The PRIDE of Fairview

I am sorry that it has been so long before I updated the news at the LMC.  Perhaps it was because we recieved over 500 books into the library collection during the month of April.  Some of the snags along the way are consuming my time in May.  However, we are pleased with the year. 

I remind you to visit the school web site and go to the LMC page http://www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/fairview

 I am trying to put up short video clips with quick reviews of the new books that we have received.  I probably won’t get them completed before the end of the year but will have them ready for fall.  Hopefully this will be a quick and interesting way for students to get a taste of the different books that the LMC has to offer.  Parents likewise can click on the clip and get an idea of what is available for their students.

You will also find some podcasts (audio) presented by students reviewing different magazines that the library now has on hand.  Some of them are not well known titles but are written by kids for kids.  I wonder if there would be any interest in publishing a Fairview Magazine of student work?  How to finance that undertaking is a big thought.

This Friday May 26th is the last day for checking out books.  It will take the next two weeks to get all the books returned and the overdues found and returned.  I want to thank Mrs. C and Ms. P for the great work that they do.  They also have the big job of inventorying the entire collection.  This is no little task as we have 18, 353 books/materials in the LMC.  The effort is to streamline our organization so that every item on the shelf is current, and in good condition for students to use.  My time of late has been devoted to weeding.  Until this year, I had no idea of what weeding a library was all about.  It involves removing books that are out of date, (published before 1980), poor condition, (torn and marked up), or irrelevant to the curriculum, (using pictures of a dial telephone for instance).  The weeding process also involves checking the call number to see if it fits the use intended.  Many times I find books that have never been checked out because no one would look for them on the shelf with their present call number.  The focus this year has been on making sure we have a collection of books that current, reflect new trends or interests and that appeal to all students k-8.  Now we have the materials; the next step will be to make the students aware of the materials and easy for them to access.

Don’t forget to visit the blog, Lion’s Lair for book reviews  mathnut.edublogs.org

and if you are an educator take a look at read&write  wordsetc.edublogs.org