Curator of Wonder

  I really wish I had taken a before photo prior to starting this project. But to be honest, I was so eager to clean up the non-fiction section that I basically tore the shelves apart as soon as the students left for the holiday break and didn't look back.  Before this project, these red plastic supports were what we were using to divide the sections and indicate Dewey classifications. A less than charming quality of these 'lil guys: the bases break easily, causing both the support and all the books they are supporting to tip and slide all over the place. With a bunch of broken ones in a row, the shelf order had totally dissolved in some places. Additionally, these small labels were not really representative of what is in our non-fiction collection. They suggested much more narrow focus in certain areas than what was actually on the shelves, as well as using vocabulary that wasn't really accessible for the year 7s using the library.  I can't take credit for the idea of ...

What systems do you have in place for keeping up with professional development/library news? How do you learn about new tools and practices that will be helpful in your work? In other words, how do you keep current on conversations in the library world that will enhance your practice as an effective, modern librarian? These questions have felt particularly relevant to me since graduating from library school and moving to a new country. Before I was employed in a library in the UK, I wanted to be sure I was a competitive candidate while applying for jobs, and now that I am working in a library, I want to learn and absorb the myriad of small ways that things are done differently here than in the US and my previous experience/vocbulary.  (For example, CPD vs. PD as the prevailing acronym!) Hence the need for ongoing professional development, and particular focus on finding sources locally and in the UK.  I like it when things get sent directly to my inbox, since I think it's help...

Just before the end of the school year, I spent a little time making some posters to promote new titles in the library. Readers advisory materials like these will be increasingly important in the coming months, as regular book browsing will be off the table. How will students in your school find new books to read? How are you helping to make connections between kids and what you have on the shelves? Click on each poster below to view full size. If you would like a printable copy of any of these posters, please leave a comment below or send me an email at  curatorofwonder@gmail.com ! I used one of my favorite digital tools to create these posters: Canva .  Oh, Canva, how I love you. It's been several years since I was first introduced to their free, web-based design software, and they keep burrowing deeper and deeper into my heart. If you haven't tested them out yet, hie thee to their site and get playing. They have so many templates, fonts, graphics, and design lessons that ar...

I'm in love with Aurélia Durand's illustrations. I want to tear them out and hang them on my walls. I won't, because this is a library book (which I've been lucky to have with me during lockdown) and because I want as many people as possible to have the chance to read this.  The art is full of beautiful black and brown faces. The pages are absolutely bursting with color.  As a whole, the book straddles a line between highly polished and a little homemade. It's is reminiscent of a zine that has grown up and taken over the school.  This book is what it says on the tin: a manual on how to take action against racism.  It explores what being "anti-racist" means, and how that's different from claiming to "not be racist." As the subtitle indicates, the book includes "20 lessons on how to wake up, take action, and do the work." These lessons take the form of journal prompts and activities like reflecting on your own social identities and hi...

At the first library conference I ever went to, I sat on the floor in a packed room while Andrea Davis Pinkney gave a lunch lecture to a crowd of Wisconsin librarians. She talked about the importance of diversity in picture books, and “showing the face” of black and brown children up front and center on the covers of books. Her presentation was engaging, visual, and included a call to action: Write a love letter to diversity. Here is mine. In general, I try to make a habit of surrounding myself with people who might have something to teach me. I'm firmly of the philosophy "I want to be the dumbest person in the room." In seeking out environments filled with people who are smarter than me, have been made aware of how much I have to learn, how much I still do not know how much I do not know. In moving through these experiences, I learned the importance of educating myself so as not to put the onus of educating me on people of color, of disabled people, of LG...