Library Issues

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Libraries and Laptops and Labs … Oh My!

We just acquired a mobile laptop cart.  It has made scheduling both easier and more complex.

Our procedures are designed to accomplish 3 major objectives:

FIRST (and most important) – Provide classes with maximum access to computers.

SECOND – Maintain the library as the “go to” place for all research needs.

THIRD – Minimize wear and tear and vandalism of the equipment.

Here’s what we have shared with the teachers:

Laptops and Libraries and Labs … Oh My!

I will let you know how this works for us.  If you have any ideas, tips, war stories etc.  – please share 🙂

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The Library As Convention Center?

A teacher was just here with his class. He is a very tech-savvy teacher who is invested in his students learning 21st century skills.  He came up with an interesting analogy for how libraries are used today – at least in our school.

After talking about various space and resource scheduling issues, he said:  “It’s almost as if what you are running here is a convention center.”

Interesting concept.  Those of you who are struggling with an architect who lacks vision, might use that analogy to help explain how a school library functions and the need for space and computers as well as print resources.  Not to mention quiet areas.

We talked about the limitations of the physical space in our school and especially in the library itself, including all the issues involved when signing up a class for the library and/or computer labs:

1.  Do we have enough computers for the number of students?

2.  Is the project one that can use our print resources, or is it totally dependent on computers?

3.  Will the teacher and librarian need to do some teaching before the kids launch into research?

4.  Is the library the best place to do that, or should we use the classroom for part of the time?

5.  Is there a regular class (such as video production) that meets in the lab, closing it for any other use that period?

6.  If the project involves research and the 15 library computers are being used, are there enough tables free so that another research class can use the mobile netbooks at the tables?

7.  If we have 2 classes in our tiny library, will it work if there is a significant teaching going on during one or both the classes? (Can you tell -I don’t have a teaching area in this library?)

8.  If it is a non-research computer project, then can the mobile lab be used in the classroom to free up library space for others?

9.  Will the project need access to resources blocked by the filter, and how will we handle that?

(I just have to ask for the bazillianth time – What WAS our architect thinking when he said – “The internet is taking the place of the library, so you will not need much space.”)

Hmmm…. A convention center where the library staff is responsible for allocation of resources – along with the “workshop” content.  No wonder we are tired at the end of the day!

P.S.  Does anyone honestly believe that an online scheduling program could adjust for so many variables?

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Expanding the library walls

Many schools are purchasing mobile computer labs.  A possible downside is what a recent LM_NET post referred to as a “library detour”.  Teachers bypass the library (and the librarian) in favor of having kids researching in the classroom …. sans librarian.

One practical suggestion to avoid this downside to mobile labs……?  Volunteer to be in charge of scheduling the labs.  I do not have mobile labs – but we might have them in the future.  I plan to handle that situation the same way I handled computer labs when they were added.  Volunteer to take over the scheduling duties.

Right now, the teachers come to me to schedule the stationary labs.  If they are doing an online lab etc.,  I simply schedule their classes into a lab.  However, if they are doing research, I schedule the computer lab AND myself, AND the library (or at least a cart of books).  I have a form that references information literacy standards, so it is immediately obvious that there is a curriculum requirement that needs to be met.

When/if we have mobile computer labs, they will also be scheduled via the library department.  I am hoping to have one mobile lab that stays here (for the most part) to add to the current 15 library computers.  This will allow students to work with books and laptops at tables, providing a more seamless research experience.  The other mobile lab will be reserved for classroom use.  BUT – mobile labs will have to be scheduled by us, and returned to us for recharging.  Yes … I know….that will be a lot of work.  I am blessed to have an assistant.  Not every one is so fortunate.  I also know that many schools schedule lab use via a lab assistant.  If that is the case, then the librarian can check the schedule regularly and make teacher contacts where appropriate.

It is a matter of a small shift in mind-set – research and libraries are no longer bound by library walls.  Research means information literacy, and information literacy should automatically involve librarians.  Furthermore, the library and the librarian are NOT synonymous.  The librarian is as mobile as any mobile lab – and a whole lot smarter! 🙂 He/she can, should and does travel to where the need is – whether in the library, in a stationary lab, or in the classroom with a mobile lab.  Teachers and librarians have worked together with students in the library for years.  Teachers and librarians can work together just as easily in the classroom.

This might be a big paradigm shift for some teachers – but it isn’t a big leap for us.  We are used to being flexible …… not to mention mobile! 🙂

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“Head, Heart & Hands”

Probably blocked by BESS, our beloved filter.  Incredibly well worth watching – at home if you have to.

My favorite part:

“This is what we need….  If you want to see what kids have learned – give them a project.  Dare them to show you what they can do with the work of their own “head, heart and hands”. That’s when you’ll get kids engaged.  That’s when you’ll get kids learning, and that’s when you’ll get kids who can change the world.

…and Technology needs to be like oxygen – ubiquitous, necessary & invisible.  We need to not think about it – it just needs to be there.”

The Schools We Need – Video

The Schools We Need – Slide Show

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A happiness formula? Have To or Get To.

In Have To or Get To,  Doug Johnson challenges us to create a “short list” of what makes us happy in our jobs.  I think he and Seth Godin are definitely onto something.

The higher the percentage of things you “get to do” as opposed to “have to do,” the greater the likelihood of happiness and success.

“If you won the lottery tomorrow and never HAD to work again, what things do you do at work that you would continue to do?”

Here’s my list:

  • I’d still want to talk about books with teenagers.  Don’t know exactly how to do that if I didn’t work in a school anymore.  Hanging out on MySpace makes we worry that someone from Dateline might pop out at me with a video camera.  Still – maybe public libraries would be open to book discussion groups with guest adult facilitators.
  • I’d still want to work with new books – I’d miss that wonderful smell.  Maybe I could find an understanding librarian somewhere who would call me when there were boxes of new books to open.
  • I’d still study library trends.
  • I’d still want to work on a library related website.
  • I’d still blog about libraries.
  • I’d still want to do workshops that would help busy school librarians make new technologies work for their students and teachers.

Doug goes on to ask:

How do we encourage those poor people who seem to live an entire work-life of “have to’s” to find a more fitting position?

I’m afraid I have no answers for that right at the moment.

Instead I’d like to ask a related question…. How can we redesign school so kids can “get to” do stuff they like at least part of the day – and not just lunch or recess.?

If we could figure out a way to answer that question – maybe we’d be more help to our students who don’t fit easily into the school mold.