#WILU2023 takeaways

I wish the presentations were already posted online as there were tools and tips I was too late to get via my phone but here it is: What I Did At WILU2023. Rather than one Very Long Post or one-per-session, I thought it'd be easier if I wrote up my notes and linked to those…

Back in person #NEAISL23

No, not for work. For conferences - specifically, the NEAISL conference. Our hosts had planed to host in April 2020, but, well, a little thing called the pandemic lockdown interfered. It was a great way for me and the other librarians to reflect on what we'd done during the lockdown to reach students and faculty…

If I ruled Research Season

(written at the end of the first week of Research Season Part I at Milton, US History) On the one hand, I think it's important that our students learn to do academic research, leading up to a 10+ page paper (and by + I mean anywhere from 10-30 pages) that synthesizes sources from secondary to…

What’s missing?

I've been hearing this more and more from friends both at work and at other schools: students are missing [skill]. Sometimes that skill is something that used to be taught, but given the COVID changes, just slipped through the cracks as content was watered down due to hybrid or online teaching. Sometimes it's a "soft…

As I think about What’s Next

Many years ago, as a Baby Librarian, I realized I was the youngest in the room at many AASL committee meetings. Now, "baby" was in her 30s, so that didn't feel quite right. And I've blogged about many of my issues with AASL (and ALA) before. I'm no longer the youngest, but sadly, many of…

Minor Musings

Wow, it's been a while since I did one of these.  As we move into the Winter Break season, here are some links to enjoy/bookmark/get inspiration from. Books, Reading, etc. The Cybils are always a good RA tool, and now they have playlists!  What could be better to share with students? Yes, this is a…

October, a month of challenges

Maybe it’s just at Milton, but October is one of those months that starts… and stops… and starts again. Weekly. Between the Jewish High Holidays, a Wednesday for PSATs/Community Engagement/college stuff, Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day, and Upper School Family Weekend/Diwali, we haven’t had a complete week. And next week, with a late start for professional development…

And we’re off!

Another year starts, and I'm not at all prepared. Because we're a multi-division department, scheduling pre-class department meetings is impossible, and there are a few other things preventing us from actually moving forward. I hope to get there soon. Still, it hasn't been all bad. For example, we were able to process all our new…

All the things

I was just in a conversation with the number of other librarians, two of whom are brand-new to their schools. Both talked about “doing all the things” in their new space and I worry about that -- you can’t do all the things in every place, you’ll burn out. It also ignores the reality on…

Roadblocks

There was a great comment on my post If I were in charge, in which the question "what roadblocks prevent you from trying this out?" How long do you have? Seriously, this is one of the realities of independent school librarianship (and probably public school librarians will also agree): faculty do not always feel the…