Junior High Library .1

Today I'm off to the Junior High School to fill in for one of the teacher librarians. It's a great job and the library is really bright and inviting. The best thing is seeing how many kids borrow. They have a huge turnover of books. I get to give the 'New Book' presentations today which are a lot of fun and the kids come up to the desk eager to reserve the books they've seen. It's a great culture of literature and borrowing that the librarians have generated.

June 2012

This month's reading. How I wish I could speed read...

Dusty titles

Each week I volunteer at the local primary school library. I only get to do an hour or two which is quickly filled with shelving and shelf reading. The collection is a total shambles. The assisstant librarian is in charge as the school hasn't got funding for a librarian let alone a teacher librarian. The poor assistant librarian spends only a few hours on a Friday in the library, the rest of the time she is an integration aide. As a consequence the shelving rarely gets done or students shelve things themselves: upside down, back to front and in the wrong banks altogether. I count at least five books each session which are in the wrong part of the library.
   I asked the harried assistant librarian this morning if we could weed out some of the titles that are covered in dust and haven't been borrowed for over thirty years. 'It's not a priority,' she said. I asked her what was.
   'Keeping the library open, keeping the students borrowing, getting them interested in reading,' she said.
   I would have thought that a contemporary collection would be more attractive to borrowers, but as I'm only a volunteer I don't feel I can push my case.
   She said it was impossible to get any of that other work done when her time was so limited. All she can do is tidy up after the kids.