Back to School: Work Day Progress

After spending time in the library prior to contracted days cleaning up after HVAC and light installation crews, yesterday's work day felt productive.  Without the temptation of a master schedule to distract me, I was able to pull and display books, apply antibacterial spray to all of the cloth furniture, place a new area rug and plants, set up my objectives and vocabulary for the first two weeks of school, and get some bulletin boards and signage onto walls.  The only additional tweak to the decor has to wait until the dimmers and on/off switches are added to the walls.  Hospital brightness is a bit too blinding and really doesn't help to create a cozy feel, so the twinkle lights will have to wait until I can fiddle with the dimmer and figure out the best placement for them. Twinkle lights are good.

Here's the calendar behind my circulation desk, with staff and student events as well as the birthdays of authors and illustrators:

The display case is old and needs three sets of battery-operated light strands to really illuminate whatever I put into it, but I have the beginning of a "Have you READ the movie yet?" theme started:

I read The Wild Robot to my third graders every year and last year's third, fourth, and fifth-graders were thrilled by the news that it had been made into a movie that will be released in September.  Yes, I do Roz's voice for the entire read-aloud. 

As students line up to leave the library, they'll be reminded to:

A navigational cue, multi-lingual welcome sign, and our beginning-of-the-year alphabetical library vocabulary bulletin board greet patrons in the hallway outside our door:

(Have I mentioned that I'll be relieved when the extra ceiling tiles and trash cans are removed?) 

I purchased multi-lingual library signs from the ALA Store last spring.

I'm hoping to print a larger version of our school mascot for the hallway displays this year but this little friend works for now.

I'm one of those educators who likes everything to be JUST SO at the beginning of the school year so that students, teachers, staff, and families realize just what a special and essential place and resource our library is. With a little zhuzhing here, some zhuzhing there, and some twinkle lights, it'll be ready.