#101Woody’s Roundup

Ok, it’s not Woody, but it is a roundup.
These things are the most important issues for librarians in schools, in my opinion.
Get to know the content and structure of the curriculum, if you don’t already. Talk to teachers, staff parents and pupils. Talk to everyone. Network, talk to other librarians. Take every CPD opportunity you [...]

#100 Keeping It Light

If you don’t have sense of humour in this job, you’re stuffed!
Here’s a collection of library humour and miscellany.

#99 Print Your Own Barcodes

Not suitable for large runs, but you can print off small runs of barcodes here, particularly when you need a duplicate barcode for a damaged one.
It’s very simple, (as long as your symbology is on the list) and you can choose styles, image size and font. Pop in your actual value and generate!
You can either [...]

#98 Library Thing

If you haven’t come across Library Thing, you should have a look.
It can be used for pleasure, browsing and review purposes. It can also be used as a tool, as books are catalogued on the site. For sure, mostly by amateurs and using Library of Congress cataloguing, but still worth investigating.
You could also use it [...]

#96 Accessibility

Linked in with Health & Safety and DDA is the issue of accessibility.
When you create materials for your pupils, do you supply alternative versions? This could be a large print edition, an audio file, a flash video, a braille version, or a high contrast copy.
This issue is becoming more and more prevalent in education, and [...]

#95 Theme Days

I have mixed feelings about theme days. I find large corporate ones like World Book Day to be a waste of everyone’s time. The £1 vouchers can be seen fluttering about in the corridors and playgrounds for weeks after the event.
On the other hand, a local or regional one can be quite effective if the [...]

#92 Supplementing Your Budgets

School library budgets are always tight, if they exist at all.
Even if you receive a reasonable amount to keep your library running (let’s be honest, it’s never enough) it’s always an attractive option to supplement your budget from other sources.
The following are some of the options you might consider:
Regional funds. Your local authority will have [...]

#91 Careers Information

Some Careers Officers have a very strange view of their profession, and how librarians fit into it. They seem to feel that school librarians will happily accede to being their administrators and filing clerks.
I never accepted this myself, and always ensured that I devoted some time to making sure that Careers Officers devoted some time [...]

#90 Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Pupils with Special Educational Needs can often be a bone of contention in libraries, in that they can tend to appear throughout the day without due cause. A cynical librarian could point out that it might appear as if some teachers tend to sideline and exclude such pupils.
I’ve had a lot of contact with SEN [...]

#86 Health & Safety

A vital topic, in many ways.
It is important to keep yourself and your charges safe, whether they be staff, pupils or guests.
Be aware of the law (Health & Safety Summary) and of the school policy on health and safety. What’s the school’s policy on maximum numbers in the charge of any one individual member of [...]