Hi all,
Cara and I were just talking about this at our library, because building
rapport with students is something we believe we do well at our school. Our
library is a happy place. Here are a few specifics:
Hours: The library is open from 7:30am to 5pm. Students are in the library
every moment during that time. They know it's a place to study, to relax,
and to collaborate on projects.
Desk Interactions: Every exchange at the library desk is an opportunity to
get to know our students. We check out books, tech equipment, arts
supplies, and freely offer almost every school supply a student may need.
Whenever a student approaches the desk, my catch phrase is "How's your day
going?" And, students usually want to tell me.
Floor Interactions: While most of our work is behind the desk, we do make
efforts to regularly walk through the library. We smile at kids whose eyes
meet ours, and if they look like they're open to a conversation, we ask
them how they're doing. When we don't know students' names, we ask.
Students want to be known--they certainly aren't offended by us wanting to
know them.
Non-Library Experiences: Each of us proctors one or more non-library
related clubs. We also participate in all parts of our school community,
going on retreats with students, attending performances or sports events. I
teach a class. Cara drives the van for the Friday morning Martin de Porres
service opportunities. Since we believe in helping students become
well-rounded individuals, we work to do that as well.
Openness to Play: It's hard to define this, because I think it is something
that comes naturally to both me and Cara. Even our disciplinary actions can
be fun or funny; we laugh with the students. We allow for humor and play
with words and ideas. Next week, the school will put on it's annual sketch
comedy show, SILive, and we were active participants in a video piece for
it, a parody of A Quiet Place set in the library. Learning should be fun
(and often, very funny).
Cara has some great input on Personalized Reading Lists as a way to build
rapport. I'll let her jump in with that.
Happy Friday!
Christina
On Fri, Jan 11, 2019 at 8:19 AM Lemon, Katy <klemon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I agree that this is a great question, but my problem is that I don't have
classes coming in on a regular basis. I do, however, have "regulars" who
come to the library everyday but they all wear uniforms and no name tags
☺so unless someone checks out a book, it is pretty hard to discover her
name. I recognize faces but I struggle to put names with faces and that
makes building rapport a bit harder.
Katy Lemon
Librarian
klemon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Presentation High School
2281 Plummer Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125
408-264-1664 ex. 2433
On Fri, Jan 11, 2019 at 8:06 AM Thomas, Brian <bthomas@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Wow, is this a great question! I work with high school students and I’ve
found I have the most success building rapport before school, during break
or between classes, at lunch, etc. contexts in which neither the students
nor I have specific tasks we are working on. I think learning every
students name is important – I still haven’t been successful at it, but it
is the quickest most specific thing I think we can do to gain rapport with
students.
Brian Thomas
Director of Library Services
Saint Mary’s College High School
(510)559-6228
1294 Albina Ave
Berkeley, CA 94706
*From: *<baisl-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of "Perotin, Tana" <
tperotin@xxxxxxx>
*Reply-To: *"baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Date: *Friday, January 11, 2019 at 7:50 AM
*To: *"baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject: *[baisl] Re: Building rapport with students
What grade(s)?
*From:* baisl-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <baisl-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *On
Behalf Of *Judy Cha
*Sent:* Thursday, January 10, 2019 4:53 PM
*To:* baisl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [baisl] Building rapport with students
Hi everyone,
Can anyone share if you do any activities or anything on a regular basis
to build rapport with students who come to the library for weekly classes?
I'm open to ideas from a librarian perspective.
Thanks,
Judy Cha
Granada Islamic School
Librarian
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Katy Lemon
Librarian
klemon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Presentation High School
2281 Plummer Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125
408-264-1664 ex. 2433
