A reading culture. Words my ears savor, and words I love to say often. After ten years of building a reading culture at my school, it was time to tackle the next goal: renovating the library. To support the high volume of checkouts, the increased presence of students, and the number of elementary library classes, it was time to improve the library space. 

Two years of preparation were needed for the library addition to take shape. The process was challenging to convince administrators and board members that enlarging the library space was a necessity for our growing district. I attended several workshops that gave me points to ponder on how to approach this money-taxing project and how it could be made possible with fewer dollars. First, I outlined the necessity of space for our elementary students. It was once shared with me that the percentage of space should be equivalent to the percentage of students I serve at each level. Elementary students frequent the library more often than the middle and high school students; however, the space in the library tended to appeal to the older students. Second, the number of books in the square footage of the library meant very little space for teaching, learning, or relaxing. Third, it was time to upgrade our facilities for the growth of our district (and continue to find more room for books!). Finally, I convinced a National Honor Society member to tackle the process of reorganizing the library as her Individual Service Project. It was a win-win situation for us both! And, the administration along with the board members were ready to make this library addition happen. 

In the summer of 2018, the preparation for enlarging the library finally came to fruition. The preschool classroom located next to the library was vacated because the building across the street was purchased for the Tiny Tiger Early Learning Center.  An opportunity for making more space for books! A large doorway was created in the wall to connect the library and the old preschool classroom. This created an opportunity for an elementary section and a middle school/high school section for the library. The moving of bookcases, books, and furniture were completed by the NHS member. Her project also included painting the rooms, storing and reshelving the books (over 15,000). It was quite the project for her, but I am so grateful she was part of the process. Her eye for design and detail were invaluable. This endeavor made the elementary room of the library larger and allowed for library classes to be conducted more easily while other students peruse the shelves. I also purchased shelves that were lower so our young patrons no longer needed to use stools to reach the books on the top shelves. Our shelves are no longer “stuffed” so students can retrieve books more easily. 

I am a proponent of the idea that the library is the heart of the school. I want students to feel safe and comfortable in the library environment. This project gives students the opportunity to feel good about coming to an environment that supports their reading needs. Creating an addition to our library only enhanced the reading culture that was already thriving in our district. 

By Mary Gregoski

Submitted by NSLA President, Angie Blankenship

Whether you are teaching students in person or remotely or a little of both, it’s important to make sure all learners are engaged.  Here are my favorite tips for helping remote learners stay in touch with what is happening in their classrooms.

1. Greet your learners. When we greet students at the door, they feel welcome, connected, and ready to learn. Greet each student by name as they enter your virtual classroom.  If you are teaching remote and in-person students, turn your camera around to give your remote learners a chance to greet their in-person classmates and vice versa.  Make things more fun by using special greetings like air high fives, waves, or fist bumps.
   
2. Don’t forget the power of breakout rooms, if you can use them.  I generally thought breakout rooms were only for group work, but I was so wrong!  You can send students to individual breakout rooms to work quietly or conference with them.  The bonus is you can virtually hop from room to room checking in on your students.  Imagine the power of using breakout rooms to make book recommendations to students and learn more about what they like to read.
   
3. Please, please, display picture book pages!  Okay, I have to hop on my soapbox here.  Please use an ebook or a document camera to display book pages.  Remote learners and in-person learners can not see detailed illustrations or follow along with you as you read if you just hold the book up to the camera.  Your hand is going to shake, you can’t zoom in, and it’s just not going to look good.  Take the time to learn how to use technology to make sure your learners can enjoy the books.  Students can’t enjoy books they cannot see.
   

If you need more ideas, you only need to harness the power of the web or social media to see the innovative ways teachers and librarians engage with remote learners. What great ideas will you discover?
Contributed by:
Joy Harvey, Coordinator of Library Services for the Lincoln Public Schools

Like many of you, school librarian summers are spent catching up on books to share with my students and thinking and rethinking ways to engage students and teachers in our library.  This summer, however, was much different.  Measuring tape in hand and library map prepared, I spent the summer calculating how many students I could safely fit into the library and what six foot of social distancing looks like. I worried, I freaked out a bit, and I’m on level 520 of Bubble Pop.  In the end, I sat down and prepared a two page document of library operating procedures for the coming school year.  I had to let a few things go to make room for safety procedures.  The end game was to keep students in our library and build a robust digital platform to serve every one of our 1800 students regardless of their location - school or home. 

In my heart, I felt the least prepared I have ever felt before the first day of school.  However, when the students hit the halls and the questions started rolling in, I did what comes naturally.  I helped, problem solved, directed, and escorted a few shaky freshmen to their classes.  I worked with teachers through the kinks of the Google Classroom transition knowing whatever came our way, it was the platform that would support learning. The worries of the summer fell away and within our safety procedures, we rolled. We helped.  And we persisted.  

School librarians have an opportunity to take a seat at the table providing resources and support to meet the needs of students in large and small ways. As our teachers rethink their instruction plans, we can offer collaboration and insight. Rethinking the workflow in our libraries shows our students ingenuity and grit. We can move through this season of uncertainty with courage. My hope for all of you this fall as school opens in whatever capacity, is that you roll and you persist. 

​By Cynthia Stogdill

How does it compare? In July 2019, we had 334 active memberships. Our membership rate is a bit lower at this time. However, these are unique times and our offerings to Nebraska school librarians have not depended upon membership for access.

The good news... Our membership is growing. We had 15 new memberships from March 2020 to July 2020.

More good news... No emails "bounced back" when members were emailed about summer PD opportunities from the contactnsla@gmail.com email address. This shows that our members are receiving important information at this time. If you switched districts or retired, please email the above address to update NSLA.

All new memberships... New memberships received from July 28 through September 30 will automatically be extended to September 30, 2021 and will not need to renew in 2020.

IMPORTANT AS WE LOOK AHEAD: In August, members will begin to receive information about the NSLA School Librarians Day in October as well as membership renewals. Current members will receive one of two emails: membership needs to be renewed or membership is active for the upcoming year. September 30 is our universal membership renewal date.

In the face of COVID-19, the NSLA has been able to provide and promote many professional development opportunities through email, social media, and our listserv. None of these opportunities were limited to only NSLA members. Our goals regarding professional development, despite the cancellation of NETA 2020, have been met and exceeded.

In July 2020, the NSLA strengthened its standing committees and established new goals in its action plan. Committee chairs and their contact information can be found on our About NSLA page.

“Ok...Here we go. Focus. Speed.” 
Lightning McQueen says at the start of the movie Cars this famous line. He learns a few lessons along the way, but it still comes back to his finish and how managed to accomplish this task.  

I’d like to add to his two words—attitude and discipline. We need to have all these things at the end of the year. We ask our students to take state tests; we ask our students to wrap up their end-of-the-year projects; we ask her students to show up and continue learning even though the days are really nice outside and they’d rather be somewhere else. 

How about school library? Are we ready to finish strong? What is our focus at the end of the year? I know many times we are “busy” and caught up with other things. You may have requisitions on your plate; you may have weeding; you may have inventory; you may have teachers who want to try something new.  We are librarians. We persevere. We still need to continue and finish strong. Whether it’s students, teachers, your entire school family, I remind you, remember your focus.

Speed...when we’re looking at the rate of things that need to be done between now and the end of the year (and then you throw in having no school), what’s the speed in which we need to accomplish certain tasks? Although sleep is sometimes an afterthought, take care of yourself too. You can’t be up to speed if you’re not up to yourself. How can we have school librarians support our teachers in finishing the end of the year and finishing strong? 

We hear attitude is everything. We teach that attitude is everything. I remind you that you wake up each day and you decide who you’re going to be, you wake up each day and decide how the day is going to go. We are in charge of our lives; we’re in charge of our school library lives. Our attitude determines a lot. The attitude that we as school librarians have is one of the biggest influences in our school. Time to help you with making a connection to project even though we are swamped with things going...we sure do have the time! We always have the attitude that we still need to be there for our students. For some, the book that is checked out from us is the only book they have at home. For some, the conversation they have with us about a book is one positive adult relationship that they have in their life. For some, the library is a place for them to make and create. How can our attitude better support students in their ongoing quest for knowledge? 

Finally, what discipline do we have? This is the 4th quarter—it’s time to dig deep. I myself need to rise to the occasion so I can be a stronger person. What can I learn? What new skills can I gain because then I can export those onto my students? Or better yet, what new books can I read that I can then share with a student? I know on days off from school there are so many other things pulling at me...potentially new books that I want to read, always my housework, the nice days that make me want to be outside, there’s probably something that needs to be organized in my life...but I need to have that discipline to finish what I’m doing.

I challenge you school librarians to have your focus, your speed, your attitude, and your discipline in check and finish strong.

So as we wrap up the final quarter or term of the school year, let’s all finish strong.

​by Crys Bauermeister