First, some really good news (at least for me!) is that I have a PARENT VOLUNTEER!  Yes, I feel this should be all caps as I am shouting for joy.  How many folks can say they have a parent volunteer – at the high school level!  Elementary level, of course! But at the high school level…not very many!  Granted, she only comes in once a week and only for a couple of hours, but still, I have an adult volunteer!  I’m doubly lucky as she works at our local public library branch, so she’s already familiar with how to run a library.  Added to that, she likes doing bulletin board displays and is very crafty – which I am not!

My other great news (at least for me!) is that this school year’s first month has been the busiest one for me EVER.  Usually, the first month is pretty dead in the library and I spend my time entering student info into various systems and with teacher training (ie: gradebook setup).  However, this year I’ve been swamped (with the above) but more importantly, with scheduled classes and book circulation!  This year we had all English students take a reading comprehension test and an information literacy skills test.  The results will help us determine where we go from here for remediation and additional instruction.  Also, all of the English classes have already had their students check out books for their first novel projects – which traditionally hasn’t happened until mid-September.

In addition to being busy with English classes, our school has initiated a school wide literacy initiative.  All subjects must include required reading of at least two books (or 200 pages) of reading outside of their textbook.  This can be newspaper articles, novels, pamphlets, … you name it.  I’m thrilled that all of the classes will be assisting to improve our students’ reading scores.  I’m a firm believe that the more you read, the better reader you become – and the better your vocabulary develops.

And finally, you may have been wondering (or not) what happened to my participation in School Library Journal’s All Together Now – 23 Things project.  Well, here’s the deal…I haven’t had the time.  But another, more practical reason is that SCASL (my state’s school library association) is planning a similar event.  I figured I wouldn’t want to repeat the same activities; therefore, I will not be continuing the All Together Now program and instead complete the SCASL program when it is finalized.