The Webinar Recording and Slides For My Follett Software Webinar, "Self-Checkout and Patron Readiness: Better Records, Smoother Service" Are Here, Friends!

 

On September 15, 2026, I joined my friends at Follett Software for an exciting new webinar, Self-Checkout and Patron Readiness: Better Records, Smoother Service. 

You will find the webinar recording here. 

And the webinar Google Slides here. 

I hope that you join us for our next webinar on October 29th at 2:00pm CST , Bringing Literacy to Life, Creative Ways To Inspire Readers Beyond the Screen.  You can register here. 

And don't worry if you can't attend live.  Everyone who registers will be sent the recording and slides. 

I love learning with all of you.  Thank you for joining our Follett Software events, friends. 

A Little Book Cart Naming Fun!

I have wanted to name our two book carts for a long time.  With our new library open, it is time!  Next week for a little fun, we will have a cart naming contest in our elementary.  I am going to have each class submit two names and then we will vote from those names.  

After seeing @thatcurlylibrarian book cart, I made up my own sign with the same theme.  Thank you for the idea. 💜

I made the sign in Canva. You can grab the template here. 

I found the giant googly eyes on Amazon.

And I got the two book carts from Demco.  I love the colors and they go with the theme in our new library and Makerspace too. 

I put together this form to give to each class.  They will come up with the two names and write them in the spaces. You can find the form here. We will all vote to determine the name of each cart. 

I will let you know what amazing names they come up with.  This is going to be so much fun. 

Check Out The Super Fun Monthly Activity Calendars From Our Friends At Epic!

 

I love the Monthly Activity Calendars from our friends at Epic! 

Each month they have these super fun and engaging calendars filled with special ways to celebrate each day of the month.  Every day challenges our readers with ideas on how they use Epic to celebrate that particular day. 

For example, September 22 is the First Day of Fall and it says Celebrate with a book about the season. I know our readers will love finding all kinds of books to read about fall this week. 

You will find the September 2026 Epic calendar here. 

And you can download October, November, and December here too.

I am going to use the Epic Monthly Activity Calendars is a lot of different ways. I will print and share with teachers so they can hang up in their classrooms. I will share with our students in Google Classrooms.  I will hang up in the library. 

I can't wait to share with our students every month! You will find them all here.

And check out a few of my favorite books on Epic in my special Collection too, friends. 

These Books Have A Tonies...Our tonies® Library!

 

I have been thinking a lot about how I am going to store and share the books that go along with our Tonieboxes and Tonie characters. I decided to get a basket and put it by the three Toniebox storage houses that I hung in our library. 

Most of the Tonie characters that we have so far are book characters from these books. 

I got them in Follett Titlewave, 

along with the book sets that go along with the Tonie characters. 

As we put these into our library, I also created stickers for our tonies® and book bundles.  

You can read all about them and get the template for the stickers here. 

As I put our basket together today, I created a few signs in Canva. You will find the template here.

One says, Our tonies® Library! and...

...one says, These books have a tonies®! 

I printed them on card stock, laminated them, and cut them out. 

I taped them to the basket, 

one of each side.  

As I start taking our tonies® into the classrooms this week, I love that I can just take the basket with me too.  

And as our tonies collection grows, I might have to find a special place on the library shelves, but for now this is the perfect solution for our traveling tonies! 

You can find out even more about tonies® here on Follett Content, friends.

What Books Do You Want In Our Library? A New Place For Suggestions for Our Library and Makerspace!

A few weeks ago, I shared the post Let's Hear Your Ideas! A New Place For Your Suggestions For Our Library and Makerspace. 

I had a few students wonder if they could just suggest books, so I thought about it and decided to change it up to...

...What books do you want in our library?

You can find the poster template for the box here in Canva and the....

...suggestion slip here. 

I included the first post before so you can get the links to the suggestion box and all of the details on how I put it together.  

One of my favorite things about being a librarian is talking to our students and teachers about what they love to read and what they would love to see in our library.  Now with our new Makerspace open too, they are giving me all kinds of ideas on what else they would love to see in that space too. 

So today, I made a book and Makerspace suggestion box! 

I found this suggestion box on Amazon here. I love how it has a place to add a sign and slips for the kids to write their suggestions on. 

I really wanted it to be bulldog blue so Eric spray painted it for me.  If you do this, make sure you take the lock out first and put it back in when it is dry.

I made a sign in Canva that matched the exact dimensions of 6.75 x 4.25. You will find the template here.

It matches our new decorations too! 

I made the little slips they can write on in Canva too.  I wanted them to have enough room to write and share.  You will find the template here.

I just copied on white paper, cut them in half, and added them to the front of the suggestion box, along with a couple pencils. 

When the kids and teachers come to the library, they will see it right away.  I can't wait to see what they suggest for our library and Makerspace this year. 

Sign Up For Our Weekly "Library Voice" Newsletter Here! Subscribe For Special Tips & Tricks, News, Resources, Book Recommendations, and Fun!

                                    

Hi, friends. I hope you are having a great start to a new year. 

We wanted to invite you to sign up for our weekly The Library Voice Weekly Newsletter. 

Each week, my daughter, Brianna, and I, share special tips & tricks, news, resources, book recommendations, and fun. 

Click here to subscribe and get the most recent edition of The Library Voice Weekly Newsletter today. 

We can't wait to connect with you each week.

Our BOOKHUB Takeout Station Is Open To Bring Wonderful Books To Our Classrooms and Readers!

One of my favorite programs in our library is our BOOKHUB Takeout Station.  

It started during the pandemic as a way to deliver books to the teachers in their classrooms.  It evolved into the BOOKHUB Takeout Station, a special place in our library where I pick out and display 34-36 wonderful new books each month.  

The teachers can stop by and pick one up to take back and read to their students in the classroom.  They don't check it out or worry about writing anything down.  They are just asked to drop it back off at the BOOKHUB Takeout Station when they have finished.  

It truly has made a difference by bringing so many wonderful new books to our students and teachers through special read alouds and thoughtful discussions.  

Let me share how I set this up so you can bring a BOOKHUB Takeout Station to your community too. 

First, I created a BOOKHUB Takeout Station poster.  I use to have an 18x 24 inch poster in our library, but in our new space I made it 8.5 x 11 inches.  

You will find the 18 x 24 inch poster in Canva here, and the smaller one here.

I then took the same image, took the wording off the takeout container, and took a screen shot to use in my BOOKHUB posters each month. 

Next, I pick out the book that will go into that months BOOKHUB.  I spend a lot of time throughout the year gathering new books that I can use in the BOOKHUB. I want them to be mostly newer published books and ones that are new to our library.  I tie them into seasonal themes each month. 

This month, I included several books for Hispanic Heritage Month which is September 15-October 15th. I got a lot of new book ideas from the Follett Titlewave list I put together here. I also included fall and Halloween books, and lots of fun ones to read aloud. 

I take screen shots of each book cover and...

...upload the screen shots to PicMonkey. I LOVE using PicMonkey for the collages. 

I download the final book cover collage and take it into the BOOKHUB Menu poster. 

I made a poster template to fit my 11 x 8.5 inch frame that I will use every month in our BOOKHUB display.  

You can find the template for this poster here so you can use it too. 

I then took the collage that I made in PicMonkey and popped it into the poster template.  Each month, I will add one so I can keep track of what I use all throughout the year. 

I love how they turn out each month!  The kids and teachers love them too!  

I put this in the BOOKHUB display in our library.  I also print it off each month and give to our teachers.  They put it up in their classrooms and mark off the books when they have read them. The kids really enjoy keeping track and looking for the next one from the poster. 

I also email it to them and add to our social media for the library so families can see what is in BOOKHUB each month too. 

You've Been Book'd With Special Middle School and YA Books To Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

 

Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15-October 15th. This month recognizes the history, culture, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. 

I brought together 18 middle school and YA books to celebrate this special month. Click on the book covers to find each book in Follett Content Titlewave and get the entire list of books there too. 

You will find the choice board here, friends. 

Register Today For The October Future Ready Librarians Webinar....Creating Future Ready Libraries!

 

Friends, I am so excited for our October Future Ready Librarians webinar, Creating Future Ready Libraries!  It is on October 7, 2026 at 5:00pm EST. 

My amazing friends and Future Ready Librarians, Erika Rocha, Leslie Skarphol, Erica White, and Pam Wright are joining me for this one and it's going to be an amazing hour. 

You can register for the webinar here.  We hope you can join live to be part of the conversation. If you can't, don't worry. Everyone who registers will be sent the link and resources after the webinar too. 

See you there!  

You've Been Book'd With Special Picture Books For Hispanic Heritage Month, Friends.

 

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated September 15-October 15.  This month recognizes the history, culture, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. 

I brought together 24 picture books in Follett Content's Titlewave to celebrate this special month.  

In the You've Been Book'd With Special Picture Books For Hispanic Heritage Month choice board here, you can click on the book covers to find each book in Titlewave.  You will also find the entire list of books linked in the choice board too. 

What other picture books would you add to this list, friends?