lib 500: school library management and circulation
In this class, we got down to the "nitty gritty" of running a school library. From creating a mission statement for my library to a floor plan, School Library Management was an excellent course guiding me to thinking about how my library works and what can be done to improve the facility, policies, and management of our facility.
My mission statement
One of my favorite things we did in this class was to examine mission statements of other high school libraries and then to come up with our own mission statement. I scoured in my files, looking for a previous mission statement for my library to no avail, so I was able to start from scratch. After careful thought and examination, I came up with the following statement and placed it on our library website.
I felt this statement best encompassed everything I wanted our library to be and to inspire, particularly the idea of being a life-long learner.
Floor Plan
One of the most difficult assignments I ran into during this class was creating the floor plan for my library and then working on how I feel we could best utilize the space. Below is a picture of the current and "new and improved" floor plan of my library.
As I created the new floor plan, I really needed to think about what I wanted my library to be and what I wanted to encourage. First and foremost, we are a place of learning, but we are also a gathering place. As the current library layout shows, our library is filled with tables. There are no places to "lounge" and just "hang out." I think this is something a high school library needs. Therefore, in my new layout, I eliminated some of the tables and added a lounge area.
Another problem plaguing the library is the lack of a full lab space. Therefore, when I went through my redesign, I eliminated the "computer lab" and instead created a compute kiosk area. These are computers students can simply walk up to and use without signing in. I also took our back multimedia lab and created it into a full lab. This space has always had the potential to be a full lab but has never reached that potential. However, with common core money coming our way, we will finally be able to reach our goal.
Another problem plaguing the library is the lack of a full lab space. Therefore, when I went through my redesign, I eliminated the "computer lab" and instead created a compute kiosk area. These are computers students can simply walk up to and use without signing in. I also took our back multimedia lab and created it into a full lab. This space has always had the potential to be a full lab but has never reached that potential. However, with common core money coming our way, we will finally be able to reach our goal.
The final exam: examining another library website
This might be my favorite final exam I've taken in the APU program! Part of our final required us to examine another high school library's website and critique it. What did we see that they were doing right? What could be improved? We examined Fremont High School Library's website. Here are a quote from my final exam paper:
"Right off the bat, when I come to the homepage for Fremont High School, I’m not quite sure where to look. There are many things on the front page, most in small print. . . .If I were to make a recommendation to them, I would encourage them to clean up their homepage. There should simply be less stuff on the first page. Give us some necessary quick links and then a navigation menu to get to the rest of the information. While I can understand wanting a lot of things in one place for quick access for the students, it does not provide easy access for the students."
"Right off the bat, when I come to the homepage for Fremont High School, I’m not quite sure where to look. There are many things on the front page, most in small print. . . .If I were to make a recommendation to them, I would encourage them to clean up their homepage. There should simply be less stuff on the first page. Give us some necessary quick links and then a navigation menu to get to the rest of the information. While I can understand wanting a lot of things in one place for quick access for the students, it does not provide easy access for the students."
In seeing this on their website, it made me examine my own website. I try to be conscious of not putting too many things on the front page, and I created a new space for "Quick Links."
Overall, it was an interesting experience looking at another library with a critical eye, and I found that much could be learned by what other libraries are doing right. . . .and what they aren't doing right.
Overall, it was an interesting experience looking at another library with a critical eye, and I found that much could be learned by what other libraries are doing right. . . .and what they aren't doing right.
putting my studies into practice
I gained a lot from learning about the "nitty gritty" part of library management. Mostly, it inspired me to take the reigns and start to make improvements to the floor plan of our library. Below are a few pictures of our library's multimedia room before winter break. Click on the picture for a larger view.
As you can see, the footprint of the space is HUGE and simply underutilized. After many meetings with the VP in charge of technology on campus and the principal, we committed to this becoming a full lab before the end of the year and placing common core money towards this goal. Over winter break, new tables were added and a section of cabinets were eliminated to make room for more tables, as you can see below.
When we returned from winter break, I was very pleased with what I saw. I began to see the space begin to take shape. We are not all the way there yet, but we're getting close. In our new setup, we have added multiple tables to the middle of the library where a large bank of desktop computer will eventually go. A section of wall cabinets was taken out and placed into the workroom. In place of those cabinets, more tables were added. The computers were reconfigured so that the middle tables are still free at the moment. Eventually, those will be filled with computers and the SMART board will move into this lab. It will be the perfect place for an entire class to gather and close the door if necessary. Hopefully, By the end of the year, this vision will become a reality.