__Color. Art. Space. Books. Computer access. You name it, we've changed it! Here are some highlights.

New Color:  Led by lead designer, Rosemary Woods, a team of parents and I painted the library walls and circulation desk over the winter break. Thanks to Rosemary, Sue Bell, Peggy Flynn, Toni Wells, and LaShanna Williams. And thanks to the Pathfinder PTA for funding the paint!

Art: Rosemary also donated a collection of Book Week posters, and framed them with donations from Michael Lieberman, David, and me.

Space: Opening up the center of the library was possible after weeding out-of-date books and rearranging the location of others, allowing us to move out two large bookcases. Thanks to Sylvia, Cathy, Roger, and library teaching assistants Alexis, Amaris, Josh, Lenny, and Yitzy for helping accomplish that huge task.

Books: Weeding out damaged and out-of-date books created room for new books, and our emphasis is on buying books the kids request.. We earned over $1000 in Scholastic book credit as a result of the December book fair, and are spending that as requests come in, e.g. The Chronicles of Vladmir Tod, The Throne of Fire, and Behemouth, all books from popular series. Unfortunately, Scholastic doesn't  publish everything we'd like, so we recently applied for a DonorsChoose grant to increase our collection of contemporary Young Adult titles. Keeping current with books that teachers want and need, and kids want and need, is an ongoing commitment!

Computer Access:  Students working on school projects have computer priority during the school day. Check out the library hours link for choice open access times. As a means to increase our technology resources, I applied for and received a district eReader grant for 10 Kindles. These are currently targeted for use in the middle school reading classes. Next up--an application for a state technology grant for more computers.

Reupholstering the Library Chairs: Ann Marie Bennett has agreed to lend her professional seamstress skills to reupholstering the three plaid, very worn (but very comfy) chairs. Thanks again to the PTA for covering the cost of materials!  We hope this work will be accomplished within the next month!

_The Book Fair drew in a record number of families, scheduled the same week as the Winter Music Program and the Craft Fair. Purchases came close to $3,000, earning over $1000 in Scholastic book credit. We used the money to buy all the books on the teachers' wish lists (they were thrilled), and the rest remains in our Scholastic account, to be spent on student requested books.

A smaller book fair will be scheduled in the spring, this time with a local bookseller. Fewer trinkets and more flexibility, and although we'll make a smaller percentage of the profits, the fair will include a greater variety of books. Stay tuned!