There are some things we, as librarians, do that many people don't think about.
It's an obvious thing for teachers and students to know we can give book recommendations for a variety of subjects, or know what to suggest to a reluctant reader. But a librarian is a master of creating a list.
Although you might think I am talking about a shopping list (that would be the "to be purchased list), a to do list (which rarely gets completed because for every item crossed off, it seems two are added), or a recently read list (which I only made one time...and in 6 weeks I had read over 100 books and realized my time was better spent on OTHER lists). What I am referring to in this post is the "resource list."
A resource list is a list of many, not necessarily all, the items in the library for a specific topic. I have created lists for Pride month, research topics, and the like. This week, I have created two lists. The first was for International Women's Month.
When I create a list for something like this, I search not only our collection, but I search blogs, publishing companies, and more to see if there is a book I need to add to the library or if there is a book in the collection I just didn't think of to add to the list. When I got to 100 resources on the list, I stopped. I felt this was a good list for the project junior school students will be working on.
The second list, however, is one that I had never thought of making, and one that I wish I didn't need to make. This list is on helping children (and adults) who are dealing with grief over the death of a loved one. It breaks my heart to know we have children who have SO much to handle with emotions they may not understand. Hopefully, though, a resource list can help. Sometimes reading about a fictional character who is going through a similar situation can help give a child insights on how to deal with it themselves.
