This is the 8th post in the Learner Led Libraries series.

There are a lot of routines and procedures and information that gets doled out in a typical Library Media class. When they are in Library Media Center they need to remember:

• Where to sit.
• Who the Media Manager is.
• What the goal is.
• A focus question or how to prepare for wrap up.
• How many books they can borrow.
• What to do when they are done.
• What we will do next week. They don’t really need to know that, but it gives them something to look forward to.

For students to remember everything week after week, after being in their own classroom and following the routines and procedures in 4 or 5 other special areas can be a challenge. Yet it is important for them to be independent when they enter the Library Media Center.

I decided to create a slideshow that plays on the screen from the moment the children enter the Library Media Center. If someone comes in late, they can check the screen to see what we are doing (or they can just head to their table and use the Table Top Poster). Don’t remember where you sit? Go check the screen! Don’t remember how many books you can borrow? check the screen!

I changed the pictures of my kiddos for some generic ones. I grab pictures of my kiddos from Destiny. Ready to make your own?

Quick Bytes

• I use Slides Carnival for some smart looking slideshow themes. The theme I use here is from Slides Carnival!
• I customize everything with my Bitmoij! Because I make this in Google Slides, I use the Bitmoji Chrome Extension to easily insert my Bitmoji throughout.
• To get it to autoplay, remember to ‘publish it to the web’. I set each slide for about 5 – 7 seconds depending on the age, get the link, and then bookmark that link so I can just click the slideshow I want to that grade coming in.
• Sprinkle in some fun facts, book quotes, or memes. I promise you, the kids read them! They are always amazed by how many books we have and seeing the number change each month as we get new arrivals.
• When creating assigned seats, keep them the same throughout the year unless there is a serious issue that needs to be addressed and all other interventions have failed.
• I deliberately put the seating charts in every few slides so that they don’t have to wait around too long to see where they sit.

One Last Thing

For this to be worth your while, expect kiddos to refer to it. The first time I see someone walk over and use it as a reference, I make a big deal out of it! Any time anyone asks me where they sit, I tell them to go check the board. When someone makes a snarky comment about how we don’t have any good books, I ask someone to tell us how many books we currently have.