1. SOS for New LMS Stony Evans, Hot Springs High First Year LMS
14 Year Educator
&
Rachel Shankles, Lakeside High
20 year LMS
39 Year Educator

2. Rachel’s Do list for New LMS
Take one or two professional journals and read them and tear out pages
Join Professional Organizations like AAIM, AASL, ArkLibAssoc and attend as many conferences as they will let you including HSTI in June
Visit other libraries
Post to the AAIM list when you need help
Find some good wikis and websites to use

3. Stony’s To Do List
Find some Patience – Getting Started seems daunting but remember to set long term goals and be patient – you can not slay the library dragon in one year
Find out who holds the purse strings in your school - Money and Purse-strings go together
Engage the staff - with announcements, let them have input, provide some inservice, and allow them to evaluate the LMC at end of year
Engage students - Open those doors and show them the New Books & New Look, do programming, have contests and events
Use student workers for help and input

4. More Things to Do Advertise what you do in the paper
Make a short newsletter of your monthly activities for staff and send it to the ‘powers that be” in the central office
Write grants or raise money to decorate and have contests
The first thing you need is a digital camera – keep photos of all your activities and bulletin boards and displays all year to put into a PhotoStory to use in your evaluation conference
Find out about free programming ideas
Check out Rachel’s wiki just for librarians with all sorts of event, contest, decorating, and framework ideas—and PPts to teach students and faculty

5. Don’t Overlook how much you will depend on the janitor
Overlook using parents as volunteers
Forget WalMart as a donor – write one or two donation letters per year for like $60 each
Forget to invite the Superintendent to your events
Never do duty outside the library or close it while you go to duty – against the law
Go without lunch b/c you try to keep library open;
eat early or late or have a rotating duty person for library
Never stress out over overdues since you really do want the books to circulate – but get the asst. principal to back up your pleas

6. Things Stony has learned:
Mentors are wonderful
Find a few by visiting other local libraries
See if you can form an area library consortium of some kind that will meet and exchange ideas
Bounce your ideas off of someone else and get input from other school librarians on how to manage what you have come up with
Check out our WeDewey Wiki at

7. Things that worked well:
Music in the library during Black History Month (March is Music in the Schools Month also)
Inviting the Superintendent to read aloud during Black History Month and then she bought new flooring after seeing the condition of the carpet
Offering to teach Internet research techniques to classes (credibility & collaboration)
Newspaper article/ picture submissions

8. The best thing I tried:
Multimedia presentations to the entire school during lunch (new books, top ten books, and book- movie trailers)
Asking for input from students and teachers

9. Rachel’s best advice to you:
Get active in AAIM and meet librarians you can and call to ask questions
me anytime and I will point you in the right direction
Stony’s best advice to you:
Be patient and realize it cannot happen all in one year. Create a 3-5 year plan. Create a “support” network of those you can call on for advice/ AAIM listserv
me anytime and I will share what I know with you ( or point you to those that do)

10. Contact Info
Rachel Shankles
Lakeside High School, 2871 Malvern Ave., Hot Springs, AR PH or
Stony Evans
Hot Springs High School, 701 Emory St., Hot Springs, AR PH or