Hold, please

I know I haven’t gotten all the 20 tips in yet. Ever feel like you just can’t get out of the mountain of work you need to do? I feel that way now. Author visit, Family Literacy Night…everything is happening at the same time. 20 tips will return after Valentine’s Day. Promise.

VBF

A whole week’s worth

At least I am doing what I said I would do…think about and reflect on each tip, that is. Not happening every day, but that’s okay. Remember, “build and rebuild.” I’m revising my plan with this as I go.

 Tip 8 “Don’t Assume…Test”

This one hits home to me, and is something I am trying to work on right now. After a professional development workshop with teachers earlier this year, I learned that you cannot assume EVER. I assumed something that was not correct and my intentions were not taken for what they were. That is because I assumed that my teachers were doing something one way, but not thinking about other ways. I obviously don’t want to go into very much detail in this blog, but I really learned to put myself in their shoes and to think about professional applications in terms of the classroom teacher—and not as a “we love to read library warrior” all the time. It was a learning experience to say the least and looking back, I”m happy that it happened. I think in the future I will be able to plan better professional development workshops and I will be more “open” with my users in getting their help and advise on the professional development.

Same goes with students. You cannot assume they know something or that they are thinking something…always put yourself in the shoes of your audience before you lose them.  

Tip 9 Observe

I like this tip. It is something I do without really realizing it and perhaps I need to take  it a step further. Our teachers “kid watch.” That is basically observing what students are doing during writer’s workshop or reader’s workshop to see how you can help certain students with specific things. I often observe students searching for things on the Library Catalog or on the Internet, however, many times if I see them searching something the “wrong” way, I jump in to help. I think what I will try to do is watch what they are doing. If I see them on Google, I will give them time to actually search. See what they put in as a search term. And then take it from there next time I teach search strategies. By jumping in everytime, I don’t think I am allowing them to become independent users of information. I am not at their home when they are searching for something. They need to be able to do it on their own. I can learn what they know now by quietly observing them. I will try to do that more.

Tip 10 Have a Vision and Dream Big

This tip is about moving forward. Don’t remain static. Don’t be happy with the way things are. Continue to have a vision that you update. Dream big when coming up with new ideas for your library program. This summer, I want an “extreme makeover” of sorts in my library. This is the 5th year the decoration has been the same. Many of the things I do, from my newsletter to my signs to my lessons are the same every year, except with a few updates thrown in every now and then. I think that I will start to Dream BIG and rethink my vision for the library. I love the public school schedule for this very reason. Every year you are able to start over. Change things that went wrong the year before. Revise things that worked….almost. Dream Big.

Tip 11 Ask the Three Magic Questions

What keeps you awake at night?

If you could solve only one problem at work, what would it be?

If you could change one thing and one thing only, what would it be?

These certainly are “magic” questions. I wonder if they would work as survey questions?

Tip 12 Never underestimate the customer

I don’ t think I underestimate my customers. I may underestimate their needs at times, but not the customer themselves.

Tip 13 Seek the real customer

This tip is important. Whenever I get stressed out and I think to myself that I could maybe try the public library for a little bit, I remember why I am a school librarian. It is not for other school librarians, it is not for administrators at the district level, it is for the students. THEY are my real customer. My teachers are another REAL customer. Students and teachers at DFES are the customers that I need to keep in mind and do things FIRST. Everyone else is a customer…they use my services. However, they are not the first priority. My students and teachers are. I have to remember that.

3 tips in one day

Harder than I thought to do a tip a day! Ack! 

5. Remember the 15% Rule

To me, this tip is saying that for users to notice a change, it has to be a sufficient change (or at least a 15% change). I’m not sure that I agree with this tip. I make small changes often and I think that they do get noticed. Sure, I make large changes sometimes too and of course those are noticed, but the small changes are noticed too. What do you think? I think small changes add up to something that users notice…maybe not right away, but eventually. And, honestly, I think small changes are sometimes better. If I were making big changes often, my teachers and students would not be happy…they would be confused!

6. Get Out of Your Box!

I agree with this tip. And, I can learn from this tip. It’s not the usual “get of your box” idea. The idea here is to think about your audience and do things for them with them in mind. We often think that is what we are doing, but it’s not always so. In November, I learned this the hard way. And, I continue to learn it, actually. In November, I did a presentation for my teachers about the new lexile search in our library catalog. I thought that I was helping them figure out ways to use it with students and for students. However, what I was showing them was in conflict with what they were being told by administration (at least, that is how they took it). I never put myself in their shoes when planning my presentation and I was at fault for that. Now, when I plan to speak in front of a group of non-librarians, I need to really think and put myself in their box. That is something I am learning to do.

7. “Productize”

This one hits home, especially for school libraries. Very often, teachers and administrators and parents do not really know what “we” (school librarians) do. I think it is something easier to understand the importance of a public librarian. They go to the public library when they NEED information. They go there because there is a storytime or they know that someone in the children’s area has a handle on what their child likes to read, so they take them there to get good books for “fun” reading. In a school library, you are part of the staff. They know what the classroom teacher does, but other “specials” like art, library, music are sometimes looked at as “babysitters” or extra. A break for the classroom teacher. On one hand, that is one purpose. If it weren’t for specials, classroom teachers would not have breaks during the day for planning. However, we all serve a larger purpose. We have standards and curriculum needs that we have to meet and give to our students. Without us, students would not be well rounded at all. Would not be encouraged to be artists or musicians. With all that said, this tip tells us that we have to SHOW what we do. We have to spell it out, name it, and shout it out to the masses. If we don’t tell people about our product they will never know what we do. A sidenote from me: we have to tell them about our product in a POSITIVE way.

VBF

2 tips in one day

I knew it would happen, you knew it would happen…I went  a day without posting the tip. It will probably happen again. At least until this becomes habit.

Tip 3. Prefer Action over Study

When I read this tip, I thought of my school district. We meet to discuss data and to have “grand conversations” about how to teach our students. We talk and talk and talk and learn and learn and learn but rarely do we have time to go back and put these things we learn into ACTION. As a profession, librarians do a lot of talk and not a lot of action. I have been thinking about this alot with my district and our group. We have a lot of ideas on how things should be (book rooms, classroom collections, schedules, technologies, etc.). Our ideas are good and they are valid, however, we do not ACT on them often enough. How do you change from talk to action?

Tip 4. Build and Rebuild

“Brainstorm, mock up, build, alpha, rebuild, beta, pilot, test, launch, evaluate, redo.”

I love this. This is how we should think about our library media programs. The tip states that you should not ever skip a step, however, I know in my school library I often “brainstorm, build, launch, evaluate, redo.” I am skipping lots of steps at first. I think as I do something and evaluate it, I add more of the steps each time. Every year, things are different. You figure out easier ways of doing things. You figure out what works for certain grade levels and what doesn’t. You learn not to take on so much that will cause YOU to spend too much time on one thing. It isn’t fun anymore when something starts to consume you too, too much.

In other news, not so professional, it is my birthday.

LG

It’s the space between the steps

2. It’s the space between the steps

This tip talks about how often you change something like a website, program, etc. You have to constantly and regularly change some things to keep them “dynamic and engaging.” I feel like this is a tip I already use in my professional life. I do know that my webpage could use an overhaul, but I don’t think I am talking “extreme makeover” here, because I have regularly updated it. I know the layout, furniture, etc. of the Library Media Center needs to be freshened up…again, I have regularly changed some things, so I don’t have too much to do. I would like to make some program changes at school. Again, I am sort of always changing things, so no one will be surprised.

Some things have to change to remain fresh and interesting to users. That’s what I take from this tip. I am thankful for my school librarian schedule, because the summer gives me a chance to revamp the website, the library, and any programs I want to change. I think I would have more trouble with this if I were in any other kind of library.

How do you make sure your library program stays engaging to your users?

Good, Not Perfect

Still trying to figure out Think.com….it’s not hard, it’s just hard to find the time to sit and play. Has anyone used Think.com for blogs with elementary students? If so, tell me about it!

In the January 2007 American Libraries (nice format change, AL) there is an interesting article by Stephen Abram called “20 tips to inspire innovation.” This list of 20 things is perfect to think about and reflect on for the new year. So, that’s what I intend to do here for the next 20 days.

1. Good, Not Perfect

The first thing I thought of when I read the title of this tip was of a book Marty and I are reading Good to Great. The book is for small business (or large business) and gives examples of things companies do to make them GREAT instead of just GOOD. So, when I saw “good, not perfect,” right away I thought that perhaps this would be conflicting with the book I am reading. Not so.

Tip one states “perfection as an attitude gets in the way” of (my thoughts here) growth. When you strive for so much perfection and aren’t happy until something is perfect, you will never be happy! Abram says that when libraries were just houses of print books, maybe then it was possible to be perfect. You had one thing and you became “perfect” with everything having to do with that one thing. Now, we are doing and are houses of…everything. In my elementary school library I have magazines, DVDs, VHS tapes, professional books, books for students, books for only teachers, books for only myself, back issues of professional journals, computers, cords, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, old equipment, broken equipment, plans for new equipment I want to buy–I am talking EVERYTHING! I cannot strive for perfection when it comes to how organized my workroom is or that everything is included in inventory the moment it arrives/before a teacher wants to use it. If I strive for “good enough” and realize when a plan is “good enough,” I should feel okay with that.

What can I get from Tip 1 to make my life better? I need to realize that I am doing the best I can. Our equipment is in inventory; magazines for students and teachers are organized and my assistant and I know where to find what teachers need if they don’t know how to find it; yes, we have lots of DVDs, VHS tapes, etc. and yes, we know what we have and again, we know how to locate what teachers need. I feel that in areas where I have decided I can be “perfect,” I am NOT perfect, but THAT’S OKAY. I have certainly reached a point where “good enough is good enough.” And, I am happy with that.