tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15811069242312288772024-03-13T15:25:11.561+00:00Post-apocalyptic LibrarianPost-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-21979068170727930032017-01-31T15:04:00.001+00:002017-01-31T15:04:15.711+00:00Just a School Librarian<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm <i>just</i> a School Librarian </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Librarian running a library service for 1500 people. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just the Issue Desk Clerk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Shelver, because those books don't put themselves away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just an Educator caring for 400+ students a day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Just a Security Guard, Behaviour Manager and Loss Prevention Officer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just running 4 different reading programmes and groups for around 300 people. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Cataloguer like that's not a whole other job in the library world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a CPD Trainer trying to keep staff in touch.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a 1st (and 2nd, and sometimes 3rd) line IT Support Technician, mediating access, teaching skills, and troubleshooting problems. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Reprographics Tech, kicking the shit out of broken printers and teaching teachers how to copy double sided, or to <i>scan</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Content Creator creating worksheets, and presentations and lesson plans and info lit resources.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just an Accountant making sure our department sticks to its budget and checking suppliers gets paid on time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just the Purchasing officer, making sure the department has everything we need.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Trend Analyst trying to find the next Harry Potter, or Hunger Games, or Twilight, or Wimpy Kid so we don't miss the boat.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Social Media Manager, trying to stay relevant and up-to-date, to build connections with audiences and bridges with authors. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just an Event Planner, putting on and promoting events for anywhere between 50 and 200 people from across dozens of organisations, and getting them in the same place at the same time to do something spectacular.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Booking Agent hunting out authors and poets and storytellers to bring in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Marketing officer and Graphic Designer, promoting library services and trying to find the best way to catch everyone's attention.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just the Press Officer, getting photos and writing copy and trying to get published. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Game Dev, designing activities and patching together bits of code to make learning easier. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Quiz Master, collecting and collating questions and trivia to support competitions and events. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just an Archivist, preserving and organising and promoting the school archives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just the Copy Right Enforcement Officer, because no-one but you remembers the 10% rule, or why they shouldn't steal artwork from the internet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Data Protection Officer with access to <i>everyone's</i> personal data and a responsibility to protect it <i>including their loans data</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Funding Manager, because those funding opportunities don't bid for themselves. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a walking book review & catalogue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a highly trained Researcher; if you don't know it I <i>can</i> find it out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Liaison Officer negotiating with companies and departments and arguing about how much your dbases and e-books will cost. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Service Development Officer because a stagnant service is a dead service. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Survey taker, Data Analyst, and report writer, because we need to know what you want and we need to prove what we do. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just and Office Administrator, keeping everything filled and filled and organised.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Shopkeeper, cash handling and stocking and selling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Systems Consultant, hunting out the technology to get the job done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Just a Polymath & freaking Information Ninja.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />But yeah, I am<i> just</i> a School Librarian.</span><br />
<br />Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-22490349566725045292016-11-17T15:51:00.004+00:002016-11-17T15:55:02.558+00:00ITS BACK ITS BACK ITS BACK! Squeee! Yes that is right the National Book Token peoples's <i>Hidden Books</i> game is back again! And <i>yes</i> I <i>am</i> very over excited about it!<br />
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I love the NBT (and Caboodles) <i>Hidden Books</i> game. For those of you who have never played or even heard of it the concept is pretty simple, pretty much everything on the image up there represents a book, all well know but across dozens of genres, old, new, classics and otherwise, and you have to work out what they are. (And then you can enter some prize draw or something, but who cares I am in this <i>almost</i> entirely for the intellectual ego boost of being able to get them all).<br />
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Seriously these competitions are always really challenging and its so satisfying to be able to finish one.<br />
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In fact, if you're the creative type something along these lines would make a great competition for a school library. Post them up around them school and encourage students to find and decipher them all or just print them up as handouts. The tech savy could even take the idea to the VLE and post a challenge very similar to caboodles on their area.<br />
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If nothing else after all its good clean (mostly) fun so go do!<br />
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<i><a href="http://caboodle.nationalbooktokens.com/hiddenbooks/?competition=10#.WC3R3dR_tH0">Try Hidden Books Yourself!</a></i>JPLibraryServiceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04891355494192878636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-84030618596444247222016-07-07T15:25:00.002+01:002016-07-27T09:42:04.997+01:00If You Like... You'll Love Book list GAMING Edition - SHADOWRUN RETURNS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>If You Like...You'll Love </i>is
an on going series of book lists and recommendations to support fans
of TV series, films and computer games, designed to engage reluctant
readers of all ages and help fans find something to tide them over
between adventures! </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I'm late to the party but this week my latest video game obsession SHADOWRUN! (Plus it makes a great starting point for those new to the cyberpunk genre.) </div>
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Get as a pdf here: with <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4dQQncOi6-VOUduak03ZlZjZ2s/view?usp=sharing">age ratings</a> and <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4dQQncOi6-VTFhXbkhVRmJXTWM/view?usp=sharing">without age ratings.</a></div>
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<br />JPLibraryServiceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04891355494192878636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-15397488001493070622016-07-05T10:29:00.000+01:002016-07-05T14:42:21.245+01:00If You Like...You'll Love, Reading List TV Edition - SUPERNATURAL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>If You Like...You'll Love </i>is an on going series of book lists and recommendations to support fans of TV series, films and computer games, designed to engage reluctant readers of all ages and help fans find something to tide them over between seasons! </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This week one of my favorites SUPERNATURAL! </div>
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Get as a pdf here: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4dQQncOi6-VOTB4djNmcktjV00/view?usp=sharing">with age ratings</a> and <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4dQQncOi6-VS0tjYU5XUHJ0Yms/view?usp=sharing">without age ratings</a></div>
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JPLibraryServiceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04891355494192878636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-46068050900108711972016-05-09T22:28:00.002+01:002016-05-09T22:28:25.357+01:00CPD DIY - Maguire e-Training: Project Management Essentials
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CPD DIY is where I
review quick, cheap, and accessible training courses and resources
for school librarians. We are expected to keep up with the latest
developments in libraries and keep our skills sharp with no time, no
budget and no peace!
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Maguire e-Training
recently partnered with CILIP to offer discount training to library
and information professionals so they are a good place to start when
you're looking for some easy access, low cost, guided CPD. Maguire
modules usually clock in at around £25 a pop, but if you're a CILIP
member your first one is free and you can get a discount on later
modules bringing them down to around £20.
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Besides the cost,
one of the great assets of Maguire's courses is that they are
entirely online from teaching to testing meaning that they can be
fitted around quiet times in your library – <i>because god forbid
we ever leave right</i>?
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Now to the meat of
the thing:
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Project Management
Essentials is taught in a series of videos and info sheets, which
I've got to admit I watched a couple of times over whilst doing other
things, which though adorably 'home made' at times were really
informative and helped my at least put names to some of the concepts
I'd already employed running projects before. The teacher/seminar
leader/ lecturer is pretty clear and concise and generally linked
things together well – so long as you were paying close attention.
While the info sheets ran through ideas in more detail and really
helped to bring home some of the concepts.
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I've got to admit
here and now this course is <i>very</i> basic and the exam at the end
wasn't exactly taxing, but as an easy and accessibly way of getting
your head round a new topic it hits the spot, and it has certainly
given me some new ideas of how to handle large and group projects
more efficiently in the future.
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More importantly in
terms of how school libraries work - in my experience anyway - it
also gave me a bit of sneaky insight into how to handle talking to
management and 'stake holder groups', and just how to present things
to get ideas through to these groups. How to present the
'cost/benefit ratios' of what you are proposing – like how yes a
D.E.A.R might eat 10 minutes into lesson time, but the relative
improvement seen in the results of students who read for 10 minutes a
week is X grades. I think, having done this training, that this kind
of presentation of data is possibly what we as librarians sometimes
do worst, we talk ephemera to bean counters and expect them to become
invested in our projects… something to think about anyway.
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All in all, with
Maguire you get what you pay for, it wouldn't be fair to expect more
from this course at £25, but I can't say I feel gypped by what I did
get out of it. Its a good solid run down of the <i>essentials</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
of project management, enough to get your head round the concepts and
probably enough to help us manage any projects we'll be undertaking
in a school setting. </span>
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Overall pretty good
for the price and a good place to start for a total beginner.</div>
Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-39284371548546536602016-05-09T22:26:00.001+01:002016-05-09T22:26:47.544+01:00KonMari and Tidying Your Library - Library SignageFor a start for anyone who hasn't heard - which will probably be very few of you because I was kind of late to the part with this trend - Marie Kondo is the author of <i>The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up</i>, and the internet spent a good part of last year obsessed with KonMaring their homes and their lives. She works by one primary principle which (very simplified) is: if an item doesn't have any purpose and doesn't 'spark joy' in you when you look at it or hold it, say goodbye to it and get rid! <br />
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Last year, using this approach, I took a serious look at my library's signage, and it is unbelievable the difference it made not only to look of the room but to the behaviour of students. I figure I must have saved about twice the time I spent on doing this simply in students being not needing help to navigate and not having to shout at people for eating and drinking. </div>
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Now stop a minute and go stand outside your library like right outside the door and really take a look at what you are presenting to the world - no seriously we'll wait go look. </div>
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I can almost guarantee there are two-three posters for cake sales (that probably happened last term), maybes a tatty poster with your library's no-nos on it, that consequences poster they had you put up when they were pushing discipline last year, perhaps your opening times and about a total of 3 million different fonts and colours. </div>
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This, this is your users right now:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HIEHQANQi1E/Vth2JmiARXI/AAAAAAAABFw/uTaA28lD1d4/s1600/toomuch.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HIEHQANQi1E/Vth2JmiARXI/AAAAAAAABFw/uTaA28lD1d4/s1600/toomuch.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you think I watch too much Supernatural, I think I watch too much Supernatural...</td></tr>
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And that is just the start, now go back out and do a walk through of your library, beginning to end. How many old posters put up by the kids are there? How many lingering shelf markers for sections that have long since moved? Posters for events long past?After school clubs? That thing about travel passes or signing up for free school lunches someone asked you to put up in September? Those literacy posters that had to go in every classroom once upon a time? Perhaps an English marking scheme one of the teachers snuck up during Library lesson one day? A few READ posters with glasses and a mustache drawn on them? All in a different state of decay.</div>
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We had 3 different no eating signs scattered all over the place, because one day someone told a bored Library Monitor they could just go make a new one and put them up. We had posters inviting student to audition for plays that had already happened that students and teachers had put in obscure corners without asking. We had a million cake sale posters, hell I found a poster for an RNIB Alice in Wonderland fundraiser we hosted in 2012 for christsake - and I was the one to put those up, you think at least I could keep track of where. But that is the <i>point</i>, isn't it, it becomes just so easy to look through things as we get used to them. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That poster you just put up.</td></tr>
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Now this is where Marie Kondo comes in. Pull it all down - keep it don't trash anything just yet unless you are super sure you don't want it - just clear the walls, the doors, the shelf tops and ends, the front of the issue desk, the lot. There shouldn't be a scrap of (non-permanent) signage left anywhere. Its really therapeutic and even if you don't think you've got time for these shenanigans I promise you the end game is soooooo worth it, trust me.</div>
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Take a moment to bask in your utterly empty wall space, it'll probably look a little creepy and maybe just a little sad, but its also a thing of beauty - a fresh start. </div>
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Now its time to take a look at your pile of signs and do some sorting. Ask yourself Marie Kondo's key question, does it have a purpose or does it spark any joy? </div>
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I ended up separating mine into about 6 piles:</div>
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Community - Anything <i>current </i>about what's going on in the school community, that includes cake sales, plays, fundraiser, study groups, events, oyster card posters, school nurse's hours, so on and so forth. </div>
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Literacy - All the 'PREPARE To Pass' acronym posters, essay writing guides and English marking schemes.</div>
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Real posters - the kind properly printed or those you've paid for READ, scholastic, book posters etc. </div>
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Pretty - (I'll explain in a minute)</div>
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Behavior - We had recently revamped our whole discipline system so every room had to display the new sanctions. You might not have this (it's worth checking with the appropriate member of SLT if you're not sure), but it wouldn't be a terrible thing to make up your own library version, you know 'Offense: Eating the Library | Penalty: 50 lashes', that sort of thing ;).</div>
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Library Signage - No Talking, No Phones, No Food, Computers This Way, Magazines Here, shelfmarks, that sort of thing.</div>
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and</div>
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Bin - this pile got everything tatty and/or out of date. Everything not even a mother could love.</div>
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Now take a look at that pile of Library signage, how many fonts can you see right now? How many different colours? Art styles? Is any of it dyslexic friendly? Does it have the Library or School logo on it? </div>
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Depressing isn't it. </div>
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Now comes the real hard part, but the bit that is going to make your life so much easier in the end. </div>
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Stop, sit down with your department, and your inclusions team, and your manager if you need to, and choose your "corporate style", make it dyslexic friendly - there's no excuse not to, fonts like <a href="http://opendyslexic.org/" target="_blank">Open Dyslexic</a> are free and open source, and I'm sure you can scrounge up some off white paper - make it clear to read. If you're using images pick a style that has all the ones you need icons of phones, food, drink cans, books, computers etc. And, most importantly from now on stick to it, <b>ALL</b> of it. Every sign you make should use your new "style", whether its a one off like 'The Library Will Closed on **/**/****' or the perpetual 'Our Opening Hours are....'.</div>
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And one thing - laminate <i>everything</i>, make it a policy 'if a sign is expected to be up in the library for more than X weeks it <i>must</i> be laminated'. Yes it can be pricey but if that poster or sign is staying up for more than... 2 weeks say... it get laminated! It'll last and look neat for a few years,saving you from having to print it up again and again (plus its wipe clean if someone draws on it!).</div>
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Style sorted? Now take a look at what signs you need, and remember to make them clear, uniform and concise - if you need ideas or don't have the time to come up with your own here are some I have made:</div>
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Start at your front door. What do you actually <i>need </i>here? Do you have opening hours? Get them up there. No food and drink in the Library, no phones? Get it on the front door nice and clear so students know where they stand when they walk in. Anything else anyone needs to know about your service before they get inside? Add it, just make sure you have room for everything you <i>really need</i>. </div>
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Inside, make sure you have your 'No XYZs' and your rules visible<i> </i>from <i>everywhere </i>in the library, there shouldn't be one place in the whole shebang you cannot stand and point to those rules. If you can, put them at eye height for students, especially on the front door. Same goes for anything from your behaviour pile if you have one.<br />
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For your shelfmarks, if you can, make them moveable (blue-tac or cheaper-end double sided tape are great depending on how often and how much our stock shifts) so you can keep up with your stock as it shifts. </div>
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Once you have <i>all the absolutely necessary</i> information up on your walls...<br />
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Take a look at your room and find somewhere to earmark as your community and literacy areas. I think literacy is good to keep near any seating or classroom area and community works best near the doors since its a high traffic area. Now use your "style" and print and laminate a couple of signs to designate these areas before you put anything from your community and literacy piles back up. These areas will be the new home for these materials, so while they might change your sign shouldn't need to for a while. And don't forget to let staff and students know that there is now a designated space for all their junk :)</div>
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Now the "Pretty Pile": these are those things that give you joy when you see them. In my library we had accumulated a huge collection of cool quotes about reading and interesting posters among other generally pro-literacy bits and bobs. Take any professional 'real' posters that have got mixed in with this off to the side for the last step in your epic tidy up, and take a look at what you've got. Personally, I started a "Pinterest Board" near our entrance for the items in this pile, because I think there is huge benefit in just showing children that other people love books and love to read "teenager see, teenager do" and you can read more about how to do that here (<i>'cos this post is waaay too long already</i>). </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XLntjCn9GBQ/VtiFPSkcFAI/AAAAAAAABGY/1j8v5nQibeg/s1600/that%2Bmoment.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XLntjCn9GBQ/VtiFPSkcFAI/AAAAAAAABGY/1j8v5nQibeg/s320/that%2Bmoment.png" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">True story, I had more than one student, when I put this up on our board, stop, read it, and then walk up to me at the desk and just say 'Yeh'. </td></tr>
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Ok so only posters left, take a look at your space and see what you <i>want </i>to put up.<i> Just because you own it does not mean it has to go up now</i>. You didn't go through all this just to make the place look cluttered again. Put up only what you think looks good, and makes sense in the space you have - or covers up the missing bits of plaster on the walls (been there, done that, turns out tacky-backed cardboard makes a decent substitute for missing chunks of ceiling...). Store whatever you have left over and you can change it up once in a while.<br />
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Bodda-bing bodda-boom awesome fresh, new looking Library. Next challenge is keeping it that way.... </div>
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Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-65441448893470571692016-01-28T19:44:00.002+00:002016-02-06T20:36:24.156+00:00Hmm...I suspect this is not going to end well for me :/<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jpgkkPxPs7o/Vqpm8P0d-AI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/T7CfDqDkZQo/s1600/howscrewedareyou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jpgkkPxPs7o/Vqpm8P0d-AI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/T7CfDqDkZQo/s320/howscrewedareyou.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Quite... quite screwed is the answer...<br />
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My team would be...<br />
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The Pirate Captain - <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1408826054/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1408826054&linkCode=as2&tag=postapocallib-21" target="_blank">Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists</a></i> - Gideon Defoe (read my review <u>here</u>).<br />
Mathew Shardlake - <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0330511041/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0330511041&linkCode=as2&tag=postapocallib-21" target="_blank">Lamentation</a> </i>- CJ Sansom<br />
Samuel Thornton - <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0857662171/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0857662171&linkCode=as2&tag=postapocallib-21" target="_blank">Dead Harvest</a> </i>- Chris Holm<br />
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So a Pirate Captain with a luxurious beard and the attention span of a mayfly, a hunchback Tudor lawyer, and a dead guy who collects the souls owing to the devil... I feel like <i>I</i> of all people<i> </i>should have been better prepared for the end of the world.<br />
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How would you fair?<br />
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But seriously...</div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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This is actually a great game to play with your students and could make for a fun display if you've got the space - all you need is an empty wall, the question and some post-its or slips for the students to fill in. It gets them thinking about the variety of the books they're reading and discussing the attributes of different characters <i>a la</i> tops trumps.<br />
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It could even make for a great lesson starter to get students of any age actually talking about books - so long as you can keep the fights over whether Harry Potter or Percy Jackson could kick more zombie ass to a minimum - better, explaining how good or bad their teams will be is a great discussion exercise. <br />
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Best of all this a game that bears repeating, and fairly often too. I for one wish I'd found this for my last team, Harry Dresden (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0356500276/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0356500276&linkCode=as2&tag=postapocallib-21"><i>Dresden Files</i> - Jim Butcher</a>), Colonel-Commissar Gaunt (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1844163695/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1844163695&linkCode=as2&tag=postapocallib-21" target="_blank"><i>The Founding</i> - Dan Abnett</a>), and Alex Verus (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0356500241/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0356500241&linkCode=as2&tag=postapocallib-21" target="_blank"><i>Fated</i> - Benedict Jacka</a>); a fire mage, a grimdark Warhammer 40k Colonel-Commissar, and a 'probabilities' mage aka a wizard who can see the future... those guys would have <i>kicked ass</i>!<br />
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Via - <a href="http://thebloggess.com/2015/07/well-itll-be-an-interesting-death-at-least/" target="_blank">The Blogess</a><br />
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<i>As always, if you buy anything from any of the Amazon links on this blog I receive a commission from amazon as part of their Associate program. </i>Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-69138528197740787372015-09-01T09:28:00.000+01:002016-01-26T13:47:39.081+00:00Back from the dead (Update)<div style="text-align: center;">
--------------------------------------------UPDATE------------------------------------------</div>
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Well that was a road to hell post - paved with good intentions! </div>
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Anyway after ending the year very ill and still somehow graduating for my MA I'm back, its a new year and I <i>WILL </i>be posting, look out for a shiny new section of reading lists and a newsletter from my new endeavour JP Library services, as well as plenty of ideas and opinions on here. </div>
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Wow its been a long time since I've been on here! A lot longer than I
thought. But there have been many changes recently (more on that later)
and it is time to announce I'm bringing this blog back from
"development hell" - best intentions and all... <br />
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Stay
tuned for... ideas to drag students into you library, some (sometimes
controversial) opinion pieces to get you talking, and some sneak
self-promotion ;) Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-3004549305237567992012-05-15T16:53:00.000+01:002012-05-15T16:53:20.529+01:00CPD23 - Thing 1Ok, I have decided to take part in <a href="http://cpd23.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">CPD23</a> this year. Its a scheme were you do 23 (<em>surprise!</em>) different tasks, one each week(ish) to help your continued professional development, simple. I found it last year, but only when it was almost finished - my usual luck. <br />
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The resaon I'm (attempting) to follow the course this year is to try and keep up with technology - lets face it I'm waaaay behind and its hurting my nerdcred! I need to get back up to speed and start using some of the wonderful tools available. <br />
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Also professionally I'm hedging around the edges of a few things (promotions, jobs) and I need to get my skills up!<br />
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Short and sweet, but there you go. <br />
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You can expect a CPD23 post about once a week from now on - lets see if I reach the end of it!<br />
Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-48830109385936332212012-05-15T16:37:00.000+01:002012-05-15T16:58:00.566+01:00So... I take it backYou know how I said in the side bar over there that my library wasn't post-apocalypic... I think I take it back, just a little.<br />
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<img height="200" id="il_fi" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2471/5704966363_04551055fc_z.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="150" /></div>
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As you may or, may not know I recently got a shiny brand new library yay(<em>!</em>). Well, as the lights go out every 20 minutes on the dot and, as were at the very bottom of the world here, it is pitch black when they do, its begining to free pretty apocolyptic here. At least it does once every 20 minutes.<br />
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So far the shelves have been judged unfit for purpose (because you know it was a secret library, <em>shhh</em>, and we so didn't tell them we'd be putting <em>books</em> on them), I have dubbed them Bannana Shelves! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And, yes, I do demand it is said in banana man voice, <em>every single time.</em></td></tr>
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The lights have litterally fallen out of the ceiling - luckly during the school holidays. And a dozen other petty annoyances (broken sink is broken). Including my library system going down, in the middle of a lunch break, and insisting I haven't paid the bill! *headdesk*.</div>
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Add to this the hundreds of students that swarm the place like the bandits out Mad Max every lunch time because its new and novel and it really does start to feel like the end of the world - or at least has me wishing for it!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7-ZeZOAzW0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="167" kba="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JLGjP9ac4A0/T7J3TzMiF3I/AAAAAAAAADM/ehAnMtqESWk/s320/poalib.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Library discipline, so much easier with shot guns <br />
(also TV show Jeremiah, like The Tribe all grown up, go watch it)</td></tr>
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I'm bening to miss my old moldy, fally downy, out of the way library - it wasn't pretty but at least it was functional. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">* I'm sat here, alone, at 5.00pm on a thundery night, the lights have just gone out, a poster has fallen off the wall and the printer has started beeping for no apparent reason whilst the computers gently creak as they cool. Looks like we might have brought the library ghost with us from the last place - but do you think that's a seal of approval? </span><br />
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<br /></div>Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-56685830246914258872012-04-25T15:43:00.002+01:002012-04-25T15:43:28.410+01:00Hehe, Book NinjasJust read <a href="http://www.geekosystem.com/american-library-association/" target="_blank">this post</a> at Geekosystems about the ALA's work opposing, well, everything libraries usually oppose.<br />
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Now, you should all know about the involvement of libraries and librarians in fighting for and protecting your rights *stares hard* don't you!? (Go educate yourself <i>now</i> if you don't! The link above is a good place to start if you're in the US).<br />
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I love the image of us as book ninjas :)! We're the bunned, bespectacled freedom fighters of the information revolution - which by the way has been going on <i>a lot</i> longer than you think. There was a day when the idea of sharing books was as heinous as people seem to think sharing digital content is today, but, guess what, we're the ones still standing - take note ebook publishers.<br />
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And thanks for blowing our cover Geekosystem ;)<br />
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<br />Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-52299492060980118062012-01-23T10:32:00.005+00:002012-01-23T11:05:22.680+00:00Day in the Life of a School Librarian - sort of.<span style="font-size:130%;">So my Line Manager has asked my to do a day in the life as part of our campaign for another member of staff. I think it turned out slightly better for you than it didn't to send to the SLT so here it is - think of it as my penence for not posting, and maybes as a litle bit of an excuse as to why...<br /></span><br />8.00 – arrive and open up the library, about a dozen students in to do homework, borrow books, read papers – one kindly donates the metro<br />- make a note to investigate the I paper we received info on it last week.<br /><br />8.20 – Get everyone to go to form, fix printer – apparently now it has too much paper in in it. Sit down and check SLN – Stonewall has released a list of recommended LGBT books for secondary schools, also its LGBT history month next month – I see a display on the horizon! That would be one of our changing displays sorted next month, (the other is going to be for national libraries month).<br />Blocked… both Stonewall and LGBT History Month sites are blocked. Beg list via email off SLN and get my campaigning shoes on!<br /><br />8.55 – Papers arrive and lessons start. Issue/Return like a fiend. Check First News for book adds, and add them to our buying list. Packages arrive, check the invoices, process to go to finance and get them marked off in our budget folder (provisionally, my colleague is in charge of the budget but she’s on maternity leave I just do enough to keep a vague idea how much money we’ve got.)<br /><br />9.20 – Hear back from SLN Two wonderful people have sent me the list! And one mentioned that she had the same problem with blocking and that they’d blocked Darren Shan too – yup he’s blocked for being ‘Occult’ – start checking with other authors, apparently the ‘Wicca’ series not occult, oh and neither is Anne Rice…<br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700779755085443378" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fmn-VwaU-_s/Tx08-7SbMTI/AAAAAAAAACY/cMnmIOdLFRQ/s320/Picard%2BFacePalm.jpg" /><br />Give in to temptation, email our IT company the word seriously and the URL.<br /><br />9.45 – More issue/return and add a new borrower because IT won’t fix our auto-update. Clear tables ready for the next class. They’ve finally learned to wait outside for their teacher so that makes things a bit quicker.<br />Issue/return. Rinse repeat.<br />Start in on making poster for lesson 5 – can’t find the old one but it’s a quick job.<br /><br />10.30 – Lesson out, with all the chaos this usually involves, and break time in, about 30 kids on and off.<br /><br />10.45 – Break time over, but as usual it take a lot of effort to get them to leave. Oh,damn, fire alarm. get everybody out close up, lock up, stand in freezing cold for 10 mins!<br />Get back to library – looks like my next research class have decided not to come up, but can’t get away with doing anything in the library because the moment I do they’ll turn up – sods law – so its back to desk work. Print out my poster and save for use in the new library too (yay that’s a tick on the AP). Can use this quiet time to do some packing too. </p><br /><p>11.50 – Run out of boxes 8-O how on earth we’ve run out of boxes I don’t know!<br />Further investigate seating for the new library – find exactly what we want quickly and its cheap, something must be wrong.<br /><br />12.00 – Nearly lunch time make sure everything is set up and start on libray website since that can be stopped and started when needed away from desk. Scrap that finishing an order so that we get it before we move – need the box! Also clears some of our requests book. Spend most of the hour running around shoutng about the library rule - I need to get no food and no phones on a tape so I can just play it.<br /><br />13.50 – Wow well we topped out at about 100-120 pupils this lunch, but order’s done and gone down, class in now – lovely and quiet (comparatively) but all the computers are going down – corrupted user profiles! Arggh many calls to tech support. Also general Accelerated Reader supporting. Log in, log out, log in log out…<br />Quickly tattle some DVDs – we really need to stock check them but tahts for Tuesday morning when we have enough free lessons to get it done – and then its back to the library website. This thing will be up by march damn it!<br />Issue/Return, Issue/Return….<br /><br />14.00 – time to go home – yeh right! Finishing up to do. Reservations to print and another class waiting to come in. Issue/Return, Issue/Return….well actually for this class its mostly renew.<br /><br />14.10 – Now its only to give the teacher their poster, visit finance, do the pigeon holes and I am … no such luck more PC’s erroring out!<br /><br />14.20 – Ok NOW I’m going – at least to leave the library! After that getting out gets much easier.<br /><br /><br />14.45 – I was wrong, only managed to leave 45 minutes after my shift ended.</p>Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-49263113624121056112011-10-21T09:25:00.007+01:002011-10-21T09:36:37.921+01:00Umm, yeh so about those regular updates....<span style="font-size:130%;"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Yeh</span>, so that regular up date thing did not go so well, but here we are for a second try. So expect a bit of a data dump in the next few weeks.<br /><br />Upcoming we've got: Some bits about All Hallows' Read<br />Belated Umbrella recaps<br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Chartership</span>, why do I put myself through these thing!<br />Library Events - a retrospective<br />Shouting about the value of School Libraries with #<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">SHOUTABOUT</span><br />Hopes and Fear for a New Library - yes I'm getting a new Library woo!<br />Librarians and IT Literacy - why I'm getting sick of being an IT teacher<br />And (just to be contradictory) <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Minecraft</span>, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">gamification</span> in the Library with Blocks!<br /><br />And you know, anything else I come up with in the meantime... possibly cake...<br /><br />Oh, and book reviews, yes there will be book reviews - assuming I get time to read any books :D</span>Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1581106924231228877.post-5299695727315688492011-05-05T16:15:00.003+01:002011-08-04T15:55:59.073+01:00Because I am the Nerd-brarian!<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;">I've been wondering for a long time how to start this blog, and what I could possibly have to say. But as a nerd and a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">browncoat</span> this is something I cannot help but post! </span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y0QTEVcUEJg/Ti1wkEBgfCI/AAAAAAAAABA/DRNo6b4ImzQ/s1600/SP_A0060.jpg"><br /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626549525897456818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 418px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 316px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PqhwUnQPvfk/ThWE-6pCrLI/AAAAAAAAAA4/Bnc5Lq1QID0/s400/DSCF1934.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Yes. That is the Serenity book! And if you were wondering, no, I am not the only person to have got this out of my library!<br /><br />I admit its probably not one of the best displays I've done, rushed off out of desperation to fill a gap advertising a long gone library event, but given the opertuinty how could I not promote the BL's new Sci-fi exibition! Check it out for yourself </span><a href="http://www.bl.uk/sciencefiction"><span style="font-size:130%;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">.<br /><br />The official line is I'm promoting reading outside of school, holidays coming up and all, and getting involved in the local area (we're a london school); unoffical line? I need a large picture of Nathan Fillion hanging up in my library :).<br /><br />So for now we're Still Alive, ;) and hopefully this'll be my starter for ten for some more throughtful web posts.</span></p><p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y0QTEVcUEJg/Ti1wkEBgfCI/AAAAAAAAABA/DRNo6b4ImzQ/s1600/SP_A0060.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y0QTEVcUEJg/Ti1wkEBgfCI/AAAAAAAAABA/DRNo6b4ImzQ/s320/SP_A0060.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633282473768025122" border="0" /></a></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></p>Post-apocalyptic Librarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15756387287309478539noreply@blogger.com0