Roles and Responsibilities of School Library Media Specialists

YOU ARE THE KEY...
Roles and Responsibilities - School Library Media Specialist
In 1996 a group of school library media specialists from across the state of Georgia met to redefine the roles and responsibilities document originally contained in You Are the Key." The results of their efforts reflect the infusion of technology while reaffirming the commitment to the traditional roles of school library media specialists. The missions statement and the roles were intended to be broad enough to accommodate interpretation at the local level. The mission of the school library media program is to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information. This mission is accomplished as outlined in Information Power, Building Partnerships for Learning (American Association of School Librarians and Association of Educational Communications and Technology, Chicago: 1998): by providing intellectual and physical access to materials in all formats, by providing instruction to foster competence and stimulate interest in reading, viewing and using information and ideas, by working with other educators to design learning strategies to meet the needs of individual students. ROLE I
Provides instructional leadership in the use of information resources and literature. Responsibilities: Plans collaboratively with teachers to integrate literature, resources and information literacy skills into the curriculum. SAMPLE TASKS: Utilizes an appropriate record of planning. Promotes literature and reading. Assists with instruction and evaluation of collaboratively planned units. Assists teachers in the selection and utilization of appropriate resources, technologies, and general literature. Recommends strategies for the integration of all resources into instruction. Develops and provides instructional opportunities with information technologies for staff and students. SAMPLE TASKS: Assists students and staff in the access and utilization of resources and technologies. Provides orientation for students and staff as needed. Promotes awareness of outside resources such as public and college libraries, online services and community resources. Provides information about and complies with copyright laws. SAMPLE TASKS: Disseminates current copyright information to staff and students as appropriate. Seeks outside consultation for clarity on copyright matters when necessary. Collaborates with teachers and students on material production. SAMPLE TASKS: Assists students and staff with production activities. Provides instruction in production techniques using a variety of formats. ROLE II Develops, administers, and manages programs and facilities for the use of information resources and technologies. Responsibilities: Develops, evaluates, and revises policies and procedures, and services of the program/center. SAMPLE TASKS: Sets short and long term goals for the media program/center. Seeks input from and informs students, staff, and community about the media center, its resources, services, and program. Maintains and uses statistical reports. Coordinates the procedures for challenged materials. Provides leadership in collaborative planning for school technology, resources, and needs. SAMPLE TASKS: Serves as a permanent member of the school media/technology committee. Assists in identifying resources that support the curriculum. Coordinates installation and maintenance of hardware and software. Serves a contact person for technology support staff and service vendors. Administers and maintains a center and a program that fosters a positive learning environment. SAMPLE TASKS: Maintains a flexible, accessible schedule. Supervises student behavior in the Media Center. Ensures effective organization of center and resources. SAMPLE TASKS: Maintains the Media Center database in accordance with professional standards. Catalogs and processes resources purchase for circulation. Maintains the Media Center network, including effective circulation and retrieval systems. Promotes the appropriate use of online resources, such as the Internet. Disseminates information about the Acceptable Use Policy and monitors that policy within the Media Center. Facilitates distance learning resources by managing satellite and cable reception and disseminating information regarding educational programming. Inspects, maintains, and weeds all Media Center resources. Selects and orders resources consistent with system policies and with school curriculum needs. SAMPLE TASKS: Analyzes the Media Center collection based on curriculum and instructional needs. Seeks input for collection development and uses appropriate selection tools. Maintains a consideration file for future purchases. Prepares purchase orders consistent to administrative guidelines. Monitors the Media Center budget. Provides assistance with software and hardware evaluation and acquisition by serving on school and system-wide committees and consulting with appropriate vendors. Provides supervision and leadership for staff including clerical, paraprofessional and technical. SAMPLE TASKS: Assists with interviews and evaluations. Ensures proper training.
Provides daily supervision and guidance.

Rubric for GA DOE for Media Specialists

I have recently found out that Georgia has standards for a media center and those standards are what require GA schools to have media specialists. Surprisingly, it isn't a SACs requirement! Media Specialists are not required for SACs accrediation. I thought that I would share what some of the requirements are for a media center in Georgia.

-There must be a media committee at the system level and at each school.
-Every school must have a center staffed by a media specialists.
-The media center must maintain a flexible scedule.
-There must be collaborative planning between the media specialist and teachers.
-The number of media specialists is based on the number of students at a school.
-The square footage of a media center is based the number of students enrolled.
-SACs requires that there be a minimum of 10 books per student.
-An internet use policy must be in place.

Accelerated Reader

I found good, non-biased info. on Accelerated Reader from Wikipedia. I am a strong supporter of AR and of course Renaissance Place is because they designed and benefit financially from the service.
Wikipedia just gives the facts, along with pros and cons of Accelerated Reader. I hope this information is useful.

Accelerated Reader (AR) is a daily progress monitoring software assessment in wide use by primary and secondary schools for monitoring the practice of reading, and it is created by Renaissance Learning, Inc. Currently, there are two versions: a desktop version and a web-based version in Renaissance Place, the company's web software for Accelerated Reader and a number of other software products.
Purpose
Accelerated Reader is an assessment that primarily determines whether or not a child has read a book. The software provides additional information to teachers regarding reading rates, amount of reading, and other variables related to reading. Renaissance Learning does not require or advocate the use of incentives with the assessment, although it is a common misperception.
Reports
Accelerated Reader reports are generated on demand and help students, teachers, and parents monitor student progress. More than 30 reports are available regarding student reading, comprehension, amount of reading, diagnostic information, and other variables. Customizable reports are available in the Renaissance Place edition and can report district-level information.
Research
In a controlled evaluation, Holmes and Brown (2003) found that two schools using the School Renaissance program achieved significantly higher standardized test scores when compared with two contrast schools that were using the Renaissance program in a very limited way.
Criticism
Educators have argued that the use of Accelerated Reader does not teach reading for comprehension, it only teaches reading for recall.[21] (Literacy Skills quizzes in Accelerated Reader do attempt to assess higher order thinking skills.[7]) The Florida Center for Reading Research,[22] citing two studies that support the product (provided it has been implemented correctly), noted both the lack of available books in a school's library and the lack of assessment of "inferential or critical thinking skills" as weaknesses of the software. Nonetheless, their guide also noted a number of strengths of the software, including its ability to motivate students and provide immediate results on students' reading habits and progress.[17]

Our new toys

Hi all,
My elementary school media center just received a new FLIP videocamera. I recorded this tour with it. We just played the tour on our new SMARTBOARD. We're so hi-tech. I hope you enjoy the tour of the media center.
Teresa

Collaboration Between the Classroom and the Media Center

I just finished reading an article about collaboration between teachers and media specialists. The article was fantastic. Here is the APA citation for it.

Valenza, Joyce Kasman. (2006). Library Media Specialists and the Future: A Conversation with Ken Haycock. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 13(1), 11-15.

The article is an excerpt from the book, In Super Searchers Go To School by Joyce Kasman Valenza. It is an interview of Ken Haycock, his professional experience includes: being a school librarian; principal; school board president; senior education official in Vancouver, British Coloumbia; president of the American Association of School Librarians; author; editor of Teacher Librarian magazine; and currently, director of the school of library and information science at San Jose State University. Utilizing his extensive experience, he talks about what we as media specialists must do in the future to help our students become lifelong information users.
Haycock believes that most teachers do not understand internet search tools for children well enough to teach them or that they are completely unaware of them. In his opinion, many who have been teaching for many years are accustomed to teaching the same way and are not taking action to keep informed of new programs and technologies for students. He believes people get caught up in “a very foolish debate that still goes on between people who say they favor books over technology and those who favor technology over books, when they really should be focusing on the content, the information, and the ideas that the various resources carry.” The author believes that educators district level especially do not collaborate effectively regarding technology.
Being graduate students, we've begun to realize the need to synthesize information. Even now, I'll finish reading something and think "What did I just read?" As media specialists, it is our job to help students learn research skills and how to synthesize information. I also believe that it is our job to make it known to teachers that we are there and willing to help within the classroom. We must stress that we are more than just the person that stands behind the counter checking books in and out.

Library Media Centers

We will be referencing our 6461 class material for this blog. So, the topics will be anything from the freedom of information act, library bill of rights, Accelerted Reader use, or whatever you would like to discuss as it relates to media centers. The purpose of our blog is to have a forum for discussion of relevent topics as they relate to media centers. The goals and objectives are to have an open discussion of these topics. An example of a future activity will be to review the relevance of the use of Accelerated Reader in elementary school libraries.

The Media Center

Teresa and I will blog about the media center in grades pre-k thru 12th. Our goal is to spark interest and inform regarding all elements of the media center. Our hope is that you will share your views and interests with us. We are both in our first semester as graduate students working toward our masters in media.