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| Cushion storage area before the bottom row of books were moved |
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| Cushion storage area |
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| Cushion reading area |
Improvement/Rational - For the past 3 years I have put a great deal of energy into creating a great library. However, most of the focus has been on intermediate students as the previous 10 years before me the librarians were primary teachers. Meaning this library had a great deal of materials for primary kids to read. I have bought books for the primary students, however I do not have the thinking mentality of a primary teacher. I asked my primary teachers for some ideas to help improve the excitement in the library for the primary students and one of them suggested cushions to sit on when they read or when I read stories to them. I feel this will create a new level of excitement in the library for the students and help to make a connection with reading at home and their classroom. Plus my library will now have a 'home' type feeling for them to read in.
Concerns - I was concerned about this at first as I have seen lots of arguing over who gets a cushion and who doesn't. It creates problems and I do not want to mico-manage a "cushion sitting schedule" for 4 classes. The cost behind it and students wrecking them was also a concern and how to store the cushions.
Solution - In comparing the 3 photos above, the middle one has empty book shelves and the top photo was a 'before' photo (the shelves on the in the bottom photo are full). Last week I moved the books up to all the top shelve and bought new labels for lettering the easy reader books. The old labels were yucky to start with and I wanted to get this done. See the photos below for the example of the shelves labelling system. In this process I created new space for storage of cushions. I have discussed this with my AO and he likes this idea. However, I told him buying 5 cushions creates a problem. So I asked for $200 to spend. Ikea has cushions for $5 each that will work. So I'll be able to buy a set of 30. Primary classes max at 24 kids, so this will leave a couple extra spots.
Communication Plan - The kids at my school are amazing. They have great respect and understanding with me. So a simple talk with the intermediate students explaining that they are not to be using these as they are for the primary kids. Much like the graphic novels are for the intermediate kids and not the primaries. They will understand that things change as you get older. For the primary students, this will require a talk about respecting the pillows. Using them correctly, putting them away, and not trying to break them. Not all students will want a pillow. So they can use the pillow or sit at a table and read. Their choice.
Challenges - Just reinforcing and reminding students at the start some of the simple respect rules with the pillows. It should be too hard as the students use them in their classrooms already.
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| Ugly old label system I replaced last week |
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| New clip on label system, looks better and easier to move about the shelves, put on last week. |
