Social Glogging

A new year, time for new strategies and new tools! We just launched our Facebook Fan page (CCHS LC) and our first newsletter of the year is a digital glog. Please join us on Facebook for regular updates on trends, books, learning, and new tools for students.

The CCHS Learning Commons glog marks the start of our campaign to  re-brand ourselves in the hearts and minds of our students, faculty and parent community. We want our brand to convey energy, creativity, embracing technology and innovation, and most of all, learning and critical thinking skills.


You can access our glog via the link provided, or below.

Library Barista

Libraries are a lot like coffee shops. People have their favorite places, but how much of that is really about the coffee? It's nice to have a daily routine, drop by, and have the barista already preparing your regular order, greeting you with a smile and a quip, welcoming you as well as setting you up with a good start to the day. Libraries have regulars, too. Good libraries know their regulars, anticipate their needs, and make everyone feel welcome.

The CCHS Library is no different. The morning scrum for library passes often feels like the queue at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts. Students are a little stressed and focused on the day ahead. Knowing kids by name, knowing what block they will need and pulling it before they ask for it gives them that warm, coffee shop feeling. They are regulars, and we try to send them on their way with a warm feeling and a good start to their day.

So, what prompted this July reflection? I was working in the CCHS Library today, and it was cool, quiet, orderly and simply awful. No buzz, no crowds, no mess, no requests, no drama. I like a busy coffee shop.


Photo credit:
Flickr Creative Commons

Starbucks cup by pixy-dust angel

The Third Place

"Theory into practice."

Rolf Erickson on Third Place Libraries

The third place is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. - Wikipedia

Some people really have the view from the mountain top. Doug Johnson is one of those people. His Blue Skunk blog is an ongoing source of professional development for me, as well as inspiration. His recent post, School Libraries as a "Third Place" , takes a variety of scholarly research on healthy social networks, and applies this body of work to school libraries.

My less-scholarly summary is that our students work and live at home, they work in classrooms and in their extra-curricular activities, and they also need a "third place" where they can connect with their disparate obligations and responsibilities. Whether it is checking email, downloading work from a teacher website, touching base with Facebook, doing homework, or relaxing with friends over a chess or Scrabble board, they need a third place.

Does this undermine the mission of the CCHS Library? Not in my opinion. The work of high school students looks very different from the work of college students, or their teachers. They have a higher tolerance for noise, and many are more productive with some noise than they are with silence. They work in relaxed, collaborative groups, mixing academics with casual chat. They visibly unwind, their shoulders and faces relaxing. We are seeing increased use of databases and books. We know this, because our usage statistics are up across the board. We are full to capacity almost every block, every day. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

Hmmm.... students using the library - more. Isn't that what it's all about?

photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons
Creative Commons by ocean.flynn

Welcome!

A heartfelt welcome to the CCHS Library blog! Check here for news about the library, updates on new materials, volunteer opportunities and special events. Take a moment to visit our wiki and contribute to the conversation. Or, you can take a look at our slide show and see what goes on at the library.

Thanks for coming! Robin Cicchetti