September Review!

Hello Library Detectives! What an exciting month it's been in the NAPS libraries! We've switched some spaces around, added some fun new activities...

...oh and WE HAVE TWO BRAND-NEW LIBRARIANS!

 Here's what we've been up to in the schools:

Mrs. Ahearn has been having a blast at Sargent and Thomson and so has Mrs. Mullally at Franklin and Kittredge though we only had a chance to squeeze in a few library lessons before the month was over. In the younger grade classes, we read Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree by Naoko Stoop. It's a delightful picture book that Mrs. Ahearn first heard about through the legendary Mrs. S at the Stevens Memorial Library. In classes, we used the book to start a conversation about what we know about libraries. We talked about things that are the same between our library and Red Knit Cap Girls, and things that are different.

Click on the picture to find this book in the Stevens catalog!

In the middle grades, we read Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't) by Barbara Bottner. We talked about why reading is important, and how the library is a place for kids to explore different genres to find the book that is just right for them.

Click on the picture to find this book in the Stevens catalog!

For the older grades, we took a look at another "Miss" book - this one was a picture book biography of one of Mrs. Ahearn's personal heroes, Anne Carroll Moore. Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough is the story of the first librarian to advocate for libraries designed for children. We talked about things we take for granted when going to the library, and things we'd like to learn more about as we go through our library lessons.

Click on the picture to find this book in the Stevens catalog!

In all of our classes, we listened to one another as we organized our ideas about what we know about libraries into a class list. Students in one third grade class at Kittredge wrote down their ideas and practiced their presentation skills with the class using our  new iPevo projector - we had lots of fun sharing things we know and building a common set of goals for this year's learning. Technology helped us organize and display our ideas at both schools.

Some of Mrs. Mullally's students talked about the amount and variety of library materials and others shared their ideas about how libraries work, how books are checked out, and how library spaces are used. Many shared information about genres and series, described fiction and non-fiction books, and what kinds of technology are found in libraries.

We are ready to move forward in our upcoming lessons during the year's quest to be amazing library detectives!

New for 2016-2017

Hello, library detectives! We've got a lot of really fun stuff coming down the pipeline for this year in the North Andover public elementary schools, and we're so excited to get started!

We have two new library media specialists (LMS) joining us this year - if you haven't met Mrs. Mullally yet, check out her introductory blog post here. One more librarian will be joining the team very soon, so stay tuned!

In addition to our staff changes, we've also changed up our library schedule a bit. This year, every student in the elementary schools will get to see their school's LMS on a regular basis - last year, we only had one LMS across five schools so achieving that goal was pretty tricky.

We're also hoping to increase co-taught lessons between the LMS and classroom teachers, which we hope will enhance the already stellar learning happening in the classrooms.

Finally, we'll be re-thinking our library spaces in order to maximize student learning and support all learning styles and abilities.

Are you ready? Library time begins soon, so get excited North Andover!

- Mrs. Ahearn

NAPS Has a NEW Elementary School Library Media Specialist!

Greetings and salutations! This is Colleen Mullally checking in here on the first day of school to introduce myself as your newest school library media specialist. Along with Courtney Ahearn, I'm looking forward to an amazing year at NAPS in the elementary schools.

Because I have been added to the team, all students at Franklin and Kittredge will be meeting with me regularly. I will be using this blog to post from time to time with updates on what we're up to in the library and in the classrooms. We'll be up to way more than checking books in and out!

Where will I be? My days at Franklin are Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I'll be at Kittredge on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Email me at mullallyc@northandoverpublicschools.com and follow us on Twitter at NAPS_Librarians

Hello, and Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to the newly-minted blog for the North Andover Public Schools Elementary Library Program!

Here you'll find all the information on what we're doing in the libraries in all five elementary schools - spoiler alert, it's so much more than just checking books in and out!

Librarian's Schedule:
Mondays - Franklin
Tuesdays - Thomson
Wednesdays - Kittredge
Thursdays - Atkinson
Fridays - Sargent

Library Media Specialist: Courtney Ahearn
Email: ahearnc@northandoverpublicschools.com
Twitter: NAPS_Librarian