Coming soon to a library near you

For a number of reasons, our Research Season has shifted. We used to have Part I during February/March, then Part II in March-May. This year we're starting once Spring Break ends and going through May. An even bigger change is that because we've moved, we will no longer have the classes moving from their classrooms…

Minor Musings

Books, Reading, etc. Something to watch out for: books written by AI (they literally can kill you!) Where did slang expressions come from? Green's Dictionary of Slang has some answers. A good argument against most books (spoiler: they could be shorter... or even pamphlets) I should do this with my ~2,000 books. The BBC has…

What a two weeks it’s been

After our slow start, the move continued to throw minor obstacles in our path but - but! - those were minor. The biggest obstacle was when the book move was delayed a week and the only way the truck could unload books into the new space was by parking in front of the Student Center,…

Starting slow

Yesterday the new employees came for orientation, a week-long combination of getting a lot of information about the school and their division, and then an introduction to the DEIJ process. It’s an intense way to start the year… followed by next week’s opening of school meetings with even more information. And people. So many new…

Sneaky peeking

I may have mentioned that we're getting a new library this fall. If not, well... we are. https://media.giphy.com/media/ynQlOIRmCOdLEFvn1Y/giphy.gif In June of 2022 the building being renovated was closed to students and faculty. All the teachers "stuff" was boxed up and either put in storage or into temporary classrooms. We all watched as the quad grew…

School’s out… until August

Today I presented to our alumni at Reunion: The Milton Academy Library: Beyond Books. Then I left campus, vowing for the first time in my career not to come back until August. It's a bit scary, to be honest. In the past, I've either had a project to work on (like changing the books from…

(from the archives) Another “what summer break?” post

I've posted about all the things I've got planned for the summer break before. This isn't that post. This is to point people towards this article, Not Summer Break. The author is talking about how there's the myth of the summer break in education, how many (most) teachers spend their time revisiting their classes and…

Adding some orienteering skills

When I was a child, my father taught me to read a map so I could help navigate on car trips (Mom drove, he would do work or nap while I followed the route). Then, in sixth grade, as part of the leadup to a weeklong class trip, we learned orienteering skills. I'm not sure…

Is it me, or is it just a job?

At this time of year, many (most?) of us in independent schools are getting reappointment letters. It may be too late to fully reassess what your job is or requires, but it may not be too late to make some changes to what next year will look like. I blogged about it earlier. Nancy had…

Naming the problem

If you know me, you know how much I hate (hate's actually too mild a phrase for my feelings) the misuse of the word "name". You know: when someone "just wants to name that this is difficult" or "let's name the issues". NO. No no no no no. You are not "naming" - you're identifying…