A Guide to
Sequim Middle School Library
Home of the Timberwolf Readers
Welcome back to school! I’m so excited at some of the new things that are going to be happening around the library. In keeping with the wonderful program that Mrs. Chinn created, we stay the course with many of the procedures, activities, and fun that the library established years ago. Hopefully you have all had a chance to let me know a little bit about what you like or ideas for change in the e-mail I sent you. Please let me know if you didn’t receive it so I can add you to my master list.
NITTY GRITTY
Hours –
Librarian Elizabeth Lawson 7:30 – 3:15
Assistant Loretta Grant 8:15 – 2:45 She is invaluable to the library with a whole range of jobs such as assisting students, oversees checking in/out, cataloguing, supervising student assistants, keeps on eye on the lab, maps test, and lots of other extremely helpful tasks.
Library Assistants are in the library pretty much every period. They help with the daily operations, but also complete weekly assignments, put together book displays, and get a weekly grade. Please be patient with them as they learn the ropes.
BASIC SCHEDULE
We run a weekly schedule of Language Arts teachers through the library so we see all kids in the school once a week. They generally meet in the east room.
The west room can be used by signing up on the calendar in that room. Please be polite to others who are having class in the library and enter and exit quietly.
If you don’t have regular scheduled library time but would still like to collaborate together, please give me a call or e-mail.
CURRICULUM
This year I would like to continue working with the Language Arts teachers to collaborate and develop meaningful, curriculum/based library activities. I want to work closely with teachers to teach skills related to appropriate EALRs and GLEs. For the Language Arts teachers, I will send weekly e-mails letting you know what we have planned for the week to come.
SENDING INDIVIDUALS OR SMALL GROUPS OF STUDENTS
It is generally okay to send two or three kids at a time to renew or check out books. Please use the handy library passes we provide. If you need to send more than two or three students, please make arrangements in advance!
CHECK-OUTS AND OVERDUES
Students check-out books for two weeks and reference materials for one day. If a student has overdue materials, they will not be allowed to check out anything until the overdue is resolved. Teachers can checkout materials until the end of the year expect reference materials which are required back in the library after a month.
COMPUTER LABS
This year we have a great opportunity to use two labs. We will organize things a little differently in signing up for both of these labs. When the outlook calendar is up and running, checking to see if someone is using the lab will be a breeze. Here are a few reminders of what we expect when classes are using the lab.
- PLEASE exit and enter QUIETLY! There are other classes being taught.
- If your students finish early, please have something they can work on IN THE LAB. Do not send them out into the library.
- If you are using 305 (Caleb’s old classroom), please use the door OUTSIDE the classroom.
- Make sure all computers are logged off and chairs pushed in.
- If you send small groups down, make sure they have A LIBRARY PASS.
- Test the programs you are going to use in the morning to make sure they are working.
- Have students bring their agendas in case they forget their passwords.
Each student has a account that they need to save all their work on called buckhorn.
Constant reminders are necessary because if they save it on individual computers, it will disappear. A limited amount of zip drives are available for check out but otherwise students cannot access their account unless on a school computer.
We have some great resources that can help you cut down on paper and cost. Please talk with your fellow teachers or myself if you would like to know more.
ESD MEDIA
Webbooking is the best way to order media. See me for help. Materials arrive on Monday morning and must be returned to us by 2:20 on Friday.
Many teachers are now using United Streaming resources which can be downloaded directly from the site. See me for information.
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
We subscribe to Pro-Quest and eLibrary, including the New York Times Historical Newspaper databases.
Our audio books, in either CD or tape, has been very popular. We hope this year to be a little more proactive with our MP3 players allowing kids to load audio books from the public library or specific books from a database we subscribe to.
LIBRARY ACTIVITIES
We have several book groups. The first is a book club and will meet every Wednesday. We do fun activities surrounding books, help the library with important decisions on collection, and will be diving into the realm of an e-zine.
This year we are focusing on promoting reading by trying to involve everyone. Every month we will be holding competitions where the winner will be winning prizes that have been donated by different business in the community. I hope you will be willing to participate not only in the competition but also in Reading Week in March.
PLEASE COME AND VISIT US SOON! WE WOULD LOVE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS!