LM_NET: Library Media Networking
6. How did this new program evolve? Why was there no faculty
dialogue?
This is not a new program, at Sousa or elsewhere. Sousa has had a
flexible library schedule since the 1995-1996 school year. Flexible
schedule was not something that I created. It is not ³my² program.
It is a program intended for the entire school. It was created over
fifteen years ago, largely by the American Library Association, and it
is recommended and endorsed by them for school libraries on all
levels: elementary/middle/high school. ALA has done the research on
flexible scheduling, and they have found that it works. In
Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs, the
American Association of School Librarians and the Association for
Educational Communications and Technology advise:
the materials in the school library media collection and the expertise
of the centerıs staff are central to meeting users daily learning and
information needs. Therefore, it is necessary that both be readily
available to the school community throughout and beyond the entire
school day. Class visits to the library media center are scheduled to
facilitate use at the Point of Need. Any functions that restrict or
interfere with open access to all resources, including scheduled
classes on a fixed basis, must be avoided to the fullest extent
possible.
The copyright for the above publication is 1988. What we are
attempting here has been established an American school library policy
for nearly a decade.
One study of interest, which was conducted not by ALA but by the
Colorado Public Schools during the1988-1989 school year at both the
elementary and the secondary levels, contains information that is
germane to our discussion. The study, now referred to as the
³Colorado Study² but officially titled ³The Impact of School Library
Media Centers on Academic Achievement,² found that:
1. Students at schools with better funded library media centers tend
to achieve higher average reading scores, whether their schools and
communities are rich or poor, and whether adults in the community are
well or poorly educated.
2. Students whose library media specialist played an instructional
role tended to achieve higher average test scores.
This was an important study, because it finally gave credence to what
was believed for a long time: school libraries should play an
important role in the instructional curriculum. The research supports
flexible scheduling. We should too.
7. What happens when no one signs up for a time slot?
In addition to my teaching responsibilities, I try to catch up on the
significant management aspects of running a library , some of which
include:
1. Selecting and purchasing materials, supplies, and equipment for the
library
2. Processing new materials. In only the first six weeks of school,
over 890 new books were processed.
3. Creating catalog cards for materials that are purchased without
them or donated to the library.
4. Weeding/maintaining the collection of approximately 16,000 titles.
5. Evaluating the entire non-fiction section(over 7,000 volumes) in
order to create a subdivision of primary non-fiction books.
6. Labeling fiction books according to genre.
7. Organizing material and equipment.
8 Entering videos into a video database that I am creating.
9. Entering CD-ROMS into a CD-ROM database that I am creating.
10. Entering professional books into a Teachers Reference database
that I am creating.
11. Developing and organizing schoolwide events, such as PARP and its
many events, such as the Storybook Parade, and the Sousa
Summer
Suitcase reading program.
12. Supervising and training a staff of one full-time educational
assistant, a part-time clerk, two part-time floating educational
assistants, and a group of twenty fifth grade volunteers.
13. Managing a manual circulation system that keeps track of books
checked out by over 600 individuals.
14. Conducting an inventory of the current status of different areas
of the collection -- in many schools the library is completely shut
down in June to complete this task. I do it with classes still
in
session.
15. Filling teacher requests for information.
16. Assisting students and staff who are using the library in small
groups or individually.
8. Since the intermediate grades are already piloting this program,
why canıt the primary grades wait until evaluation is completed before
becoming participants?
The intermediate grades are not piloting this program. There was no
question or concern when grades 4, 5, and 6 went onto a flexible
schedule three years ago. It is only now that these issues have
arisen. This biweekly schedule was approved for grades 1-5 to pilot.
Kindergarten is not a part of this schedule because it is necessary
for the teachers to have a weekly library slot in order to comply with
the contractıs prep allotment of ³two and one half hours per week.²
Personally, I do not feel that kindergartners would benefit from this
type of schedule anyway. They have a different set of needs from the
rest of our student body. After talking with the first grade level,
and listening to their concerns, it was agreed that first grade would
also remain on a weekly thirty minute schedule. However, I was
pleased to begin meeting with the first grade teachers on a regular
monthly basis to connect their classroom curriculum into the library
program. I have found these meetings to be both informative and
helpful. I hope the first grade level feels the same way, and would
address me with any questions that they may still have.
I also met with the second grade level twice in June to discuss this
issue. Again, a compromise was reached. The second grade level
agreed to remain on a weekly, thirty minute schedule until the
December holidays. In January, they agreed to move to the biweekly,
40 minute schedule in order to accommodate the beginning research and
stronger reading abilities of the second grade students. Since
September,I have also been meeting with the second grade as a level in
monthly meetings. I implore the second grade level to turn to me with
their questions so we can work together to make this program
successful. The primary grades in particular need to try this program
for at least a year before any sort of evaluation can take place. We
cannot make an educated decision about something until we have tried
it. We have to live and breathe it for awhile and get to know it and
embrace it so that we are giving it our best. How can you know what
your students will benefit from it if you havenıt even tried it? This
is being done for the best interests of our students. Personal
concerns about lost prep time must be set aside if this program is to
get a fair chance. Flexible scheduling is not a contract violation.
9. How and by whom will this pilot program be evaluated?
Like all programs, this one will ultimately be evaluated by a variety
of people: myself, the second to fifth grade teachers directly
involved with it, the building administration, and the Assistant
Superintendent of Instruction and Curriculum. It will probably take
two - three years to work out the kinks in creating a flexible
schedule, but this should hardly be viewed as an obstacle to a program
that has been judged a success by virtually every school that has
documented its experience with it.
10. Is there a general need to free up library time in order to
accommodate our buildingıs needs?
Flexible scheduling is intended to use library time wisely and
effectively, not to free up anything. As more than one person pointed
out in the questions, the entire school could come to the library for
forty minute instructional periods, as with the art schedule. The
issue is not one of accommodating spatial needs, but accommodating
student learning needs.
I'll let you all know tomorrow how this goes...
lisa
ligan@worldnet.att.net
Sousa Elem
Port Washington NY
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