Welcome back! We hope you had a summer that was filled with great stories. To learn a little bit about what will be happening in lower school library, please click here!

We can’t wait to see you all!

As Phil mentioned in his blog post, Screen Free Week is coming. Conceptually this seems much harder than the old TV Turn off Week that some of us remember from back in the day.
I have been talking about this with professional friends on mine, and while so many of advocate for families to drop everything and read, we do need to acknowledge the fact that nowadays, much of our reading is done on screen instead of on page.   So many things about our everyday lives come to us over media.  Zite aggregates my news for me and I read the headlines on my commute.  My PLN has grown through twitter, and library professionals help each other 140 characters by 140 characters everyday.  I teach my students how to find and evaluate information, how to be a good digital citizen, and how to find books using screens.
Can I go screen free?
Maybe not professionally, but I am going to give it a try personally.  My main reason is to provide an example for my daughters, and my students.  Just as modeling reading for pleasure is essential to raising readers, I do think modeling screen free time is important for our children.
Please visit this video from RandomHouse featuring some prominent Children’s Book artists and authors talking about the importance of screen free time.

As we head into 2 fantastic weeks of spring break, don’t forget to take some books along for the ride. Whether you are off on a vacation, or curled up at home, enjoy this less scheduled time with some books. If you need suggestions, head on into the library and ask one of our friendly librarians! If you don’t get the chance to do this, you can get some ideas from the following online sources!

Notable Books for Children
Bank Street Children’s Books of the Year
NYPL’s Booklists for Kids

Happy Break!

Periodically (about once per month) the librarians run overdue notices and distribute them to students. If your child has a classroom hanging pockets, the notice will be placed there. If your child has a cubbie, or shelf, the librarians will give the notices to the teachers to hand to the child.

These are simply reminders for your family to return overdue materials to the library. There are no fines involved. If you have lost a book, please come and speak with one of us, and we will work it out!

Also, computers aren’t perfect! Sometimes there are errors with the notices. If there is an error, please let us know and we will make sure it is rectified.

We will be running overdues the last week of the month. If you ever have any questions about your child’s library record, please drop by.

Your children will be receiving their first overdue notices of the 2011-2012 school year today.  These serve as a gentle reminder that it is necessary to return their books.

Please note that there are sometimes errors with the system.  If your child has returned their book already, please let one of the librarians know.  If your child has lost a book, speak with one of the librarians.

Happy Reading!

Here is the short and sweet FAQ for the library at the 6th Avenue campus of LREI!

• Books are due one week after they are borrowed.  Just slip a book to be returned into the front slot of the reference desk.  If you need more time with your book, a librarian will be happy to renew it for you!
• During library classes (grades 1-4), students can check out the same number of books as the grade they are in.  You may also check out additional books before or after school.
• Parents and caregivers can check out books as well.  You might just be one of the grown-ups who likes Children’s Literature, or you can take advantage of our Parent/Teacher and Diversity sections of the library.
• The library hours are: 8:15-5:30 Monday through Thursday 8:15-5:00 and 8:15-3:45 on Friday.
• If you lose a book, come and talk to us.  There are no fines on the 6th Avenue campus, and we can easily work out a solution.
• If you have books to suggest, let a librarian know.
• Children under 7th grade may not be left unsupervised in the library.
• If you need personalized recommendations, please come and see a librarian.  We are always happy to help!

Image from The Guardian

We are busily getting the library ready for your return! You will notice some changes in our space, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that your librarians have been reading like crazy this summer and we are ready to get some great books into your hands!

We can’t wait to see you on Thursday!