Blogs here, blogs there, blogs everywhere

The time has come to finally figure out this blog thing that people talk about.  I have to admit that I'm no blogger, and I don't know if I'll ever feel comfortable calling myself that.  I figured out, by doing search after search of these so called blogs, that often times these blogs are basically composed of people who want to share their opinions.  I found some extremely helpful blogs and some that I want to revisit when time allows, but some blogs were just, for lack of better words, blah. 

I decided to focus my efforts on creating my Blog Reader using Bloglovin'.  I liked the name, for one, and it was terribly easy to navigate.  This Blog Reader is user friendly and allows the user to navigate the many blogs that can be added for a later time.  The Blog Reader, Bloglovin', has a friendly feed that allows me to read any updates from my favorite bloggers that I happen to be following.  If I wanted to add a blog, it gave me that option and was easily added.  I searched Bloglovin' and found some awesome blogs and added them to my feed along with some new ones that I added along the way. 

The first blog I decided to look at was the suggested School Library Display blog.  I've since added this to Bloglovin', the link is: http://schoollibrarydisplays.blogspot.com/

This blog allows the reader to navigate tons of useful information regarding displays at a library.  I was interested in reading about their crafts and what they do to create appealing displays when it comes to one particular author or book. 

The next blog that interested me was the blog created just for story time.  The title is Story Time Secrets and its link is:  http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/
As an elementary teacher, this interested me beyond words.  I wanted to know what I can do to make story time more interesting for the little ones and sometimes that means that I have to dress up or bring out puppets.  I already knew that much, but it's always nice to know that I'm not the only one making a fool of myself.  Besides, it's fun and that's all that matters.

My third blog of choice was Children's Literature Book Club.  The link is:  http://childlitbookclub.blogspot.com/
I love the idea of creating fun and easy book clubs for everyone to enjoy, but especially little ones.  This is something that I would DEFINITELY have in place at my library.  I can't imagine anything more fun than meeting with these children and talking about a book they enjoyed.  This blog is an excellent resource to have.

Second to last is Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  Link being:  https://www.tumblr.com/search/caffeinated%20book%20reviewer
This blog is highly saturated with opinions, but what else are book reviews made of?  This Tumblr blog is an extension of the web site with a similar name.  It's always nice to get an opinion that may or may not vary from yours regarding a book and maybe a lesson that can come out of the book.  It's definitely nice to know that something like this blog exists and that I can contribute to the discussion if necessary.

Last, but not least, I decided to look at Me, Myshelf, and I.  Clever name!  Its link is:  http://meemyshelfandi.tumblr.com/
This blog is by far the most eclectic and full of varying information.  It's quirky and fun and gives the reader an opportunity to see different aspects of books and reviews.  This blog has more than 16,000 followers, so I'm assuming it's doing something right. 

I found that there are pages dedicated to school library blogs and they're easy to access and conveniently placed in worksheets or charts.  Here is a link to one example:
http://www.onlinecollege.org/2012/07/10/100-best-blogs-school-librarians/

 I also determined that Tumblr, which has been in existence for a while, is quite popular with some up to date subjects and blog entries that are extremely relevant.  Librarians are able to connect with like minded people through Tumblr and can see how others are operating their libraries and maybe get an idea or two to improve their own library.  I decided to play around with Tumblr a bit and posted a pretty cute bulletin board that I created at my school and I wanted to share the end product.  http://melisa473.tumblr.com/  I'm sure I'll be adding more content to this blog in regards to my school work. 

I'm actually starting to enjoy navigating these blogs and having a place like Bloglovin' where I can collect the information and get back to it when I have time.  It truly is a blog world out there.