School Librarians United with Amy Hermon

How often have you resorted to self-censorship in your collection, circulation and checkout procedures?  Is it just cowardly or have we just decided that compromising is necessary? This episode will ask you to call into question many practices used in school libraries today. Wendy Rickman's Study of Self-Censorship Phillip Nel's Nine Kinds of Pie A Dirty Little Secret: Self-Censorship NYT's Tellin...

What do you honestly think about celebrity authors' contribution to children's lit?  Are children's books becoming more politicized?  Will your collection benefit from Netflix's latest sensation Tidying Up?  Tune in to find out. schoollibrariansunited@gmail.com   CNN: Netflix has people (serenely) bulldozing their closets, and thrift stores are riding the wave  By AJ Willingham and Andrea Diaz (Ja...

Join me as we consider what makes our day and listen to one librarian's story of overcoming a complete loss to find joy in her job as a school librarian.  My Google Slides: Libraries that move! Waiting For The Biblioburro by Monica Brown My Librarian is a Camel by Margriet Rurrs US News and World Report: Library Laundromat Program (Dec 25, 2018) Libraries without Borders NYT: 8 Delightful Tips for...

Join me as I address how the Holidays impact our library program.  While our libraries cannot escape the craziness and disruption of our routines, we can embrace the chaos and have some fun along the way.  Happy New Year! Christmas Dance party  

Find out what happens when a publisher decides to stop publishing a popular title in my collection.   ESPN: Stephen Curry makes shoes available to girls online after letter (11/29/2018) NYT's November 1 article: My Deployment Was Not an "Adventure" NYT's December 1 article: A Marine's Reaction ...Prompts and Apology From the Publisher Capstone Connect Press Release: (11/5/2018)

Join me as I address the contentious issue of Wikipedia and what role it has, if any in our students' research strategies. Forbes: Amazon donates $1 million NYT's November 16 article: From Encyclopedia Collector to "Wikipedian-at-Large" MOMA's Wikipedia Edit-a-thon ALA's 2018 Spotlight: On Wikipedia  Four questions with author, librarian, and Wikipedian Merrilee Proffitt Trump's Wikipedia page on...

Join me as I consider why school librarians exemplify what it means to be lifelong learners.  I share feedback from a discussion board asking people from around the country to share their journey in becoming school librarians.   Kelly Hincks: Knowledge Quest The Glass Half Full Khan Academy: Assimilation vs. Accommodation

Join me as I contemplate how school librarians address the issue of leveled books both in our own libraries and classroom libraries.  How do we support our students who have learned to look for levels on the books they read and why we need to empower students to find books which they find both manageable and interesting.   Research Like a Librarian Jim Bailey's article (August 2018) for the Nerdy...

Join me as I consider the use of parent and student volunteers as well as district employees as assistants in my libraries. Also in today's episode: Dwarsliggers and the Awful Library Book Ladies! 2011 Guardian article Flipbackbook website NYT: Tiny Books October 30, 2018 Awful Library Books with Mary Kelly and Holly Hibner

Join me as I share the presentation which I gave at MAME 45 this past week: Live Your Best...Library.  I will also give an overview of this conference which is the state conference for school librarians in Michigan.  Don't live in Michigan?  This episode is full of great ideas for any school library organization planning a conference as well as for individuals planning on attending or presenting a...

Join me as I consider collaboration with building teachers, principal, school district and fellow school librarians.  How does our schedule affect the collaboration and impact we can make? Amp up your classroom: Collaborate with your School Librarian By Laura Gardner Collaborating with your School Librarian By Jamie Gregory Shannon McClintock Miller's Blog The Library Voice and her post "My Tips &...

Join me as I delve into the divisive issue of classroom libraries and our role in supporting them as school librarians.  Challenge the recommendations for teachers in creating a library of their own.  Recognize the struggle for school funding and how librarians and teachers can team up to support our shared goal of growing readers.  Colby Sharp's classroom tour NTCE's Statement on classroom librar...

Join me as I wrestle with the contentious topic of book snobbery in the library.  Aren't we trained to be selective and judicious in how we spend our limited funding?  On the other hand, we are responsible for servicing all our students' reading interests - not just the ones we deem worthy.  And why all our collections should have a dessert section for our students.   How to weed by the numbers Bo...

Join me as I delve into the thorny topic of the role school librarians play as "Book Wardens" with our checkout policies and students' book choices.  Can our decisions be justified and are our interactions with students reasonable when it comes to book choices? Bookriot.com "Librarians must weed their book collection" by Sarah Ullery Bookriot.com "The House with a Clock in its Walls: Read it, then...

Join me as I tackle the issue of purchasing materials for your collection.  Avoid the pitfalls and consider how we prioritize how we spend our limited funds.  I also share where I get my ideas for which titles to purchase.  

Join me as I tackle the challenges of discarding books from your library collection.  I'll share lots of strategies for repurposing discards as well as the mistakes I've learned over the years.  Discarding is necessary but it doesn't have to always be unpleasant! Hot chocolate damage Scroll down to see slideshow  

Join me as I tackle the challenges of weeding a school library collection. CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries