National Library Week 2025

 Wow! We are almost to April! I haven't blogged as much this year- but I have been sharing a TON on different platforms.  Right now I am preparing for the Texas Library Association Conference (will I see you???) and National Library Week

After being inspired byMiranda at @bilingualbibliotecaria on Instagram  I realized I wanted to share even more of library land.  My word this last year has been Adventure- so Adventures in Library Land began.

I share these snippets of various library adventures through TikTok-but I also cross-post on Instagram and Facebook as reels, share on X and I am trying to get better at sharing them as Shorts on YouTubeb

Links:
-TikTok- @akbusybee
-Instagram-@beeinthebookends
-X- @akbusybee
-Youtube

National Library Week is coming up- and I want to make sure that I am continually advocating for the importance of the library in all that I do!  We are also about to be knee-deep in testing season so I wanted to think of ideas that I could do with different spaces.

I started out by seeing what American Library Association had posted for National Library Week- and I LOVE the theme!! They also have resources in Spanish.

They have ideas associated with days for April 7th-10th and graphics that you can use.

Here is my plan (and these are pretty much the same things I have done the last couple of years- but I am at a new campus)

I am sharing each day- but also below is my Canva Document- I will be sharing them across platforms- but I found that my students spend more times in Insta Stories than the actual Insta feeds.

Monday-April 7th- Right to read- stop by the library to pick up items to make your own bookmark (also- I don't know what this will look like yet- but I have a couple of days to figure it out)
I am also going to have a Read and Recommend Board outside of the library

Tuesday- April 8th- National Library Workers day- I am going to invite students and staff to stop by and grab a water bottle sticker because I am stuck on our students and staff.

Wednesday- April 9th- National Library Outreach Day- Stop by the library to check out one of our new books or pick a free read from our book cart!  I am going to also offer for staff to stop by and create a bookmark using the Glowforge (students too..but I might have to figure that out the next week when the library is more open- the Glowforge is amazing.. but loud)

Thursday- April 10th- Take Actions for Library Day- I am going to use the ALA page and invite students to pick up a sheet and they can share what draws them to the library.

Friday- April 11th- Library Time Capsule- I am going to invite students and staff to help create a Library Time Capsule! Write down your favorite book, book quote or a message to future readers, and we’ll seal it up to open in a few years.

--->TEMPLATE LINK FOR CANVA<----

Library Week 2025 by akbusybee

What are you doing for National Library Week?

Ready, Set, Vote

September 17th was the official Voter Registration day, and working in a High School we have the chance to ensure our Seniors are able to vote!

Last year I had a chance to listen to Lucy Podmore about ideas for a Freedom Walk that she did with her school. You can find more information here---->LINK

I then also was able to attend a great webinar put on by ALA over Reader. Voter. Ready that had a ton of great information. 

The planning then began. Working closely with the two other amazing high school librarians we came up with a plan that could be in person, but also be passive depending on availability of the librarian at the campus.  

The materials shared here were created by Kathleen Basoco, Andrea Keller, and Jessica Ross

Our overall goal for this was to offer simple programming that would educate and promote voting.  

When looking at resources, it was also important that we made sure materials that were as nonpartisan as possible. 

We created a Wakelet that holds all of our information.  Each of our campuses has a TV that is in front of the library, so one of the slides is a QR code to this Wakelet.  I also have a slide of a brief history of voting that Kathleen created showing as well.  

Each of our campuses has different needs, so we are doing the activities to fit the needs of our own school community.

A couple of my favorite things from our materials:
-The Educaplay games that Kathleen created
-The Genially games that Jessica created

My Plan

Our campus has three lunches.  Seniors are able to eat their lunch in the courtyard.  Although Fall is next week, Texas still thinks it is the middle of the summer, so the weather is still nice (aka hot)  I am working with our Student Council to help man the different stations.  Here is my plug for student council... if you have a student council on your campus- partner with them! They need points for different things- so I give them an idea and they run with it.

Social Media post shared on our Instagram/X accounts

Stations:

-I Side With quiz for students to see how they are politically alligned

-Voting Vocabulary Matching station- voting vocabulary words- old school memory (found this on TPT)

-Election Timeline station- this is one where students can use the cards in order for voting timeline (found this on TPT)

-A station that is a book display and QR codes that lead to different virtual games and activities that include matching representatives, filling out a sample ballot, when can you vote for different officials and more.  This will also become a display in the library after our event on Thursday and Friday.  You can find most of the games inside the Wakelet below.

-Possible Voter Registration.  We have a group coming later to do this as well- but might be able to also have it on campus.

Are you in High School and working on voter information? What do you have planned? Do you have a favorite website to share? We also are using this time to talk about bias and where information comes from- another great way to talk digital citizenship.

Mums the Word

The saying in Texas- Everything is Bigger.  During Homecoming Season- the big thing is the mums!

Just take a moment to search up Homecoming Mums on Instagram and you will see what I mean.

Lots of pictures in this blog to share how I did the Mum station.

I mean- check out our own Big Vik ready for homecoming this weekend.

This is my first year at a new school.. and I wasn't going to do anything except have a station on Thursday that would have hot glue and safety pins for students to use.... but then I saw the TikTok for the Croc Mum.. and then the Stanley Cup Mum.. and I knew that I had to make it happen.

Background on my school:

-we are one of 5 high schools

-there are over 2300 students from 9-12

Background on this program:

-although I have some budget money-it is only available at certain times so I did not use library budget for this program

-Although we have 2300 students- my goal was to have 200 come through

-I was able to get materials by purchasing myself and also I had an Amazon list that I shared so I had donors help

-I am running this program only from 8:00am-8:35am before school starts

Being a Girl Scout leader and some experience under my belt- I create different spaces to pick up materials.  Thanks to my amazing clerk Franco and the yearbook advisor Robison I had plenty of ribbon that was cut out!

When students enter the library I usually have a Google Form for them to fill out.  But, I wanted to capture a little bit more information this time (and also prepare for future programs)

I had students sign in on paper with their Name/Grade Level and then check off if they wanted to do a Stanley Mum or a Croc Mum

Each area had a bucket with certain materials in it.  I also counted and have a spreadsheet of materials so I can keep track (and also document who donated)

Buckets:

-3 inch and 2 inch flowers

-cardstock circles cut to about 1 1/2 inch to 2 1/2 inch depending on which flower was chosen

-blue ribbon in various widths cut to 5 inches

-white ribbon in various widths cut to 5 inches

-specialty ribbon in various widths cut to 5 inches

-chains cut to 5 inches

-various charms

AMAZON LIST

Not everything was purchased and my parents also purchased some things from Hobby Lobby

At each bucket was also a sign for how much materials you needed.  I would LOVE to provide so much more.. but I want to get as many students as I can.  Students can of course take their mum home and add more to it.

Materials

-1 flower

-1 cardstock circle

-2 blue ribbons

-2 white ribbons

-1 specialty ribbon

-1 chain

-1 charm

-1 ribbon for loop or one button for croc

Once students had their materials they headed to the creation station where there was hot glue and also staplers.

Students stapled the ribbon to the cardstock first and then hotglued the flower (I did have them cut a slit in the cardstock for the flower)

They then either added the croc button or the loop for the straw.

Also I had one friend make our logo out of shrinky dinks!

The below Canva designs are what I used for intros and also station signs.

Homecoming Mums 2024 by ANDREA KELLER

Our first day I only had 8 students.. but it is also my first program and kiddos are warming up to me.  I also had some students try to come in at 8:37am which would have made them late for class.  On Wednesday I will also open up to staff.  Today I also had another parent stop by and bring more ribbon... AND cut it for me! 

This week I am also having the Senior LIFE students to come and create their own mini mum.  They will follow the same directions as the students but will have Student Council support them.

I am in love with how they look.. and they don't take that much material!

I have also shared on Reels and Tiktok how to make these under @akbusybee

Read Across America Week- High School

It has been a minute since I have had a chance to share what is going on in the library.  January tends to always be such a wash (and we had some crazy weather) and in February I live and breathe Destination ImagiNation.  

But- if you are looking at a calendar you know that the first week of March is Read Across America Week. 

Being in High School Read Across America Week looks a little different (and participation always varies) Each day I have a different activity that students can do- BUT.. this time I have added in prizes!  

Prizes- chips/candy bars/possibly a soda- High schoolers love food.. and we have some good sales going on right now at my local store.

Ways students can get their name in the drawing:
-check out an eBook or Audiobook- all of our students have devices- so all they have to do is show me what they borrowed
-check out a physical book
-enter into the Bookmark Contest
-come to my Hot Chocolate Storytime 
-leave a review of any book

Each day I am posting on social media about Read Across America Week. You can find my daily posts here-----> CANVA LINK (thanks Canva!)

 

RAA24 by akbusybee

I also have a bookmark contest going on and you can find the Template for that here

------> Bookmark and Contest information

RAA24 Bookmark contest by akbusybee

One more treat:

Last month we had Shannon McClintock Miller come to our library meeting and of course, I got SO many ideas!! I have started doing a monthly choice board that shares our resources.

Here is my March board- you can make a copy here------>

This is one of my slides on my TV that is outside the library and also printed and on my circulation desk.  

 

 I am always looking for ways to connect with my students and share our premium resources and reading.  My next blog is about the new program I just started- The Eagle's Nest.

What do you do for Read Across America Week? I am now also a Student Council Sponsor and next year I think I am going to have my kids help plan some dress-up days for Read Across America Week (if you are in high school... you know how much they love a reason to wear pajamas!)

Summer Reading

We have made it to the summer!! Well- I am doing summer school.. but I consider it's summertime! Summer means more time for reading books, hanging by the pool, and catching up on life.

I love all the programming that our public library does (You can check out Irving Public Library Here) and this year the theme is Tails and Tales.  Since I am doing k-2 early enrichment I chose to go along with the same theme.

I used Canva to create this image

I had a chance to plan with the 3 other librarians (Christine, Ericka, and Wendy) and we came up with several ideas. 

Our first week of summer enrichment was short:
*We chose to have all classes come into the library to check out books (1 class at a time in increments of 20 minutes)
*We put up a Tall Wall- this was an area where we invited students to compare their height to those of different animals. For each animal was a picture of the animal (from one of our digital databases) and a QR code that led the students to a Pebble Go article.

*We had a pawprint Scavenger Hunt. We put pawprints up at the nurse's office, cafeteria, art room, PE room, and library. These sheets had a pawprint picture, QR code that led to Pebble Go and a Picture of the animal. In hindsight- I wish I had clues and the picture rather than the name and picture of the animal. 

    --both Tall Wall and Pawprints were created in Google Slides
*We invited staff to dress up as if they were going on an adventure the first day. I found some cute binoculars from Wal-Mart for $5, a hat from Party City and threw on a pair of khakis and dark green shirt (I of course also created a TikTok

Lesson Ideas:

To go along with the Tails and Tales I chose a book for each week.

The Three Billy Goats Buenos by Susan Middleton Elya and Miguel Ordonez- a fairy tale
What Do you Do if You Work for the Zoo by Steve Jenkins- non-fiction
See the Cat- Three Stories about a Dog by David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka- tails

Jackrabbit McCabe and the Electric Telegraph by Lucy Margaret Rozier and Leo Espinosa- tall tail

I will see each class for about 25 minutes every week where I do a lesson and check out books. Teachers also have the option to sign up for another time during the week to check out books. 

This week we looked at the words Tails and Tales and talked about the differences and what they meant.  We then shared different animals that had tails.

After some collaboration, we also created a Summer Reading Bingo. This Bingo board was created in Google Docs and invites students to use our Summer Reading Website, go on virtual field trips, check out all the things that our local library has to offer, and more. Click this link to make a copy of your own.

 

My personal goal is to read 10 books this summer. I had a chance to read 2 over this last weekend while I was on the road to visit family.

What are you doing to promote summer reading? I hope to also do some things with my middle school students- more to come!

#NTTBF20

5 Years! North Texas Teen Book Festival has been going on for 5 Years!
I remember going to the very first one.  You can find the whole blog here.  #NTTBF15 was where I really decided that becoming a librarian was what I wanted to do next. Who knew that 5 years later I would be on my second year of taking a bus full of kids!

This year I got to attend the Educator Day the day before the festival... and OMG.. it was the BEST DAY EVER!
3 years before I turned 40, I made a #40by40 list of things I wanted to do before I turned 40. I turned 40 and I knew that I wanted to make another list of  #50by50 things I wanted to do.  #36 on that list was to meet my most favorite author! I LOVE Pam Munoz Ryan  I remember during one of my classes to become a teacher I had to work with a small group of students during reading class.  I used Riding Freedom and have loved using her books ever since. Working in a Title 1 school where our population is mostly Hispanic, her books resonate with my students.  Another of my favorites was Echo where 3 stories intertwined with each other.  In other words... I LOVE all of her books.   One of the amazing creators of NTTBF (and used to be the librarian where I am now!) Rose Brock made it possible for me to check off #36 from my list!  I almost cried when I met her. I know that in my first picture I look crazy, because I am in total giddy fangirl mode! Thank you Pam Munoz-Ryan for your kind words and wonderful presentation.

The rest of this blog is going to be chock full of pictures (selfies) and twitter handles to all the amazing authors and people that I met on both Educator Day and the actual festival day.  It is one thing to read books by these authors, but another to listen to them speak.  I love that every one of these authors were so open about about their own background and it made it such a safe place for teens and adults to ask questions.  Our teens have very diverse backgrounds with different beliefs in and understandings of who they should be and how they should act.  They don't know who they are yet and they don't want to be wrong...and all of these authors took time to really listen to the questions that were asked about the books, but also the underlying questions that kids were really asking of how to be a person.  Kids these days have hard roads of trying to figure out who they are but also to be safe.  I LOVE that books and libraries offer spaces for students to be and love whoever they want to be.  I hope as a librarian they know that I am on their side and here for them... that I can help them find that safe space when they are not for sure of anything else in their life. Each author continually said that I hope these books help students realize they can be whoever they want to be and can see themselves in the pages when sometimes they don't even see themselves in the mirror.

The Line for Ed Day- okay- I might have gotten there at 6:45am and the line didn't open until 7:30.. and I might have been the first person to sign in for Region 10

Loved listening to Ally Carter about writing

Listening to The Angie Thomas

First Panel- Laughter is the Best Medicine with Jessica Kim, Lance Rubin and Mike Johnston

Swoony Reads with Aminah Mae Safi, Mackenzi Lee and Leah Johnson

Telling our stories with Robin Ha, George Johnson, Gabby Rivera and moderator Raina Telgemeir

So... I sort of nabbed this selfie with Raina.. and then with an awesome photobomb of Pam Munoz-Ryan!

Rick's Picks with Carlos Hernandez, Kwame Mbalia, and Roshani Chokshi

Ended the day listening to Neal Shusterman

Thriller Nights- with Mintie Das, Tiffany Jackson, Maureen Johnson, Karen McManus, Rory Power, and Neal Shusterman with Irving ISD Librarian moderator 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Read them with Stuart Gibbs, Gordon Korman, Jenny Lee, Andy Runton, and Mackenzi Lee

Once upon a Retelling with Jen Calonita, Roshani Chokshi, Jenny Lee, Marissa Meyer, Rory Power, and Kiersten White 

Favorite part of each panel- the kids that look up to these authors who are true heroes.. and they have a chance to get their questions answered!

Free books I picked up! I have added SO many books to my Goodreads account and book order!

You know I love a photo opportunity!

#36 checked!

What an amazing two days!  I always strive to be a better librarian (I mean.. if I am not always learning and trying new things.. am I in the right position?)  The educator day gave me so many more ideas on how to inspire and connect with my students.  I might not understand what they are going through.. but with having diverse books with diverse characters (from color, gender, love, to life) I know that I can connect with them on some level.  I can't WAIT to share some of these books with students and continue to make the library a space where ALL students know they are welcome and belong!

Had to share my favorite story and picture of the day
-Found one of my students who was in the hallway.. and I asked her why she hadn't been checking in (we were checking in through Google Classroom)  This is also a kiddo that is an avid Tik Tok user. Her reason.. Mrs. Keller- We haven't been on our phone because we are having so much fun!!!

Favorite picture of the day:
-I have a friend that asked for recommendations of books for her son to read.  I recommended Stuart Gibbs and he ate them up.  The kiddo even made it to the festival! I ran into him at one the panels and he was sitting behind me.  I took a selfie and sent to mom because said kiddo is deep into the book.  at the end of the session I turn around to check on said kiddo and I fangirled again as I found I had more people that had snuck in behind me! If You see the arrow.. kiddo is still reading while I am listening to a panel and fangirling.  Thanks Robin Ha, Raina and Maia Kobabe for indulging me in a picture.

I already have Publish a Book on my #50by50... but I think I am going to add to it that I want to be on a NTTBF panel.. might have to start with just moderating a panel!

Thank you again organizers for the absolutely AMAZING 2 days and authors for all of your work and stories that you shared! This librarian heart is so happy and full! Want to see other conversation check out Twitter and Instagram #NTTBF20 or #NTTBF