LIBE+463+Final+Reflection

** Final Reflection **
 * LIBE 463 **

This is my final LIBE course. As with all of the LIBE courses a significant amount of learning happened and will put into practice in my own school library. That learning does not necessarily come from just the course work itself, but from the conversations in the discussion groups, the readings – both from the text and from articles as well as from the various web sites that were linked to through the course material. This information did not only provide new ideas and practices to use but it also validated what I was already doing.

One of the first ideas that I found and created both an ‘aha’ moment and a HA! moment was in Bishop’s (2007) book:

“When deciding on whether to add or withdraw a specific item to one’s immediate physical collection, the following questions should be considered: different format? to more people? resource sharing network or the Internet?
 * Is the same information already in the collection, but in a
 * Will an alternative format make the information accessible
 * Is the same or a similar item quickly accessible through a
 * Does this item uniquely fill a particular need?” (p 2)

I read this page just after having completed a major weeding of my library and had had several comments made over some of the material removed. I defended my work and the items remained discarded. I felt so validated by this entire page that I photocopied it, cited it and posted on the wall just above the phone in my office, which seems to be a community phone for the staff. All the issues around weeding that Bishop discusses were in our District’s policy on weeding and that again, validated what I had done.

As well in Theme One, the community analysis was another point of validation. I had been running my library based on the needs/wants of its users, especially in the fiction section. I made a point, during the first week I began my job, to ask the older students what books they were reading and what books should I purchase for the school library. The shocked look on their faces spoke volumes. Now, four years later, they routinely bring me the books and/or series they have bought or borrowed from the public library, they drop on in to talk to me about what they’re currently reading and they ask for help in finding a ‘good book’. I absolutely love these sharing moments. Knowing the community you serve is key to keeping the students reading and mine are fierce pleasure readers.

Finally, from the point of validation, the sections in Bishop’s book regarding topics on selection and acquisitions (chapters 6 and 9) enabled me to see that our District Resource Administrator had these governing rules fully in place for the libraries in our District. Our District policies were almost exactly the same as Bishop outlined them. We also support our local independent bookstore and have standing purchase orders there, which was brought up in the course material. This enabled me to understand the policies we have in a much fuller manner and gave me the idea to bring these up as part of our District Teacher-Librarian meetings as reminders of ‘best practices’.

For me, in Theme Two, learning about collection evaluation and creating a collection map was a critical part of the learning. One of the areas of managing the library that I felt inadequate in and was struggling with was creating a strong non-fiction section that supported our curriculum. Deciding to send out a brief survey to our staff to see what people were planning on teaching next year was an eye-opening experience that I will continue to do each June and/or September. The information I received back was very enlightening in getting of sense of our staff’s needs and wants. Also creating the collection map and using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies provided me with significant learning about how to evaluate the collection for a given grade and subject and then using that data to follow up with purchasing material to fill in the gaps. Discovering that our library had a massive gap in French materials for simple machines was shocking. It also helped me relate to the French Immersion teachers’ frustration when teaching this unit in grade 5 Science. To further compound the issue of lack of materials was the fact that when I went to look for items to purchase from the three major suppliers our District uses I could not find anything to purchase to fill this need! I will continue the search, but at least I now have a reason to give the French staff as to why this gap exists. This learning experience provided the background and knowledge to alleviate my struggles with creating and maintaining the non-fiction section of my library and ensuring that it supports both the curriculum and reading for pleasure.

The crowning cherry on the cupcake for this course for me was the section on circulation and promoting the collection. This chapter had so many great ideas for promoting books in the library that extend what I already do. Our library always hosts both the ALA Banned Book Week and the Canadian Freedom to Read Week. We also have had Roald Dahl month to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of James and the Giant Peach with a multitude of activities culminating in an Oompa Loompa dance festival. We also promote and display non-fiction books on various themes, we have French author displays, we have author visits from both French and English authors and we have the Red Cedar Book Club that culminates in a school and District Battle of the Books. We also had a Caldecott Challenge where students and staff were challenged to read as many Caldecott medal and/or honour books as they could in a four week period. We read over 1200 books. We also participate in the provincial DEAR day hosted by the British Columbia Teacher-Librarian’s Association. But adding some of Bishop’s ideas such as: “holding programs on a variety of topics (we’ve thought of things like bike repair and other topics that members of our staff could share with the students), sponsor an evening of ‘stars’ and invite local celebrities to come in and read aloud from their favorite books, have students present book talks on the morning announcements, create a ‘wall of readers’ with photos of teachers and students in various poses reading their favorite books or magazines, and, one of my favorites, sponsor a weekly (I would do monthly) “Where is the Principal Reading?” contest in which a photo of the principal reading somewhere outside the school is posted, and the first person to identify the location is given a prize” (p 136-137) would just make the library such a great place to be, like the ‘kitchen’ of the school.

All of these learning experiences from the course and many others not listed here will have a great influence on my practice as a librarian. The concepts, policies, and ideas taken from this course provide a level of professionalism regarding the administration of the library that was not there before. It provides an understanding of District policy, an understanding of the management and maintenance of the library’s collection, background information and policies regarding intellectual freedom, censorship and how to deal with challenges as well as copyright and intellectual property issues. I feel I have a significantly stronger level of understanding in these areas now than in the past and can be more professional in the administration of my library.

This course has increased my level of professionalism in the area of library administration regarding collection development and maintenance. It has made me significantly more aware of how to develop the collection to support the curriculum, which was an area of weakness for me. It has also validated many of the procedures and policies that I already have in place as well as deepened my understanding of the policies that the District Resource Centre has in place. This learning has inspired enough confidence in my abilities as a school librarian to bring some of the issues taught in the course to the attention of all of our teacher-librarians through our monthly teacher-librarian meetings. Overall this was a wonderful and deeply relevant learning experience.

Bibliography

Bishop, K. (2007). //The collection program in schools: Concepts, practices, and information sources//. 4th ed. Libraries Unlimited: Westport.