Week 1

I began my practicum hours on January 4 with a meeting with Mrs. Brittany Butler, the LMS at Bowling Green High School (BGHS). We were able to sit down to discuss the semester and what needed to be accomplished.

Mrs. Butler and I were also able to discuss my unique situation. I currently teach second grade at Bowling Green Christian Academy (BGCA). Our library is available for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The librarian at our school is not certified and volunteers only two days per week. We are very thankful for her, but her limited time at school does not allow her the opportunity to do all that needs to be done. So, in discussing this with Mrs. Butler, she said that she would be glad for me to spend hours assisting at BGCA while also spending time in her library to learn there as well. She is in a large high school without an assistant. I am very thankful to be able to be of service in both places this semester.

One of the things we were behind on at BGCA was adding new books to our catalog. I met with the BGCA librarian to learn the system. She uses RenWeb to keep our inventory and track circulation. It is reasonably simple to add books manually, but you can also import MARC records from The Library of Congress. What a wonderful timesaver!

Here is a picture of one screen used when adding books in RenWeb:

I have been able to spend more than 10 hours cataloging items in the last two weeks. It has been great to have a bit of a head start on hours and learn such a practical and valuable skill.