Day Three @ Elizabeth Learning Center

Thursday, June 3, 2010
Elizabeth Learning Center
7:30 am to 2:00 pm (cumulative hours 24.25)
CCTC Standards 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

First thing in the morning, Mr. Completo was working with a substitute who was bringing classes to the library. It hadn't occurred to me that, as a TL, you would have to prep the substitute on protocols and expectations as well as resources.

By 8am lots of secondary students were working on the computers and printers; it really seems that the culture of the library is understood and respected by the students (at every level).

I conferred with Mr. Completo about my schedule for the day, confirmed book talks and read- alouds and got to work.

I did some quick check-ins, and checkouts.

I spent about an hour talking with Tim Pert, the rep from Permabound. WOW! He could sell swampland in Florida. A very nice and knowledgeable man. He walked me through the Permabound website, showing me all the ins and outs of compiling an order. He explained that the MARC records for the ELC collection are imported into Permabound's system. So they know what is in the library, the age of everything in the collection, what percentage of the collection a certain genre or area is of the total collection. Each title has a dot next to it. White=the library does not have it. Blue =the library does have it. A dot that is half blue and half white means there is a partial match. Perhaps the title and author match but not the ISBN. He said this happens when a publisher sells a title to another publisher. Or, there might be a big book version of a book. Time suggested sticking with LAUSD catalogued titles. He said some TLs compile whole lists of non-catalogued titles and check back periodically to see if they have been added by library service. I had no idea that publishers like Permabound worked so closely with library services.

I learned numerous ways to search for titles for my picture book order that were far more efficient than the ones I had been using. There are many ways to narrow and refine the search to get exactly what you want. The site also has almost every book list known to man, all the award winners back as far as the awards go, the CDE list of recommended literature for K-12 schools and books organized by age, grade, genre, standards, lexile, AR, interestlevel, Open Court themes and general themes/topics (both broad abd narrow), as well as many other ways. There are "book sets" that can be purchased on topics/themes, for certain grades or programs, or from various lists. The amount of information that is at your fingertips is astounding. I am told Follet is much the same. Both are LAUSD approved vendors. Elementary TLs must order from approved vendors. Secondary TLs have more leeway. (Ken Completo told me the advantages of using LAUSD vendors--because they have a contract, they are bound to fix any mistakes they make.)

Tim and I also talked about lists vs. quotes, what they are and when they are used. Once a list is turned into a quote it can't be changed and prices are good for 60 days. We also discussed "over selecting" and why it is a good idea to order 20%-25% more product than you want in case some titles are not available. Books go in and out of print all the time and, additionally, schools don't like geeting more shipments than is absolutely necessary. He explained priority levels, and how they are used to fill orders. He explained what a "do not exceed" amount is.

I got off the phone with Tim and checked books in and out at the circulation desk.

I spent about 30 minutes reading books on animal homes to Ms. Ruelas' first-grade class. They were delightful and I think it went well. She and the students asked me to come back next week!!!

I read to Ms. Sheikh's special ed. class again, continuing The Outsiders. They were attentive and when I left after 40 minutes one student said, "You read good, Miss." Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!

Spent another 40 minutes on the phone with Tim Pert. This time he showed me every aspect of collection development and all the information that is available on the website. This is crucial for weeding, development, getting money/funding and PR.

I selected books for the lesson I am planning on genres for tomorrow and Monday.

I spent time conferring and planning with Ms. Carillo, the elementary teacher with whom I am planning and implementing a lesson (genres).

Checked more books, shelved a few books, worked on projects and went home! But...I am not done yet. I spent a few hours at home preparing and refining my lesson for tomorrow. I also wanted to tweak my book talk/read aloud for Ms. Altman's 5th grade class. I was no thrilled with the way it went with Mr. Martinez' class.