Liu Hsu Kung author visit

Tatekawa Shinoharu - Rakugo Storyteller

Today we treated our students to an incredible performance by Mr. Tatekawa Shinoharu, a Rakugo storyteller from Japan. The library served as the venue for his performances with over 190 students in attendance for each session. Students and teachers were left with smiles all round as they heard four traditional stories including ‘The Zoo’ and ‘Tenshiki’. The library was rocked with laughter from start to finish. 

Rakugo is a 400 year old comedic verbal artform; literally meaning a story with a punchline. Mr. Tatekawa began by talking about what rakugo is, how the stories are told, what props are used, and a little bit of the history behind it. Our students had never heard Rakugo stories before so there were lots of questions asked in the Q&A portion of the event. He really was a joy to host. If you're looking for an event that's a little different, he's a really good person to invite.

 

Steve Antony & Mr. Panda

Today we were very lucky to host Steve Antony on his Scholastic Taiwan tour. In advance of his visit, our students decorated their own unique donuts to celebrate the book Please Mr. Panda. The library was covered in their wonderful creations. 

LKSW 2017

I've been very lucky this year to attend two fantastic courses. Today I am in Ho Chi Minh attending the Librarian's Knowledge Sharing Workshop at AIS. Being with so many fantastic librarians doing fun, interesting things is truly inspiring.

Sharing on Twitter on the hashtag - #lksw20172018

And on Facebook using the same hashtag

 Catching up with old friends

Touring the elementary library (AIS Ho Chi Minh)

Designing our ideal library

Matters of the heart

When it comes to Romance novels, I know nothing. And quite frankly I'm happy to stay that way. I am not a fan of romance novels, not even as a teenager. They just hold no appeal to me. 

But.... I'm a librarian and a large part of my job is being able to recommend titles to students in genres that THEY like. Now if I was a high school librarian (like my boss and two other colleagues), I'd be able to provide a long list of titles. But suitable romance novels for 11 year olds that are actually good books are hard to come by it seems. I've spent the last hour and a half scouring the internet for suggestions but can't seem to find anything that I think will appeal. The girl I'm helping at the moment has given me some titles that she's read before and wants something like those. The problem is that the titles she's been reading (not from my library) are not technically suitable for her age group (ex. The Fault in our Stars which is labelled as 14+). 

So I'm a bit stuck. I don't like censoring what kids read. They all develop at different times and at different rates and while I'm happy she's reading books she's enjoying, I can't really recommend titles that I know contain sex or that I think might be a bit too mature for her age. SIGH!

What's really funny is that she said to me today that she can't wait to get to high school so she can read all the books she has been wanting to read. She is currently 11, the new school year starts in August and she turns 12 in February 2016. Made me laugh. So while she can't get hold of the books in my library (at age 11), when she moves up to our high school campus in a few months time (still age 11) she'll be able to read them there. LOL! I guess it will be someone else's problem then. 

Kids do the sweetest things

Two of my year 3 students made me this book; all about me and my favourite authors. I'd had a really crappy morning and honestly, I cried when they gave it to me. Best thing I've ever been given by a kid. 

Things I never thought I would have to say (part 1)

"Jonathan, please stop scaring the girls with your centipede."

For the longest time, when people asked me what I did for a living I would say that I worked in education. I was tired of the countless jokes and comments about how easy it must be to be a librarian, and how I must just sit and read books all day. It frustrated and angered me. But over the years I've started to own what I do. I wear it as a badge of honor, and take pride in telling people that I'm a librarian. I love what I do. I can't imagine being or doing anything else, and I will be a librarian until the day I die. It's who I am to my very core.

It's hard work. Physically, mentally and even emotionally. 

You need to be in decent physical shape to work in a library. Lifting piles of heavy books, shifting furniture, kneeling and squatting on the floor for long periods. 

Having to recall hundreds of children's and parent's names, who their brothers and sisters are and what class they are in. Juggling teaching topics for eight year groups (and 32 classes). In my current situation I also work with children in four main languages (English, Chinese, French and German) and a variety of other languages (Dutch, Korean, Spanish etc). Having to know everything about everything and be able to help guide kids to the answers they are looking for should not be underestimated. I like to think of librarians as being the gatekeepers to a whole world of knowledge. It's a great responsibility. 

Helping a child to discover a love of reading is a powerful thing. We librarians are so blessed to be able to be involved in creating lifelong readers. But it's not just that. Being able to help a child who is struggling to fit in at a new school, or is having trouble adjusting to moving to a new country. These sorts of situations can be difficult and the library can be a great refuge for them. Being the one to help them through the day is an honor. 

It's incredibly rewarding in so many ways. 

It broadens your horizons. Whether you're working in a school, public library, university, museum, or corporate library (for a few examples!), you will meet so many new and different people who will open your mind up to new ideas and information that you never thought possible.  

I've been reminded over the last few days that I'm part of a network of amazing people who are experiencing the same highs and lows that I go through. Sometimes when you're working it's hard to see the world outside and remember that you're not alone.   

I'm back! Our school started back on the 10th of August and it's been go go go ever since. This year we are teaching 36 out of 40 periods and doing 10 break and lunch duties. It's full on but good.  We made a lot of changes to the layout of the library before the summer and now we have a lovely reading area for our infant students and a better layout on the ground floor for juniors. We're got a classroom area for teaching library skills and for project work, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have new computers and Chrome books in a few months. It's all very exciting. 

I'm exhausted and aching from all the reshelving of borrowed books from the summer, and my hand has repetitive strain from cataloging and processing all the new books. But give it a couple of weeks and muscle memory will kick in. 

It's good to be back. After two months of living in other people's houses and taking 4 long haul flights, I was ready to be home and to get back to work. While it may be crazy and wear me into the ground some days, I do love it. 

This year we've started a new program with our Reception classes. We are visiting them every Monday with a selection of books and I get to read them stories. It's lovely to be able to get out of the library and visit the classrooms. We may be rolling this out to Nursery as well which would be good. 

I ended the school year in June feeling tired but happy and I'm starting this year enthused and excited about what lies ahead. 

Overheard in the library

One boy to another

"Your face shouldn't have an opinion."

A little makeover

As some of you will notice, I've made a few changes to the blog including title, web address and layout. Thought it was time for a change to reflect where I am now and how things are changing in my life and career. Hope you like it! 

trialsofaschoollibrarian.blogspot.com