Why We Need a Librarians Council

Now that MLK Day is over, and the Rowen collection has been weeded, and the book cases painted, our next steps loom large!

Besides continued renovations to the library space, the most important part of our work is about to take place: buying new books for the collection.

A librarian's council will serve Library Build as interested, and dedicated librarians who can offer their experience and expertise on purchasing for certain age groups and themes. This is an important job because we want Rowen's library to be as great as it possibly can be so that the students can use their library again for the first time in 20 years!

Librarians will also help us at Library Build to best optimize the layout of the space for maximum student learning.

Serving on the council is not as hard as being on the Board of Directors - and certainly more fun - who doesn't want to design a library from the ground up!?

The principal at Rowen is very excited to see the Librarian's Council come to life! He is interested in having the council put together plans and ideas for the Rowen teachers to look over. All input and collaboration will of course, benefit the students.

Librarian Advisory Council of Library Build, Inc

Library Build is seeking interested Philadelphia-area librarians to serve on our newly created Librarian Advisory Council!

The purpose of the Librarian Advisory Council is to assist the Executive Director and the Board of Directors of Library Build, Inc in implementing library management, layout, and collection creation. 

The Council will be composed of 8 to 10 certified librarians in any form of librarianship: children’s, adult, university, corporation, or school. 

The Council will be responsible for the following:

1. Help weed the collection at Rowen Elementary (and devise documentation for future weeding projects)

2. Suggest and devise plans for book purchases for Rowen Elementary

3. Help create a vision for the Rowen library including layout and collection management systems.

4. Raising awareness for the plight of school libraries in Philadelphia through Library Build’s work

The Council will meet monthly, with pre-determined scheduled volunteer work days in the library. 

If interested, please email resume and short cover letter explaining your interest in the Council to calliehammond@librarybuild.org

Thanks to East Bradford Elementary!

"In November and December, students and staff at East Bradford Elementary School in the West Chester Area School District collected money through Scholastic Book Fair's One For Books program.  After several weeks of promoting this important fundraiser, librarian Karen Bloemker collected $728 and was able to select books totaling that amount from EB's Scholastic Book Fair.  Those books were delivered to Rowen on Monday, January 16th at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.  The Mueller family (in attached picture with librarian Karen Bloemker) made a substantial donation to the cause.  4th grade teacher, Alonzo Loper, who was a student like those at Rowen who did not have the advantage of a school library while growing up, also felt motivated to contribute.  He sees the high value of a strong library program with a certified school librarian in the education of all children."


Library Build and Rowen School thank East Bradford Elementary School for their generosity! We are excited to get the books processed and on the shelves for Rowen's students!

Day After

It's the day after MLK Day - and some people might wonder, "well, what do you do all day now?"

Here's your answer.

 Yesterday we left all the books on the floor so that the paint on the bookshelves could dry all night.(The white stuff on the floor is carpet cleaner - and I could not find a working vacuum cleaner in the building).

 So. many. books. on. the. floor.

 And after!

 Yes, I did all of this. In 3 hours.

Happy books.

MLK Day 2012

MLK Day 2012 was a success! We cleared out the book cases, cleaned the book cases, and started painting them a wonderful blue! We also got plenty of book sorted, and some donated books processed! 

We will be planning a few smaller volunteer events in the next few months to finish the painting, and to go through the book collection again. Weeding a library is a lot harder than it sounds!!

 The day begins! All the book cases empty!

 Rowen students who came out on their day off to help!

This little guy was so proud of himself - though I'm sure mom won't be pleased about the paint on his shirt!

 Book sorting.

 Books to keep in the library!

 New color on the book shelves!

 The corner in front of the librarian's desk!

 New and old colors!

All cleared out and ready for paint!

Thank you to everyone who came out and helped!

Special thanks to:

Lisa Doi 

Jimmy Bereolos

Theo Thompson

Megan Trainer (and Tim!)

Ty Gambrell 

Kathy Barnes 

Jeff Hammond

Deirdre Childs

School District Cuts

Kristen Graham of the Philadelphia Inquirer is writing that the School District plans to announce even more cuts next week in order to balance their budget (or at least, get it close to balanced??).

She uses Cook-Wissahickon School as an example of what most schools in Philadelphia have already given up due to budget cuts, most prominent of course to us at Library Build: the librarian. And with the librarian, no budget for the school library.

The fight for public school libraries, and public school educational resources gets harder every day here in Philadelphia.

Service Comes in a Variety of Shapes

The plans for MLK Day of Service 2012 are set in stone now, and our projects are ready for completion! Next week we will have a great series of stories and pictures about our (intending) successes on MLK Day, so stay tuned!

Also, I wrote the blog post recently about what people can do to support their local school libraries. Here's another update to that. This week I was given the link to a petition to improve and create school libraries in all public schools: "Ensure that every child in America has access to an effective school library program". Click here to check it out!

The petition is posted on the White House's website - you can check it out - and plenty of other petitions that the American people are interested in.

Petitions like this are a useful way to get the word out about the struggle for libraries in public schools - the more people it reaches, the more people will support the cause.

Have a great weekend!