HIT-->School Library Changes

[JHWARD@AOL.COM]

LM_Netters:

Thanks to those of you who responded to my survey questions last week.  I
will be including this information in my presentation at AASL titled
"Re-Inventing The School Library As A Learning Laboratory" (Saturday,
November 12,  10:30-11:30, Room 201).  My presentation will focus on what is
happening inside and outside school libraries that will have an impact on the
way school libraries will be changing.

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Questions and Answers:

1.  What year did you first work as a school librarian?

Average Starting Year = 1974   (Total Starting Years / Number of Respondents)

2.  Please describe in only two sentences what the school library was like
when you first began working as a school librarian.

a study hall -no current information - books and magazines dominate - book
responsibility and nothing else - small room with army surplus shelves - book
report source - taught 4 classes and ran the library - research assignments
non-existent - reading levels were much higher - no computers - no media -
library assignments not in connection with anything going on in the classroom
- a quiet spot with limited resources - lots of cards to file - entirely
books, not even a phone

3.  Please describe in only two sentences the school library you are working
in today.

more room - CD-ROM periodical indexes - still books and magazines - vastly
increased technology - networked computers - high tech but old tech -
Internet access - now a media center - a lot of research is going on -
automated circulation and catalog - title is now media specialist - more up
to date - technology and integral part of the library - flexible scheduling -
bursting at the seams with materials - collection based on curriculum needs
of school

4.  Please describe in only two sentences how your first school library is
different from your present school library.

more time on computers than on books - more computers - advances in
technology - curriculum centered - more resources for research - hub of the
school - valued and supported - better budgets and more resources - more
tools, more toys - much more technology - spending a lot more money on
technology - technology has enhanced the research process - the biggest
difference is in the librarian and not the library - more time to spend with
students - focus has changed from books to resources

5.  Please describe in only two sentences what you expect your school library
to look like in 2004.

more computer workstations - more technology-based materials - learning is
center of all activity - more CD's - beehive of activity - a new building - a
very friendly computer - networked building - access from classrooms and
homes - world-wide information - antiseptic efficiency contrasted with
high-tech snuggling for our bookworms - will still have some books - will be
much the same - much more interconnectedness - more partnering with teachers
in instruction - better funded - banks of terminals with a technician in a
room

6.  Will your school library in 2004 have fewer books or more books?

More Books:      34%
Less Books:       44%
Same                  22%

7.  What percentage of increase or decrease in books do you expect to see in
your school library by 2004?

+5000%     1
+100%       2
+50%         1
+40%         1
+10%         1
+2%           2
0%             6
-5%            1
-10%          5
-20%          2
-33%          1
-75%          1

8.  Please describe in only two sentences the biggest obstacle in developing
the school library you described in 2004?

Money:                 60%
Administration:    20%
Training:               20%



Comments for those who want to say more:

Books will never go out of style.
We are still teachers.
There will always be a virtual librarian for a virtual library.
I do not see a time in the future when books are obsolete.
Have/Have not schools.
Technology will spell the demise of school libraries.
With technology coming in and textbooks going out, our administrators wiped
out the professionals and turned over the elementary libraries to high school
graduates off the street.

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Thanks again for responding to my questions.

Joe Ward