Have your books put on a jacket. It's cold outside!

When you have a laminator, it seems logical to just laminate the book covers before you attach them to a book so they last longer. Unfortunately, laminate peels off eventually and then that pretty book jacket just looks a mess. There's not much help for it then because even if you re-laminate it, its still pretty darn ugly.

Going to book jacket covers is a better way to go as they are durable and can be removed and recovered if they get damaged. In my quest to protect my new books better, I purchased 2 rolls of book jacket covers in the 9" & 12" varieties. I wandered about my library with a ruler to see the average size of my books and found that those 2 sizes would accommodate most of the books I had. I also bought some precut strips to attach the jackets.

Having the proper supplies and dispensers is vital to maintaining a collection. It is a large expense initially to purchase a multi-roll tape dispenser along with the weighted base but the time it saves you when repairing books is so valuable, you will wonder how you did your job without it. I still struggle with keeping up with shelving, cataloging, book repair, and everything else all by my lonesome but this little gem keeps me more sane.

Choosing a Book for OSOB

Our School Improvement Team took on a daunting task to choose a title for our school to read. The challenge? Something that will appeal to K-5, is appropriate for those ages, & will bring the school together. Hmm, if you think you have ideas, try previewing those titles and you will find that it is not as easy as you would think. As I am not on the team this year, my role is to support them in this task by providing resources and researching titles for them.

I've really enjoyed helping and even though it has taken a couple months, they have come to a decision. But I can't reveal the choice yet. It's not official so I'm keeping the secret. I'll be sure to post about it as soon as the official reveal happens!