With the help of Student Council members, our AV librarian, library aide, and many awesome teachers, we got every book moved in the library.  Some students even helped me paint the columns the week before school started. So now, our fiction is up front for all to see. The students love the faceouts on top of the bookshelves because it’s easier to see the great quality of books the previous librarian ordered.

My amazing student aides helped design new signage for fiction with Canva and are proud to see their work on our end caps. Now we are working on more signs for our nonfiction section. Plus, signage for many other spots in the library are coming.

The new cozy reading spot by the window (I was able to create by removing extra shelves) is a big hit with RHS students.  Many times, I’ll think the library is empty, only to wander in the back and find a gaggle of students quietly reading in this cozy spot and other students studying in the classroom area where I have quiet music playing.

The amazing Mr. Mayes built us some new stands for our catalog search stations. They match perfectly and are at the perfect standing height and located in the fiction stacks so now kids can look up a book easily without having to trek back to the front desk.

I’m still working on our showcase, but for now, the students are finding it quite a handy place to find new books organized by genre.

Teachers also enjoy collaborating in this space since I’m allowing anyone to eat here.

We are all working as a staff to facilitate a love of reading and build up a reading culture at this school.  Thanks to another DISD librarian, Rhonda Thomas, and a new teacher at our school, Mrs. Kidder, our English teachers are all now proudly reading and rating their latest reads with this laminated chart outside their door. (Note: They were already reading, we just made them signs so they could share their opinions and book recs!)

Our makerspace is off the ground and running as well.  We played soccer with Sphero the first day of school in Mrs. Grizzle’s computer science class and I’m hoping to rope them in for more lessons soon.  Our BLAST students will be coming up in the next few weeks to build obstacle courses for Sphero, but for now, kids just come in at lunch or before school just to drive and learn more about this awesome robot.

I’m also working on a mobile charging station for my class set of Spheros housed in side two Harbor Freight toolboxes thanks to an idea from a Twitter friend @natfaure.

I’ve started a little coding club at lunch on Wednesdays and their first task to is program Sphero using the Tickle app. Kids just love Sphero!

Still working on our littleBits corner, but the kids love them without my fancy project spot. I’m also excited to host my first round of littleBits lunches next week.  Gonna teach kids to make their own synthesizers (and hopefully some parents during open house!)

Here’s a little Library Orientation so you can see how it is all coming together. (Made this super quick, so don’t judge my sound inequalities…)