A Dynamic Library |
The library as a welcoming hub for learning and reading remains crucial to the mission of any quality school.
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Have a look at the items below to get a feeling for some of the work we have done in our library at the American School in Japan over the past 11 years. I have initiated and developed all programs described below, either with the help of my library colleagues at ASIJ or that of the professional network of International School Librarians in Japan.
Questions and suggestions always welcome.
Questions and suggestions always welcome.
Sakura medal
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Sakura Book Bowl
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Library Lessons
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Copyright CONTENT Creators
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Story time
Still a favorite part of my job
I must have read well over 10,000 stories out loud by now, but it's still the time a day where I smile to myself and consider I am actually getting paid to do this. I am a huge fan of picture books and do my best to keep putting them into the hands of kids who feel they're "too big" for them. I gently invite myself into those grade 4 and 5 classrooms where kids don't have a library story time any longer, to go and be a guest reader 10 minutes before recess or the end of the day when the work is done. I LOVE it.
The Reading Challenge
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Expert Visitors
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The Library Sleepover
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A library for kids first
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For those students who are active participants in the library programs offered throughout the school year, we offer a yearly sleepover in April. Typically about 125 third through fifth graders take part.
The fun starts as school ends on Friday afternoon and goes on non-stop (except for sleeping time) until the next morning at 9. Street performers, team challenges, games in the gym, movies and lots of other fun activities. Many parent and teacher volunteers help out to make this possible. |
Probably one of the most work intensive jobs we ever did was to fully rearrange our picture books section away from an alphabetical arrangement to a genre based approach. The motivation came from kids' daily recurring question "Where can I find a book on…" We decided the fiction books should allow kids to browse the shelves without having to ask a librarian for superfluous help like this and set to work. We used the principles of Design Thinking as set out by the NoTosh consultancy people active at ASIJ and produced several iterations before settling on genres which were chosen first and foremost by our students.
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Picture This!
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A FUN PLace
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Picture This! is a story writing competition where ES students submit stories. A panel of judges selects the winners. As the librarian, I would use my connections at the SCBWI Japan chapter to recruit professional illustrators to provide the pictures. Thanks to the support of the ASIJ PTA we were able to publish 15 of these stories.
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These presentations give a brief overview of proper library etiquette as they would be presented to the students at the beginning of the school year. Brief, humorous, positive and to the point, I feel this presentation conveys the light hearted sense of humor we fill the library with.
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Grandpa's lap from wlaleman |
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