Tea Parties and the Library

I have a tradition in the library. It started with selection of the head student library proctors. I love having tea parties and the library assistant and I jointly run the library proctor program. At the end of the year we take the heads out for lunch. We thought it would be nice to take the girls out for tea. So a tradition was started. We went to the Royal Tea Room and had a delightful time. So every year we went to the Royal Tea Room and barring only one year, it was a pretty good run.

This year, we had to pick another place as one of our girls was going to Italy and we had to go to tea this Memorial day weekend. The Royal was closed! Another tea room filled in nicely.

This year our heads have come up with the brilliant idea to have a student library proctor retreat and do our training at the retreat. We will be teaching them about the library, playing games, but also having them make video book reviews to post on Destiny, learning glogster to make posters for the monthly displays and they will be choosing their charity, which will determine who they raise money for during the year.

We've got a great group of kids and quite a lot of them. So I expect a lot of videos, reviews, promotions, etc. from this creative group. It should be a great year!

My library assistant Jan surprised me today by creating a READ poster with Bingo as the subject. Bingo is the guide dog puppy we are raising for Southeastern Guidedogs for the Blind. Jan is pretty darn creative. Bingo's birthday is tomorrow!

Berkeley Prep Library in Tampa FL Is Looking for PT Librarian

We are looking for a parttime librarian in the Cone Library at my school. It serves grades 6-12. Salary is negotiable. Contact me with resume or questions.

CD McLean

Jean Ann Cone Library

Berkeley Prep School

4811 Kelly Rd. Tampa, FL 33615

McLeacd@berkeleyprep.org

JOB DESCRIPTION

PARTTIME LIBRARIAN

The parttime librarian should have an MLS from an ALA-accredited school and the relevant computer skills to enable her/him to perform tasks related to the ordering, receipt, maintenance, inventory, production, circulation, and utilization of materials and equipment. Specific library duties include collection development, including acquisitions (purchasing of materials that fit in with the curricular or reading interests of the middle and upper division, weeding outdated, inaccurate or damaged materials and replacing them with more current, applicable materials) and providing ready reference for students after school until the library closes. In working directly with users, she/he should be able to respond directly to the users’ needs. She/he carries out all tasks under the direction of the library department chair and works as a member of the library team with the middle division librarian and library assistant.

Parttime Librarian:

Hours: 30 hours a week, 11 am to 5 pm on Monday through Thursday and 10 am to 4 pm on Friday. The day ends at 3:30 pm on holiday eves and during exams. The parttime librarian is responsible for the closing of the library and for maintaining a quiet study atmosphere of the library after school. The parttime librarian is considered faculty and follows the same holiday vacations as faculty. All library staff work one week prior to the return of new faculty and continue one week after faculty has departed.

Responsibilities

· Collection Development: Selection of new materials is shared equally between all three librarians, but this position is considered to be primarily responsible for understanding the holes and gaps in the collection and identifying them for purchasing materials to fill in. In charge of the weeding process, replacements and new book ordering. New book ordering includes processing all book orders including generating purchase orders as well as online ordering from online booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and maintain an on order file.

· Provide reference assistant to students, parents and faculty as needed. Knowledge of databases and MLA formatting is necessary. Assist patrons in locating and checking out needed material.

· Prepare labels for Birthday/Memorial books. Choose appropriate books for those awards.

· Prepare receipt notices for our files as well as for the Development Office of all book/magazine donations that are received by Cone Library.

· Works with library assistant I to maintain paper and toner supplies on hand for both copier and printers, keeping paper supplied in trays. Part of the closing duties are to make sure copiers and printers have an adequate supply of paper. Close library

· Assist library assistant I with laminating or covering all books needing such.

· Preparing of orders of library materials to vendors, and when they arrive.

· Assist library assistant I in maintaining and updating Patron and Vendor files.

· Collect mail in the afternoon from front office and mall mailboxes.

The Book Smugglers

While ordering some books for the library, I ran across an interesting blog: The Book Smugglers. The review I read was for Bleeding Violet, which I thought rocked. So much so that I went out and bought the book for myself for consideration for the library, since we had missed it for inclusion in our collection.

I added the blog to my feed and the smugglers to my twitter followers, especially as they follow my two favorite genres: speculative fiction and romantic fiction. I try to read a couple of books a month, but these gals read four books a week! They are super readers. I'll be interested to see how the book matches up to her review because it is very nice to be able to find a good reviewing source that does a more in depth, thorough review than the paragraph we normally find in the usual Booklist, Hornbook, etc.

Philip K. Dick Award Winner Announced!

My favorite award was announced in April: the Philip K. Dick award. Last year's winner was one of the best books I read for the whole year! They pick awesome books. I highly recommend you go out and get the winners. I'm on my way to pick up this year's winner:

The winner for this year is Bitter Angels by C. L. Anderson.

A description of the book from Amazon.com:

An Imploding Star System.
A Murdered Galactic Spy.
A Woman Seeking the Truth—and Finding the Unbelievable…

The Erasmus System is a sprawling realm of slavery, smugglers, spies—and constant, creeping decrepitude. Here everyone who is not part of the ruling Four Families is a slave of one kind or another. But the Guardians, a special-forces branch inside the United World Government for Earth, have deemed Erasmus a “hot spot.” Somehow, it is believed, this failing colony intends to launch a war upon the solar system.

Ex-Field Commander Terese Drajeske, now a mother of three, has been called back to active duty and sent to Erasmus, ostensibly to investigate the murder of her colleague—and friend—Bianca Fayette. At first blush, the death defies explanation: Bianca was immortal. But beneath that single murder lies a twisted foundation of deceptions. Suddenly Terese is plunged into a vortex of shattered lives, endemic deceit, and one dreadful secret. In this society without hope, someone has put into motion a plan that will cast humanity into chaos. And Terese, who has given up her family and her sanity to prevent war, may be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice….