School library websites

I use weebly to host my classroom web site. I love weebly - it's incredibly easy to use and has ready-made templates that are colorful and interesting. The only downside that I have found with weebly is that you have to upgrade (meaning pay a subscription fee) to use some of the more engaging tools (like post a video). Since this is my first year using it, I opted to stay with the basic (free) membership. However, as I become more adept with technology (in large part because of this class), I may just have to upgrade.

Anyway, here is one example of a weebly library webpage: http://gbhslib.weebly.com/
This website has a several qualities that immediately grabbed me. First, I like the use of an engaging image at the top of the page. The sight of someone obviously enjoying a book seems like an ideal image for a library. I also found the clear placement of research tools and citation tools to be effective and SO useful.  I also appreciated the simplicity of the color palette.

 I looked for some websites that used smore, but I seemed to find more flyers and newsletters from libraries. That is something to keep in mind for the future. I was actually in search of more engaging ideas for my weekly newsletter. Smore might be just what I need!

I did a search for school libraries that use google sites. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of choices. I have used google sites to create a Language Arts webpage for our school. However, I didn't use any fun templates, so I may just have to revise that (once I figure out how to). Anyway, here is an example of a google library site: https://sites.google.com/a/sudbury.k12.ma.us/israel-loring-school-library-website/ This site caught my eye because it wasn't too "busy." Obviously, libraries have to share lots of information. In some instances, the websites just looked so cluttered with links (and confusing). This example may actually err on the side of too simple. However, the links on the side seem to hold all the important information.

For my website, I am going to use weebly. I already know I like it, but I also know that there are a lot of features to it that I haven't used yet. I'm thinking that as I learn about weebly through the school library assignment, I can apply some of these excellent ideas to my class website. I can not believe that I am writing that I am excited to explore a website tool during the summer, but I actually am!