NEW MEXICO
Laguna
Elementary School was the "If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything" pilot site in 1999-2000. The school is located on the Pueblo of Laguna
(New Mexico), one hour west of Albuquerque.
Laguna currently educates nearly 400 students in kindergarten through
sixth grade. It was one of the original participants in the Four
Directions project. Ms. Cynthia Crispin is the librarian.
News: Laguna Pen Pal Book Project
Laguna (New Mexico) Elementary School and the Jamestown (Arlington,
Virginia) Elementary School are participating in a cultural exchange.
Students share news in a pen pal relationship and send material about the
Laguna culture. Virginia students arranged for the delivery of 4000
library books and created a hallway display on Laguna in their school.
Source: "Pal Book Project Brings Nearly 4000 More Books to Laguna
Elementary School," Kukadze'eta/Towncrier (Pueblo of Laguna Community
Paper), 6 (2) (February 2004): 12.
Pueblo
Links
Thank
You Drawings Collage from Laguna Students
Laguna
site visits:
April
26-27, 2001
The
trip to Albuquerque was my first visit to any program schools (we also
visited To'Hajiilee). It was
wonderful to begin to see where the work was going. I met Ms. Crispin,
read My
Big Dog to a number of classes, handed out dinosaur puzzles
and got to know some of the kids. Loriene told ghost stories to an older
class - and they told us some scary stories, too.
Frances
Ramberg
May
8-10, 2000
On
this visit we met with and had reading time with about eight or ten
classes during their library time. We told scary stories and read humorous
stories. We processed 150 - 200 books for manual check out with pockets
and cards. We gave students one sticker and one glow-in-the-dark alien
as a final reading incentive. We counted circulation statistics on all
books we could find that were related to the reading project. We spoke
with the incoming kindergarten students' parents at a 'transition meeting'.
We signed reading certificates for each student and put students' names
on each certificate.
Loriene
Roy and Sara Joiner
March
13 - 17, 2000
On
this visit my goals were to process new books for the library, meet
with students during regularly scheduled library visits and help out
wherever necessary in the library. I met with and had reading time with
about 13 or 14 classes during their library time. I read scary and humorous
stories. I processed about 250 - 300 books for manual checkout with
pockets and cards. I replaced the previously installed comuter with
a new one and installed Athena on the new computer. I entered each student's
name into the Athena database and ordered MARC records for the database
and Accelerated Reader books. I also distributed foam visors to students
in the library and in classrooms.
This visit was very productive. Meeting with children again helped them
get to know me and understand why I was there. Reading to them helped
them to associate my visits with the library and new books. Distributing
the foam visors to the students helped maintain their enthusiasm about
reading. I was pleased to see that the students were reading the Accelerated
Reader books, and that they were expected to continue reading non-Accelerated
Reader books.
Sara
Joiner
February
8 - 12, 2000
On
this visit we processed about 150 books for manual checkout with pocekts
and cards. We entered about 50 Accelerated Reader books into the Athena
online catalog. We met with and had reading time with about eight or
ten classes during their library time and read scary stories and humorous
stories and told ghost stories. We met with the entire faculty to dicuss
the progress of the reading incentive program.
The visit was productive. Meeting with the children again helped them
get to know us and understand why we were there. Reading to them helped
them to associate our visits with the library and new books. Telling
ghost stories encouraged them to enter into a dialogue with us. Meeting
with the teachers encouraged them to reinforce in their students an
interest in reading. Our description of the current status of the project
also helped maintain their interest in the program.
Loriene
Roy and Sara Joiner
December
7 - 10, 1999
Our
goals for this visit were to process new books for the library, meet
with students during regularly scheduled library visits and attend a
meeting of the Native American Libraries Special Interest Group of the
New Mexico Library Association. We met with and had reading time with
about eight or ten classes during their library time. We read Christmas
stories and one scary story. We also attended a basketball game to support
Laguna Elementary School students. We processed 350 - 400 books for
manual checkout with pockets and cards. We attended the meeting of NALSIG
and met with various librarians who worked in tribal libraries, the
state library and universities.
This visit was very productive. Meeting with the children again helped
them get to know us and understand why we were there. Reading to them
helped them to associate our visits with the library and new books.
The students at Laguna Elementary School are generally excited about
reading. We want to be able to cater to their reading tastes. The students
want to read scary stories, and those are the books we are trying to
get for them.
Loriene
Roy and Sara Joiner
October
13 - 15, 1999
On
this visit we met with and had reading time with six classes and one
Head Start class during their library time. We passed out brightly colored
beach totes to the students. We also met with students in remaining
classrooms and distributed the totes. We met with students at lunch
and held drawings for eight Wishbone door prizes. We set up the computer
in the library, installed Athena and began entering books into the online
catalog. We processed about 80 books for manual checkout with pockets
and cards.
Loriene
Roy and Sara Joiner
September
15 - 18, 1999
Our
goal for this visit was to initiate the kick-off for "If I Can
Read". During a meeting with faculty and staff we distributed Read
To Your Bunny posters and reading packets donated by the Texas State
Library and displayed donated books that we brought for the library.
We distrbuted Arthur bags containing a sticker, a bookmark or a postcard,
a poster, a reading log and a membership card to students. We displayed
the new books for parents and parents and children read together for
about two hours during a Family Literacy Night activity. We provided
snacks and drinks, some free pencils and stickers, and held a drawing
for a donated Alphie the Bookworm stuffed animal. We also began processing
the new books.
We left about 40 new books at the library, ten of them ready to be circulated.
We met with all 370 students. This visit was very productive. Meeting
with each classroom of children helped them to get to know us and understand
why we were there.
Loriene
Roy and Sara Joiner
May
12, 1999
The goal of this visit was to meet with schools interested in participating
in a community based literacy project.
The objectives of this visit were: (1) to explore the possibility
of a future literacy based community reading program at Laguna. Laguna
was chosen for its expressed interest in the project and the fact that
they have a community library as well as school libraries; and (2) to
meet with Ms. Liz Wacando, Librarian at the Laguna Community Library,
to assess her desire to attend the International Indigenous Librarians
Forum in New Zealand, November 1999.
Teachers at Laguna Elementary School, including Malcolm Pedro and Lois
Wacondo, were interested in participating in a reading program in 2000-2001.
They provided feedback on the tentative program structure and added
valuable suggestions. Lois offered to work on writing future grants
that would support such a project. The community Librarian provided
a tour of her facility and an overview of the services at her library,
one of the last libraries to receive funding through Title IV of the
Library Services and Construction Act (now defunct).
Loriene
Roy and Sara Joiner
