Reference Materials

It is reasonable and vital to expect a secondary school to achieve the acceptable level; however, I cannot imagine how an elementary school could reach an acceptable level. My school comes close to acceptable or acceptable in many areas, mostly as a result of the previous librarian. She purchased a set of new World Books last year; I purchased new Health Science Encyclopedias this year. We subscribe to 18 databases. We only get one local newspaper though, which is below level. We have 72 periodicals. We have over 400 videos and DVDs; however, I still need to weed this section. I am sure many titles are out-dated or not relevant anymore. Most of the resources are current and in good shape. The Professional resources section needs to be weeded as well. Some areas are exemplary, such as computer software programs. However, since funding is below standard, according to Achieving Information Literacy (p. 35), approximately $18.00 per student, it will be a challenge to maintain the acceptable level or build to an exemplary level. Also, this is the first year that the teacher-librarian position is not full time (I teach one block of English 9 every other day). To compensate for below standard funding, I applied to the Tech committee and PAC to purchase 32 new Netbooks. I wrote a proposal to Raise a Reader for Follett Playaways and mp3 players to download books and I got approved for $1450.00.

Notes after reading discussion postings.

Many schools are below acceptable levels. This is a shame. Funding and service cuts are a huge disservice to our youth. Teacher-librarians are an imaginative bunch in creating the special services that they try to uphold. I imagine it is difficult to continue with a diploma that does not see everyone getting a full-time library position as funding for the library continues to get cut with more budget constraints. Even my position was full time last year. Next year, I do not know if I will still have this job because 14 schools in our district are closing and I am a junior librarian. It is super important to be proactive in developing a library program.