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I have officially taken over the role of Head Librarian for the middle school library!  The Reinberger Middle School Library was established in 2004, pulling grades 5 and 6 from the lower school library and grades 7 and 8 from the upper school library.  Since its inception, the middle school library has grown and flourished under the same head librarian, who was not me.  So, taking over has been a bit daunting.  I feel like I'm treading on pretty hallowed ground.  I want to bring my own ideas and conceptions into the library, but I also want to honor the woman who came before me.  It's a bit like walking a tightrope at the moment. I've rearranged some furniture with trepidation.

I have been charged with bringing the library into the 21st century.  One of the reasons I was given this position was because of my commitment to learning and teaching about educational technology.  Luckily, I don't have to do it all on my own.  We have amazing tech people at our school. 

One thing that I'm working on now is improving the library website.  Right now, the entire "site" is on Moodle, which the students reach through the school intranet.  The page consists of little more than links to local library catalogs and our library databases, a school calendar, links to resources for some classroom projects, and a decent picture of kids working in the library.  It's not much.  So, I've started to do a bit of research on great library websites and wikis and how to build one.  Here's what I've gleaned so far:

In order to build a good website or wiki, you have to know your audience and your purpose.  What do you want students (and faculty, hopefully)to get out of the site.  Brainstorm a list of your top priorities. I love me my Stickies, so I used one for my list:

Now, time to look out on the web at some library sites that are both informative and attractive for students.  Where do you find these? I've found listservs to be invaluable for this.  People who post to listservs want to share; that's what listservs are for.  So, post a request: What does your website/wiki look like?  Send me links!  You'll hear back from plenty of people if your listserv is well populated.  Don't belong to a listserv?  Google the term, and voila!

A few library sites that I like:

Naomi Bates's site for Northwest High School in Texas

S.C. Lee Jr. High School, also in Texas

Scarsdale Middle School Library, in New York

Westmont WIki, a wiki for Westmont School in Chicago.