Mrs. Zask, Mira Costa’s AP Studio Art teacher and I have been talking for a year about having her students create a mural for the library. The students pondered the design for many months while studying for their AP exam. When the exam was over in May, the project could begin!
Please enjoy this short video with images of the mural in progress and installed in the library, then come by to see it live!
I was inspired a while back by a blog posting by Jennifer LaGarde (aka “library girl”) displaying the terrific book direction signs she made for her school library. As she explained, her inspiration came from Tamara Cox’s (aka “the e-literate librarian) sign post, who, I learned when I checked Tamara’s blog, was inspired in turn by a posting on Pinterest. (Unfortunately, that link is now missing, so I can’t give credit to it.) I knew the moment I saw both their photos that I wanted some signs for the Mira Costa Library. Our library’s decore hasn’t changed since the 1950’s and the colors are very drab. I’ve been trying to find any ways I can to liven it up. What better way than with colorful signs sharing special places in favorite books!
Fortunately for me, since I am definitely not an artist, we have some wonderful art teachers and art students on campus. I contacted art teacher Kate Martin with the idea and was delighted that she was interested. Our biggest challenge, which took us nearly a year to solve, was how we would make the signs adhere to the three round metal poles where I wanted to mount them. The solution finally came recently when one of my volunteers brought in velcro to mount some posters. The balsam wood is very light and the velcro is strong enough to hold it up and also flexible enough to adhere to the slightly rounded surface of the metal poles. Once we knew the velcro would work, Kate Martin, as well as her fellow art teacher, Valerie Park, created assignments to have their students make painted and wood burned signs.
Please enjoy them here, and, better yet, come into the library to see them.
Thanks so much to Jennifer LaGarde and Tamara Cox for the inspiration, to Kate Martin and Valerie Park for leading these projects, and to their students for all the beautiful, creative work. I feel so fortunate that the library can benefit from the generous sharing of a creative concept by some of my fellow librarians and from the talent of Mira Costa students.
And, in the spirit sharing, the photos I have taken of the signs are, of course, Creative Commons-licensed and available on the Mira Costa Flickr site.
Each year, the American Library Association joins other national organizations in sponsoring Banned Books Week, a public awareness campaign reminding us to protect and celebrate the right of everyone to read what they choose. For a more information about why it is so important to protect the freedom to read and defend against challenges and attempts to ban books, check this press release from the American Library Association.
At the Mira Costa Library, we are celebrating with a library display of some of our books that have been the most challenged and banned in the last decade. Please come by the library to see our display. Since Banned Books Week falls on a short week at Mira Costa, we will be continuing our celebration and display through October 10.
Here’s a fun video about Banned Books Week for the young, young adults, and everyone young at heart:
It’s almost time to begin a new school year! Just before we do, please check out this display of highlights of 2010-2011 at the Mira Costa High School Library. Unless you have really good eyes, you will want to click here to see the full-size image on the library website:
Happy Valentines Day from the Mira Costa High School Library! Come by the library this coming week to see the display of great stories organized by TLC: The Library Club. And, please have a heart: Return any overdue books NOW so that other students have a chance to borrow them. The library currently has a moratorium on fines; get your books in right away before the moratorium ends. Thank you!
P.S. If you like the heart, you can make your own heart at this site.
January 23-28 is No Name-Calling Week. Please come by the library to see our display of fiction and non-fiction books on this theme. And, check our library No Name-Calling webpage with book list links and videos about cyberbullying.
You won’t want to miss the new paintings from collages by Ms. Martin’s art classes now on display in the library. The photos above don’t begin to do justice to these vibrant, engaging student works. Be sure to come by and see them soon. Many thanks to Ms. Martin and her students for lending them to the library.
Please come visit the library this week to view our exhibit of lovely student displays for Dỉa de los Muertos. The displays were created by students in their Spanish classes. We also have portraits on display from Ms. Martin and Mr. Reichardt’s Art classes.
This Tuesday, November 9, TLC (The Library Club) will meet during lunch. Everyone is welcome to join this new club for students who love books and would like to support library programs. We will be going over the charter for the club in preparation for presenting it for ASB approval. We will also talk about club activities.
