It IS the gift that counts

For the last several years, the Pine Grove Library has hosted a holiday sale for students to shop for their friends, family, teachers or for themselves.   This is not an unusual concept for many schools.   

But, the PGLIBRARY has a different spin and it's an event fueled by creativity and collaboration...

• all items are donated
• all items are regifts, upcycled, or nearly new
• all items are .25....no matter how big or small!
• wrapping paper and greeting cards are FREE
• the sale is run by students (iStaff) for students

Our inventory ranges from jewelry to stuffed animals to glassware to games and scarves and holiday decorations and everything in between.  

Each year I worry that we will get "enough" inventory, each year I wonder if kids will come and each year I am in awe by the support, enthusiasm, and priceless moments we enjoy.   

Friends and staff members declutter their lives while stocking our shelves.  Word travels quickly, our shelves get filled and soon the lines form with shoppers!         

 Students come on a mission...on a quest to find the perfect items on their budget. They come with lists, with baggies of change, with an envelope with ideas.   

They buy items for their secret Santa events, for their teachers, and for those they hold dear to their hearts.   

They painstakingly wrap and get help from others to do the same. They make plans to meet their siblings so they can shop for the family together.  They ask to stay after school to have extra time to shop.


They agonize, they ask about putting items on hold, they check daily for new inventory.   They ask opinions about what their mom would like, they envision a small serving dish as a place for their sister to put their jewelry or a lunch box as a great storage case for gaming equipment.

They scheme and plan and disguise items so that they can get home with their gifts without their surprises being unveiled!   They beam with pride that they've amassed gifts for their entire family for 3 or 4 dollars!    They make a plan to wrap gifts when their parent is at work or at a game or after they go to bed.   

I overhear stories about what Mrs. or Mr. so and so would like because "he always talks about that" or "you know she gets creeped out by that" or "I bet she would love this for her daughter" as they shop for teachers and staff.

Teachers often buy gift certificates for their students and find ways that all have a chance to shop.   Many a deal gets made so no one leaves without a chance to get what they need to do a good deed for others.

iStaff students handle promotions, the cash register, wrap gifts, and stock inventory. They also serve as a personal shoppers as they make recommendations, give suggestions, or point out overlooked items.   

Like any worthwhile event, it takes planning and teamwork and a willingness to take a chance.  I am grateful to our donors and supporters who make it work.  There's no overhead other than time and volunteers, so the stress of "making enough" is a non-issue.   
This year we made almost $300.  The profits are nice, but the opportunity to give students a chance to pay it forward truly is priceless and a great reminder about what matters.  

Some may say it's not the gift that counts...but when you witness the pride and joy wrapped up in their shopping, I beg to differ.   

Taxidermy, Nail Salon or other @PineGroveLib? Advice?

We have a room/area in our beautiful new library that has a name "Collaboration Launchpad", but not a niche. 

I want to equip/market it strategically.  It is available for teachers/classes but not heavily used in that way. I can host my classes there, but often I go to classrooms so the space often not "booked".   

Can you help me REFOCUS this space?  I need fresh eyes.


WHAT WE HAVE:

• chairs and tables (all on wheels) for about 30; about 80 on floor
• carpeted and separate entrance to hall
• divider wall with white boards between Innovation Studio area
• Innovation Studio is our student iStaff headquarters and maker/supply area (still growing)but quite busy.
• Interactive whiteboard/laptop
• 2 bulletin boards
• Shelving on 2 of 4 walls
• we are a 1:1 school (Chromebooks for all)
• out of sight from main area of library (blessing/curse)
• used daily after school for clubs
• for safety, needs to have adult supervision embedded
• needs to be available to multipurpose guests/use (I think?)

DESIGN CHALLENGE:

• What focus should this area have?
• Should I equip it as my library classroom or does that make it seem less "available" to others that way?
• Writing lab? Expanded MAKER area that includes WRITING LAB options? 
• Literature/book focus (though slightly removed from main area of shelving/displays)
• STEAM/STEM resource center focusing on challenges/skills/resources?
• Leadership Center with focus on attributes of a learner and other career-college quests
• Exhibit hall of student voice?  Gallery of student work?
• Different theme each month? 
• One area with featured displays/resources/student work featuring STEM, MAKER, LITERACY, & LEADERSHIP?  
• a LEARN, LEAD, INNOVATE headquarters?
• Media Studio for production, and digital making?
• Edcamp style set up with areas within the area? 
• Leave it as is and see what gaps surface as the year moves forward?
• Taxidermy studio, nail salon, spa?  (yes, this is sarcasm!)

Thanks for any ideas, suggestions, and perspectives you are willing to share!   

Yours in Feng Shui with a Focus,

Sue Kowalski

Voice, Choice & Climate--Priorities for the new PGLIBRARY!

It's been an amazing start to our journey in the BRAND NEW Pine Grove Library!  With a gorgeous, sparkling, fresh space, we are lucky to have an impressive backdrop to our program.

The space itself is eyecatching, "very college-like" according to our students, and the best complement yet--it has good "juju"!  Personally, I am beyond grateful to be at the helm. Professionally, I am inspired and the wheels are turning so fast I can't keep up.   

As I work with students to plan each and every "what next" I am reminded daily of these lessons:

• student voice matters and without it, the space is just a space  Students are at the forefront of how we've set up the space, signage, program planning, and student staffing.  This was always what we were about and the new space won't change that.

• Sometimes (ok maybe always) you have to reinvent yourself and your program  We've moved to 1:1 computer access, multiple large group spaces throughout the building, new staffing configurations (tech integrators and content literacy specialists), and shifts in how teachers deliver instruction.    I must transform how I deliver resources, market spaces and our facility, empower student leaders, and align with district and community initiatives.

• LET IT GO...with SO much to do to set up the space, get all things back up and running, manage facility updates, and establish our niche (niches!), it is necessary to shift priorities to match what REALLY matters for kids, for learning, and for sustainability.  The to-do lists will always be there but these kids won't.   

Right now my priorities are:  

STUDENT VOICE, STUDENT CHOICE, and CLIMATE.   With those areas safely in place, we are on the road to making sustainable connections that impact the minds of our kids. 

CONNECT with @PineGroveLib

Lesson 1: MORE is not always MERRIER

The "original Pine Grove", where I had the privilege of working since 2007 was a gem. It was bright, wide open, conveniently located, functional and had a lot of good vibes.   

It was also home to LOTS of shelves that were home to books and sets and collections that had accumulated for many, many years.   Though I believed I did a stellar job of decluttering, weeding books, and removing irrelevant items, I didn't.   It was easy not to because: 

•  "just in case"
•  "we MIGHT need it"
•  "we had the space anyway"
•  "I'll sift and sort next week"  

Most of us can relate to MOVING and those moments of realization that we kept WAY TOO MUCH stuff over the years, and we pledge to NEVER do that AGAIN!    Well, guilty as charged.    

I feared that the design of the new space (based on meetings with design team) wouldn't allow for the traditional WALL O' BOOKS, the bowels of storage that would house sets and sets of quality items, and the views that would reveal mass quantities of literature.   That was BEFORE we moved out to our temporary "digs".

After two years of modified collections, rotating collections, relocated and decentralized collections, more stealth offerings, on demand requests, lots of in and out of district sharing, and overall LESS, my view changed.   It was actually quite FREEING! 

We don't need WALLS and WALLS and STACKS and STACKS of books.   We need enough to provide:

• Variety of titles, genres, levels, formats
• multiple copies of volume 1 in series and popular titles
• PRINT (not just digital)
• Promotion of e-options (fiction and non)
• multiprong approach to promotion of what we do have
• options for students to request, borrow, suggest, and see their choices in the library

THEN

Though none of the above is a NEW concept, our focus will be on all of the above and NOT filling every square inch of shelving just to fill the shelves!   

NOW

Forgive me BLOGGERS, for I have sinned...

It's been almost 2 years since my last blog post. 

Due to a major renovation of our middle school, we were all relocated to 6 locations for 2 years while the transformation took place.  It involved a lot of storage trailers, 4 elementary schools, a vacant Catholic school, a wing at the high school, an RV named Ms. Lindy, and a unbelievable amount of patience, cooperation, and problem solving.

OHHHH what a journey it's been!  Since then, we've weeded, packed, redistributed, packed, unpacked, arranged, planned to pack, weeded, packed some more, consolidated, weeded, and are now UNPACKING!

If I had blogged regularly, the blog would have shared obvious patterns of self-doubt, confusion, excitement, frustration, successes, epic fails, learning curves, and questions. But mostly, there were A-HA moments.  Moments of learning, figuring it out, gaining perspective, and adding valuable lessons to my personal and professional toolkit!    In no particular order, some highlights that will be gamechangers for me:

• quantity of books does not automatically equal inspiration
• students adapt more easily to less desirable facilities than adults do
• the culture of the classroom dictates how much VOICE students have 
• the space should take less priority over the people in it
• leadership can happen anywhere
• change inspires innovation in some and depression in others
• it is very easy to be sucked into negativity despite positivity looming all around
• if you aren't enjoying what you do, everything seems like a lot of work

Pine Grove--The GREENER GREATER GROVE

Main area of the PG Library

So, with those lessons and a folder full of post it notes with new and transformed ideas, we are off to a NEW school, NEW library, and a FRESH start.  Stay tuned for our adventures!