For the new year, I’ve decided to replace the calendar. The whole system of tracking what a year is in the first place. Yes, it’s a bit drastic, but think about it: Is this one working for you? Didn’t think so. I wrote a ton about other calendars, but then I realized that I still…
Personal Book Awards, 2020
Most of 2020 did not go as planned. There is one thing I planned, however, which DID happen. I planned to read 120 books and review them all in Goodreads. Which I did! Here they are, all listed out. Then I went a step further, and gave out awards! Which are what you see below….
Emotional Processing: The Railway Children vs. Clementine
In listening to E. Nesbit’s The Railway Children published in 1905 (audio available for free on Librivox), I noticed something very interesting. British children at the turn of the century, at least according to Nesbit, were not supposed to show emotions, and these emotions were on the whole very embarrassing. In modern American literature for…
The Three Little Pigs: Research Is Key
What follows is the tale as I tell it to my children, perhaps just a smidgen influenced by my professional hat as a librarian. Once upon a time, there were three pigs who were setting out to make their way into the world. The first thing they needed to do was make homes for themselves….
Books of 2019: Lightning Reviews
I present: lighting reviews! One sentence reviews of all the books I’ve read in 2019 so far. Please note that some of these are re-reads, as I definitely believe in reading books over and over again. Ancillary Justice, by Anne Leckie Gender bending sci-fi with great complexity of plot detail, rewards a close reading. The…
Bullet Journaling
Last September, following a tip from my mom, I started bullet journaling. One aspect of the bullet journal is a high form of internet craze, wherein people post pretty pictures on their instagrams and blogs of how wonderfully analog and totally unplugged their lives have become. If you want to hear about it from the…
New Signage! Dewey Shelf Labels
I’m organizing my library! Much of my organizational effort right now, both at home and in the library, is weeding. Whether we call it death cleaning, tidying up, or anything else, weeding is a crucial practice to the upkeep of our collections. I am throwing off the chaff, and finding the wheat. Students who have…
Low-Tech Makerspace Challenges
This year, my schedule allows for me to see students at two distinct times over a 6 day cycle. Once for a complete 45 minute period for their library special, during which I run circulation and teach research skills, and once for a 20 minute half-period, during which I’ve started a low-tech makerspace. For the…
An Early Brave Wednesday
I thought I’d share my brave Wednesday with you today, on Tuesday, in case tomorrow gets away from me. You see, tomorrow I meet my new students! In the true spirit of brave Wednesday’s here is something I made. It’s a sliding volume guide, which I plan to adjust as needed depending on the learning…