Annual Report 2012-2013 The Library @ MMRHS
The Mission and Vision of the Library @ MMRHS
Report Includes: 1. Highlights from the Year 2. Usage and Instruction 3. Reading and Circulation 4. Virtual Collection 5. Reflections
The mission of the library at Monument Mountain Regional High School is to be a student-centered facility that promotes reading for both pleasure and academic pursuits and that supports the learning and teaching at Monument Mountain by maintaining a current and vibrant collection of print, electronic, and media resources.
VISION STATEMENT: The library at Monument Mountain Regional High School seeks to be an integral and important part of the educational process by providing students and staff with a comprehensive and current collection of print, electronic, and media resources. The library staff seeks to be a technological leader in the school through a dynamic program of promotion of educational technology and its uses, as well as maintaining a collection of 21st century media equipment. Reading is a life-long pursuit, and the library seeks to encourage that by constantly developing a current collection of books and supporting reading through organized book clubs. Information is everywhere, and the library at Monument Mountain Regional High School seeks to be a true instructional partner to students and staff alike on becoming effective and discriminating users of information.
1 2
Highlights from the Year •
Welcome Back to School
•
Open House with Project
lunch with the Science
Sprout veggies and dip served
Department
all day • •
The First Annual Spelling Bee – •
champion!
“The library is the center of the school, it brings everyone together and it allows for a good place to work.” -Student survey response
Ebook pilot with the Mythology course
Charlie Gibson crowned the
•
Stroichiometry Contest during
The Third Annual Chess Tournament. Kevin Marzotto
Guidance Department
crowned this year's champion!
advising all juniors on Career Cruising •
Understanding by Design projects o
•
and Krista Kennedy in the Comparative Language class
•
Bonsai Trees with Pauline Muth
•
Female Arborists
•
Dance Policy Forum with Mrs. Young
Monument 2.0: online professional development for
•
Federationof Berkshires
and Paul Kakley The Hobbit trivia contest
•
Ten Minute Tips: quick tech tips for staff after school
•
•
Sustainable Agriculture with Woven Roots Farm and Greenagers
•
Filming MMTV live in the library
The Israeli-Palestinian Struggle sponsored by Jewish
teachers with Tom Roy
•
State Rep. Forum with Smitty Pignatelli and Scott Laugenour
Research Project with Lisken Van Pelt Dus
o
Arts and Ideas Forum:
Ethnomusicology with Matt Szywyd
every Sunday •
Faculty and Student Book Clubs
•
Poetry Outloud competition
•
Listening Lunches: student musicians perform in the library
2
The Library @ MMRHS: Annual Report 2012-2013
Usage and Instruction
684 classes came into the library this year, a decrease from 815 in 201213. This is most likely a result of the mobile laptop cart that is now available for teachers to use in their classroom and the open access to the guest wifi network. USAGE BY DEPARTMENT Although their numbers are down, the English department continues to be the biggest user of the library. A large increase in the number of World Language and Vocational classes this year. In World Language this is most likely due to the collaborative Understanding by Design project that occurred with Lisken Van Pelt Dus, Krista Kennedy and
28,034 students used the library this year. Monday, November 19 was the biggest day in the library with 228 students. Student Usage
myself. And the increase in Vocational classes is a result of Bill Florek taking the Monument 2.0 course and trying out some of the things he learned there.
3
The Library @ MMRHS: Annual Report 2012-2013
READING AND THE PRINT COLLECTION 2480 books circulated this year, a 19% increase from 2011-2012. The collection includes 9,046 items. • • •
233 titles were ADDED to the collection 52 titles were WEEDED from the collection After inventory, 77 items were marked as LOST
Promoting a culture of reading is a major component of my work in the library. Some of this is down through the Faculty and Student Book Clubs. See what we read this year: Faculty Book Club: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a5IkcPAuZPPeSox1nmTlHMlxtZocMUwaJ9tuD360ng/edit?usp=sharing Student Book Club: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fZ2tHbbrbjO4qe98Ogesd8WDUpBt1SUAFZ9pHZ16 oao/edit?usp=sharing
SUMMER READING There is no required summer reading at Monument. To promote reading, though, I began a voluntary summer reading program last year. This year, faculty and staff donated prizes to offer some additional incentives for students to read. Faculty also recommended some of their favorite books to read. “The library is there if you just need somewhere to chill out and it is there if you need someplace to do work.”
- Student Survey Response
4
Thus far, the program has been well received by students. I will assess in the fall how many actually participated in the program. Here is a link to the newsletter and log for the Summer Reading program: https://sites.google.com/site/monumentm ountainlibrary/summer-reading
The Library @ MMRHS: Annual Report 2012-2013
The Virtual Collection The library website https://sites.google.com/site/monumentmountainlibrary/ received 43,044 a 225% increase from last year. This website is an integral part of student and staff work, directing students to curated resources specific to their assignments. Twitter (@mmrhslibrary) was new to the library this year. It was used as a way to get out class links, news about new books and events. Ebooks were circulated through the 2 Kindles and 2 Nooks.
DATABASE USAGE: DATABASE NAME
2011-2012 USAGE
2012-2013 USAGE
SIRS Issue Researcher
4399 searches
1234 searches
Gale Infotrac Suite
2121 searches
2354 searches
ABC-CLIO Database Suite
1674 searches
645 searches
Oxford English Dictionary
N/A
690 searches
1089 new projects started
500 new projects started
NoodleTools
Database usage was down this year, particularly with the SIRS Issue Researcher. The Current Events class used to use that more often. The Gale Infotrac Suite of databases, which is provided by the state, is up. This is a “single click� log in, as it geolocates you in Massachusetts and lets you right in. This is a feature that makes this much easier to use. Use of NoodleTools also down, but the teachers that used it were using it in a deeper, more thoughtful way.
CIRCULATION NUMBERS
A huge increase in circulation this year, particularly with the netbooks, whose usage nearly doubled this year. Also an increase in books circulating, which is a result of more English teachers doing selfselection of books.
5
The Library @ MMRHS: Annual Report 2012-2013
Reflections Student usage remains steady, while class use has gone down somewhat. This is a result of teachers having access to technology in their classrooms. I would like to find a way to be able to get out of the library more and work directly in the classroom with classes. Staffing and coverage. I have a number of dedicated and invaluable student assistants. They handle much of the clerical work of checking out materials and shelving books. Laura Smith “The best thing about the library is all the different resources…multimedia. Also the daily newspapers.” - Student Survey Response
covered lunch for me each day. She will not be here next year and I am concerned about not getting lunch or a prep period. I conducted a brief survey of students this May and got some good feedback on possible improvements. Most of the feedback was positive, but students recommended getting more comics and graphic novels as well as more updated DVDs. They also suggest that the lunch period is a bit crazy. Monitoring the lunch period is also a struggle for me and my coverage as students are able to leave the cafeteria. I’m looking at some options next year to address this besides locking the door, a tone I don’t like to set. If we are to be embrace BYOD, then district wide we need to look at the speed of our wifi and finding ways for students to print from their own devices. We also need to continue to provide devices for those who don’t have their own. This involves maintaining a current collection of computers for students to check out. I will be working next year at promoting a school wide expectation of ethical research. This involves being sure that in all departments students are expected to do proper citations to show the source of their research. I have begun to rearrange one of the back reference rooms to turn it into a video production room with a green screen. Continue to offer small-scale professional development for staff on reading and educational technology as these were well received by staff.