Librarian on the Roof!

This post is going to be slightly different from my traditional book reviews. Not only do I see this as an opportunity to share a fantastic non-fiction title, I see it as a call to action for both public librarians and teacher librarians. So.......here I go!

 Librarian on the Roof: A True Story

By M.G. King and illustrated by Stephen Gilpin

This true story takes place in Lockhart Texas when a passionate librarian (see what I just did there?)took the roof of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library to raise awareness and funds for a new children's section. Through wet and wild weather RoseAleta Laurell camped out on the roof of the library until her fund raising goals were met (and exceeded!). RoseAleta's determination and exuberance breathed new life into the historic building. From RoseAleta's noisy entrance to the library on her first day to her water balloon launching I felt an immediate kinship to this woman and sat down to write this post moments after finishing the last page. "The other librarians never camped on the roof" the townspeople shouted! To which RoseAleta would have probably replied, "horsefeathers!"

 It is this very approach to library services that I myself aspire to. I may never camp out on the roof of the library (I'm not that hearty to withstand the freezing temperatures of the North!)but I see this book as a call to action for public and school librarians alike to get noisy, be heard! Or, as I like to say, "down with the HUSH!!" But I have always been the librarian singing Broadway show tunes, hosting Glee club practices, and choreographing the latest Christmas musical in my library. So please, humour me, and even if you aren't titillated by the thought of camping on the roof of your library, take this as a challenge to go outside your comfort zone to ensure your library is alive and thriving any way that you can!

"Chance Favours the Connected Mind"

Steven Johnson created a fantastic video explaining the origins of the "great idea". Johnson states, "Chance favours the connected mind" This video discusses the origins of the great idea and calls for the creation of systems that "allow hunches to come together" specifically mentioning coffee houses.....I'm thinking combine coffee houses with unlimited resources and you get .............LIBRARIES! *Ta-da!*

Great Library Video

Students need to "internalize what it means to be a digital citizen" (David Loertscher)