Ellie Simons Author Archive

Ellie Simons switched to Public Library work after four and a half years as a school librarian. She works in Youth Services at Mesa Public Library in New Mexico and earned her MLS from North Texas University in Denton. Ellie is currently reading Case Histories by Kate Atkinson.

Spring Weeding – Progress Should Be Reflected in Your Collection

Everyone in the Youth Services department at Mesa Public Library (Los Alamos, New Mexico) has resolved to weed the nonfiction collection in both branches. All this past year or so we have been weeding the nonfiction at the main library, so now it’s time to tackle the branch library.

Unattended Children – No Easy Answers

The Jacksonsville (Florida) Public Library as well as Mesa Public Library in Los Alamos, New Mexico, require children younger than age eight to have an adult caretaker in the immediate vicinity 1. The American Library Association publishes an entire resource guide about developing a policy regarding unattended children at the library and any librarian working in youth services knows that there are no easy answers regarding the issue.

Start the New Year with a Clean Slate

The New Year is the perfect time to clear away any prejudgments or negative expectations we have been harboring about our youth patrons. Without realizing it, we can begin to gather negative expectations about the behavior of some of our regular patrons.

A Special Children’s Program

After the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, carrying on with our regular children’s programs was very important to the staff here at the Mesa Public Library in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Celebrate “The Hobbit” at the Public Library

Interest in the Hobbit will rise now that the movie is playing in theaters everywhere. Take advantage of this rise in interest to schedule Hobbit-related programs for patrons of all ages.

Tween Programming: It’s All About Them

When you have to put together a program that will attract tweens to your library, keep this principle in mind: their primary interest is themselves. This is not to say anything pejorative about tween patrons. I simply mean that they are at the time of life when they are sorting out personal identity. Their concerns […]

The Eyes Have It

Most of the tweens who come in to the library seem to have trouble establishing and maintaining eye contact. I often observe them turning slightly away from me and glancing at the shelves or down at a piece of paper. Even when they really need help from a librarian they cannot force themselves to walk […]