What Adrienne Thinks About That

I'm not a librarian,but this process is still very interesting.It sounds really great!I hope you keep us posted!

Good stuff. I really do wish this approach well because (a) I think kids my be the saviors of periodicals and (b) "Because That's What We've Always Done" needs to be seriously challenged in most libraries today. I'm not saying libraries should throw baby and bathwater out unilaterally, but as the Information Age changes the way we look at things so should the primary depositories of our cultural information.

Excellent idea. Maybe I should pass this along to my local library...

Thanks, Momster--I will!

Thanks to you, too, David. I agree with you about rethinking what we're up to in libraries. So many librarians fret about kids not reading or that paper materials are going to die out, but it seems to me that they're failing to recognize their own power to potentially shape what happens, to shape that future they're worrying about. I want us to be discarding the periodicals in the Children's Room because they've been used so much that they're completely falling apart. This is all also part of my grand master plan to start including single-issue comics in with the magazines. I've been wanting to do that for YEARS, but I think I'm finally seeing my way to making it work.

Great idea. Way to do your research, too. Keep us updated.

David, my husband has an Information Science degree, and he kept getting job and job with the kind of supervisors who insisted on inefficient, Because-That's-the-Way-We've-Always-Done-It methods of library'ing. Over and over and over again. And he got so burnt out that he left the field. And doesn't want to return. Makes me sad.

"In reality, they're still a little tidier than I'd like to see them..."

That may be my favorite quote of the week.

Magazines at the library were a huge draw for me when I was a teen. I would happily pull a huge pile of books to take home and devour later, then spend the rest of the time blissfully reading Seventeen.

YAY, organization!!

I so want to go to that museum but haven't been able to make it yet. I love the simplicity of these. I have to say I'm big on things like this all over my house - makes stacks and things much more attractive. Where did you get these? Sorry if I missed it!

Go you, Adrienne! Innovation and persistence, all culminating in (I expect) reaching out to more kids. This is excellent! And I love the "tidier than I'd like to see them" quote, too.

Jules, Oh, that's sad about your husband. Some libraries are way more set in their ways than others.

Sara, I do not think the library I used as a teen subscribed to anything that cool, but I had my own subscriptions to Seventeen and Rolling Stone, which I loved.

For some reason, a little untidiness makes me feel better about life, more secure in some way.

Little Willow, Thanks!

Cheryl, I had them made by the same person who's currently making them for the Carle, and then Jason and I drove out there to visit the museum and pick them up. It was a bit wacky, but completely worthwhile.

Jen, I hope so. I'm always trying, anyway. Some things work out better than others. I can't wait until the older kid area is all done, because what we're really doing is changing the flow of the whole room and getting more of our materials out in the open and displayed more attractively/effectively. I'm excited to see if the whole project will work out the way I think it will. Each of these small steps along the way have been encouraging so far.

I guess it was travel that inspired you. Just trying to make a tie in.

Perhaps if my classroom magazines were in bins they would do more than look at the wedding pictures in Jet and laugh at them. Of course DEAR time for Global I next year will encourage that too.

Jeffrey, It's kind of true. I've been contemplating a post about how traveling and visiting other libraries and places kids congregate has inspired a lot of the changes I've made in the Children's Room over the years. For instance, the wood cabinets and shelving I've been having made were completely inspired by visiting the central library in Baltimore.

Tam, Love DEAR time. I think we should institute DEAR time at work. And what is wrong with laughing at the wedding pictures in Jet?

I think it's really cool that you get to go around to other libraries in the US and get ideas. It's not everyone has a career that you get to go around to other public use spaces/work places and get to see what works and what doesn't. You can do research just about anywhere. I've been anxious to find a library here in Korea, but I've not seen one yet. Okay, to be honest, I've not looked, but we're not in a residential area and since all the sinage is, surprise surprise, in Korean, I might have walked by 100 libraries and wouldn't have known it.

Adrienne, I'm not sure if it's culturally appropriate for you laugh at the wedding pics in Jet.

What is DEAR time?

Well Tammy,your job is a bit different than Adrienne's.Your kids have to pass exams.Or not.But if others can get your kids loving reading early,your job is easier.If kids love reading it all gets easier,

Jeffrey, Well, obviously I had to do some research. I wasn't sure what the library system was like in South Korea, but here's Wikipedia's list of libraries in Seoul:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_libraries_of_Seoul

It's pretty common outside the US to have to pay for membership at public libraries, but I couldn't figure out what's normal there.

I also checked, and no libraries in South Korea own my book. (Canada remains the country outside the US that seems to own the most copies of my book; Australia's second.)

It is nice to be able to walk into libraries anonymously in other areas. When I walk into libraries around here, not only do I know a fair number of staff people, but I will also see people who frequent our library (a lot of serious library people visit more than one library on a regular basis, it seems).

Really, I'm happy to make fun of anyone's wedding dress.

Last, DEAR = Drop Everything And Read. A lot of schools have DEAR time at a certain time every day, to encourage recreational reading. It's highly effective, so it's a mystery why more schools don't do it.

Momster, So true!

Oooh. I love this approach to magazines. I've been trying to figure out what to do in my teen department since I started here in January. You'll have to keep us posted on how it works.

Kristen, I surely will report back, and I'm keeping a close eye on the whole thing. I'll be posting more about our new tween area, by and by. As we get more of it done.

I love that Dr Office thing. We stopped putting current mags in holders and more students checked them out. I think the wall unit and the table bins would be a great next step.

Is there any way to subscribe to you via email? I would really like to read more of what you are doing but find google reader overwhelming!

Thank you for asking--I have never tried to use the email feature my blog has. I'm adding my own email address to it to see if it works. If it does, I would be happy to add yours as well. Would you like me to? I want to make extra-sure I have permission before I do.