Last Days in School Library

May 12th-14th: School Library

Spent the last of my hours in the middle school library re-arranging and shelving fiction books in between student CASSP testing.  Although I had previously pulled the paperbacks to create a display, the teacher librarian did not approve of this approach.  Without additional supplies to repair and rebind the damaged titles, the best I can do is weed those copies out and set them aside for the librarian to decide what to do with them.  It's too bad because I am taking a book-binding and repair workshop at Natomas Charter School this Friday (May 23rd) - was hoping to apply those skills to this position but perhaps I can apply them in another library environment.

Ironically, on my last day of work (May 14th) I was able to do some reference work for a student who was doing a last minute report on Hitler.  He came to me saying that he had checked the McKinley public library and that ALL of the books and biographies on Hitler had been checked out.  A quick scan of our school's biography shelves indicated that the school's one copy on Hitler was also missing (popular subject!).  So I educated the young man about the wonderful reference sources with biographical information - the school actually has an impressive collection of these sources.  We eventually found a Grolier International Biography book on military leaders with a number of pages on Hitler's life.  Plus I was also able to find a related books about Hitler's life as a child and World War II history.  In the end, I think the student was satisfied with the information I was able to find for him. 

I have found from my work experience  in a middle school library that being a library technician can be rewarding from the service you provide the students.  While they might not always show it, the kids do appreciate someone being there behind the circulation desk who is always available if they have a research, book, or computer question.  Sadly many public schools today are lacking that familiar and helpful person in the library - whether it be a librarian, library technician, or even a parent volunteer.  Until districts and faculty place a higher priority and respect for their libraries the status of public school libraries will continue to decline in my opinion.  Unless you're truly committed to earning a teacher librarian credential, I do not recommend school library media specialist as a career or vocational path.  However, I'm very grateful for the experience :).