The Fall Book Fair Starts Today!

The Fall Book Fair begins today!  I am always so excited for this event to come around each year.  Not only is it a wonderful opportunity to raise extra money to support our library program, it is also a wonderful time to meet parents and catch up with old friends.  I hope to see you there!

Book Fair Hours are:

Monday, October 24:  8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m

Tuesday, October 25:  8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m

Wednesday, October 26:  8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m

Thursday, October 27:  8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m

Friday, October 28:  8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m 

 

 

 

Fall Book Fair Schedule

Time Monday    Tuesday Wednesday     Thursday

9:15 to 9:45	Glowacky	Ribas
9:50 to 10:30	Fifth Grade	Fifth Grade	Fifth Grade
10:35 to 11:15	Weigand	Robinson	DeLawder
11: 20 to 12:00	Forbes	Messich	Hatfield
12:30 to 1:10	Broskey	Culpepper
1:10 to 1:50	Barnes	Pisegna	Lillard	Haney
1:55 to 2:35	Elkins	Ruscello	Unger
2:40 to 3:20	Bragg	Brehm	Chuby	Cline

Making the Change from Accelerated Reader to Reading Counts

This year Brookhaven Elementary joined the rest of Monongalia County Schools in using Scholastic Reading Counts as its reading incentive program.  For the past 17 years Brookhaven pioneered the use of this type of program using Accelerated Reader.  Although Mon County adopted Reading Counts as a countywide reading incentive program around 2007, Brookhaven was not required to change until this year, when curriculum changes dictated that all schools use the assessment software that included Reading Counts.


I think our transition to Reading Counts has been well-received by the teachers and the students.  Clearly, Reading Counts has some advantages over Accelerated Reader;

• the teacher and student interfaces are easy to use;
• the program is integrated with other assessment programs, which allows students to only use one user name and password to access all products;
• the students receive visually attractive reinforcements when the pass their tests.

I see some disadvantaged to Reading Counts as well.

Call me a librarian, but the indexing inconsistencies in Reading Counts are driving me nuts.  There does not appear to be a common set of rules for user to apply when searching for books by title.  Here's an example of what I mean:

Johnny wants to take a test on Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat.  He types the title into the search bar exactly as it appears on the title page.  He can't find the title, so he does an author search for Rylant, scrolls through a list of her books and finds the title.  He notices that the title is written as Henry & Mudge & the Happy Cat, using ampersands in place of the work 'and.'  Johnny is a clever kid, so the next time he is looking for a Henry and Mudge book, he automatically uses the ampersand, looking for Henry & Mudge & the Starry Night.  Good plan, Johnny, except this time the title is recorded  as Henry & Mudge & Starry Night.  When Johnny types the word 'the' in the title, he cannot find the test.

Other indexing anomalies exist with author searches.  Sometimes the author who is credited for a book may be someone who is the orginator of a series but not necessarily the author of the book.  An example might be the Curious George books.  Reading Counts list H.A. and Margret Rey as the authors of all these books, even though the title pages list different authors.  

Welcome to the 2011-2012 School Year

I am so glad to finally have the library up and running after a long summer of inactivity.  For those of you who may not be familiar with me and my family, let me share that this summer has been extremely busy and personally rewarding.  My first grandchild, Eowyn Grace Smith, was born on June 1 to my daughter Christina and her husband, Brian.  Ten days later, my daughter Lora married Josh in a ceremony held in Clarksburg.   With all that was going on in my personal life, along with the construction and painting in our school that took place over the summer, Mrs. Burks and I elected not to have open library during the summer vacation period.  


When school did resume last month, the library played host to our fourth kindergarten class until last week's move freed up a permanent room for them.  Consequently the opening of the library was delayed.  During this time I was able to complete many tasks that needed performed, but let me tell you, I missed my kids!  The library opened the Tuesday after Labor Day and has been busy and bustling ever since.  Hallelujah!  Here is a snapshot of the last few days' activities:

Total Circulation:      846

Holds Placed by Students:  8

Items Loaned to Other Schools:   3

Not bad for four days' business!  I look forward to continuing this level of service to our students, teachers and parents as the year progresses.  Our first Open Library Night will be held on Monday, September 12 from 4:00 to 7:00.  Parents are invited to bring their children to find new books and to investigate our new reading incentive program, Reading  Counts, which has replaced Accelerated Reader.  I hope to see you in the library for Open Library Nights!

 

Suzie Martin, MLIS, NBCT