Adopt a Book 27-28 Nov 2008

Click on photo above for slideshow

To boost our book collection, we have started a book drive with the parents. Adopt A Book kicked off today with our first group of visiting parents. Parents select titles they want to pay for from a booklist prepared by our Curriculum Coordinator, Suzy. This order will be put into Follett, our book provider, before 15 December so that we are eligible for a special discount (barcoding and MARC records are free).

A big thanks to our generous parents for increasing our collection.

EBSCOhost at ASP!

It turns out the school has an existing subscription to EBSCOhost for each grade level as well separate access accounts for parents and teachers. The school is part of the EBSCOhost consortium because it is an ASOMEX school. Although the school has had the subscription for three years, it has not really been used or promoted. EBSCOhost has several advantage for the school:

• qualitative and comprehensive articles and information that are both current and historical
  
• it has boosted our periodical collection from nothing to over 2000 (not all are full-text, but many are)
• several age-appropriate encyclopedias and dictionary
• increases our collection with reports, books and other primary sources
• gives our library a virtual 24/7 presence
  
• provides an authoritative, comprehensive and accessible online alternative to the Internet

Besides students, teachers who are doing their Buffalo State masters degree by distance at our school will now have quick access to current research articles for their studies from the educational databases in EBSCOhost.

Visit to ASF Monterrey

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The Destiny session ended around lunch so I spent the rest of the day in Monterrey visiting the two campuses of the American School Foundation of Monterrey (ASFM). In addition to the usual great ideas for library design, Beau Cain, the Librarian from the Middle/High School, highlighted the advantages for collection analysis from Titlewise, a component of Titlewave from Follett that will give you collection analysis information. This will provide useful data as evidence and arguments for library budgets and for the SACS accreditation team.

Destiny Training at AIM in Monterrey, Mexico

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The school sent me to Monterrey for a three-day training session for Destiny, our library software, at the American Institute of Monterrey (AIM). Besides learning about all the benefits of Destiny's Library Manager and Textbook Manager, I had the opportunity to visit another school library and get more ideas for my own. Click on the AIM school logo above to view some of the photos from this visit.

Primary Students in the Library - Our First Visitors!

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The primary and preschool students visited the new library for the first time. All classes have been timetabled on a bi-weekly basis. This first week all classes had a quick tour of the library, review of expected library behaviour, and how to care for books. Afterwards, students borrowed books. For future library visits, storytime has been scheduled for the younger students and curriculum-related books will be organised for most classes with information literacy lessons.

Visit to American School Foundation (ASF) in Mexico City

Click on the photo for a slideshow of our ASF and Westhill visit

On Oct 13, Debby, my director in charge of the library and I, visited ASF and their four, yes, four libraries. Matt Borsage, the librarian of the upper library, spent four hours showing us around. It was a great learning and sharing experience. Thank you Matt for your generous spirit.

We learned many practical tips and ideas from this trip, including the proper and affordable process for plastic covering books, as well many useful contacts for furniture, signage and books.

We also visited Westhill Institute and looked at their primary, secondary and medical library. From Westhill, we learned that you could have strong, proper, steel shelving but also enhance it aesthetically with wood panelling on the edge. Luckily, the distributor for this is in Polanco and I will visit their showroom this week before ordering.

Library Inauguration

Click on photo for a slideshow of our developments

Unbelievably, three weeks after my arrival at the school, the library is now moved upstairs and functional. Students will start using the library next week, but more likely the following week.

The directors, board members and heads of school arrived around 9:30am. When they last saw the library, it was an empty room. Now we are ready for business.

There is still lots of work to do - weeding, getting Destiny up and running, ordering of library furniture, and the whole collection has to be re-cataloged.

Still, it has been a rewarding experience to see it working so soon.

BTW for those of you in the know, this is my second library I've moved and opened in three months.