school librarian

The End of a Fantastic Year

~ Tara Hargrove ~ Leave a comment

What a whirlwind my first semester as an elementary school librarian has been! I had to really prioritize the past few months in order to keep my head above water in grad school all while being the best librarian I could be for my school community. It. Was. Hard. But I survived, managed to pull off a 4.0 for my whole graduate career, throw the best family night my school has ever seen, hold a book fair that did awesome sales wise, managed to still be a good mom and a great wife, and still maintained regular date nights with my honey. How? By the grace of God! No, seriously…

I feel like I have a lot to catch up on though since I had to put my blog on hold for a hot minute while I made magic happen elsewhere. I ended my year on a wonderful note though-my son got to witness his momma walk across the stage and graduate with her master’s degree and a week later we headed for Colorado and Utah on a ten day road trip. It was much needed. I had planned to blog while on vacation, but my brain really needed a break so I skipped it and opted for sight-seeing and snuggling up on the couch with the family while watching The Office for the billionth time 😝.

Even after ten days, we still managed to come home and have a week left before having to go back to school. I worked on stuff around the house, threw a fun NYE party with my sisters, friends and our kiddos and even had some family photos snapped by my favorite photographer (theimagediaries.com). Maggie moved a few years ago to Alaska with her husband (he’s in the Air Force), so while she visited this Christmas, she did a mini photo session with us. It’s been too long since we’ve had some outstanding photos done of us and I was so grateful that she chose to spend one of her days with us!

Anyways, moving on to the good stuff… I decided I would break my Chronicles of a First Year Librarian Part 2 into smaller sections to kind of dive into what this semester was like after I hit the ground running (more like sprinting 🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️). So check out the following posts-hopefully they can be helpful either in content or just support for those that are novel like myself!

Chronicles of a First Year Librarian

~ Tara Hargrove ~ Leave a comment

Let’s switch gears…I’ve posted about all kinds of digital technologies that can be used in the education world as a librarian or a teacher all summer long, but come Monday, school schedule begins once again for myself in my new district as a librarian and I kind of want to share my journey of what my first year as a school librarian is going to entail. Honestly, I have been working all summer already trying to get my library the way I want. In one of my grad classes last semester, my professor had us create a priority list as a new librarian. We revamped our top ten list over the course of the semester, but honestly, I feel that what I had on my FINAL list has been changed again since I’ve actually stepped into the role of a school librarian and not just thinking hypothetically.

Let me share with you what I have done so far (and school hasn’t even started yet!).

I have been a teacher for nine years. I was made to be an educator-that is my purpose and what I feel God has gifted me with. With that being said, I have done the same thing the past nine years before school even begins and those things are even more intricate when I have changed grade levels. I also begin with the environment in which I will be in…the classroom in teachers’ cases and the library in librarians’ cases. I can’t seem to focus or function if my space isn’t spruced up the way I want. I need my decorations and atmosphere to be inviting and welcoming and functional.

So this summer I gave my new library an overhaul! My husband is a builder and he grabbed a couple of his daytime guys and they went to painting. The colors turned out better than I ever imagined! They really made the room pop! I took down old and outdated decor and stuffed animals that had been collecting dust. My campus is 4th-6th grade and while they are still elementary and love to be silly and be read to, I think they also want to feel a little bit older than the littles.

Paint transforms everything!❤️
Hello dusty little mouse.
He’s so goofy! 🤪
Organizing!👌🏼
Grey covering the brown.
Loving 😍
The dragon really pops out now!
I created some fantastic posters and put them in some cheap poster frames from WalMart. I organized the currculation desk and cleaned and dusted really well. I also bought some cute watercolor lightbulbs from TPT that I enlarged at my local Walgreens, cut out and glued onto foam board (go to WalMart for foam board-you will only waste your money at Dollar Tree).

It’s far from finished, but I always think back to the phrase “Fake it till you make it.” If you can look the part, and work hard behind the scenes to figure the rest out, I think you’ll be amazing in the end! I have had such amazing classes and professors, but it’s different when you’re IN it versus being in a class. I am a hard worker and I am a great researcher (hey, I’m a librarian and outta be 😉), and I KNOW this year will be the best year of my education career, even if it is a little challenging!

11 11 ❤️ Tara