Summer is here...

It's the first day of summer break for our county kiddos and the first day of summer hours for me!  I can get so much accomplished when the school is empty.  I have always needed complete silence to study, work, etc... and it's nice to be able to sit and think about the past year and the upcoming year.  

Many people are surprised when they learn that I must work 20 days in the summer.  "What in the world is there to do?!" is a familiar question.  There's no way to go into all of it, but basically I wrap up one year in June and start another in July.  June days consist of inventory and creating an order for next year.  We lose about 8% of our collection each year to damaged and lost books.  Many books lost this year to house fires.  I spend some time creating fines for those outgoing 8th graders and blocking the 6th and 7th graders accounts who neglected to take care of their library responsibilities as well.  Things happen.  Books get lost.  But in order to hold students accountable, I have to create options for them to show their responsible for the books besides paying for them.  The reality is that some families just don't have the money for lost books.  So I analyze each student's case carefully and create a way for them to work off their fee.  Usually, it's reshelving books before school in the mornings.  Or, staying in from intramurals until their hours match the amount.  $5 = 5 intramurals.  I have to be prepared for them as they return to school because if I simply ignored their irresponsibility, they'd never be motivated to keep up with books.  I haven't ran my final report because inventory of nonfiction isn't complete, but I'm terrified at the amount of books I know are missing.  We had a super long winter and missed 20+ snow days.  Many books were forgotten on those days.  Also, I take the time to evaluate last year's lessons and reflect.  Sometimes lessons are much more powerful on paper.  I plan my lessons, book frenzies, book breakfasts and contests/promotions for the library.  I also take time to research new releases.  Sometimes it's more effective to plan a lesson around an upcoming movie release or book release.  Middle school kids respond well to pop culture.  And finally, I print out all the wonderful pictures taken at our Rewards Day Cafe.  I have done this since 2008 and have collected and displayed the pictures ever since.  It's become a favorite display during the month of May.  And, although it's messy and a lot of hard work, I'm always happy that LT and I have done it again.  And then I have a few moments where I wanna drop it...but that usually passes.  It's worth it to see these shining faces excited to be in the library talking about books and enjoying a cappuccino and fresh donut.  

So now you know what I'm doing here...in June at least.  More about July later!  
Happy Reading!
RC