Past projects 186
The Force Awakens - Coming To A Library Near You!
Funded Jan 15, 2016The books arrived and were processed. We made a bulletin board showing the new arrivals. The first 'Star Wars' books have been checked out (by library aides: every job has its perks). That was all yesterday. Today, we're getting the first requests for 'Star Wars' titles that have already been checked out. That's a pretty useful phenomenon: it teaches the kids to put books on hold. It teaches them to just chat with the librarian; to not be shy. So a big 'Thank You' from all of us here at the library!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson
A Teddy Bears' Picnic - In January!
Funded Sep 21, 2015The bears arrived in groups over several days. As soon as each batch arrived, the bears were unpacked, they had their claws clipped, they were given a good wash and they had their fur brushed down. That's to say, the books are being bar-coded, labeled and covered in cling film to make them last longer. That process takes a couple of weeks. A little frustrating, but it does prolong the life of the books. The next step will be to arrange a time for the teddy bears' picnic. I hope maybe we can do that before January. I shall have to meet with the A.P. and the teachers to arrange the picnic. It probably won't happen until November. We have to wait for the Florida summer to disappear! Once the time is fixed, I'll read bear tales during story time for a few weeks before the event, to build up the excitement! I shall keep you informed of developments - hardly difficult, since I see you on the library sofa every morning! Thank you for helping to keep our munchkins well-supplied with books. That's really the library's number one priority. We need to put books into the hands of the little ones!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson
Wimpy And Worse For Wear
Funded Dec 18, 2015Amanda and Michael used to go to this school. They'll know already what happened when the new 'Wimpy Kid' book arrived. Kids heard that we had 'Old School', and came running to the library. All of the new books were checked out within the hour. Dozens of children have placed the book on hold. They ask me every day if the lucky kids with a copy of 'Old School' have returned it yet. 'The Wimpy Kid' series is a godsend to teachers and librarians! The kids just can't get enough of it. Your gift was a great way to boost student reading. Many thanks for thinking of us!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson
Claudio and Alex Save The School!
Funded Nov 20, 2015Thanks for feeding our superhero ambition. We really love comic books and are very happy that you donated them. We love the scintillating graphics, action and drama. We really enjoy the retro look of the comics. As you can see in the photographs, we cannot wait to scan and analyze them. We cannot wait to step into the comic multiverse. It was good that we chose which comics to get. We never saw such a good selection of comics in this library. We will try to get more amazing knowledge-packed books like these in the future.”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson
This classroom project was brought to life by Staples & Think It Up Supporters and one other donor.13 and Mad About Mythology
Funded Nov 6, 2015When your books arrived this morning, the library aides who opened the packets went crazy. They literally jumped with delight! The books need to be covered with Clear Film. Bryan and the kids who opened the packets will be doing that on Thursday. They have a vested interest - because they want to be the first kids to borrow the books! The aides are delighted about the Magnus Chase books. (Those are Rick Riordan's new, Scandinavian series.) I think they'll be fighting over those on Thursday. THANK YOU so much for supporting our students!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson
This classroom project was brought to life by Staples & Think It Up Supporters and 5 other donors.CELEBRATE Reading!
Funded Oct 6, 2015Thank you for funding our Accelerated Reader program for another year. We've had two AR Celebrations so far this year. One was about making art from recycled materials. A guest presenter from a local museum came into school and led a hands-on session with our AR winners. The second involved a son et lumiere presentation from a local entertainer. You can see a picture from the session and a group picture of our winners. Next month, our AR winners will be decorating the holiday tree here in the library...and it wouldn't surprise me if a big, fat, jolly guest dropped by. As you can see, the kids love these celebrations, which really motivate them to read. THANKS A MILLION for your support!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson
Dr. Seuss / 'Fly Guy' Books For Munchkins
Funded Aug 11, 2015These books are all checked out, of course.
Thank you for helping us keep our Easy Section stocked. I can refer the bigger students to online libraries, but the munchkins still need traditional books. LOTS of traditional books. The young kids go through story books like wildfire. And we have about 100 kids each in Kindergarten, first grade and second grade, plus 50 or so in Pre-K and Head Start. When you consider that each kid needs to be able to check out several books.....well, you do the math. (And that's without even considering Spanish books. If we want parents to read to their children, we have to accommodate the fact that many of our parents read in Spanish, not English...) So....please understand that we are VERY GRATEFUL for the help that you give us with books for our smallest - and - I think - most important customers. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson
Shooting Blind!
Funded May 6, 2015We are putting your camera to good use, as you can see. We've taken souvenir pictures (I like to have a big 'picture bank') and thank-you pictures for Donors Choose. We've started to record videos so we can post our middle school aides online, as they read poems for the little kids. (The camera didn't come with a memory card [my oversight] but we bought one with a super large capacity, so we can now take plenty of videos.) One thing that we didn't foresee was how handy it would be for our new Facebook and Twitter pages. They just started up a couple of weeks ago, and we've discovered that nothing gets a post more clicks than a great picture. So... the camera is helping us do a ton of different things, just as you'd expect. We certainly needed a new one. Taking pics with the old camera - with its broken screen - was quite a trip. Thank you - yet again - for your help!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson
Fun Poems by Shel Silverstein
Funded Feb 15, 2015The Shel Silverstein books have arrived! However, they are not on the shelves for the kids to check out - because a second grade teacher has already grabbed them as a class set. I suggested that. She loves to do poetry units with her kids. Actually, it was after seeing her kids read poetry and then write their own poems last year that I decided to do a 'Donors Choose' poetry project - so I guess it's only fitting that she should get first dibs. The books will stay with her for a month or two and then go into general circulation. The kids will love them. My favorite, I must admit, is 'Who Wants A Cheap Rhinoceros?' (Do an Image Search for that on Google!) It's sublimely silly. The school year began a week ago. The teachers have been back in school for some time, of course - preparing for the onslaught! But it has only been this week that the bouncing, grinning STARS of the show have arrived. It's good to have the kids back. Here's to a great 2015-2016!”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson
Fun, Light Reading That Leaves Them Begging For More
Funded Feb 5, 2015She's pink! She has whiskers! She's strolling down South Beach. Babymouse is in town! The kids (especially third graders) were t-h-r-i-l-l-e-d to spot her, but we've had a few pouts because Babymouse can't be checked out right now... We are in end-of-year mode, doing the inventory and getting the shelves ready for August, so our new arrival hasn't circulated yet. Actually, now I think about it, Babymouse is pretty easy to draw, so one of our book displays for the new academic year could feature Babymouse...I can draw some signs and use them to draw attention to the entire comic section. I just made a note of the idea on Google calendar, so that'll get done the week we return to school... THANK YOU for supporting our library. As I probably said in our project proposal, our kids aren't exposed to that much literature at home, and they tend not to get taken to the public library, so the books that we offer them here at school are vitally important. The funding situation isn't too hot right now, so our school library really runs on Donors Choose. I don't know where we would be without you guys. Your kindness is much appreciated. Enjoy your summer! (I hope it's a little cooler where you are...)”
With gratitude,
Dr. Pearson