Tales from a Loud Librarian

That is me on the left with Terry Young from West Jeff on the right The librarians in the Jefferson Parish Public Schools don't get many opportunities to meet as a group. However, it is important for us to network because most of us are the only librarian in the building, and many can use some support and assistance with the new evaluation system, COMPASS. Also, there are many new librarians in the district who need guidance with available resources as well as some of the job expectations and requirements. On October 3rd, I invited all 75 librarians in the district to meet at Patrick Taylor for an after school meeting. We had 36 show up, and considering that the school is located in the far reaches of the Westbank, I think it was a great turn out. Lindsey Vindel, the Follett rep, shared how ebooks on  Follett Shelf work. Terry Young from West Jeff High School reviewed the evaluation system and how librarians should design the all important student learning targets (SLTs). We h...

Lisa and I won our awards from ISTE in June, but we were just recently acknowledged on the website for the Jefferson Parish Public Schools. You can read all about it here. All the 2013 ISTE award winners are pictured here with the president, Kecia Ray, standing in front. You can find me standing on the second row, second from the right.

It took many days of heavy lifting and moving to get all 6700 volumes packed away as well as all the other equipment, computers and supplies. I had lots of assistance, and I hope that I can enlist some of that aid on the unpacking end, too.  The picture above shows you the old library as the books get packed for the move. At this point in the process, I didn't think that it would ever get done. I was doing my yearly inventory while I packed so it was slow going. Lucky for me, once I finished inventory, I could corral some alums who were finished with college for the semester and were willing to give me some time to help with the packing.  This is what the library looked like after everything was packed Once the boxes get sent to the new site, I don't think that I will be looking back with any fondness for the old place. The building was not suited well to the school, and the library was grossly inadequate in size. At the end, I literally had books pile...

The new building for PFTSTA is right on target for completion. We are due to open for the first day of school in August 2013. Unfortunately. I have only been able to see it from the outside. My principal, Jaime Zapcio, has taken a number of hard hat tours. Lucky for me, she knows how much I want to see the library. The short video above shows how the new library looks with sheet rock. I can't wait until I have a space where I can fit every book on a shelf and don't have to have piles of papers surrounding my circulation desk. I am also dreaming of that natural light and windows where I can look out and see the tops of the trees surrounding the school. 

The construction of the new Patrick Taylor Academy began in January 2012 and is slated to be complete in May 2013. I have been taking pictures of the changes in the exterior on a monthly basis. Other teachers have been too. I was also given some video by one of the students as she drove by the new school. I put all of this together in a video. The video below shows the progress of the exterior beginning in January and running through October.    PFTSTA Construction Jan 2012 to Oct 2012 from PFTSTA on Vimeo .  Though I have really enjoyed watching the changes as they take shape, it is the  recent interior shots that have me jumping up and down. I have never worked in a new school nor had a library space that will equal this one. The principal, Jaime Zapico, has had two hard hat tours of the interior of the new facility. Last week, she took some video just for me of the library space and the common area just outside of the library. Below is a ...

We have been waiting and asking that the district add the news of the Gale Teams Award to the homepage of the website. Finally, they did. Here is a link to the article on the Jefferson Parish Schools website:  http://www.jppss.k12.la.us/district/news/Blog.aspx?id=2147506012&blogid=2147485652 .