Tales from a Loud Librarian

Just Finished Loading the Vehicles Today I had to pick up 97 boxes of new library books from a school 15 minutes away from the new PFTSTA. The boxes weighed anywhere between 20 and 50 pounds. I wanted to make this move in one trip, but I wasn't sure it was possible. On our school's brand new Facebook page, I put up a notice asking for help.  I had parents, students and even alumni offering to give me a hand. I didn't know how many vehicles and muscles would actually show up. The plan was to meet early this morning with our hand trucks to try and avoid the heat of the day. With seven trucks, vans and SUVS and about 15 people and 6 dollies, we got the vehicles loaded in less than hour. We got to the new school and repeated the process of moving the boxes into the new library. I love working at Patrick Taylor. When you need help, the cavalry arrives. Now we have 2400 of brand new books to add to our collection. They aren't processed.  Anybody available to volunteer ...

Usually, I submit three to four teen reviews every other week to be published in SLJTeen . Since everything in the library had to be packed up this spring due to the big move, I asked the members of Bookmarked to take home a dozen ARCs each so that they would have lots of summer reading and would be able to provide me with lots of reviews over summer break. Oh well, the best laid plans ...... The students must have been as busy as me and didn't have time to read. However, part of my summer time busyness included reading two to three books a week. I hadn't read anything that has not been published yet, so I could not submit my own review. Follow this link to read a review of This is How I Find Her as well as a review by SLJTeen editor, Dodie Ownes, for Reality Boy .

New school is almost there, but ready or not school will open in August. There are workmen everywhere completing the last details. All of the teachers' boxes are sitting in the classrooms ready to be unpacked. All the new furniture is stacked up ready to be used by students on the first day of school.  As you can see by the picture above, all of my stuff is there ready to put away in the new library.  This is going to be the teaching area in the library. The interactive white board is going to be placed on the wall where you can see the electrical drops. There are shades that will block out the sun on the windows.  The rows of shelving take up the middle of the library. In front of this screen wall will be the library computers.  Behind it will be study carrels.  This is going to be the circulation desk area.  The open door is the storage area, and the door on the left is my office. The office is c...

Thomas waiting to speak at the YALSA BFYA session Every year during both the Mid-Winter and Annual conferences for ALA, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) invites local teens to visit the conference one day to speak at the Best Fiction for Young Adult Committee meeting. It is a great day where the kids get to give their opinions on what they have read to the committee members, get fed by Penguin Publishers and meet many of the authors of the books that they have read and loved. I took a group of ten kids when ALA was in New Orleans in 2011. One of the members of Bookmarked, pictured above, spends his summers in Chicago with relatives. He didn't get to attend ALA in New Orleans, so I invited him to spend Saturday, June 29th with me.  Thien Pham on the left and Gene Yang on the right Hanging out in Artist Alley at ALA We started the morning at an interview of author/illustrator Gene Yang by his friend and collaborator Thien Pham . I knew that Thomas...

When the summer temps hit the 90s in southern Louisiana, everything slows down. The members of Bookmarked are still writing reviews for SLJTeen , but this week only two students submitted reviews. Maybe the heat will give the students a chance to stay inside where it is cool and read some of the many ARCs that they brought home for the summer. Click here to find the reviews .

I love meeting authors. One of the reasons that I love attending ALA Annual so much is the opportunity to meet all the authors that I read and recommend to my students. I hate to admit it, but I am a true fangirl. Luckily, I can keep it in check and not gush when I actually come face to face with these remarkable writers. My ALA began on Friday night at Penguin Teen's rock star author dinner. Laurie Halse Anderson was there. She visited my school two years ago when  Forge  the sequel to  Chains  was published. She was kind enough to say that she remembered visiting PFTSTA, and I knew that she was telling me the truth when she described our cafeteria that was surrounded by windows. Her novel that is due out this fall does  not  have a one name title, and it takes on some dark, contemporary themes. My box of books of ALA arrived yesterday, and this one is on my to read list. I finally get a chance to meet Sarah Dessen I have been a big fan...

Sign at airport welcomes the librarians to Chicago On Friday, June 28th I left New Orleans after  being home only 36 hours after ISTE to attend ALA (American Library Association) in Chicago. I have been to the last two Annual ALA conferences and really wanted to attend this year too. Attending conferences is an expensive proposition. I was very lucky to win a scholarship along with six other librarians from EBSCO to attend this conference. You can read my winning essay here . If you are a librarian and want to attend ALA Annual or Mid-winter, you should apply next year. EBSCO paid for my conference registration and $1000 towards my travel. Our pictures and names were listed in the lobby of the McCormick Place Convention Center along with all the other ALA award winners. Below is a picture of that poster. Click on the picture to enlarge It was a rush to see my name hanging on the wall  The only requirement for this scholarship was to attend a breakfast on...