keeps up with what teens want to read, what is hot on the market, and what is pertenent to the times. She weeds regularly to make room for more of what the teens want which benefits the teens in our library and in Crutcho. I give this school librian a lot of credit. She hauls heavy boxes of donated books to the school, goes through them all and then does all the cataloging and shelving by herself that our whole library system staff does to make our libraries the great places that they are. She loves her library and her students and what she has done will make a difference!

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

One of the books that I read for my current MLIS readers advisory is called Daemon by Daniel Suarez. http://thedaemon.com/ It is about changing the economic environment of the globe. The idea is forced on the world by a dead man who was a gifted gaming programmer and the head of a company that runs a MMOG that is incredibly popular. His daemon (a computer program) that is activated upon his demise creates situations and objects that ultimately will bring down the "old boy" network and way of doing things. Of course the US government is not about to let that happen and violence, death and destruction ensue. It would probably make a terrific movie. You might like it if you have any time for recreational reading.