on summer in the library…

School schedules out here in the the middle of the Pacific run a little earlier than is typical for most AISL schools so as I hit the button labeled “Publish..” on this post I am officially on my first day of SUMMER VACATION!!! #Yay!!!

This was actually on my laptop for a while at the end of the year. #WhateverItTakes

I don’t know how the rest of you hold up over the course of a school year, but I was running on fumes there at the end. I could not ask for better kids or faculty to work with here at Mid-Pacific. My faculty is great and kids are respectful and pretty amazing, but for me the end of a school year is still THE END OF A SCHOOL YEAR and as the end of the year approaches I tend to struggle with emotional and mental fatigue more than anything else.

If you are on a more traditional school calendar, take solace in the fact that when I fling the doors of my library open wide and welcome our kids and faculty back for the start of the 2019-2020 school year in early August, most of you will still have a month of vacation left to enjoy! It all evens out in the end!

The two MLIS librarians here are on the same contract as teachers except that we also split our six week summer session to staff the library during our six week summer session. I’ve actually come to enjoy working for a part of the summer. Summer days end at noon and there are fewer students on campus so we have time to take care of tasks that need to be done, but which always get put on a back burner in order to accommodate more pressing needs.

My Summer To-Do List:

  • Unpublish all of our Research and Project Libguides pages – I like to unpublish (but not delete) all of our project libguides pages even if I know that a project will run again in some form in the new school year. Unpublishing requires teachers to contact us when a project is being introduced which allows us to check links, add new resources, delete sources that are no longer relevant, and enter into collaborative discussions with teachers about how we, together, can work to tweak and improve on the the work.
  • Revise the Library’s Website(s) – We will be launching a new learning management system campus-wide in the fall and we anticipate major changes to students’ and teachers’ workflows. We are working on revising our web portals so students and teachers can get from their course or project pages to the tools and content they need from our library sites as seamlessly as possible. As a 1:1 iPad school, we’re focusing on designing specifically to optimize the iPad experience on Library site(s) as that is the way that our kids access our online resources the vast majority of the time.
  • Set-up and Clean-up of NoodleTools Accounts – We need to delete our recent graduates’ accounts, upload account info for new students, and revalidate accounts for returning students.
  • Inventory – It’s inventory… #Sigh
  • Paint Circ Desk with Chalkboard Paint – Primer, paint, rollers, and brushes are in hand. We just haven’t had any time to do the painting.
  • Replace Whiteboards on Carts – We mounted dry erase boards on rolling carts a few years ago. They’ve ghosted over the years so we’re treating ourselves to new boards for the fall!
  • Develop Discipline-Specific Samples of Information Literacy Instruction Concepts and Skills – Our Administration will be asking Department Chairs to schedule us into their department meetings in the fall so we can introduce new resources; remind teachers about resources they may have forgotten; and, hopefully, finding NEW, BETTER, and MORE ways to collaborate with them in the coming year.

That’s my, I’m very sure, incomplete list of things to do this summer. I’d very much like to know, however, what kinds of things are on your list so please hit reply below and let me know!

Have a wonderful, restful, well-deserved summer break, all!

This is, basically, me for the next three days…

9 thoughts on “on summer in the library…

  1. Ok, first—that gif is everything! #nappinggoals

    I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I became head librarian last year, and worked a LOT last summer. This year could be less, but we run a lot I’d dummer camps now, and I want teachers to have access to the library. (I also don’t want 400 books to shelve when we come back!). So I’m considering what hours would be appropriate. Also what adjustment to my salary might be necessary.

    • I know exactly what you mean! Last year, I worked on our EDS set-up and thought all was good, then an EZProxy update went wonky and I spent a lot of time fixing links on our database page. Some summers are gentle. Some summers end up being like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Hahaha! Hope you get things figured out with your contract! Good luck!

  2. OMG. That post-it. I need one of those.

    I tend to come and go over the summer – I usually do a few days here and there, working on projects that I just haven’t had time to get to over the regular school year. This summer, I plan to:
    1. Reconcile my non-fiction collection. I have three separate non-fiction runs going (the main one, and two much smaller ones). Students should not have to look in more than one spot for a book.
    2. Re-classify my Fairy Tales. In my previous library I had them grouped by Fairy Tale – here they are just all in 398.2 arranged by author last name, and it drives me crazy that all the Cinderella adaptations are not together (for example).
    3. Weed and buy lots of new books for the Early Readers section. My Lego and Star Wars ERs get a lot of circulation, but everything else just gets lost. I plan to get rid of some of the unloved titles, and buy bins to organize them so students can actually see what is there!
    4. The usual weeding, planning for next year, finally reading all the SLJs that have piled up on my desk over the year, uploading patrons onto Destiny (this last one always takes me longer than I think it will),
    5. Inventory (I don’t mind it – a great chance to catch up on all those podcasts lurking on my phone)

    And then there’s the AISL work over the summer. This year the wiki is my focus, but there’s also the usual website updates, social media maintenance etc etc

    Happy summer!

    • Re-classifying fairytales is going to go on my list!

      The story behind the post-it is that I had an interaction with a young man that went sideways to the point that I tracked him down on campus the next day and apologized. Like most kids, he was understanding and forgiving so things worked out. It made me realize that I needed a major attitude reset. The post-it actually REALLY HELPED!!! It was just a tangible reminder about what ACTUALLY MATTERS at the end of the day!

      Thanks for sharing your list!

  3. That’s a great to-do list!
    I agree about inventory; I usually do the bulk of it at the beginning of the summer/during inservice, when I can put in earbuds and listen to an audiobook. This time I’ll have to queue up some good podcast episodes. Any suggestions??

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