It's Monday! What are you reading?

To be honest, I am just now wrapping up my reading from last week...but here is what I'll be diving into over the next couple of days:

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly is going to be another two-fer for me--a historical fiction novel to count towards my summer reading minutes and an activity for the library's America 250 challenge.  It's based on a true story of three women--one from the United States, two from Europe--whose lives become entwined during the events of World War II.  The chapters are titled with their names, so I am anticipating a plot that zigzags between the three perspectives.  There is factual backmatter included at the end of the book that I'll look forward to referencing.

I'll skim through this nonfiction book at my son's recommendation--Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport.

My summer guilty pleasure has been playing solitaire and mahjongg on my phone for far too many hours...but I am also guilty of the mindless scrolling through cute videos of rescued farm animals, educator memes, and workout routines that I save for that elusive someday.  Maybe there will be a useful tidbit in Newport's book to make me avert my eyes from the screen for larger portions of my day.

The kidlit book I'm picking up this week is from one of my last Scholastic Book Fair purchases.

The back cover blurb of Outside by Jennifer L. Holm gave me some Lowry Giver vibes, so I'm curious to see how the two compare.  What freedoms are we willing to give up in the name of safety?  What does it take for us to push beyond boundaries imposed on us...and what will we find out about ourselves in the process?

It's Monday, and I've set some pretty lofty reading goals for myself this week!  What's in your pile?  Do you ever choose books because they remind you of something else you've read?

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Summertime, and the reading is easy...it has been fun these last few days pursuing reading for pleasure and personal learning.

Speaking of learning--I attended a presentation at our local library entitled "100 Years of Native American Literature."  After learning about prominent indigenous authors and the historical periods reflected in their writing, I remembered that I had a book waiting on my TBR pile at home by a favorite Native American author, Angeline Boulley.

My fiction pick of the week:  Sisters in the Wind.

Set in Michigan, Boulley's latest novel follows Lucy Smith's journey of discovering her roots as a Native American.  Raised by a single white father who told her she was Dutch and Italian, her birth mother a mystery rarely discussed, Lucy is confronted with the truth when her real tribal family finds her and fills in the missing pieces of her history.

My nonfiction reading for the week is a continuation of Gentle: Rest More, Stress Less, and Live the Life You Actually Want by Courtney Carver.  My ebook expired, and I ended up buying a hardback copy just so I could underline the helpful bits.

I arrived early to a meeting with my library student at the public library, so I wandered over to the children's section to find a new-to-me kidlit choice for this week.  They had a few Jane Yolen books on display, presumably in memoriam of her recent passing.  I picked up a book of her poetry, In and Out the Window, published in 2024.

The poems are brief, and cover the musings of childhood--the smell of breakfast in the morning, school uniforms and backpacks, curiosity about animals and insects.  I find myself reading each poem at least twice, scenes forming in my mind's eye with wistful feelings.  Maybe a future reading goal will be to work my way through Yolen's 450 published works...

It's Monday!  What are you reading?  Do you stick with one genre, or read more widely?

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Newly retired from public education, and three weeks into summer--seems like a good time to revive old habits!  I've joined a writing challenge through my local library, and decided to return to regular blogging--Mondays on this platform to talk about books, and Tuesdays on my personal platform, Horizon 51, where I discuss what's on my mind.

So what am I reading these days?  Another goal I've set for myself is one fiction, one nonfiction, and one kidlit book to report on each week.

My fiction choice is a continuation of one of my favorite series, The Harry Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

I've missed a few installments,  but it doesn't seem to matter. I get drawn into Harry Dresden's world easily.  Twelve Months catches the wizard post-battle, in mourning from losses sustained during a supernatural razing of Chicago. The usual political games between the councils of wizards, ghouls, and vampires are in play, and Harry is caught in the middle. This adult fantasy is my favorite mind candy for summer reading!

I've set other books aside to make room for Gentle: Rest More, Stress Less, and Live the Life You Actually Want by Courtney Carver.

My post-retirement to-do list is a mile long. The transition has me feeling a bit discombobulated, and I'm hoping to glean some wisdom from Carver's experience. 

I found this cute story at my last Scholastic Book Fair:

I love books with dragons, and I love to bake. The illustrations are rich and glowing, showing us that treasures aren't always made of gold. This would be a sweet bedtime story--or a lead-in to a round of bread baking with the kids.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's the end of August! What's been happening in the AME Library?

Welcome to the 23-24 school year, Dillo Readers!

Image by Bryan Spear, Austin artist!

We have had a BUSY beginning of the school year!  To support our teachers' professional learning and collaboration time, the library is on the specials rotation this year.  This means that students will come to the library in their color groups during their teachers' planning  periods for approximately forty-five minutes.  

So what have we been doing this month?  Library orientation lessons on book care and shelf-marker use; reviewing library expectations to be safe, respectful, and responsible with each other and with materials; and essential agreements on how we want to be treated have been the focus of these first couple of rotations--as well as checking out books!  

Boosterthon huddles have also been a part of specials this past week, and will continue into next week!  Be sure to have your student log onto mybooster.com to join our school's fundraising efforts.

Interested in volunteering in our school library this year?  Be sure to register as a volunteer with our district first  , and then contact Chris Margocs via email:  christine_margocs@roundrockisd.org .

September library events and lessons will include an author visit, nonfiction text features, use of the online catalog, and introductions to our Bluebonnet and Armadillo reading programs.  Lessons and events vary by grade level.

It's been great to see students excited to check out books already.  Keep on reading, Dillos!

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the AME Library?

 It's our last post of the 22-23 school year!  Ms Margocs is busy hunting down missing inventory.  She will go to great lengths to find books that are supposed to be on the shelves!

The Book Witch was prowling the halls this week!

We have over two dozen students who haven't turned in their books; please be sure to bring them tomorrow so they can be checked in, inventoried, and shelved to be ready for
next school year!

Places to look for those library books:

• under your bed
• at the bottom of your backpack
• in a siblings' room
• in a classmate's cubby
• in another same-grade classroom
• in the car
• at your grandmother's house

Please be responsible and turn in your library books! 

Looking for more books to read and share this summer?  Be sure to check out the resources on our district summer reading page.

There are lots of ways to keep reading this summer to beat the summer slide:  the take-and-keep books you got from the library, MackinVIA ebooks (and Comics Plus on MackinVIA) that you can access through Classlink, books from the public library and pop-up libraries.

It's Summer Break, Dillo Readers--enjoy whatever books you like to read!  See you in the AME Library in August!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 The only reading I've been able to stick with these past few weeks has been my morning sessions with Gilbert's Big Magic.

I give myself ten to fifteen minutes to read in the morning.  The layout of Big Magic is perfect for this amount of time, with mini-chapters of two to four pages that are easily digested as I drink my morning coffee and wake up my brain.

I'm about halfway through the book, and the content is broadening from a focus on creativity to an outlook on "creative living".  The passage I read this morning was particularly relevant to all professions, with its message on living with the downsides of a profession if you really love the pursuit of it.  That is so true of the calling to be an educator; we all have parts of the job we aren't particularly fond of, but we have our reasons to keep at it.  My passion is literacy for life, and the library is a great place to practice and promote that passion.

It's Monday, and I'm plodding along with my daily morning reading.  Do you have a dedicated time to read each day?  If not, is there a time you can carve out to read on a regular basis?

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the AME Library?

We are deep into inventory season in the library!

We're gathering teaching materials, scanning every book in the library, and collecting those last returns from students.  All books were due last Monday.  We still have about 100 students with library books out--bring those books back, Dillo Readers!  The Book Witch will be visiting classrooms at the end of the week to collect books and remind those who still have checkouts.

We have given out twenty prizes already in our daily clear account drawings!

Ms Margocs uses a random number generator to find five students with a clear library account each day--fifty winners total by the last day of school!

Next week, we'll be talking about summer reading plans.  Start thinking about what you'll read this summer, Dillos.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 I have to confess that most of my reading this past week has been swimsuit catalogs and vacation rental information.  My modus operandi is thinking ahead, and ahead is summer break!  I am still working my way through my grown-up novel and Gilbert's Big Magic; morning reading is my most consistent practice.

When I surveyed my students to see if they identified as readers, I reminded them that they are, at the very least, environmental readers.  I think we adults sometimes forget just how much reading we do outside of a book on a daily basis.  Here's the list I've come up with:

• Emails
• Ads
• Social media posts
• The clock
• The calendar
• Planners
• To-do lists
• Decorative print (on my coffee mug)
• Our car dashboard
• Traffic signs
• Billboards
• Stereo tuner
• More emails
• Computer programs (i.e. our inventory system)
• Reports
• Directions
• Labels
• Receipts
• Greeting cards
• Anything on our phones--the weather, notifications, app names...

I will have read most of this list before 10a this morning.  When you stop to think about what you read in a day, do you consider environmental print?

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the AME Library?

We are having our No-Price Bookstore this week! 

Thanks to the generous donations of new and gently used books, students are able to choose one or two books to add to their home libraries.

It is so very important that children have access to books at home.  There is a program, backed by research, that promotes the reading of one thousand books before kindergarten.  You can find more information here. 

All library books are now due back.  We will start drawing names of free and clear accounts beginning this Friday, for the last ten days of school!  Clear accounts are those without any checked out books, lost books from this year, or unpaid bills from this year.

Make reading part of your summer plans!  Ms Margocs will be sharing some tips and a check-off game for summer reading with classes during the last few days of school.

Enjoy your No-Price Bookstore books, Dillo Readers--keep reading!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 Last night, I read my copy of Indelible Ann: The Larger-Than-Life Story of Governor Ann Richards by Meghan P. Browne, illustrated by Carlynn Whitt.

I must confess that I was not paying much attention to politics when Richards was running for governor; I was in my third year of teaching in a resource setting and planning a wedding the year she was elected.  I do remember the mudslinging ads, though, and admired her high-road campaigning.  

When I met the author of this book at the TLA "Speed-Dating the Bluebonnets" event last month, I told her that this was the book I didn't know we were missing until she wrote it.  She said the same thing, surprised that there hadn't been a children's book published about Richards.  Richards is one of the only two women ever to be elected to the office of Texas Governor, and diversified the dome before diversity was even a buzzword.

It's Monday, and I'm catching up on Texas history with a Bluebonnet Award Nominee biography.  Have you read an informational picture book lately?  Were you surprised by the content?

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the AME Library?

 It's our last week of checking out books from the library!  Before checkouts, Ms Margocs has been polling students on whether or not they see themselves as readers.  The good news is--most of our students do!  When we stop and think about books that have been shared, what they've checked out of the library, environmental reading...then even more see themselves as readers.  Our goal is 100% on this question next year.

We concluded our Armadillo Readers' Choice voting this week.  The overall winner for our campus is Chez Bob by Bob Shea!

Our third through fifth graders are taking their reading life notebooks home this week.  Kindergarten through second grades will have them returned to their teachers, along with the rest of the Armadillo Readers' Choice book stickers to add to their notebooks during these last weeks of the school year.  Students who return to AME next year are welcome to continue requesting book stickers to add to their journals!

The library will be closed tomorrow for STAAR testing.  Our regular Thursday classes were invited to visit the library on Wednesday.

All books are due back to the library on May 8th!  Please pay attention to overdue notice emails, and look for missing books.  Usual hiding places are book cubbies, classroom library shelves, under beds, and in siblings' rooms.

Good luck on the STAAR test tomorrow!  We'll see all of our Dillo readers at the No-Price Bookstore next week!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 It's a new month...but I'm still reading the books I started last month!  Oh, well, the point is to keep on reading every day, and I am accomplishing that goal.  Gilbert's Big Magic has me thinking about making room in my day for creative pursuits, and Barnhill's When Women Were Dragons makes me wonder if I would enjoy being a dragon, too.

Summer is coming soon, and I'm planning on catching up on reading so that I can start next August with the books I've planned.

I cooked this weekend which, for me, means I was reading a few cookbooks.  Yes, that counts as reading, too!

We are in inventory season in the library, and Ms Moss has been busy scanning our fiction books this past week.  In the process, she is coming across some really great books that have been hiding in plain sight on our bottom shelves.  Some of those may end up in my take-home reading pile for the summer...I'll let you know.

It's Monday, and I am plugging along with my two books at the moment while I make my summer reading plans.  Have you started your reading pile yet, Dillos?  Summer will be here in four weeks!  

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the AME Library?

We were closed for testing support yesterday, but we are back to our usual busy-ness today!

This weeks' lessons and activities:

PreK is studying birds and rhyming in class, and Ms Margocs found the perfect book that covers both:  Lois Ehlert's Plumas para almorzar.  I love practicing my Spanish with picture books!

We are wrapping up our year of Armadillo Readers' Choice reading with K-2 making their readers' choices this week!  We will review the ten books from the list, and then every student will be voting for their favorite.

There are still lots of stickers to add to our reading life notebooks, so 3rd through 5th grades will be choosing stickers and writing responses to their favorite books before checking out this week.

Can you believe that we only have this week and the next for our regular library schedule?  Here are some important library dates to remember:

May 1-5--Last regular library visits

May 4--STAAR testing in the library

May 8th--All books are due back to the library!

May 9th--PK-1 No-Price Bookstore Shopping 

May 10th--2-3 No-Price Bookstore Shopping

May 11th--4-5 No-Price Bookstore Shopping

The end of the school year is in sight, Dillo Readers!  Keep on reading!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Last week, I got invited to an author/ book lunch by Candlewick, a publishing company.  I was introduced to picture books that are now in my shopping cart to purchase for our library in the fall.  This is one of the great benefits of going to our annual conference--we get to learn about fabulous new books to add to our collection!

Twenty Questions, by the super-creative team of author Mac Barnett and illustrator Christian Robinson, is a perfect fit for our IB-PYP school with inquiry at the heart of instruction.

Each question in the book is open-ended, which will lead to a variety of answers and explanations for answers.  I could see using an illustration a day as a morning activity for several weeks.

Aaron Becker's new wordless book, The Tree and the River, is so full of detail that it just begs to be read again and again.

While readers of any age will get something from the illustrations, I think it is especially suited for third grade on up, with students who have background knowledge of ancient civilizations, agriculture and industrial commerce, and even an interest in sci-fi.  The Tree and the River had me pondering the cycles of nature and our existence and impact on this precious planet.

My Dog Just Speaks Spanish, by Andrea Cáceres, is also available in Spanish--so you know I'll be getting both copies!

Aurora learned to speak English when she moved to the United States--but Nena, her dog, only knows Spanish.  The repeating juxtaposition of Spanish and English commands for Nena make it easy for readers of both languages to understand the text, and the story offers the kind reminder that it's okay if you're still learning--there are helpers to guide you.

Carole Boston Weatherford has a host of great nonfiction picture books in her resume, but I think this may be one that elementary students will most easily relate to--the story of MacNolia Cox, the 1936 Akron spelling bee winner who went on to experience discrimination at the national event.

How Do You Spell Unfair? will be a welcome addition to our Black History collection and should spark some engaging discussion among students.

It's Monday, and I'm glad I was introduced to these great new picture books at our annual Texas Library Association conference.  What picture books have you read lately?  Were they fiction, nonfiction, even wordless?

It's Thursday! Ms Margocs is still at TLA '23!

 Day two of our Texas Library Association Annual Conference was full of learning...and books, of course!

We started with announcements and awards, and then heard from keynote speaker Gretchen Rubin.  She told us some fascinating information about our senses, and how our sensory perceptions are uniquely ours.  She even gave us some interesting tips to add sensory input to our lessons with tastes, scents, music, and texture.  And you know I had to buy her latest book after the speech!

On my way to the next meeting room, I spied a familiar book friend:

The session I attended was "Book Harmony:  Bringing All Voices Together to Create a More Responsive Library."  The presenter told us that the library environment starts with the librarian--it is essential that we welcome everyone in the library space.  She described readers as occasional, avid, struggling, or reluctant, and showed us how she designed her program and her space to better accommodate all four types.  I am motivated to do some major weeding of musty dusty books and clear spaces for some more inviting displays!

Then it was time for lunch with Candlewick publishing!  We ate some tacos, and then listened to some great authors speak about their latest books--and we all got signed copies!

After walking off some of my lunch in the exhibit hall and bumping into colleagues in the foyer, I made my way to "Empowering  Bilingual Learners".  We got some great ideas for family projects and resources to find authentically translated books for our Spanish speakers.

My brain was feeling a bit full and my phone's battery was low, and so back to the exhibit hall I went for a recharge...and ended up in line for a free signed copy of Srta. Quinces!

I wrapped up the day with one last session on "Celebrating Culture and Family Traditions."  The diverse panel of authors talked about their latest books and the importance of curating a collection in which children can see themselves and their families. Librarians were praised for being on the front line of getting great books into kids' hands, creating curious readers who value and enjoy lifelong learning.

I was able to catch the 5:42p train to get home by 6:45p tonight!  Now it's off to bed; there's another full day of learning sessions, the Bluebonnet Award luncheon, and maybe another trip or two around the exhibit hall.

Can't wait to share the book haul with you, Dillo Readers!

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the AME Library?

What's happening in the AME Library?  Well, this week includes rescheduled checkouts for our Thursday and Friday visitors--the library is in use for STAAR testing on Thursday, and we have staff development on Friday.  So everyone was invited for a quick checkout from Monday through Wednesday.

And Ms Margocs wasn't here today--she's been at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference in downtown Austin all day!  A big thank you to Ms Dancer for subbing and to Ms Moss for keeping those books circulating today.

*********

As I promised my staff--here's what I did and learned today at TLA:

I drove to the Park 'n' Ride and took the 6:56 train to downtown Austin.  

Once I arrived at the Austin Convention Center, I went to a registration kiosk and got my badge.

After chatting a bit with another district librarian, I took some selfies

and then headed upstairs to my first session, "Toddler Storytime: Beyond the Read-Aloud".  I learned a lot!  The presenter shared many interactive activities tied to picture books that we already have in our library.  I went to this session to get more ideas for working with our PreK class...but walked out wondering if there was any way I could incorporate a toddler session on our campus, too.  I'll be getting in touch with our family support and engagement specialists to ask for their guidance with that suggestion.

I had a quick taco lunch with a couple of our district librarians...and then it was off to "Speed Dating the Bluebonnets"!  We had eleven rounds of either activities connected to the Bluebonnet Award Nominees or visits from the authors themselves!  Then we waited in long lines for chances at getting a free signed book by the authors.

We tried to go to a couple more learning sessions after this, but the rooms were full.  We spent the hour talking about work instead--changes the district is making in staffing, and changes the legislature is proposing that will directly affect our work.

And then...it was time for the exhibit hall to open!  We got to the hall early, and there was already a crowd waiting to get in.  I sometimes forget that the library conference is for ALL Texas librarians--school, public, academic, and other special libraries are represented in our group.  There are a LOT of us!

I walked the exhibit hall floor for about a half an hour, collecting books and posters and buying some scented bookmarks for the library (I know you love those, Dillo Readers!).  My one bag had turned into two, loaded with books, so I said goodbye to my coworkers and headed back northbound on the train.

Here's my book stash from day 1!  Most are advanced reader copies, so they will be given away to our students.  There's a book light to give away, too.

The conference hasn't even really begun yet!  Tomorrow, we have an opening keynote from Gretchen Rubin, and then it's on to learn more about collection curation, get some books signed, have lunch with authors, get tips on serving bilingual learners, and then try to decide between concurrent sessions that all sound relevant to our AME Library.  I'll be catching the train home a bit later tomorrow, I think!

Thanks for sharing my first day back at TLA with me, Dillo Readers!