2020-2021 BIS Library Media Centre Annual Report The mission of the BIS Library Media Centre is
to inspire a culture of reading to empower others to effectively locate, evaluate and use information, and to achieve an attitude of lifelong learning
The School Year at a GLANCE
Book on trolleys, remote checkout, Zoom stories, new eBook purchases, book pick-up days, 2m tape markers on the floor, lessons in large well-ventilated spaces, masks, sanitizer, quarantined books… We did whatever it took to get books safely into students’ hands.
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Inspire
a Culture of Reading READ Poster Campaign
READ posters have become an annual tradition at BIS and serve as conversation starters about literature - what we are reading and what we recommend to others. And while they are created as reminders to students that our staff is made up of readers, members throughout our community admit to using them as a tool to learn names and roles of staff. This year, in keeping with the current hygiene rules, our posters showed only the upper half of reader’ faces. Leon Koch-Mohrin, our library intern, was given the lead on this project, utilizing his excellent photography and technology skills.
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Inspire
a Culture of Reading International School Library Month Celebrating books and reading with schools all around the world, International School Library Month is held in October each year. This year the selected theme was Find your way to Good Health and Well-Being. Although we couldn’t hold our normal events, the Media Centre team put together a selection of independent activities and reading lists, including special collections of eBooks, that could be participated in at a distance for everyone’s health and well-being. We ♥ Books!
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Inspire
a Culture of Reading By the Numbers Our Collection
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Toolsets
90
489
Games
852
Audio Books DVDs
1,446
Magazines
3,796 eBooks
From the Student Survey
MYP
DP
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28,658
Print Books
It was surprising to study the circulation numbers over the past 4 years. While the time students spent out of school on distance learning this school year was greater than the last, circulation statistics were higher. Part of the increase is likely due to all primary classes being put on a regular schedule as part of the hygiene protocol when students were in school. This included some grades that had historically visited only on a flexible schedule and is something to keep in mind going forward. Another factor that kept the numbers high were the regularly scheduled “Pick Up Days”, where the Media Centre circulated 400-500 books per event. Predictably, eBook usage increased during lockdown times, nearly doubling the number of books borrowed in pre-pandemic years.
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BIS Top Ten Picture Books
Primary Fiction
Secondary Fiction
eBooks
Circulations Title Author 36 - I broke my trunk! by Mo Willems 34 - My new friend is so fun! by Mo Willems 27 - Don't let the pigeon drive the bus! by Mo Willems 26 - Should I share my ice cream? by Mo Willems 24 - 365 penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental 23 - The pigeon finds a hot dog! by Mo Willems 21 - The book with no pictures by B. J. Novak 21 - Let's go for a drive! by Mo Willems 21 - There is a bird on your head! by Mo Willems 21 - Today I will fly! by Mo Willems Circulations Title Author 52 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney 50 - Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers by Pilkey 37 - Big Nate in the zone by Lincoln Pierce 33 - Diary of a wimpy kid : Greg Heffley's journal by Jeff Kinney 32 - Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants by Pilkey 30 - Big Nate goes for broke by Lincoln Pierce 29 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck byJeff Kinney 29 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney 28 - Tales from a Not-so-fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell 28 - Tales from a Not-so-popular Party Girl by Rachel Renee Russell Circulations Title Author 17 - The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 16 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 12 - I am number four by Pittacus Lore 11 - The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau 10 - The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan 10 - The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan 10 - The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan 9 - The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan 9 - The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan 9 - The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore Circulations Title Author 40 - Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School by Jeff Kinney 36 - Big Nate and Friends by Lincoln Pierce 33 - Big Nate: The Crowd Goes Wild by Lincoln Pierce 31 - Big Nate: Pray for a Fire Drill by Lincoln Pierce 30 - Big Nate Out Loud by Lincoln Pierce 30 - Big Nate Make a Splash by Lincoln Pierce 29 - Big Nate: Great Minds Think Alike by Lincoln Pierce 28 - Big Nate on a Roll by Lincoln Pierce 28 - Big Nate: From the Top by Lincoln Pierce 21 - Wedgie & Gizmo by Suzanne Selfors
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Empower
Others to Effectively Locate, Evaluate and Use Information The BIS Research Process
Lesson Highlights
While the overall number of lessons is less than in previous years due to distance learning, the type of lessons involving a librarian have shifted to reflect our areas of expertise - finding and evaluating resources. Going forward, being involved in the PreSearch stage will help students determine if there are sufficient resources to support their inquiry. What this graph doesn’t reflect is the behind-the-scenes involvement of collaborative planning meeting with teachers, ordering new, relevant materials, and creating Collections of web-based resources that are accessed through our library catalog, DestinyDiscover.
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Database Usage The tables to the left represent the databases that the BIS Library Media Centre subscribes to for student use. They are arranged approximately from youngest users to oldest. In a normal school year, primary students are introduced to databases as the curriculum dictates, while in secondary, students spend one period in the first weeks of school in a library orientation period and may have additional instruction on resources throughout the year. Database usage usually begins with PebbleGo Animals in G1, sometimes with assisted use in EL5. In G3 students begin to search Britannica online. (G1 students do learn to find royalty-free images in Britannica’s ImageQuest but those results are not shown here.) It is interesting to see that database searches increased this year for the youngest users while they fell for the older grades. During library orientation our secondary students learn to access and use the library catalog, access and use the subscription databases, and bookmark and save passwords for all of the above. For the 2019-2020 school, the library orientation took place as usual, but for the 2020-2021 school year, secondary access to the Media Centre was restricted due to hygiene rules. Only a handful of teachers invited the librarian into the classroom to conduct an orientation and a smaller number than previous years collaborated on lessons throughout the year. Another difference was that there were no librarian-student meetings with G9 and G11 students as they began their Personal Project and Extended Essay research. Looking forward, the question will be how to ensure students are independently using the best resources for their inquiry tasks.
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Achieve
an Attitude of Lifelong Learning 2020-2021: Learning New Ways of Doing Old Things
This year was all about learning new ways of doing things… how to communicate with students and colleagues, how to get resources distributed without distributing germs, how to have an active, engaging library without students in it. While stressful at the time, learning new tools like Zoom and Meet have benefitted other areas of life as well. Throughout the year I was repeatedly impressed at how quickly our students adapted and followed new protocols, especially at how respectfully they listened and then took turns talking during online storytimes.
Simplifying Dewey
It all started with the 200s or Religion. While shelving books, I was reminded that according to Dewey, the numbers 220-289 are all used for different aspects of Christianity, leaving 290-299 for “Other religions”. There are several problems with this, not the least is the message it sends to students, but also the shelving nightmare of keeping things in order when the number after the decimal point is long. While students were out of the building for Distance Learning, the library assistants and I undertook the task of simplifying our Dewey Decimal system, making use of previously-unused whole numbers to make it easier to find and put away books, while also grouping subjects the way our students look for them, based largely on the Units of Inquiry. Water, for example, under the traditional Dewey Decimal system is found under 333 (Resource), 363 (Pollution), 551 (Weather/Water Cycle), 553 (Geology), 628 (Sanitation), making it difficult for students to find all the resources they need. With our new system, books about water are in two locations 366 (Water Pollution near other types of pollution) and in the 540s, where Water, Water Cycle, Water Supply, and Water Sanitation sit next to each other to make for easy browsing. Of the 6,232 books in the Primary Dewey section, every single book was evaluated for relevant and current content, perspective, overall condition and location/call number. Of those, 1127 were removed from the collection, 610 replacements/updates have arrived, and about 3,000 were simply relabeled/relocated. This is a constant part of a library’s Collection Development but is usually done on a small scale, focusing on one or two areas each school year. I am excited to have students back in the library next year, browsing our updated shelves!
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
As stated by the American Library Association, “A diverse collection should contain content by and about a wide array of people and cultures to authentically reflect a variety of ideas, information, stories, and experiences.” Building a collection that is diverse in its form, content, perspective, and targeted age-level is becoming easier as more publishers are expanding their offerings to include a greater number of books written by, about, and for previously marginalized groups. The new books selected for the BIS Library Media Centre this year were carefully
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evaluated to ensure a more equitable representation of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and reading level. Some specific targets were books with characters that were not white, books originally published in places other than the USA, books with LGBT+ characters not focused on being LGBT+, and high-interest/low-level content for our English language learners and struggling readers.
Goals for 2021-2022 Inspire a culture of reading by ●
Facilitate PYP, MYP, and DP student book clubs, and encourage DP students to use this opportunity to lead
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Increase the number of secondary classes that schedule and visit the library for companion novels and/or recreational reading
Empower others to effectively locate, evaluate, and use information ●
Complete in-depth analysis and update to secondary fiction area to better support curricular learning and student interests
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Resume flexible scheduling, as allowed by hygiene protocol, so that students resume point-of-need access to materials
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Collaborate with teachers implementing the BIS Inquiry Process and engage with students during the PreSearch and Find stages
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Create a series of videos for the BIS Inquiry Process steps, ideally with student-involvement
Achieve an attitude of lifelong learning ●
Engage both primary and secondary students as student-workers, enabling them learn new skills and practice leadership through projects such as Minions, photography and photo editing of READ posters, and maintenance of the DP section of the Library Media Centre website
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Complete the curriculum mapping of Information and Media Literacy ATLs skills taught through collaboration between librarians and classroom teachers
● Read Supporting diversity and inclusion with story by Lyn Ford and Sherry Norfolk and share learnings with colleagues
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