10 Things Librarians Should Do Before School is Out

It's the final countdown! Another school year in the books (well, nearly...). Why does it seem like the beginning and end of the year are the most frantic times? 100 million things to do, and not enough time. Here are ten things that can help you prioritize before you go out the doors and into summertime!!

  1. Advertise your library social media accounts. That way people can follow you or at least contact you if they need to. Today's new library doesn't ever close, even during summer. If you keep your social media accounts active, you'll have no problem helping people who may need it from a book recommendation or how to access a database.

Twitter GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Twitter GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

2. Summer and reading go together like ice cream and a spoon. Get out information on how to “check out” books for the summer.  Required reading or pleasure reading? Let staff and students know how to access the campus library e-books. Flyers, online or physical posters, email, social media, websites...whatever it takes, let people know they have access to the virtual library

Reading GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Reading GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

3. We can never escape from it....professional development. We all need it, we all have to have it. So make sure you go for the best.  Start looking at your favorite sites and places you know will have top-notch PD, including webinars. (and if you're in Texas, come to our NTX Libcamp! http://ntxlibcamp.weebly.com/ )

Boxing GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Boxing GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

4. Take your computer (or device you work with the most) home with you. It’ll save you gas money and headaches. I've often said, "Oh, I'll pick it up on the way..." famous last words! Make sure you can get to it quick. And if it's a desktop, welllllll...

Internet GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Internet GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

5. Write down those usernames and passwords. Yes, for your databases but also for ALL THE OTHER things you'll need to remember. Summertime seems to zap memories, especially to whatever you have in the library that needs one (this also includes combination locks too). Don't put yourself in the position of adding to your first week of school frenzy by forgetting them!

Sad GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Sad GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

6. Share your knowledge! It never hurts to have a presentation or two ready for those just in case moments when you may get a message asking if you can present to new teachers/other staff or be a part of summer professional development. And if not, then start creating a kickin' library orientation for the new kids coming to campus in the fall!

Challenge GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Challenge GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

7. Get a copy of next year’s calendar now. Find out when new teachers are coming in, when school actually starts for students, and when each six weeks starts. And you know you're going to get well-prepared teachers who want to reserve the library for next year.

Thumbs Up GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Thumbs Up GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

8. Make of list of your TBR (to be read) and let that be your summer goal. Or at least 3 of the best books on it (decisions decisions!)

Book GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Book GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

9. Meet with local public librarians and see how both of you can collaborate on programs for the summer and possibly for the next school year. Nothing feels better than connecting with your community!

Superman GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Superman GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

10. Make a list of your favorite librarifriends you’d love to spend the weekend with, find an Airbnb on a beach somewhere and send out those e-vites! And if that doesn't pan out, tell them you'll see them at conference for a night out!

telenet GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this telenet GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

2016, Random House

Tessa and Callie were nine years old when Lori was murdered, and it was these two that put the Ohio River Monster behind bars.  Everyone in Fayette, Pennsylvania was relieved this horrible chapter in their lives was over.

Almost ten years have passed and Tessa and Callie are completely different girls.  Callie's life was full of scholarships, friends and a stable family that has continued to live in Fayette despite their family loss.  Tessa, on the other hand, lost her father to the prison system, her sister to her fierce independence, and her mother to who knows where.  She moved to Florida to live with her grandmother and expects to attend university in the fall after working as a waitress to make it happen.

Then the phone call comes...

Tessa once more finds herself in Fayette, but under very different circumstances.  Her father is dying and her once best friend Callie won't talk to her (even though she's staying at her house at the insistence of Callie's mom).  When Tessa goes to the prison to see her father one last time, she is told he died but her sister was there.  Tessa, who hasn't seen her family in ten years, is frantic to find her sister, but the path to her is becoming more difficult than Tessa imagined.

But Fayette hasn't shaken the Ohio River Monster yet.  Everyone thought he was in prison for the rest of his life, but a new trial is slated once again, where new evidence is to be released.  More terrifying is the fact that another girl has been found murdered in the same style as the other victims.  Callie and Tessa are once again confronted with personal tragedy because the victim was a friend of theirs, someone who was in Callie's inner circle.  Coincidence or copycat?

Callie and Tessa decide it's time to confront the past and begin to find answers to the present.  When they begin to pursue this, they have no idea one of them may be the next victim....

Kara Thomas is not only a storyteller, she's a story weaver.  Although this is the main plot of the novel, there are other threads of mystery woven into the lives of the main characters that will catch the reader's attention.  There are no lull moments in this book.  When the unraveling begins, hang on, because it will be a fast and furious ride.  Recommended 9-12th grades

Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick

2016, Little Brown and Company

It all started with a paperback book...

Nanette is the kind of student and child every parent would love to have.  She will be getting a full ride scholarship for soccer, has decent grades, and doesn't party.  But sometimes maintaining  perfection is just waiting to break and all it takes is a catalyst.  In Nanette's case, it was the book The Bubblegum Reaper.

The story is a novel about love, bullies, secret conversations, prom, and a turtle named Unproductive Ted.  But what intrigues Nanette the most is the open ending, which is driving her crazy.  She finds out the author doesn't live far from the high school, so one day she decides to visit him.

Booker meets Nanette for the first time and tells her point blank he doesn't want to discuss the book.  He feels the novel is a part of his past, and one that he'd rather not go back to in memory or action.  Having only been published in paperback, Booker yanked publication after one year and that was that.  Now, Nanette has two very serious problems...the question about what happens to the main character and why Booker seems to not like his own novel.

One good thing does come out of it.  Booker decides it's time for Nanette to meet Alex.  Alex has been writing Booker for quite awhile after reading his book, and Booker believes the two would make the perfect match.  On the evening they meet, Nanette and Alex go right into long conversations about the book, but not really substantial relationally.  But with time, things change.

Alex and Nanette's relationship begins to change in many different ways.  She meets Oliver for the first time.  Alex and Oliver have a symbiotic relationship.  Oliver has a friend, and Alex keeps Oliver safe from bullies.  But Nanette sees something dangerous in Alex, which comes to a full head where her feelings become reality and Alex is sent away.

Alex isn't the only one that's changed either.  Nanette is confused, and not sure who she is or what she wants to do either.  She quits soccer, so her scholarship chances dry up, and throws caution to the wind by cursing at her parents and partying with her old friends.  She doesn't know if she should be the happy one or make others around her happy....and her life falls apart.

A story within a story.  Young people and old people.  Bullies and saviors.  This novel is a mix of opposites, which is the essence of what makes it so good.  Matthew Quick delivers yet another novel that spans readers from young adult to adult.  The parallels the characters draw from the book and the path it leads them down is the hook that the reader will relish, as well as the personal mysteries that may never be solved.  This book may well become the partner of the paperback in this novel, where there is truth to be found and wisdom that needs to be highlighed.  Absolutely delightful!!

Make Your Library Sizzle, Not Fizzle

Awhile ago, I was on Twitter and tweeted:

Librarians,create 2 habits
1.step out from behind your desk
2.make eye contact
People are more important than a desk/screen #tlchat #txlchat

— Naomi Bates (@yabooksandmore) March 29, 2016

I usually put out about two tweets a day (unless you catch me in a Twitterchat) and that day, my phone was dinging with notifications.  Looks like this resonated not only with librarians but educators and administrators as well.  And so, it got me thinking....what are some other things that we, as librarians, could tweak just a little, to make a HUGE impact?  Here is my top five list of
habit-breakers for librarians.

1. Evaluate your signage.  Our signage is used to direct, help, and inform but most all, it's put up to capture the attention of our library users.  But is the attention they're getting positive or negative? Students see enough negative signs telling them not to do this, or don't do that.  Librarians shouldn't fall into that quagmire of "no"s and "nay"s.  We need to rise above it and create signage that makes people at the most, smile and at the least, pay attention without frowning.  With space being a premium in libraries, use it to make our students and users want to obey the signs, not rally against them.

Reaction GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Reaction GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

2. Share and share...and keep sharing. It's difficult to admit the truth, but I'm going to do it...I'm a hoarder.  If I have one cute notepad, I have a hundred.  And I don't use them because they're too cute and I'll find something to do with it later.  Then five years from now, it'll still be there unused and perfectly archived.  That's okay with paper but it ISN'T okay with technology.  What happens if someone breaks it? What happens if it's never returned? This cost a lot of money.  Librarians can become Gollums with technology and over time, it's hard to keep up with all of my preciouses. And then the unthinkable happens - the precious becomes obsolete! So don't hold back on what we've purchased because innately, we purchased them to be used.  Have parameters, but along with that, have faith in your campus and patrons.

Neat GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Neat GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

3.  Look at the role you play.  What does the word librarian mean to you?  What does a librarian say or do?  If you were walking into a library, what would you like to see in a librarian?  Who are you describing?  If you see yourself in the description of a good librarian, that's good.  I believe have traits of a good librarian, but I know I don't possess every single one of them.  Oh,to please the masses!  So tweak what needs to be tweaked and flaunt what you got! And always know you're like (fill in the blank with all SORTS of similes that could work from wine to technology, to a new sweater et al!)...with time it just keeps getting better. 

CBC GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this CBC GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

4. Focus on those other non-librarian things.  It's the small things they don't teach in library school that could have tremendous impact.  Can anyone say feng shui?  Nothing feels as good as stepping into a library that's pleasant to be in. Be intentional in placement.  Be aware of smells (for real!!). Look at patterns and use them to your advantage. Everyone has a creative side!  Try something new, like convo bubbles in book displays or using tabletops for makerspaces (and sit at these for awhile and see what happens!).  Oh, I know there are those out there shaking their heads, thinking they don't have a creative side.  That's okay.  One word to cure that remedy:  Pinterest!

Ariana Grande GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Ariana Grande GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

5. Do something impactful with everything you do in the library. If you read, do so with a goal in mind of what you're going to do with all of those great reads.  If you're online looking at sites, think about how you'll incorporate that into a lesson or with students.  Start creating curated lists of EVERYTHING to whip out when the time is right!  When you're making purchases consider the impact they will have on the library and the patrons you serve.  Don't just be a librarian, BE a librarian!  There is a difference.

Moment GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & Share this Moment GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.