Southridge Family Book Exchanges!

One of my goals for the Southridge Learning Commons is to establish more connections with parents and guardians and to have them visit our library regularly.  I would like to establish a relationship with parents to gain a better understanding of our students' needs and what role the Learning Commons can play in order to meet those needs.

Parents and guardians have been invited to our library Wednesday, October 30th from 2-2:30 PM to sign out books for their family. This family book exchange time will be offered every Wednesday. I will be experimenting with the time that this is offered to see what is most convenient for parents. Materials will be due back to the library every Wednesday. I think that this will be a great way for pre-school aged children to become acquainted with their future library and to increase the circulation of our materials. We live in an increasingly technological world where information is readily available at the click of a mouse and some might question the need for libraries and librarians.  It is important to reaffirm the importance and necessity of libraries as physical and virtual places for higher learning and that the library is useful, an enjoyable place to be, and houses current resources that reflect the interests of our users.  I want the library to be an inviting space for learning open to all members of our students' families. Increasing our circulation and opening up the library for more users is a good step towards ensuring that libraries are well used and remain a critical component of our schools. 

Once this family book exchange is up and running, I would like to have a few special sessions where I teach parents to use e-resources such as Tumblebooks, Tumblebooks Junior, and e-books available using Apple apps. I would also like to show parents how to utilize the e-resources that are available for them and their children through the District Learning Commons. I think it is important for parents to be aware of both the print and digital resources that are available for their children. During these book exchanges, I will be welcoming parent/guardian book suggestions to be added to our collection. I believe that the collection should reflect the needs and interests of our users and that parents should have a role in collection development.

I ask that teachers routinely remind students about this opportunity for them and their family and to encourage students to return their materials each week. I thank you in advance for supporting this new addition to our library services.

Have a great week!