Thursday, October 4, 2012

Fiction eBooks

I have been debating the ebook thing for a long time. My number one goal with ebooks is accessibility. In other words, two unlimited simultaneous access ebooks on the Irish potato famine can serve the six students doing projects much more than the two print books I have.

Some school librarians are doing ebooks and ereaders. I haven't been convinced to delve into that yet. It appears to be a  hassle with setting up accounts since they aren't designed for library use, only personal use. I have taken the approach with fiction that I will train patrons how to download from the public library on their own device and will stick to purchasing research materials in ebook format. I am also in an area where many students have their own technology, so this works well. With a limited budget, and only so much time to work on projects, my priority is on updating my print fiction and going digital as much as possible with reference materials.

What is your perspective on ebooks and ereaders?

The Rise of Pinterest

Pinterest is a great site. I have used it personally (is wedding planning too cliche a use?) and professionally. For my students, although I honestly don't know how many have accessed the page, I try to use it for reading promotion. I have set up boards on my GVLMC account for One Book, One School (Maze Runner) and reading lists for chemistry, summer reading, and various award winners. I have also added fun library pictures, book art images, and children's literature.

How are you using Pinterest in your library?

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Integrating the Short Story Collection

I have been rearranging and weeding the entire library over the last 6 months. The latest target is the short story collection. It is currently housed across the library and out of sight of the rest of the books so it doesn't get used often, especially voluntarily. I ordered "Short Story" stickers and either labeled or weeded each book in that area. I have been integrating the books into the rest of the collection to try to make the students more aware of them. The books in which all of the stories are clearly in one genre go into the appropriate area of the fiction section. The ones that are mixed genres (or classics that frankly I'm not 100% sure where they should go) I have been putting in the 800s. With the space I have freed up, I'm going to pull out the career and college prep books. My juniors have a quarterly career prep course, so there are many projects that use these books. However, with the career books scattered throughout the main collection they seem to be underused.

How do you shelve your short story books?