You-Time in the Library

My school has an extra-curricular period known as "You-Time." This period comes after the end of the school day, and allows students to explore their interests in a variety of weekly activities. It is required that students choose something for at least one day per week, but most find multiple activities they enjoy before they leave school to go home and study, have music lessons, etc. (One of my Year 4 students would say he goes home to play video games. 😒)

Teachers volunteer for the You-Time activity that fits their interests. Some work in pairs, while others work by themselves with a smaller group. Karate, digital story-telling, Scouting, breakout boxes, origami...With dozens of choices besides sports for the older students, there is definitely something for everyone.

So what does the Library offer?

Well, my initial thought was to have Battle of the Books, similar to the NCSLMA rules, for Junior and for Senior Schools. Students are in one of 6 houses (just like in Harry Potter except these are named for Nobel Peace Prize Winners, and none are "evil") so inter-house competitions would allow students to earn house points. HOWEVER, the library did not open from its renovations until October. At that point, there was still a lot of things being changed or altered. Evenings and weekends still had construction workers in the library, and time was not my own.

Fast-forward to now: since I now understand how the purchasing system works, I know we would be unable to get multiple copies of books here, have students read them, develop questions, practice some game rounds, and have the competitions before the end of the school year. I will be ordering some books this year so we can start in August.  Instead of BOB, we have soon-to-be four activities each week. Two of these are You-Time. (The others are English Storytelling and Thai Storytelling.)

The first You-Time is Breakout Boxes. Teachers check these out to use with their classes, but in the library, a group of Junior School students also enjoys them every Wednesday. They struggle sometimes to solve the puzzles due to over-thinking things, but they are always eager to open that last lock and to learn what is in the box. This is run by the librarian, Miss Marivic, who is from the Philippines and has been at the school almost since it opened. (She is my right hand, and sometimes my left too! If you haven't been paying attention, I am the Director of Librarian Services, Marivic is my librarian, and then I have library assistants and an intern.)

You-Time is about to start anew (students change their activities periodically), and the library will also be offering Stop-Motion Animation! We have a set of iPads with the Stikbot app now, and rather than start BOB without being able to complete the competitions, this is what I will direct and mentor students doing. I am very excited about this, and hopefully students will be too.

Fighting the Coronavirus in a School Library

We are very fortunate that our library is cleaned daily, and deep cleaned on weekends. (Deep cleaning means shampooing, not just vacuuming, carpet, scrubbing the flexible seating areas, and more.) This means my library is one of the cleanest environments in which I have had the pleasure to work.

But then came the Coronavirus.

It came, not to my library, but into existence.

Now comes the time to wonder:

• Before being sent home for the incubation period, did one of the students who had visited China leave the virus in the library/on a book/in a book?
• How do you respond to parents when they ask how we sanitize the pages of the books?
• Will the school be closed by the Ministry of Education?

For the first one, we simply wash our hands, spray disinfectant that works on 99.9% of viruses, and hope. After all, it is not as if the virus can be seen and eliminated on sight! So we are spraying and refusing to worry. (None of the children who visited China for the Chinese New Year have shown symptoms.)

The next one is more difficult. Unless someone has a device of which I have never heard, there is not a way to sanitize the book pages of the hundreds of books we are circulating every week. (If you know of one, pass it one to us!)

Finally, the question that is on everyone's mind: will we close? I don't want this to happen because it will mean the virus has spread a lot. Also, I love my job and enjoy going to work every day. But, I also like to be prepared for any possible scenario. That is why part of today has been spent trying to figure out ways to share stories with students without breaking copyright law by having a video of story-time on You-Tube. (In case you were unaware, the filming of the illustrations and the audio of the words does break copyright law. Many publishers are starting to go after these online story-telling videos.)

While I don't have a perfect solution yet, I am glad we have subscriptions to several e-book platforms, and that students will have access to books in some way if we close.

Stay healthy, my friends!

Bangkok Book Awards

One of my favorite types of book awards is one where the books' audience get to vote for the winner. While the Newbery is a great honor and all that, it is not chosen by children!

Back in the states, every state has it's own children's book award, and, here in Thailand, there is no difference. Welcome to the Bangkok Book Awards 2020!

This book award was started by librarians at the many international schools in Bangkok; it now includes schools throughout Thailand. Only students/children may vote for the winner.

Nominees are selected with the following criteria:

Books first published, or published in English, over the past 5 years (at the point when the books are long/shortlisted). 

Only the first book in a series was considered.

FICTION — Unrealistic, Fantasy, Sci-Fi.

FICTION — Realistic (variety of genres).

NON FICTION — both narrative and traditional, along with memoirs, autobiographies etc.

Format variety (graphic, verse, poetry, short stories, etc.)

Geographical connection (by author’s origin, country of publication, setting of story, etc.)

Diversity (gender, race, culture, ability, etc.)

Translation.

Social/global issues.

Books with a Thailand or Asian connection.

The nominees for picture books:

• The Night Gardner by The Fan Brothers
• Jerome by Heart by Thomas Scotto
• Lucie Goose by Danny Baker
• Drawn Together by Minh Le
• Marwan's Journey by Patricia de Arias
• Oi Dog or Dog on a Frog by Kes and Claire Gray

Junior Reader Book Nominees:

• Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
• Iguana Boy Saves the World with a Triple Cheese Pizza by James Bishop
• Natural Born Loser by Oliver Phommavanh
• Rising Water: The Story of the Thai Cave Rescue by Marc Aronson
• Boy Underwater by Adam Baron
• Front Desk by Kelly Yang

And a category that I am happy to see for students who are beyond picture books and not quite ready for the longer Junior category: Young Readers!

• Ninja Kid: From Nerd to Ninja by Anh Do
• Bad Nana by Sophy Henn
• Sydney & Simon: To the Moon by Paul A. Reynolds
• Peter & Ernesto: a Tale of Two Sloths by Graham Annable
• The Quest for Z by Greg Pizzoli
• My Wounded Island by Jacques Pasquet

Lest our older readers feel left out, there is a Young Adult category as well in our senior school. Most of the books are checked out, so it is difficult to have a picture of the (practically) empty display.

• Thornhill by Pam Smy
• The Beast Player byNahoko Uehashi
• The Traitor and the Thief by Gareth Ward
• Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
• The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
• Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong about the World - and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling

I have one book left to finish from all of these, and I am glad I do not have to choose a favorite in any category for voting! Voting is truly left to the students! It will be interesting to see which books win.

To Be Read Lists and More

Librarians are supposed to have many things:

1. a lot of personal book shelves
2. overflowing number of books on those book shelves
3. knowledge of each and every piece of writing ever published on any continent at any point in time
4. the ability to know which book to which you are referring when you mention "that novel about the dog, or maybe it was a cat, with the orange cover. Well, maybe it was a green cover. I don't remember."
5. a TBR.

Let's get right to it:

1. My personal book shelves amount to one right now. Meaning one shelf. I sold my bookshelves before moving to Thailand.
2. My personal books are all in boxes in storage so I currently have 12 books. That's right. An even dozen. (Although my Nook Simple Touch (original edition!) does have 2000+ archived books since it only holds 460. I have to archive books each time I purchase another one.)
3. I know OF books. I have read thousands of books. I do not remember every book that has ever been written. Sorry.
4. If I haven't read it, or I didn't recommend it to you, I probably won't be able to help you. Fortunately, I belong to several librarian groups online who might be able to help.
5. NOPE. One of the things I do not have is a TBR - "To Be Read" list. I know people with TBRs on GoodReads and librarian sites who have 50, 100, 200 or more books waiting for them to read. 

I WILL NOT CREATE A TBR.

Seriously.

Any avid reader has books they want to read. Most, if not all, librarians are going to see new books arrive in the library, or in a book review, and say, "Oh! That looks good/interesting/fascinating/etc. I want to read that."  Of course, as librarians, we do not have time to read books frequently. We are busy with budgets, programming, lessons, reading clubs, and so much more.

Now think back to when you were TOLD what to read for a grade. Did you get excited about those assignments? Did you eagerly anticipate being able to open that book? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. (I often wonder if assigned novels is why I dislike almost every "classic" I had to read for a grade. The only one I don't hate is the one I'd read four years before it was assigned when my brother brought it home as an assigned book.)

Books are not supposed to be chores. And that's what homework is: a chore. When we are forced to read a book, even if it is one we should like, the enjoyment is sucked out of that story. At least it was for me.

Now to return to the world of TBRs.

To have a list of "must reads" turns the "Oh, that sounds like a good book" into "Oh, I need to get started on those books." They become a chore. And that means perfectly wonderful stories do not get the time nor attention nor enjoyment they deserve.

With the exception of books nominated for the Bangkok Book Awards, I do not have a TBR any more. When I see an interesting book (i.e.: The War that Saved My Life), I check it out and take it home to read.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to what may or may not be the first year or last year of a decade.  I am in the last year category since there was never a "year zero" unless you were in Pol Pot's regime in the 1970s.

But that's enough of that.

This new year has the library staff busy with some new programs, new items, and new contests in store.

New items:

Some of the items were ordered awhile ago and have now arrived! Fabulous storytelling chair in the story circle, iPad searching points for senior school, and a few more things like that.

New Programs:

• This term the Y7s are working on Nonfiction and research skills. We will have some activities and games to help them navigate the sometimes intimidating world of research. I am looking forward to working with their English teachers on these mini-lessons.
• Y6 Enrichment students will be finishing Six Million Paperclips after their Week Without Walls trip. I look forward to having them make some book trailers for this phenomenal and inspiring book.
• Y1-Y6 will get to share and vote on the Bangkok Book Awards nominees. 
• Teachers and staff will be posing for their "Eyes of a Reader" photo.

New Contests

• You-time for Battle of the Books is in preparation stages where the school houses will be able to compete against each other.
• Senior School students have the opportunity to participate in a commercial contest advertising a few of our library collections! (Thailand Collection, Nonfiction, e-books, and Life and Journeys)
• Fully Booked Week Bookmark Design Contests coming soon!
• Book Trailer Contests for Junior and Senior School in preparation for Fully Booked Week.

Whew! That's quite a bit! It's great to start the new year with inventory completed in Junior Library (necessary after all the packing, storing, moving, and rearranging we have done), and plans for a great Term 2!