2015 16 BIS LMC Annual Report

2016 BIS Library Media Centre Annual Report

June, 2016

HIGHLIGHTS: Autumn

• New website unveiled • Magazine selections overhauled and reorganized • International School Library Month • English book fair • Book Character Dress Up Day

Winter

• • • •

Adopt-A-Book introduced 2016 Reading Challenge begins Love a Book interactive displays Hansel & Gretel final voting

Spring

• Additional shelving for E books arrives • Librarian site visits to Bonn public and university libraries • Summer Reading suggestion lists • Summer checkout

Circulation Stats Rising Numbers Student enrollment was on the rise this year, and so were the number of books circulated. Besides the obvious correlation between the number of students and the number of books borrowed, we credit several other factors for the continued rise in circulations, including: • The Book Bus - Students in grade EL3/4 Grade 1 can select new books everyday simply by hanging their bag at the nearest Bus Stop.

• Companion books - students in grades 6, 7, 8 were required to select a read-alone title of the same genre as the class novel • iPads in grades 4 and 5 enabled those students to set up and use Overdrive ebook accounts while at school • Secondary Overdrive enrollment lessons Ms. Walk visited numerous English classes to instruct students in usage process • Mr. Dayal brought his grade 8 English class to the Media Centre one period each month for “Wide Reading” - a chance to explore new books and read quietly

Fast Facts about the Collection • The BIS Media Centre collection holds 37,562 print items • 40,528 items were checked out in the 2015-16 school year • Jeremy Clark’s Grade 5 class checked out over 1,000 books this year! (That’s an average of nearly 59 books per student and doesn’t include eBooks.)

• The Grade level that checked out the most books was Grade 4 - with an average of 54 books per student • The Minecraft Construction Handbook was the most popular non-fiction book, circulating 43 times this year.

Collaboration

Noteworthy Collaborative Lessons Grade 2 - How We Express Ourselves Central Idea: “People use a variety of signs and symbols to communicate locally and globally.”

Using their knowledge about signs and symbols learned in this unit, each grade 2 class designed a blazon with the colors and symbols they believed best represent the library. From Ms. Walk’s librarian perspective, this is a favorite project to lead because, unlike most units which focus on how to use the library, this unit inspires students think about the purpose and function of the library while drawing on classroom content.

Grade 3 - How We Organize Ourselves Central Idea: “The explorations of mankind have an impact on cultures, communities and the environment.”

This research-heavy unit is always a challenge but is quite rewarding with the amount of time Mrs. Rogers spends in the classrooms, introducing the IIM system of taking and organizing note facts and sharing resources. There are always opportunities to extend and introduce databases as information sources to students who are ready for a greater challenge.

Grade 4 - How We Organize Ourselves Central Idea: “Government systems influence the lives of citizens.”

The topic of the human right to freely access information is always an invigorating lesson. After learning about the 19th Article of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and examining frequently challenged books, students analyzed the “influence of the government on the lives of citizens” and the role libraries play in this.

Noteworthy Collaborative Lessons continued Grade 6 - Trees and Wood Working with Mr. Ille in the DT department, Mrs. Rogers instructed half of each class in research skills while Mr. Ille introduced new tools in the workshop. Both groups benefitted from small group instruction. In the Media Centre, students had a refresher course in citing their sources with EasyBib, sharing valuable websites via Diigo, and taking effective notes with the IIM system.

Grade 9-10 Science - Citation Sign-off Working more closely with the Science Department than in previous years, both librarians were called upon to teach refresher courses on citing sources with EasyBib. Some teachers took things a step further, requiring a librarian signature on the Works Cited page of essays to ensure proper referencing and formatting.

Grade 11 - Extended Essay “Boot Camp” Starting earlier than in previous years, the Extended Essay was introduced to Grade 11 in March with a full day for presearching. Students were able to browse topics, narrow theses, and request additional materials that were ordered and delivered before summer vacation. Boot Camp day also allowed for supervisors to meet with their students throughout the day, ensuring everyone was on track for success.

MYP German - Field trip to Haus der Geschichte Ms. Walk accompanied German students on their field trip to the Haus der Geschichte for a research project. While there, students visited the displays on youth culture in the former DDR and then investigated a focus topic in the library.

Celebrating Books

Spotlight on Resources Database of the Month One of the goals for this year was to increase the usage of our paid digital subscriptions. Strategies to accomplish this included continuing to collaboratively plan lessons with teachers, incorporating resources where appropriate, and modeling database selection for students who visited the Media Centre.

To move things an additional step, we began the “Database of the Month” program. A different subscription database was featured in each edition of the Newsflash. Highlights and login information also ran on the announcements viewed on the Media Centre TV. The database focus was often extended to include other resources, such as magazines and videos, on the same subject.

We are happy to report the marketing campaign worked! Usage reports indicate an increase in unique searches. PebbleGo usage nearly doubled from the previous school year while QuestiaSchool, saw a 38% increase.

Founded by librarians at the Bonn, Dresden, and Frankfurt International Schools, the Hansel & Gretel award strives to build excitement around reading, empower students to share their opinions, and build a sense of community among international schools in Germany.

For the second year in a row, BIS students read and voted for their favorite titles. We also hold the distinction of being the school with the highest number of participants two years in a row. Together with 17 other schools, our students selected Gangsta Granny David Walliams as their #1 pick for 2015-16.

Supporting Mother Tongue Adopt A Book The International Association of School Librarians created a catalog of favorite books from different countries in The World Through Picture Books. BIS Library staff added the ability to search for these books in our catalog. (Go to bis.follettdestiny.com and search for IFLA.) In doing so, we were pleased to learn that several of the Dutch, French, Spanish, and German titles are part of the BIS Media Centre collection, but many other countries’ books are not. Ordering titles from other countries can be difficult - especially when the language is different - so we reached out to our greater school community.

Families that were traveling over vacations were encouraged to Adopt A Book.

It was as simple as taking an “adoption form” (paper bookmark with the desired title and cover picture) from the Media Centre and buying the book. Books purchased and then donated to the library each received a bookplate inside the front cover with the family name inscribed on it.

Many people have enjoyed browsing the catalog to see the books selected from their home country, and we have heard more than one happy exclamation of “I had that book, in my home country!” or “I read that book when I was little!”

BIS Top Ten Picture Books

Circulations

Title

Author

24 - I will surprise my friend! by Mo Willems 22 - I will take a nap! by Mo Willems 21 - I am invited to a party! by Mo Willems 19 - Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus! by Mo Willems 17 - Aqualicious byVictoria Kann 17 - The book with no pictures by B. J. Novak 17 - Happy Pig Day! by Mo Willems 17 - We are in a book! by Mo Willems 15 - A call for a new alphabet by Jef Czekaj 15 - Emeraldlicious by Victoria Kann

Primary Fiction

Circulations

Title

Author

43 - Sisters by Raina Telgemeier 42 - Gangsta granny by David Walliams 38 - Diary of a wimpy kid: the long haul by Jeff Kinney 36 - Matilda by Roald Dahl 32 - Diary of a wimpy kid: hard luck by Jeff Kinney 30 - Diary of a wimpy kid: cabin fever by Jeff Kinney 30 - A tiny bit lucky by Liz Pichon 29 - My big fat zombie goldfish: fins of fury by Mo O’Hara 27 - Tom Gates is absolutely fantastic by Liz Pichon 26 - The one and only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Secondary Fiction

Circulations

Title

Author

20 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 14 - The Maze Runner by James Dasher 13 - Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 16 - The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 14 - The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan 13 - Dark Lord: the early years by Dirk Lloyd 10 - The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan 10 - Eldest by Christopher Paolini 9 - Hatchet by Gary Paulsen 9 - Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman 8 - The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Patterson

Goals The mission of the BIS Library Media Centre is to promote a love of reading, inspire lifelong learning, and develop the abilities to effectively locate, evaluate, and use information.

Progress Toward Existing Goals Goals for the 2015-16 were about doing more of what we do best. Beginning with the launch of the new website and concluding with more integration of much-needed information skills, most of our targets were met.

The new website - with one-click access to the Media Centre - made our presence as a virtual information hub easier to access and more widely available. With one easy login to find passwords for online resources, we conducted a database-of-the-month campaign and saw increased usage of our resources.

Increasing the number of collaborative lessons with secondary teachers was a goal almost met.

The first half of the year saw an increase in lessons co-planned and co-taught with teachers of grades 6-12, and our trajectory indicated we would hit a record high number for the year.

However, due to a number of school-wide changes, collaboration with secondary teachers tapered off after the winter break. We are reflecting on the possible causes and analyzing those on which we have a direct influence.

ATL mapping in the MYP has indicated that while most teachers expect students to have notetaking skills, they are explicitly taught in very few classes. Facilitating improvement of note-taking skills was our third goal. Media Centre staff worked together with the secondary subject leaders and the whole school coordinator to set reasonable grade level expectations. Cornell note taking was introduced to secondary teachers as a suggested style for students taking notes in class for review and study. For research projects, students were taught to use the EasyBib note feature in secondary, while primary students were guided through the IIM method.

Goals for 2016-17

Promote a Love of Reading • • •

Resume student book clubs Initiate BIS Reads campaign Host two book fairs - one English, one German/English

Inspire Life-long learning •

Begin student library helper program

•

Technology Tuesdays for staff and parents

Develop the abilities to effectively locate, evaluate, and use information • • • •

This year’s focus: use of information Review Academic Honesty Policy Ensure Media Centre orientation for all grades/subjects, including mid-year entries Work with subject and grade level leaders to create and disseminate better scaffolding of information fluency skills