1. Contextual Factors
School – Moore Traditional School (high and middle). Public Library
Serves – ages 11 – 18. 6th grade – 12th grade
63% free and reduced lunch
ESOL students – 35%
The strength of the school is that it is a diverse population. Weakness is that is at or below the poverty line for socioeconomic descriptors. There is not a lot of community involvement due to the fact that it is not a neighborhood school. Students are bused in from areas set by the district. Thus, there is not much that can be done for improvements.
2. Nature of Reference Collection
The average age of the collection is 1987 with approximately 174 titles. The reference section cannot be checked out by students. The teachers are able to check them out for a time of two – three days. The online database that is used is the Kentucky Virtual Library. At this time a massive weeding is going on and there is a large collection development report that was issued to the principal for approval to get newer items. The library was reconstructed was done and non-fiction was put into genres. A need for improvement is to update the reference section to be newer that the average age of 1987. Many of them are obviously outdated and thus they are not used much.
3. Information Inquiry Program
There is not an Inquiry program that is being used. A suggestion for improvement would be the implementation of the Big 6 inquiry program. It can be started by using the power point that I made for this class to introduce it to the staff. If started now, it can be fully implemented by the start of the next school year. Also, if the reference section is updated teachers and students can also use these books for the information inquiry. This in my opinion is a must to move the library into the 21st century that is outline in the textbook.
4. Physical Characteristics
The library is laid out with the librarian’s desk and checkout area in the front center. It is located directly in front of the main doors so it makes it easy to monitor who comes into the library. There is a line of 30 computers in the front of the library. These computers were added in 2011. Along the backside of the library there are another 30 computers that were added in 2012. Behind the main desk are the bookshelves. They are about 3 feet tall and there are positioned diagonally. There are 10, 30 feet long cases. Starting on the left side are the fiction books, they are categorized in genres rather than the Dewey Decimal System. My LME said that this is becoming the norm in Jefferson County. The teacher work room is located on the left side of the library. There is a classroom in the back left of the library. On the right side is the Go College area. There are desks there for the people that work there. The STC coordinators office is in the front right office area. Next to that there is the librarian’s office. There are also group tables on both sides and in the back area for group work. The only recommendation that I would make is to get better chairs for the tables and computers. Also, I would begin to replace the older computers. The computers have McAfee protection on them and they are also filtered and monitored by the district.
5. Virtual Characteristics
The library does have a link on the school website, but you cannot access any virtual references from here. The LME said that she has not updated this in a couple of years. You can go to the Jefferson County district home page and get to the virtual library but it is difficult to navigate. The suggestions are obvious. I would update the school library webpage so that you can easily use the OPAC, Kentucky Virtual Library. I would also link in the districts website for libraries and add other links that would be helpful for students, parents, and staff. This would not take very long and I cannot personally believe it is not been done.
6. 21st Century Information Services
There are tables for group work located in the library. We have wireless communication so that laptops can be used. The furniture could be update but since it is functional it will suffice. The lighting is good. The physical characteristics meet the 21st Century ideas that are in our textbook. I think that the information services are lacking. There should be accessibility to the OPAC and to the KY Virtual Library on our school website.
The books chosen for the Good Reads:
1. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. I chose this book because of it fitting the category as an encyclopedia. It is a great book to look at the African Americans that influenced the movement in the arts and writing. It was easy to find information and it had a lot of updated pictures.
2. Dr William Hunter's Papers And Drawings In The Hunterian Collection Of Glasgow University Library: A Handlist. I had to go to the public library to find this one. We did not have many books that fit the category for bibliographical. This book is definitely for high level learning and the topic is not very useable for most. I found it to have a lot of material, but it was rather boring and unimportant. I used it because I wanted to compare it to similar books we had are our library.
3. National Geographic Atlas of the World. I used this book because not only was it an atlas but it was from the National Geographic Society. They have been around for a very long time and they are very reputable. The pictures were amazing as can be expected from them. The information was accurate and informative and up to date.
4. The Atlas of Middle-Earth. I chose this book because it was a little different that you average atlas. It had to do with the concepts of the Middle Earth that was created by J.R.R Tolkien in “The Hobbit” and in “The Lord of the Rings”. This book was so good to have next to you while reading these classics. There is so much of a fascination with this topic in recent years. I wished that I would have had it when I read the books. I found the book to be useful and helpful. It was accurate to the description that Tolkien created in his writings.
5. Human Achievements. This world record book was used so that I could compare it to the more popular of its kind, the Guinness Book version. It had just as many good pictures and it had accurate information. Not sure who has the final say on world records but it gave a lot of interesting information that kids would enjoy. It is cheaper than its Guinness counterpart.
6. Scholastic Book of World Records 2014. Another world record book. This one came from Scholastic which is very reputable. Their whole way of thinking is anything that is better for students learning they publish. They have been around for many years and very popular among schools. They offer affordable books for the students and teachers. That is why they are popular for book fairs at school. The book had great pictures and good information.
7. The Book of Animal Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong. This is a very good book as a reference book for middle school students. It talked about misconceptions in the animal kingdom. It was filled with antidotes and funny story along with factual information that is often misconceived.
8. Longman Young Children’s Picture Dictionary. A great book for the young reader. A lot of often used words and pictures went along with each word. Easy to use and a great resource for beginning or struggling readers.
9. Desert Solitaire. A very good book that can be used for a handbook for survival situations. It was filled with stories and gave solutions to problems that may arise while in this environment. I thought that it was misplaced until I thumbed through it and got a better understanding of while it was in the reference section.
10. From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. A great book to add to the professional library in any school. It gave great ways to evaluate books and it would help to see if the book was good for the content that you were teaching. The book gave ways that you could assess students.
11. Giant Print Reference Bible-KJV. A great book to have while reading the Bible. It gave a lot of meaning and descriptions. It also had some great pictures. I found this at the public library again to compare because it cannot be in the school library because of the topic of religion.
12. The Secret (The Secret, #1).
It is a self help book that can be compared to the “Chicken Soup for the ….” series. It gave a lot of ways to make the best out of life and high school students who are preparing to enter the world of work and adult living would find it inspiring.
13. Seabiscuit: An American Legend. I asked why this was in the reference section and my LME said that they are two copies. One here and one in the non-fiction section. She said it has a lot of information on the Great Depression era and would be a good resource for social studies. I have read this book and would have to agree with her on her assessment. I never thought of putting it as a reference but could see how it could be used as one.
14. My Life. This book by President Bill Clinton gives a great personal view point on how his time in office went. It was not sugar coated. It would be a great reference to compare the different Presidents and their views on politics and why they made the decisions they made. It is very common not for Presidents to do this.
15. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. A great handbook for those who are interested in the world of comics. It gives information on not only how to draw but how to add dialogue to the stories. It would be a great way to help teach writing. I found it enjoyable with the little bit I read, that it would keep the students attention. It can be used in high school and middle school.
References
Abbey, Edward. (1968). Desert Solitaire. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Anonymous. (1994). Giant Print Reference Bible-KJV New York, NY: Zondervan Publishing Company (within In Harper Collins)
Brook, Helen C. (1990). Dr. William Hunter's Paper's and Drawings in the Hunterian Collection of Glasgow University. University of Glasgow
Byrne, Rhonda. (2006). The Secret (The Secret, #1). New York, NY. Simon and Schuster.
Clement Alexander Price, & Sandra L. West. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. (2004). New York, NY. Checkmark Books
Clinton, Bill. (20105). My Life. New York, NY: Vintage Publications (Random House)
Fonstad, Karen Wynn. (1991). the Atlas of Middle Earth. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Graham, Carolyn. (2002). Longman Young Children’s Picture Dictionary. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Publishing.
Hillenbrand, Laura. (2003). Seabiscuit. New York, NY: Ballantine Books (Random House).
Horning, Kathleen T. (1997). From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Human Achievements (Book of Records). (2010). Franklin TN.: Kamalu, LLC
Lloyd, John (2008). The Book of Animal Ignorance: Everything You think You Know Is Wrong. Random House LLC 256 pages
McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York, NY. William Morrow Paperbacks. 215 pages.
National Geographic. (2004).National Geographic Atlas of the World. National Geographic Society. Eighth Edition, 416 pages
Standards for the 21st Century Learner. (2014). Retrieved from the website www.ALA.org on 11/19/2014.
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action. (2014). Retrieved from the website www.ALA.org on 11/19/2014.
School – Moore Traditional School (high and middle). Public Library
Serves – ages 11 – 18. 6th grade – 12th grade
63% free and reduced lunch
ESOL students – 35%
The strength of the school is that it is a diverse population. Weakness is that is at or below the poverty line for socioeconomic descriptors. There is not a lot of community involvement due to the fact that it is not a neighborhood school. Students are bused in from areas set by the district. Thus, there is not much that can be done for improvements.
2. Nature of Reference Collection
The average age of the collection is 1987 with approximately 174 titles. The reference section cannot be checked out by students. The teachers are able to check them out for a time of two – three days. The online database that is used is the Kentucky Virtual Library. At this time a massive weeding is going on and there is a large collection development report that was issued to the principal for approval to get newer items. The library was reconstructed was done and non-fiction was put into genres. A need for improvement is to update the reference section to be newer that the average age of 1987. Many of them are obviously outdated and thus they are not used much.
3. Information Inquiry Program
There is not an Inquiry program that is being used. A suggestion for improvement would be the implementation of the Big 6 inquiry program. It can be started by using the power point that I made for this class to introduce it to the staff. If started now, it can be fully implemented by the start of the next school year. Also, if the reference section is updated teachers and students can also use these books for the information inquiry. This in my opinion is a must to move the library into the 21st century that is outline in the textbook.
4. Physical Characteristics
The library is laid out with the librarian’s desk and checkout area in the front center. It is located directly in front of the main doors so it makes it easy to monitor who comes into the library. There is a line of 30 computers in the front of the library. These computers were added in 2011. Along the backside of the library there are another 30 computers that were added in 2012. Behind the main desk are the bookshelves. They are about 3 feet tall and there are positioned diagonally. There are 10, 30 feet long cases. Starting on the left side are the fiction books, they are categorized in genres rather than the Dewey Decimal System. My LME said that this is becoming the norm in Jefferson County. The teacher work room is located on the left side of the library. There is a classroom in the back left of the library. On the right side is the Go College area. There are desks there for the people that work there. The STC coordinators office is in the front right office area. Next to that there is the librarian’s office. There are also group tables on both sides and in the back area for group work. The only recommendation that I would make is to get better chairs for the tables and computers. Also, I would begin to replace the older computers. The computers have McAfee protection on them and they are also filtered and monitored by the district.
5. Virtual Characteristics
The library does have a link on the school website, but you cannot access any virtual references from here. The LME said that she has not updated this in a couple of years. You can go to the Jefferson County district home page and get to the virtual library but it is difficult to navigate. The suggestions are obvious. I would update the school library webpage so that you can easily use the OPAC, Kentucky Virtual Library. I would also link in the districts website for libraries and add other links that would be helpful for students, parents, and staff. This would not take very long and I cannot personally believe it is not been done.
6. 21st Century Information Services
There are tables for group work located in the library. We have wireless communication so that laptops can be used. The furniture could be update but since it is functional it will suffice. The lighting is good. The physical characteristics meet the 21st Century ideas that are in our textbook. I think that the information services are lacking. There should be accessibility to the OPAC and to the KY Virtual Library on our school website.
The books chosen for the Good Reads:
1. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. I chose this book because of it fitting the category as an encyclopedia. It is a great book to look at the African Americans that influenced the movement in the arts and writing. It was easy to find information and it had a lot of updated pictures.
2. Dr William Hunter's Papers And Drawings In The Hunterian Collection Of Glasgow University Library: A Handlist. I had to go to the public library to find this one. We did not have many books that fit the category for bibliographical. This book is definitely for high level learning and the topic is not very useable for most. I found it to have a lot of material, but it was rather boring and unimportant. I used it because I wanted to compare it to similar books we had are our library.
3. National Geographic Atlas of the World. I used this book because not only was it an atlas but it was from the National Geographic Society. They have been around for a very long time and they are very reputable. The pictures were amazing as can be expected from them. The information was accurate and informative and up to date.
4. The Atlas of Middle-Earth. I chose this book because it was a little different that you average atlas. It had to do with the concepts of the Middle Earth that was created by J.R.R Tolkien in “The Hobbit” and in “The Lord of the Rings”. This book was so good to have next to you while reading these classics. There is so much of a fascination with this topic in recent years. I wished that I would have had it when I read the books. I found the book to be useful and helpful. It was accurate to the description that Tolkien created in his writings.
5. Human Achievements. This world record book was used so that I could compare it to the more popular of its kind, the Guinness Book version. It had just as many good pictures and it had accurate information. Not sure who has the final say on world records but it gave a lot of interesting information that kids would enjoy. It is cheaper than its Guinness counterpart.
6. Scholastic Book of World Records 2014. Another world record book. This one came from Scholastic which is very reputable. Their whole way of thinking is anything that is better for students learning they publish. They have been around for many years and very popular among schools. They offer affordable books for the students and teachers. That is why they are popular for book fairs at school. The book had great pictures and good information.
7. The Book of Animal Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong. This is a very good book as a reference book for middle school students. It talked about misconceptions in the animal kingdom. It was filled with antidotes and funny story along with factual information that is often misconceived.
8. Longman Young Children’s Picture Dictionary. A great book for the young reader. A lot of often used words and pictures went along with each word. Easy to use and a great resource for beginning or struggling readers.
9. Desert Solitaire. A very good book that can be used for a handbook for survival situations. It was filled with stories and gave solutions to problems that may arise while in this environment. I thought that it was misplaced until I thumbed through it and got a better understanding of while it was in the reference section.
10. From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. A great book to add to the professional library in any school. It gave great ways to evaluate books and it would help to see if the book was good for the content that you were teaching. The book gave ways that you could assess students.
11. Giant Print Reference Bible-KJV. A great book to have while reading the Bible. It gave a lot of meaning and descriptions. It also had some great pictures. I found this at the public library again to compare because it cannot be in the school library because of the topic of religion.
12. The Secret (The Secret, #1).
It is a self help book that can be compared to the “Chicken Soup for the ….” series. It gave a lot of ways to make the best out of life and high school students who are preparing to enter the world of work and adult living would find it inspiring.
13. Seabiscuit: An American Legend. I asked why this was in the reference section and my LME said that they are two copies. One here and one in the non-fiction section. She said it has a lot of information on the Great Depression era and would be a good resource for social studies. I have read this book and would have to agree with her on her assessment. I never thought of putting it as a reference but could see how it could be used as one.
14. My Life. This book by President Bill Clinton gives a great personal view point on how his time in office went. It was not sugar coated. It would be a great reference to compare the different Presidents and their views on politics and why they made the decisions they made. It is very common not for Presidents to do this.
15. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. A great handbook for those who are interested in the world of comics. It gives information on not only how to draw but how to add dialogue to the stories. It would be a great way to help teach writing. I found it enjoyable with the little bit I read, that it would keep the students attention. It can be used in high school and middle school.
References
Abbey, Edward. (1968). Desert Solitaire. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Anonymous. (1994). Giant Print Reference Bible-KJV New York, NY: Zondervan Publishing Company (within In Harper Collins)
Brook, Helen C. (1990). Dr. William Hunter's Paper's and Drawings in the Hunterian Collection of Glasgow University. University of Glasgow
Byrne, Rhonda. (2006). The Secret (The Secret, #1). New York, NY. Simon and Schuster.
Clement Alexander Price, & Sandra L. West. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. (2004). New York, NY. Checkmark Books
Clinton, Bill. (20105). My Life. New York, NY: Vintage Publications (Random House)
Fonstad, Karen Wynn. (1991). the Atlas of Middle Earth. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Graham, Carolyn. (2002). Longman Young Children’s Picture Dictionary. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Publishing.
Hillenbrand, Laura. (2003). Seabiscuit. New York, NY: Ballantine Books (Random House).
Horning, Kathleen T. (1997). From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Human Achievements (Book of Records). (2010). Franklin TN.: Kamalu, LLC
Lloyd, John (2008). The Book of Animal Ignorance: Everything You think You Know Is Wrong. Random House LLC 256 pages
McCloud, Scott. (1993). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York, NY. William Morrow Paperbacks. 215 pages.
National Geographic. (2004).National Geographic Atlas of the World. National Geographic Society. Eighth Edition, 416 pages
Standards for the 21st Century Learner. (2014). Retrieved from the website www.ALA.org on 11/19/2014.
Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action. (2014). Retrieved from the website www.ALA.org on 11/19/2014.