……….So, here we are back at it again. Another September has rolled up on us, and the Labor Day weekend marked the official end of summer for students and teachers. Four weeks into the new school year and there have been plenty of changes around HHS*. To all our new teachers, paras, ESPs, lunch workers, building maintenance, security staff and, of course, freshman, I say, “Welcome to Hillie Nation”!
……….To our returning students and staff, I say, “Welcome back. I hope we can all do a little more and a little better this year.” And I don’t mean just in the building, and just in our work. I hope for myself and for all of you, that this year is full of great things and that even when things don’t go as you might expect, that you find strength and allegiance to get through whatever challenges you face. We are not alone, after all, if we remember that everyone around us is also in some quandary, in some struggle against something.
……….And remember also, that most people want to help, want to extend a hand to someone they see struggling. Especially in a place like a school … we are surrounded by people who like helping others. So, take advantage of the brains, brawn and brotherhood/sisterhood in your midst.
……….Now, onto the business I usually take care of in my first blog of the new school year.
Library Media Center Hours: Monday – Friday, 7 am – 3 pm
Students that would like to use the LMC computers or space after-school, do not need to make an appointment. Many clubs, groups and other people book the library for meetings or other events, and on rare occasions, students may be asked to leave.
OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog): You can search our collection here.
There is a link available through the HHS Launchpad, but most people don’t realize that it is embedded in the “View More Links” at the bottom of that page. I didn’t even know there were more links until a few years back when I accidently scrolled down in my partially opened window.
Class Visits
……….The LMC has two PC computer labs. Lab one is on the left side of the “pit” and has 20 working computers. Lab two is on the right side of the pit and has 24 computers, including six that are around the bend.
……….If you wish to bring your class to the library to use the computers, search for books or work in the “pit”, you must check the LMC log kept at the circulation desk. There is no online version of this to book the library.
……….Please call us (xt. 1143) to check if we have room to accommodate you and/or your group if you have NOT already booked an appointment with us in the LMC log. We love to see our space full of students, teachers, aides, counselors and everyone else who makes HHS a great place to work. But we don’t like to be surprised and we don’t like having to turn you away at the door if we don’t have room.
Study Students
……….Students who would like to use the library during their study period need to first report to their study class so that their teacher may mark them present for that period. Study teachers can then send up to four (4) students to the library for that period, with a signed pass of course.
……….Study students may lose the privilege of coming to the library if they disturb others or if they cannot follow these simple rules:
- No food or drink.
- No hats, hoods or phone calls.
- Be respectful of others and the space.
- Stay seated until the bell rings.
Copiers, projectors, overheads, etc.
……….As the librarian/ media specialist, I am here to get you through some of your frustrating technology encounters. I know how much our faculty and staff rely on copies, printouts and scans to get their work done, so please make sure you call me whenever you’re having trouble with one of our many Toshiba machines. Contact me if your local machine needs its toner or staples replaced, if you’re experiencing chronic paper jams, or if you get an error message of any kind.
……….I’m also able to assist you if you still use a television, VCR (what?), DVD player (huh?), overhead projector (why?), CD player/radio (how?), or other antiquated machine that helps you do your thing in the classroom.
Contact Information
School Extension: 1143
Henry Toromoreno, Librarian htoromoreno@haverhill-ps.org
Melissa Tarpy, Library Aide mtarpy@haverhill-ps.org
* P.S
You didn’t think I would write this post without mentioning Ms. Sicard, did you?
It finally happened. My very special friend and amazing assistant, Barbara “Babsy” Sicard, retired after 13 years by my side. She had plenty more years under her belt from way before I showed up on the scene, but I wasn’t around for those, so I can’t comment either way. All I know, is that my time with her was pretty great in the way that special things are amazing just by being ordinary, everyday, mundane. The way you expect a light to come on when you flick a switch without thinking about how hot a filament has to get to light up a room. The way the smell of cut grass or fresh bread or pine on a cold day always takes you back to a memory that’s good. In an age of disembodied electronic friends, Ms. Sicard was a connection to a time when people sat around talking across a table (or the circulation desk in her case) sharing small talk, being interested in each other’s lives … not to comment or ridicule or lambast each other, but to sympathize, to listen, to share, to exchange stories about hardships and triumphs, small complaints about the grind of life, to laugh not at one another, but at themselves.
So many kids who knew Ms. Sicard tell me how much they miss her. And so does everyone else who stops into the library. For the thirteen years she was my assistant, I woke up every workday knowing one thing … Barbara is going to be there when (or if) I get in. And she was out only one day due to illness. Imagine, just imagine, how much I miss her.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you found something useful.
Copyright © henry toromoreno, 2016. All rights reserved.
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