The Daring Librarian

3 Times the Charm?  OR  Spend $130 Bucks and Literally Give Kids the Power! We've discovered that the mix of the digital divide, possible turbulent home lives, and general teenage forgetfulness can result in a loss of power. So, for vaious reasons it seems that some of my students who DO have devices (yes, there are still a lot who do NOT) show up to school with a low or no charge.  Yes, they sometimes admit that they fall asleep with their phone next to them and not plugged in. Shocker. A device that they LOVE to use for social connections and fun in the hallways and during free time. Oh yeah, and sometimes in class for learning, too! Without that device they feel a serious gap in their daily lives. We Fill That Gap! We want the kids to feel like the Library Media Center - Learning Commons and Makerspace Station - is a safe place to land and the place to go when they need things. Like finishing and priting out homework, relaxing and making something at ...

Using The Magic Words "Pilot Test!"   Last year I mentioned at the bottom of my Amazon Echo blog post that I was trying something NEW in our library, a BYOD Charging station.  It consisted of a tall AV cart with 2 USB charging hubs and I bought a bunch of multi-ended charging cords. It was on the honor system - come into the Media Center, plug in your device, check out a book or read, and charge while you were here. Still had my disclaimer, though! Your device, Your Responsibility It worked like a dream for months! Until one kid had a beef with another and a tablet, left on it's own over many class periods, went missing. Le sigh. Unbowed, undeterred, and stubborn as all get out, I went back to the drawing board!  Three years ago, while still on the ISTE Board of Directors, I was touring the fabulous Hillwood High School Library   in Nashville, and I saw this amazing bank of lockers in a school library that had electrical outlets in them! WOW! It blew...

Promote Reading With QR Code  Loo Reviews & Pocket Videos!  Here's a fun idea! Combine QR Codes that link to video book trailers on a laminated sign taped to the back of a bathroom stall door that says "Do NOT Scan These!" and you should get the kids streaming into the high school library to check out books!  Let's face it, kids sneak their smart phones into the bathroom to check their text messages why not take advantage of that & get them into the school library! Even better if you have the time & ability to let the kiddos create their OWN trailers & post them to SchoolTube! Don't forget the teachers! Create signs with the hottest YA books for the teachers bathrooms, too! Now...my principal gently put the kibosh on this brilliant idea for our middle school bathrooms, and totally I see his point. Whether I like it or not, we're not BYOD yet, and our school district policy says middle schoolers must keep their cell phones in their ...