Nonfiction and New Learning

First,  thank you to my fellow LMS who have reached out via email to show some love for the project.  That makes this endeavor all the more exciting.

Now, as promised, lessons learned.

1) Having the books already placed into genres was a HUGE timesaver.  I had a few middle school students come for 2 afternoons to help with this but I forgot to take their pictures.  Thanks Riley and Kenny!

2) Making a "rough" map of where the genres would end up on the shelves was also a plus.

3) Listening to adults touch a book and spontaneously share a memory about it = priceless.

4) WOW!  It became IMMEDIATELY evident that my Fiction collection was unbalanced.  The Science Fiction and Sports books barely fill 1/3 of a shelf.  This is going to be such a huge asset in purchasing for the future.  The ability to scan a shelf and tell instantly what genres need "beefing up".

5) I removed the baskets that originally sat on the top of the bookcases because it was too cluttered with the signage AND the genres in the bins did not correlate with the signs.  I am still mulling this over and trying to determine if I want to somehow reposition the signs and return the baskets.

6) I reabsorbed the Matt Christopher and American Girl books back into their respective genre collections. 

7) For the series on the series bookcase, I did not add spine labels yet.  I want to see how the students are interacting and, frankly, it will make shelving easier for me right now because anyone helping me will know that no label=series bookcase.  I am sure I will add them in the future but probably not until the nonfiction section is completed.

8) Kelly is investigating the feasibility of having a location field in Destiny to point students to the correct genre location.

Speaking of Nonfiction, we had a meeting Friday afternoon and the timelines from before have changed.  Here's where I stand:

1) Create classification headings for the FICTION section of the library based upon the interests of my students and DESTINY classifications.
2) Work with the library office to design spine labels that include a graphic and word for each section. A matching larger sign will be created to be displayed above sections.
3) Complete Fiction section re-do by Friday, November 14th. Just in time for American Education Week!
4) Create classification headings for the NONFICTION section of the library by Friday the 21st!
5) See #2
6)Complete the NONFICTION section re-do by December 3rd. That's right!  Just 2 short weeks!!!!!
7) Remember to run circulation reports and statistics before during and after the process.
8) Document, in pictures, the transformation.
9) Document, via this brand new blog, the transformation highs and lows.
10) Complete Common Ground proposal before December 1st.
11) Update library wiki (Ok, let's be honest, CREATE library wiki)
12) BREATHE!
13) Finish the signage for the Fiction section.

Piece of cake, right?