After several years as a classroom teacher I was given the opportunity to become a school media specialist when “no one else would take the job.” I remember thinking those librarians have it easy. Boy, was I wrong!
Seven classes a day, grades Pre-K-6, weekly lesson plans, a daily newscast, orders and cataloging, reading clubs, bus duty and, of course, endless shelving.
One of my greatest challenges was how to get kids to enjoy the media center. I was constantly hearing, “do we have to go to the library, it’s so boring”, “I wish I were in P.E.”
I studied the media curriculum and created a set of library skill games. Those games were such hits that kids would ask to play them every time they came to the library. I didn’t hear things like “boring” and “can we go yet?” I heard and saw enthusiasm for being in the library! What started out as three games has grown into a dozen with two professional books, a DVD, a CD of library songs and two children’s book, THE PIRATES OF PLAGIARISM and in Spring 2012, A BOOK IS JUST LIKE YOU.
LIBRARYGAMES.COM was created to give librarians the opportunity to create MORE excitement in their libraries. I truly believe there is nothing better than seeing children having so much fun they don’t realize they are learning at the same time!
So to all you FUNbrarians out there, and I know there are lots of you- thanks for making the library an interesting place for kids!
All of our products are offered through Highsmith and Upstart Books.
From a young age, Kathleen knew she wanted to teach. She created hand-written worksheets for neighborhood kids, held “school” with her grandma’s old 1920’s desk, and knew how to properly secure a pencil to her ponytail.
She grew up in Del Mar, California and moved to the east coast in high school where she learned there was more to life than blue skies and beaches. She saw her first snow fall when she was fifteen and mastered the one way streets of Washington, DC. Kathleen graduated from Clemson University and has stayed south ever since. She still loves blue skies and beaches but those that border the Charleston, SC coastline.
Kathleen taught for over ten years before leaving education to pursue a job in the corporate world. Even there she used fun and games in training people. She started LibraryGames.com from her kitchen table, making games at night and working during the day. At her first library conference she sold out of almost every game and knew she had a good thing. Highsmith, Inc. called a year later and Kathleen has teamed up with them ever since- a lovely marriage of creativity and business.
“Having the team at Highsmith on your side is awesome. I get to create and field-test and they make the games look amazing and take care of the distribution, so more librarians get to see the products. It’s a great company to work with.”
Kathleen and her husband, Steve travel and everywhere they go Kathleen insists on checking out the library. “We drove an hour off our path in Spain so I could see a popular community library, and I spent three weeks volunteering at a charming children’s library in Peru, and fell in love with a beautiful library in India that had enormous hand-carved doors. Incredible things are happening at libraries all over the world.”
Favorite book as a child: Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Favorite memory of the school library: Oh, Book Fair Week and the smell of all those new books around me. Also puppet shows. I loved when puppets came to the library.
Favorite memory as a school media specialist: When Bernard Waber ( Lyle, Lyle Crocodile) visited our school- wow!
Most challenging library skill to teach: Grrrrr, the Dewey Decimal System. Thank you Melvil for creating it, but man, it takes a lot to get kids (and adults) to get it. Plagiarism is a challenging concept to teach and how to avoid doing it.
Favorite Library: Oh that’s tough. I don’t like libraries that look generic and unfortunately there are a lot of them. I’m fond of the stately New York Public Library and the little one room library on Orcacoke Island in North Carolina, the Denver City Library and its very modern look thanks to Michael Graves’ design, and our local library on Sullivan’s Island which is housed in the Spanish-American War four-gun battery. I know there more amazing libraries out there and I plan to see as many as possible!
FOR INFORMATION ON AUTHOR VISITS AND PRESENTATIONS ON PLAGIARISM http://www.librarygames.com/contact/
