Evanston Township High School. Image credit: ETHS Virtual Tour.

My Library Is... A Place of Welcome and Acceptance!

22 May 2023
Anonymous
Comments: 0

I think it is very important that our students are made to feel whole when they enter our East and Central Libraries at Evanston Township High School.

My library is a place of welcome and acceptance for who they are.. The East Library is a place of refuge for many of our students. Yes, there are some who try to hang out and ditch their classes for one reason or another, and when caught, we politely inform the student(s) to please return to their class and that their teacher is looking forward to teaching them. Most students will return to class and we enjoy hearing the feedback from...

My Library is…Providing “Sliding Glass Doors” with Virtual Reality!

17 May 2023
Stacy Palmisano
Comments: 0

Through the power of virtual reality (VR), school librarians can transport their students to different times and places in order to get immersive, interactive 360-degree views like never before. In other words, VR allows us to become our own versions of Mrs. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus–embarking upon a variety of engaging adventures with our students. Imagine providing students with the opportunity to witness key moments in history firsthand, explore the vastness of space and the depths of the ocean, or examine organ systems from within the human body. Due to its ability to...

A display of the new Graphic Novels.

Collection Facelift: Updating a School Library

15 May 2023
Anonymous
Comments: 0

Getting to know the library

I started as the school librarian at Grace Lutheran School in the fall of 2021. My first job as the school librarian was to unpack and move the library back into its space. (The library had been boxed up and put on temporary shelves in another space during Covid to provide more space for social distancing.) I had also been the third librarian in three years, and the lack of a consistent presence showed in the state of the collection: The nonfiction and biography sections were old and outdated and certain reference materials were published...

Jodi Wortsman was the winner of a 2023 My Library Is… Grant for School Libraries

My Library Is…Me!

10 May 2023
Stacy Palmisano
Comments: 1

Everyone's a reader. That is the message I want to send to the students at Medinah Middle School. Last year I purchased celebrity READ posters from the American Library Association for all of the teachers in the school in order to promote reading in all disciplines. It was fun to see how the posters reflected the teachers’ personalities and interests. I wanted to take this idea further and have students and staff see themselves as readers reflected in the hallways and classrooms of the school. I was thrilled to receive the RAILS My Library Is grant, which enabled me to purchase...

Round table with books

YA? Why Not?! Middle Schooler

8 May 2023
Anonymous
Comments: 0

Pandemic-related delays are being felt throughout schools, but Heyworth’s Junior-Senior High School library was hit hard. Between closures, no in-person group visits, falling literacy levels, and a budget cut, the library was seeing a drastic loss of circulation as students struggled not only to get access to library materials, but to find materials that met their new needs.

A “My Library Is…” grant provided a much-needed book-buying boost at exactly the right time. “I knew I didn’t have much to offer at the lower reading level that was now needed,” said Librarian Michelle Harris, “...

people sitting at a round table with papers

My Library Is…The Heart of Our School!

3 May 2023
Anonymous
Comments: 0

My Library is…the heart of our school: a space for all students, staff and community members and filled with something for EVERYONE….readers, scientists, engineers, friends and so much more!

My school opened its doors in August 2021 and while the library opened with an adequate supply of books, curated to meet the learning needs of our students, I want it to be so much more than that! As the heart of our school, I want it to not only be a space for learning, but also a space for creating, caring, relaxing and collaborating with peers. No matter the student’s interests or abilities,...

photo collage

Grayslake North High School Library Transforms into a Creative Resource Community

13 April 2023
Stacy Palmisano
Comments: 0

During the pandemic, my workspace in a public high school transformed from a traditional book-centric library to an innovative makerspace community called The Hub. Removing our freestanding bookshelves made all the difference in lightening up this student space.                                                                                                                   

I alternately enjoyed and disliked the process since we went from downsizing our book collection by three-quarters (tough) to painting hexagons around the doors (easy). Fine-tuning the new furniture placement...

Sign with large paper snowflakes

My Library Is… The world’s largest paper snowflake

3 April 2023
Stacy Palmisano
Comments: 0

In March 2022, students at Northern Illinois University created the world’s largest paper snowflake. It is forty-four feet six inches across and has been certified by the Guinness Book of World Records! The NIU Libraries got in on the excitement with a special event in its honor. The library partnered with many people from across campus to display the snowflake, host a workshop for creating paper snowflakes, present talks by experts on snowflakes and weather, and highlight the library’s Science on a Sphere. See more about the event at...

Image credit: Jerseyville Public Library.

My Library is ... Bringing "Senior Storytime" to Local Assisted Living Facilities

9 March 2023
Beth Smilack
Comments: 0

The Jerseyville Public Library has been presenting Preschool Storytime for as long back as most staff members can remember. It is a program presented once a month where children ages 2-6 can gather at the library and have a story read to them, sing and dance along to some fun tunes and use their little hands to make a special craft. The children enjoy it so much and have a great time.

So, this got us thinking “why should kids have all the fun?”. There are several assisted living facilities in our small community with active senior citizens who for some reason or another are not...

My Library Is... logo

Reminder: Applications for My Library Is... Grants for School Libraries Due March 2

20 February 2023
Dan Bostrom
Comments: 0

The application period for the My Library Is... Grants for School Libraries is open and runs through Thursday, March 2. In 2022, RAILS awarded $78,232.80 in My Library Is... Grants to 20 school libraries. These grants help recipients focus on projects that tell the library story and increase visibility and support for school libraries. For more information, please visit the My Library Is... Grant for School Libraries website.

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