How to be in four places at once

I have four libraries.  Two of them do not have full time aides.  One of them has no aides.  Clearly it is a challenge to be at all of them and see them used correctly and well.  Two libraries are in one district and two are in another.  You would not think that two schools so close together would be so very different.  They are.  It is like two different worlds. 

I'm working on getting the libraries to work off of each other.  I dropped the ancient Winnebago Spectrum program that my new district was using and opted to host a server in one district and use Destiny for all four libraries running off the one server.  Saves a lot of money and makes library resource sharing that much better.

I am looking at establishing some common webpages and resources for the districts instead of reinventing the wheel so many times.  I use moodle to teach some of my classes and to team teach with some teachers.  We have started to use the polycoms for some collaborations or meetings off site.

I teach our ERVING (distance education consortiums) ipads and ipods classes as well as the 21st century learning classes and many of my teachers from all four schools attend since they all have the capability to connect.

What are some ways that you would use to connect to teacher and students to and from so many different locations?

Library Redesign on a $zero Budget

My high school library in Marion is very outdated with poor lighting.  The furniture is old and the shelving is industrial (and not in a cool industrial design sort of way).  The technology wiring consists of holes cut in the ceiling tiles and long cords dangling down the walls.  Computers are placed on a hodgepodge of mismatched desks outlining the side walls.  Overall it is not a welcoming place.  Here are a few things that we have decided to try in order to make the space more inviting.  (The age of the books will need to be addressed in a future post).

Ideas on how to make the space more inviting to staff and students which will lead to increased use.

•  We were told there was no money to purchase conduit to cover the exposed cords on the wall.  
• purchase our own conduit or hold a conduit fundraiser.  $150 plus labor still gets us ugly stuff running on the walls.
• get some ivy or strings of floral items etc from rummage sales and wind it around the conduit to make it at least look artsy
• Find other discarded wires and cords of different colors, hang them on the walls and call it "texture"
• Furniture is from the 1970's
• spray paint the chairs
• contact the tech ed department to see if they could make new tables and chairs 
• gather cool, sturdy comfortable seating from garage sales and staff to make sections of comfy furniture to use
• Lighting is terrible
• Find extra lamps and end tables to use
• take off old plastic
• experiment with different wattage bulbs
• Paint job is terrible
• make graffiti type displays
• plaster up cool photos and pictures on top of paint job

If anyone has some other brainstorming ideas on how to transform a dull, drab, uncomfortable, poorly lit library into a comfortable place for people to read, research and connect, please post ideas here.