The Beginning of the Year

The beginning of a new year. A time of excitement… and stress. Especially as a new librarian, it’s so very stressful. There are some things you can do to make it less so.

1. Prioritize

There are a million things that need to be done at the beginning of each year. I know that in addition to getting my library ready, I also have to distribute Chromebooks and consumable textbooks. That’s not counting any other directives that my principal gives me and all district meetings.

The best thing I know to do is prioritize. Meetings, of course, have to take priority over getting anything else done. I know that I get a list of all the meetings that I need to attend during the first week of school. Our school also does verification of all students for one day. It means I’ll have a long day, but I’ll have a few extra hours in my building while they do the evening verification.

Next for me is Chromebooks. There’s district testing within the first week of school most years so I need to make sure that every scholar has a computer as close to the first day as I can. I also try my hardest to get the consumable textbooks out also. Then the teachers can use them as soon as the scholars start.

After that, I choose what is most useful and expected. I keep a list of all the things I need to get done and prioritize at least weekly if not daily.

2. Plan

Planning for me is always a big priority. I like to have at least my first month of plans done before the scholars start school. This might mean that I plan on my own time, but since I like to make my own slideshows that sometimes means working outside of school. My planning is made easier because I don’t have to plan daily lessons. My classes are on a two week rotation. I see each class every two weeks. Since I plan in bands, I only have to plan eight lessons (four for preschool, two for the Kinder to 2nd band, and two for the 3rd to 5th band). In addition to that, I can reuse those lessons since its orientation and book care the first two visits. And reuse my preschool lessons since I have new scholars every year in preschool.

And to help you out, here’s my lessons for those things.

Month one: Preschool (includes Orientation and Book Care)

Month one: K to 2 (includes Orientation and Book Care)

Month one: 3 to 5 (includes Orientation and Book Care)

3. Organize

I know this one probably seems like a no brainer, but make sure to organize your space the way you want it. The prior librarian might have a system that made sense to them, but it’s your space now and you need to make it work for you.

Some things to consider:

What supplies are you going to use most frequently?

How big a space do you have at the circulation desk?

Are you going to check out books to your scholars or teach them self-checkout?

Do you need somewhere for people to leave messages for you?

Are you also in charge of a laminator and/or a poster maker? (If you are, make plans for people to leave things for you.)

Start making plans for how you want your library to be arranged. (Everyone says not to make huge changes your first year and I didn’t listen to that, but my library also needed changes to make it more browsable for my scholars.)

4. Get Yourself Out There

Don’t just hide in your library! Get out into the school and meet your staff. While it may feel good to stay in your library and make sure everything is perfect there, make sure you spend some time interacting with your coworkers.

On the plus side, if your school is like mine, the meetings always at least start in the library.

5. Have Fun

No seriously! I know this job is rough. I know it takes a LOT out of you. And I know you see all those media specialists on social media who seem like their job is perfect and never an ounce of trouble… but make sure even when you can’t remember why you took this job, you’re still having fun.

And make sure you have a life outside of the school.

Have a great year!