Alice in InfoLand

—Doug Johnson’s great acronym for happy, productive, library-using kids, aka the best evidence that effective school library programs are an integral part of the educational experience.



On his new Blue Skunk blog, Doug praises the PR-savvy school librarians in his district who use digital photography

- to illustrate presentations to the school board, PTOs, and community groups with pictures of happy, productive, library-using
kids (HPLUKs)

- to illustrate their parent newsletters with pictures of HPLUKs

- to promote reading by creating personalized “READ” posters of both
kids and the role model adults in the buildings hold favorite reads

Meanwhile, Marylaine Block asks What’s on your website? in her article about how to create an inviting and useful online presence for your library.


I’m always surprised at how many school library websites show empty rooms;
nice furniture may look good, but it’s no indicator of how the space is
actually used!  Show your library the way you want it to be
perceived — as an active, user-friendly place where students are busy
learning.



Years ago I had a district administrator who complained that the
library never looked “neat — you know, with all the shelves all
straightened up, the chairs pushed in, and nothing lying around on the
tables.”  In other words, unused. 

I told him that he should be delighted that the library looked “messy”
so often; it meant that the district was getting an effective ROI for
the funds they’d allocated for library materials.  “See that chaos
over in there, in the 900’s? That’s because the 8th graders are getting
ready for their Renaissance Faire.  And that ‘mess’ over in the
600’s?  That’s the health classes, researching communicable
diseases.  When all the shelves are neat and tidy for too long, it
means the library isn’t being used enough.”

He finally understood, but I know that he still begged the custodians
to “do something” whenever the Board of Ed was scheduled to meet in the (heavily-used) library.