Library Annual Report 2012-2013

Annual Report Meadowbrook Library, 2012-2013

This report is meant to be viewed on line. Please visit the Virtual Library space (http://meadowbrook-ma.libguides.com) to download a PDF.

Meadowbrook School Library 2012-2013 Annual Report

Highlights 2012/2013 •

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Integration of 15 new web-based databases provided without cost from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners Hosted live author visits Migration of library topic and subject guides to LibGuides Applied for ALA library grant to promote diversity and collaboration through a third grade/library initiative focusing on oral traditions Introduced a unit on the Underground Railroad to complement 5th grade’s visit to Alton Jones, using Santana and Rothstein’s Right Question method.

Published 3-part series in MSLA “The Forum” on e-readers, ebooks and audio books, which has allowed me to move forward with electronic resource purchases for Meadowbrook Published periodic newsletters for Meadowbrook parents Purchase of license for SylvanDell ebooks Due to the Book Fair Committee’s initiative, birthday books are now available at the fair and we’ve seen a substantial increase in the number of participants. Yeah!

Library functioned as a hub for classes, reading promotion and other community activities

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2012-2013 Meadowbrook School Library Annual Report

Curricular Highlights

We continue to work closely with students in integrating the AASL 21stcentury skills into their learning.

This involves introducing learners to a vast and changing array of search tools, coaching them through the inquiry process--from asking questions and identifying the best sources, to satisfying their information needs and creating their own knowledge products. This year, we piloted new methodology from the Right Question Institute, which places the emphasis on student generated questions.

We continue to emphasize expressing oneself effectively; whether that expression entails answering a simple yes/no question (vs giving a comment); to answering a complex question such as “what is poetry?”

This year we were able to add over 20 new digital collections through membership in the Massachusetts Library Consortium. Best of all, these databases are free because I have a Master’s of Library Science and certification.

As students find out more about preparing their information in a variety of online formats, we strive to integrate what they are learning. I have successfully moved to LibGuides (or as it’s known here Moose Guides) as our platform for curating content for student research and instruction. Many of my colleagues in secondary and higher ed are now using it and I believe bringing it to Meadowbrook will give students a leg up by familiarizing them with software [or some version of it] they’re likely to encounter later in their studies. It also allows me to push out all the resources I use for teaching and provide a platform for improved research tools, databases and pathfinders for learners and teachers.

In general, our instructional trends include introducing our students to new tools for research. At the same time, we are beginning to introduce the concept of effective, efficient and ethical searching and effective communication. To that end, more and more students are using Moose Guides as their first stop on a project. I have given students more ways to access its tools: through LibGuides itself, through

Meadowbrook School Library 2012-2013 Annual Report

the main Meadowbrook portal as well as through direct URLs. Further, I have used the platform to introduce responsible digital citizenship by introducing Creative Commons and encouraging students to use images, video and music from portals with more liberally licensed intellectual property.

Some Instructional Highlights

This year, we were delighted to be able to collaborate with more faculty members and grade levels and in a more meaningful ways.

Middle School Working with John Boger for his 7th grade class, we refined our online scavenger hunt to introduce ProQuest’s many features and 20+ databases. These are a great resource and my hope is to continue educating students (and teachers) about their efficacy.

Justin and Mike’s 6th grade classes got an introduction to Immigration resources to complement their study of geography. Again, it was an opportunity to become embedded in the classroom and support the message of learning.

This year, I worked with Jon Schmidt to deliver a class to Middle School on fair use and citations.

We plan to continue such collaborations going forward.

I met with Ryan to discuss way in which the library can provide more services to the Middle School English Department. Some ideas we discussed were my attending a monthly meeting of the English department to give a short book talk, better integrating author visits into the MS curriculum, team teaching a unit with the department, and opening up time in the Middle School schedule so that once a month, students can come in for some time browsing for books. I excited about these ideas and hope to see them come to fruition.

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2012-2013 Meadowbrook School Library Annual Report

Second Grade As in previous years, we continued the tradition of the Moose Medal; that is, an award that like the Caldecott, is given for the best picture book in our collection. We looked at the connection between words and pictures using guidelines from the actual Caldecott Medal judges. We worked in groups to determine which book from a pre-selected set deserved the Moose Medal and which 2 deserved the Moose Honor. This year, we were able to work in collaboration with Caroline Kurman so that students could design their medals during several art periods. The results were outstanding and are hanging up in the library.

Third Grade This year the library was involved in educating 3rd grade students about the culture of story-telling in Jamaica (the subject of their cultural fair). We read many tales that originated in West Africa and discussed common themes. As a culminating activity, students wrote their own tale, performed it and filmed themselves using the library iPads. These video journals were part of their cultural fair and have introduced them to digital storytelling techniques they will use later at Meadowbrook.

Fourth Grade We decided to take a different approach to teaching library resource skill-building in fourth grade this year. Using US geography as the topic, we revised and simplified the fact finding sheets for students.

We gave them specific electronic sources and questions to answer, such as finding out about the state’s ethnic groups. Students worked in groups of 2 or 3, which was an excellent way to foster collaboration.

Once basic facts about the state were gathered, we asked students to “pitch” their state to a potential visitor (for this round, we volunteered Gary McPhail) using the information gained from the prompts; for example, the students who answered the question about ethnic groups were asked to think about what influence a particular group might have had in the state’s history and culture. Students used

Meadowbrook School Library 2012-2013 Annual Report

library iPads to record their pitches and the results will be available shortly on Moose Guides. Please check Virtual Guides – 4th Grade Geography; we think you’ll be impressed.

Fifth Grade To extend classroom learning, we looked at the Underground Railroad in depth. We started with a prompt: the importance of song to the Underground Railroad and listened to “Follow the Drinking Gourd.” Students then generated their own questions ; for example, “what is the significance of the ‘drinking gourd,’ ‘did all slaves know the words to the songs?” As a group, we decided which questions would be useful in writing a paper. We introduced the various sources one might use to find answers to these questions: a book in our library, the library Web site or an online database . Students were assigned to answer questions using a specific resource. Together we looked at the information retrieved and talked about whether or not it answered the question, as well as how to cite the information and use it to construct a thesis statement. In addition to learning more about a period of American History, we also introduce 5th grade to the process of research; of learning how to learn.

To follow up on the method and underscore the importance of a plan when writing, we used the Right Question method to introduce the Middle Ages to compliment 5th grade’s classroom study. One of the questions, “Did the Middle Ages take place only in Europe?,”paved the way for discussions about the world in the 12th century and in particular a brief discussion of Islam and current events.

Class Visits and Usage Patterns

There were 437 regularly scheduled classes this year. Students and faculty have been using their laptops to access library products (e.g., databases, subject guides, and the catalog). I continue to answer reference questions remotely from students when they are at home. The switch from Wikispaces to LibGuides has also appeared to help students. It is easier to work with and lay out logical hierarchies.

The number of students and administrators who call our library home continues to grow. It is not unusual to see Middle School students working on a project or independent study here or even parents holding a meeting. In addition to visiting classes, we see a lot of students who might need help with copy machine, the loan of a forgotten pencil or tissue.

About Our Collection

As of this writing (May, 2013), our collection includes 16,683 items, we added 291 books this year, excluding electronic entries. Via Sylvan Dell, we have another 50 titles available and several purchases have been made for the Kindles. I have also been involved in an initiative started in the after school program to digitize books. I am transferring the audio portion of the books to a storage area, cataloging the entries thus making them available for the entire community. Once again when compared to other private schools with similar enrollment, our collection is bigger and more diverse than the average.

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2012-2013 Meadowbrook School Library Annual Report

To keep our library current and relevant, we have been weeding.

This resulted in some very nice book art, as well as complete clean up of our reference section.

Since we are still a brick and mortar library, circulation statistics remain relevant. We ranged from 730 checkouts in September to 688 checkouts in April, with 113 items placed on hold. This year, first grade ranks highest in number of circulations. With 24 students, the average circulation per student is 32 books, for a total of 810 items checked out to date. Across grades, the most frequently circulated items are fiction (3, 397 vs 4,608 last year).

As of this writing, there have been 1,993 (up from last year’s 1,035) circulations of non-fiction. Of those, items in the 700-799 (that is, art and sports books) are still the most frequently checked out. This is consistent with my observation that while student can do much online, they still enjoy looking at books about arts and crafts and sports.

Middle school students are still making time to visit the library and obtain pleasure reading., but that appears to have leveled off. Ryan and I met to discuss ways to bring middle schoolers in or me to them and he and the English department will meet regularly beginning next fall so that I can keep them abreast of the latest in YA literature.

I have begun looking into online materials for our students. Many more online offerings are being touted by more venders, devices keep evolving and younger and younger students have access them.

While this switch many not be immediate, we should keep it in mind for the purposes of planning budget and curriculum. Within MSLA, I’ve become the de facto expert on K-8 transitions as a result of several months of researching the literature and publishing a 3-part article in The Forum. If the response from colleagues in Massachusetts has been any indication, many of us are still grappling with the issue of “electronification.”

We have begun to acquire online materials. Our first foray into this area is with the online publisher SylvanDell. They provide high quality online books [description and target audience]. Bill Richard has been using them in his K-3 science class but I continue to work to let the community aware of these offerings. We have used Meadowbrook Messages, the Library Web site and a newsletter from me in the fall.

Lost items continue to remain a problem. A phenomenon I’ve noticed this year is parents who are waiting for placement tests bring children to the library and “borrow” books. Sometimes they are

Meadowbrook School Library 2012-2013 Annual Report

returned to the library in the wrong place, sometimes they are left in the hallway near the cafeteria.

While I love to encourage reading, this practice makes accounting for materials more difficult.

Online Services

CultureGrams continues to be widely used at the school and as a result of renewing my membership with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, we now have over 20 databases available to us free of charge. Please see our Moose Guides database page for a complete and impressive listing.

Jonathan and I have launched a digital book initiative including a pilot program to catalog and make available audio books.

By taking over the CultureGrams subscription (a Proquest product previously only used in Mike’s class on ancestry), we were able to get this informative and useful product into more students’ hands and added to their arsenal of reliable resources for assignments. To wit: SK and 1st grade have been able to use the junior edition to supplement their studies of Boliva and “Children of the World.” Third grade has used the regular edition in their quest to learn about China and 4th grade accesses CultureGrams US edition to work on their US geography projects.

Author Visits

In addition to giving students an exceptional opportunity to meet with authors/illustrators and learn first-hand about their craft, we have been successful in booking authors whose work is relevant to students. This year, we enjoyed 3 outstanding author visits, including: • • •

Jarrett Krosczka Jack Gantos Jay O’Callahan

We were also treated to a visit from Jerry Palotta, thanks to Kathryn Ganz, who is related to Mr. Pallotta. I cannot thank Isil Waxman (mother of Oren (JK), Shira (2nd) and Basha (4th)) enough, whose help in contacting the authors and arranging visit logistics was invaluable. (N.B. Isil has also been responsible for this year’s incredible book fair).

Staff and Volunteers

Our volunteers this year: Isil Waxman, Kristen Lal and Elise Stockley, have come weekly to help us out.

We are incredibly grateful for their grace and good cheer in shelving and reshelving. We couldn’t offer as much to our students without them.

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2012-2013 Meadowbrook School Library Annual Report

Liz has been invaluable. She has continued to provide much appreciated support, often anticipating need before being asked.

She continues make excellent choices for the students and step up her involvement in planning fun and useful activities. I only hope we can make her a permanent employee and give her the recognition she deserves.

Technical Services

The Tech Department has continued to be exceptionally responsive to our needs. We could not have done many of the projects without Jonathan and his team. We were particularly fortunate to have Jonathan’s expertise and can-do attitude in putting together the 3rd storytelling project. I’m looking forward to an even more robust relationship between the library and technical services when Chris arrives.

Professional Accomplishments

In April, I was able to attend an afternoon seminar with Luz Santana, co-author of Make one Change held at EDCO Collaborative. Through this program, I connected with other teachers and saw the amazing range of possibilities this method provides.

I have continued my association with Massachusetts School Library Association, and am a regular contributor to the column “Off the Shelf.” This year, I changed the focus of the column, beginning with a 3-part series on ebooks, audio books and electronic circulations. The monthly column, now called “Off the Shelf and into Cyberspace” focuses on digital doings and libraries.

I applied for the Sarah Jaffarian Grant for exemplary library programming in the humanities from the American Library Association. Though it appears we did not win the award, it was a great learning experience for me and involved parents in the community, which was a wonderful experience.

Meadowbrook School Library 2012-2013 Annual Report

After school, I continue working for literacy on a volunteer basis.

Presently, I have 2 ESL students. We meet weekly to converse and work on English composition and grammar. This year, I participated in Promising Pals, a program run at the Timilty School in Roxbury. I corresponded with a 7th grade pen pal. We have written each other about a range of topics and will meet in person at the end of May when the school holds a brunch for participants.

The project has been running 1986 and it’s been an honor to be involved.

Issues

I envision our library as the place where a student can go to find innovative technology or, at the very least, a suitable replacement if he or she has forgotten their device or if their laptop, handheld, etc. is broken.

Educating our population—students, teachers and parents is a challenging and important issue. While many are wellversed in search online with Google or Bing, databases work differently and it’s frequently hard to match results that an online source from a creditable vendor can supply.

We have been trying to get the word out to everyone that we have a virtual world of information.

It has become much clearer this past year is that traditional model of library is outmoded and does not allow us to serve our students as well as we could. For example, we could do a much better job of encouraging reading for pleasure (especially among 4th, 5th and middle school grades), if we could de-couple the book selection aspect of library from the actual teaching that goes on in library class. I have been researching best practices for K-8 library around the country and would like to propose that the library become more embedded in classroom instruction, a more intentional part of student learning. Rethinking the way library fits into the curriculum could actually free up time, time that students desperately need to be more physical.

A sample scenario: Fifth grade traditionally does several projects during the year in which teachers ask that we get together all the books on a specific topic. Students come en masse to the library at a time that

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2012-2013 Meadowbrook School Library Annual Report

is not always conducive to their getting attention from library staff. My suggestion is to work closely with 5th grade teachers, to be in the classroom when a “research” assignment is given so that I may hear the rubric and then to give instruction on how to locate items and online resources may be best to try.

As noted above, online resources are not as obvious to the casual library use and require not only some instruction but some advertising as well—how can you use something unless you know about it? We would work with teachers to plan time in the library that is mutually convenient and helpful, not just incidentally mentioned.

Pleasure reading or reading for various classroom projects (such as 4th grade’s book bingo) could be achieved during study halls, before and after school and even by online requests to library staff.

Though our facility is appealing, I continue to evaluate our space with an eye to how we can best serve our students and the entire Meadowbrook community. This year, 3rd Grade English class was held in the library and 4th grade math was held in the conference room next door. While always welcome, having both classes going on simultaneously with library classes created a bit of chaos in a library that was not built to accommodate this kind of activity. Much has changed in the world of libraries in the past 10 years and yet the library remains, in some ways, more 19th century than 21st. I would like to look into ways to make the library more physically able to accommodate the many needs of our community.

Plans and Goals

Audio books and electronic versions of books has long been on my mind. Because of the lack of technology and space issues, I’ve put it off. In doing research this year, I learned through my colleagues that Meadowbrook is not unique. However, I’d like to make some strides in that area. Aside from the “coolness” factor, a lot of our learners may benefit from online reading.

I plan to produce more newsletters like the one I published at the beginning of the year.

Respectfully submitted,

Audrey Borus