From our readings this week, a few things stood out for me.
Susan patron (cited in Bird, 2009) recommends a walk through one's library and looking at resources from the perspective of its varied patrons. As a TL who find myself in the in a position to make a major overhaul of my library, this advice is valuable. When I consider what my kindergarten students, my grade fives, my struggling readers, my teachers, my young families, especially those that find themselves uncomfortable in the school setting, and my new administration, see and feel when they enter my library, it becomes evident that making changes to my library is a priority. There are two main areas that strike me immediately. First, the way my early reading books are organized is far from user-friendly or inviting for a four year old. Because of this, both my library tech and myself spend a great deal of time with young ones trying to find books that contain familiar and favorite characters (eg: Paw patrol books, Lego books, fairytale princess books, etc.). Instead of a cluttered shelf where all they see is spine after nondescript spine, I need to move to a basket system that organizes these resources into familiar topics and characters. Second, is the area with easier novels for developing and struggling readers. These resources were organized to make it easier for these students to locate “good fit books” (and are labeled with a red dot). Storing these resources on a separate shelf beside the nice, thick novels, doesn’t motivate struggling readers to consider these books. In fact, struggling readers take a hit to their pride when they have to find their “good fit” book (they get one other any choice book as well) in the “easier section”. As I am new to the library this year, the only change that I have made so far to make the “red dot” section less embarrassing for struggling readers is to rename it the “quick reads” section and to reintroduce it to classes as an area with lots of great books that are quicker to read. I also pointed out that adults also have “quick read” books available to us as well. I’d love to hear any ideas that anyone else has.
Leading learning: Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada, the document distributed by my school district to help shape school library learning commons, states “Over 20 years of research shows that student achievement and literacy scores advance where professionally staffed and resourced school libraries are thriving (Canadian Library Association,p. 4). It also says “Students need to be working with the best technologies and resource collections available” (Canadian Library Association,p. 7). If this is the case, I question why budgets have been cut so thoroughly, why there is no time or money allocated to update seriously out of date libraries, and why teacher-librarians and library technicians continue to have insufficient hours in the library. This frustrates me. I want to make a difference, I know why it's important to make changes, I'm being asked to do coursework so I know how to make changes, I'm being given the document to guide my changes, yet, I am being given far too little to make any noticeable difference. Then there is the question of technology. My library, at present, contains three out of date computers. I'm not asking for the best technologies, but I'd sure like to have some.
For our first assignment, I visited the website of my local public library. When I clicked on their “Facilities and Services” section (found midway down the page), at the bottom, I found a listing of “Community Links”. Here I found loads of useful information about my community. When I look at the information collected from surveys, however, I found the sample size (44 people) to be too small to be a true representation of our community. I would have liked to have found more data on specific population growth (young families having kids to fill our schools or more retired people moving from the coast). I will continue to search for this information as well as information on rental properties in our area (this effects the number of “transient” families we have coming and going- as well the challenges many of these children face in their learning).
Martis indicates that my library program can impact the way I approach collection development. Our school participates in “Battle of the Books” and many of our classes actively use the “Raz Kids” reading program. As Mardis suggests, this can impact the way I approach and manage my collection. First, as I am on an extremely limited budget, participating in “Battle of the Books”, and ensuring that I have three copies of each of the novels, seriously impacts my limited budget (actual money to spend on books this year was between $500 and $1000). When the battle books cost approximately $400 dollars, this program has a huge impact on other resources I can bring in. Having many classes use “Raz Kids” on a regular basis, takes some of the pressure off of our limited early reading resources. Because many of the beginning books are quick to read, many are required, especially to serve struggling readers. Taking the pressure off of this area, allows me to focus my budget on more high interest materials and resources that fit the new curriculum. “Raz Kids” can also potentially provide me information on students reading levels, which would inform some of my decisions when I'm looking to purchase materials or when I'm considering weeding certain materials (I say potentially, because our school uses “PM Benchmark” reading assessments for all of our students. As this is a whole school project, and the data is easy to access, I opt to use this to guide my understanding of the needs of my readers).
Works Cited
Bird, E. (2009). Children's literature gems: Choosing and using them in your library career. Chicago, IL: ALA Editions.
Canadian Library Association (2014). Leading learning: Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada, Ottawa ON, Canada: Canadian Library Association’s Voices For School Libraries Network and the CLA School Libraries Advisory.
Mardis, Marcia A. (2016). The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts and Practices. (6th ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
