Dulwich College Shanghai Libraries Annual Report 2011/2012
77,349 Materials checked out 3,436 Resources added to the collections
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Dulwich College Shanghai Libraries – Annual Report 2011-2012
Dulwich College Shanghai Libraries Annual Report 2011/2012 page Foreword ……………………………………………………………………..
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Mission Statement ..…………………………………………………………
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Policy Development …………………………………………………………
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Facilities ……………………………………………………………………...
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Circulation Statistics …………………………………………………………
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Collection Development …………………………………………………….
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Senior Library Wiki …………………………………………………………..
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Staffing & Professional Development………………………………………
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Events …………………………………………………………………………
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Library and Information Skills Programs ….……..………………………..
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Conclusion …………………………………………………………………...
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Dulwich College Shanghai Libraries – Annual Report 2011-2012
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Foreword This report sheds light on the amount and variety of activities that took place in our Libraries this year. I have tried to avoid duplicating information from the Annual Report 2010-2011, a lot of which is still valid, so this report is slightly thinner than last year’s. Dulwich says goodbye to Sue Richmond, the Junior School Librarian who has brought a transformation to the Junior Library since her arrival two years ago. She has been the absolute evidence of the added value to our students’ education that a qualified, experienced school Librarian has to offer. We wish her all the best back in Australia, a country with a strong commitment to Libraries. Helen Bradley has been working tirelessly for the last four years in the DUCKS Library and has also decided to finish her time at DUCKS as a Librarian, by Christmas 2012. Hopefully she will continue her career as a Librarian, as she has finished her degree in Librarianship. I am departing after four years at our school to move on to a new position in Luxembourg. I hope to have played a supportive role in nourishing the need for reading and information amongst our students, staff and parents. I will miss them all very much. I want to thank the whole Library team for their hard work, their loyalty, persistence, and the overwhelming support I have always had from them. I really appreciate it.
Marion van Engelen, Director of Libraries / Senior School Librarian
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Mission Statement The following are essential to the development of literacy, teaching, learning and culture and are core school Library services. • • • • • • • •
Supporting and enhancing educational goals as outlined in the school’s mission and curriculum. Developing and sustaining in children the habit and enjoyment of reading and learning, and the use of Libraries throughout their lives. Offering opportunities for experiences in creating and using information for knowledge, understanding, imagination and enjoyment. Supporting all students in learning and practising skills for evaluating and using information, regardless of form, format or medium, inclusing sensitivity to the modes of communication within the community. Providing access to local, regional, national and global resources and opportunities that expose learners to diverse ideas, experiences and opinions. Organising activities that encourage cultural and social awareness and sensitivity. Promoting reading and the resources and services of the school Library to the whole school community and beyond. Promoting ethical use of information and intellectual property through education and being and example of the value of academic honesty.
Policy Development A collection development policy exists in draft. The document is currently used in practice as ‘guidelines’. The policy covers the critera for collection development and maintenance, as well as the procedure for ‘challenged materials’. This policy is awaiting approval. See Appendix A. The staff and parent handbooks all contain relevant information about library procedures. This information is updated on an annual basis.
Facilities The DUCKS Library underwent a transformation in July 2011, when a whole section was added by taking out a wall. This increased the Library space by almost 100%. Apart from new carpets, and bright colours on the walls and pillars, equipment was added too: a smart board and lap top to run with it, plus an extra desktop computer for the children to use as a search station.
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The Senior Library physical facilities were reduced, when the Careers/University Offices were built on the Non-fiction floor. For the Summer of 2012 necessary improvements are planned to accommodate our students and the growing collection. New shelving will be built, a wall will be removed, creating extra space. The lighting fixtures will be brought up to the standards of industry, required for Libraries. The Junior Library has not seen major changes in its physical facilities this school year. The new Librarian will be involved in the planning of design and refurbishment of the space.
Circulation Statistics The tables below show the circulation of Library materials per class in each school. Circulation in the Junior School tops the bill, when the students have learnt how to read independently and are devouring books. In Senior School books have more pages and take longer to read. Fewer materials are borrowed in higher year levels, which correlates with the time spent on Library visits. “Library materials” are defined as any materials that are allowed to be checked out, i.e. fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, audiobooks and dvd’s. It does not include the circulation of library magazines or items that are used in the Library but are not checked out. Parent memberships This year we have also included information on the materials that are borrowed by our Parents, who are very active Library users. We have 213 Parent Library patrons. They have taken out 2,165 items from across our 3 Libraries, of which the majority were taken out by DUCKS parents! 2010-2011 students checked out: Senior School Library: 6,542 Junior School Library: 24,903 DUCKS Library: 21,641. 2011-2012 students checked out: Senior School Library: 6,663 Junior School Library: 29,659 DUCKS Library: 21,352 On the next page are the tables with breakdowns per form room, per school.
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Dulwich College Shanghai Libraries – Annual Report 2011-2012
Collection Development The Libraries have acquired new books, e-books, audiobooks, periodicals and DVDs.
No. of volumes in DCS Libraries - May 2012 Total Senior School Junior School DUCKS
No of titles 30,898 12,002 10,588 8,308
No of copies 33,225 12,358 11,720 9,147
Growth of Library Collections* Collection growth 11Collection growth 1012 11 Total Items 3,436 4,712 Senior School 1,197 1,562 Junior School 1,622 1,784 DUCKS 617 1,366 * Total growth in titles, includes acquisition and weeding.
Collection Growth 0910 3,741 1,265 1,268 1,208
The Annual Report for 2010-2011 recommended to increase the number of books per student, to meet international standards for Library services. The Library collections have grown this year, but not at the extent of previous years. This is due to the following factors. 1. The Library budgets have been decentralised and are now under the supervision of each Head of School. As a result some budgets have been cut quite substantially.
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Dulwich College Shanghai Libraries – Annual Report 2011-2012
2. The management of the budgets has not been clearly handed over or assigned by the school management. As a result the Librarians have not been able to plan and develop the collection in the usual way, which results in less effective and efficient spending. 3. Outstanding invoices from previous school years have been paid this year. 4. We are still awaiting the arrival of an order from the UK, which is delayed. It is recommended to continue to develop the collections, by improving budget management, so that the Librarians can plan their ordering to meet the international guidelines on recommended books/items per student. The Librarians are unanimous in their opinion that a centrally managed budget for all three Libraries is preferable.
Recommended Mininum Number of Library Books per Student
^^ South Carolina Dept of Education:
25 20 20
Actual Number of Library Books per Student at DCS:
20
^^ National Council of Teachers of English (www.ncte.org) : ^^ International Reading Association (www.reading.org):
The Senior Library Wiki – Reading is Destiny! The Senior Library Wiki is the main – and very active - tool of library communication in the Senior School. It contains a wealth of information about reading promotion, research tools, IB Diploma, and Library events in our school. The Wiki is updated on a daily basis. After the Senior Librarian’s departure, the Wiki will continue to lead a dormant existence for a while, allowing time for the new Librarian to set up a new online Library environment.
Number of visitors to the Senior Library Wiki in 2011 and 2012 http://readingisdestiny.wikispaces.com The peak in October 2011 was the online UN Day activity the whole school was involved in. March 2012’s peak was for the whole school Book Week competition. On average between 50-200 people per day visited the Wiki this school year.
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Staffing & Professional Development The Senior School Librarian, Marion van Engelen, will be leaving at the end of this school year. She will be replaced by Dean Faught, who is currently teaching History in Senior School. The role of Director of Libraries will cease to exist. It is not yet clear how the Director’s tasks are going to be divided amongst the three separate Libraries. It will be a logistical puzzle. In Junior School Sue Richmond is also leaving and will be replaced by Yvonne Baumann, who is currently employed as the Junior Librarian at the International School of Geneva. To help out while Crystal Wang has been on extended sick leave, Nancy Chen has been on a steep learning curve; she has done a fantastic job and proven a great help to Sue. In DUCKS Library Helen Bradley is leaving the school in December 2012. There is a continued need for an experienced Library Assistant in the Junior School. Currently the following people are employed in the different Libraries: * Senior School * Junior School * DUCKS
- Marion van Engelen, Shalini Gupta, Suzhen McGrath - Susan Richmond, Crystal Wang (sick leave), Nancy Chen - Cookie Xu, Helen Bradley (part-time)
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Dulwich College Shanghai Libraries – Annual Report 2011-2012
Professional Development 2011-2012 Date November 2011
Event iFollett workshop
November 2011
School Library Symposium, hosted by Western International School Shanghai
May 2012
INSET Afternoon (ordering procedures, budget management) Organiser: Director of Libraries Shanghai Librarians Network, monthly meetings (attended when work schedules allow)
2011-2012
Attended by: Marion van Engelen / Sue Richmond / Cookie Xu / Helen Bradley / Joe Chen / Shalini Gupta / Suzhen McGrath Marion van Engelen (event organiser) / Sue Richmond, Helen Bradley / Cookie Xu / Shalini Gupta / Suzhen McGrath All Library staff
Marion van Engelen / Sue Richmond / Helen Bradley / Cookie Xu
Robin Lin has left our school, and our new dedicated Follett Destiny tech support woman is Dan Xiao. Suzhen McGrath has been asked to teach Chinese staff at Dulwich College Seoul to catalog Mandarin books.
Events Book Week 2012 Senior School A first in the history of Dulwich College Shanghai was the Drop Everything And Read event. This has traditionally been popular in Junior School. The Senior School students and staff enjoyed 50 minutes of reading bliss, where one could hear a pin drop in the corridors…. The ‘Guess your Teacher’s Favourite Titles’ Junior School The students were involved in the very popular character museum, and in the lessons the focus was on library games, quizzes and book hunts. Students from different years went to read to other year groups, which is always enjoyed by both parties. The above-mentioned Drop Everything And Read is a long-standing tradition in Junior School. This year guest readers Mr Paul Friend and Phil Stewart were warmly welcomed in the Library.
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DUCKS The Book Week theme was Reading Olympics activities included parents coming to the library, and guest readers (both students and staff) came down to read. The annual Book Character Parade at the end of the week was wonderful.
BOOK FAIR The book fair was attended by many and the revenue for most book sellers equaled or surpassed last year’s. Popular titles were of course Captain Underpants and for the Senior School students The Hunger Games.
Visiting Authors Kazu Kibuishi – A famous graphic novel artist and his team presented to many students in Junior and Senior School. Tom Rob Smith – This old Alleynian spoke to our Senior School students. Rashmi Jolly Dalai - local expat wrote Mika the picky eater came to talk to year 2, when they were doing their chocolate topic. Sarah Brennan - read Pinyin Panda to DUCKS students. Neil Griffiths – the story teller who not only delighted the children with his fabulous performances, but also taught a group of parents how to tell stories. We hope he will be back next year. Yun Dalai – A parent from school who has published a mandarin book came to read to our native Mandarin speakers in year 1 and 2.
Year 7 Sleepover : annual tradition There they were again: 40 sleepy students (NOT!) signed up for the annual Year 7 Sleepover and were kept busy, but hopefully not too awake, with Dewey activities, story reading, a mystery movie and – unique in the Library – snacks and drinks. After a good night’s sleep we all started the day with a vigorous session of yoga… With many thanks to Jennifer Moore and Tom Edwards for their support and help with this event.
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Meet & Greet our New Library Books As a general promotional Library activity to connect with our colleagues and to make sure that new resources do not disappear unseen on the library shelves, all three Libraries organised Meet & Greet the New Books parties whenever new Library orders have come in. Teachers had a chance to browse the new materials, and have a chat with the Librarians while enjoying a snack and a drink. These parties have been very successful, and we hope this tradition will continue next year.
Library and Information Skills Programs Senior Library This year, as promised, a start was made to teaching Library and Information Skills integrated into the programme, horizontally across the subjects, and vertically throughout Year 7-13. Wonderful projects were run with the Year 8 Maths students, thanks to a productive collaboration with Ms Lynda Evans, who embraced the idea and collaborated wonderfully with the Librarian on the teaching of citation and referencing skills. Ms Moore brought the Year 8s in for a sequence of lessons on copyright and plagiarism. The History Department collaborated on Roman Life with the Year 7 students and Ancient China with the Year 8 students. Shorter projects were run with the Year 9 History students on the Security Council and the Year 10 Art students. All in all, an interesting start to what could become a truly integrated information literacy skills programme. Director of Libraries In last year’s report a pie diagram showed that the Director of Libraries job was under pressure with an admin workload that was rather large. The prediction turned out to be true, and as a result other tasks have suffered. Weekly Library lessons were less intensely taught than in previous years. It was impossible to decide to do less admin, as admin is not that flexible.
Senior Librarian / Director of Libraries Tasks Current task division 2010-2011
Expected task division 2011-2012
(Admin tasks include: ordering, collection maintenance and development, circulation admin, reference questions, DUCKS and Junior Library support)
With effect from August 2012, the school management has canceled the position of Director of Libraries. The Libraries will have to divide the resulting extra workload amongst themselves. This in practice results in tasks that were done centrally by the Director, now having to be done three times separately. This will form a considerable challenge for the
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busy Librarians, whose workload is already quite high. Furthermore, the specialist tasks that the Director was responsible for, are now not carried out, as no provision has been made to hand these over, and the Whole School tasks still need a coordinator. Tasks that the Director used to be responsible for in the whole school: - liaising with local and international suppliers - chasing up payments of invoices/fapiaos, etc (a very time-consuming job) - organising the book fair - Destiny Administrator’s jobs: • student database maintenance (Library Manager + Textbook Manager) • Calendar setups for the year • Coordination of upgrades to the system plus INSET • Import of MARC records from suppliers • Collection maintenance - Online Database purchase and maintenance - Budget management
Junior Library The Junior Library was a buzz of activity this year with students reading books in many genres, recommending books to each other, reviewing stories they had enjoyed on Destiny Quest as well as researching the many projects they were asked to study. As soon as the library opened students would be swapping stories about what they had read and scouring the shelves for more books by the same authors. Students also took advantage of the interactive whiteboard to present their work to the rest of the class. In this picture, students in Year 4 are giving a power point presentation. As part of the year 4 Treasure Unit, the students loved the 'scavenger hunt' in the library. Each student was given a list of Dewey numbers so they could locate the resource and record its title, author and subject. In another 'hunt' the students had to look on the library catalogue to locate the book or to record whether it had been borrowed. Even the year 3 students are able to guess the Spine label for a Biography book or a book in the Animal section of Dewey. Students love the structure of the Dewey Decimal System and are fascinated by how easy it is to find resources once they understand the different categories.
DUCKS Library In DUCKS Library the staff offer weekly lessons to all students in the use of the Library, how to look for Library books in the non-fiction and fiction section, book care and promotion of reading. Wherever possible, collaboration with the teachers happens too. The DUCKS Librarians have a workload which seems to surpass reason next year, when classes will be added, increasing the time-table. It is advisable to review the format and
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frequency of Library visits in DUCKS, with a focus on collaboration with teachers, and allowing time for the Librarians to carry out the necessary administrative tasks, following from the above-mentioned increase in workload due to the absence of a Director of Libraries.
Resources Acquisition Our dedicated suppliers in USA (Follett) and UK (Turner Books) will liaise with the individual Libraries next year. The Australian supplier, Peter Pal, was not used this year, but last year’s report states “… order went well, and arrived in a timely manner”.
E‐books Follett Destiny has integrated the use of e-books with iPads, and this new technology needs to be installed on the one Library iPad that the school Libraries own, to be used as a pilot with teachers and students. It is also advised to purchase more e-books from Follett, in order to try out this service, which can also be used on student and staff computers. It has been difficult to purchase more iPads or Kindles. In the future it is hoped that the school will invest in some way in e-book technology.
Conclusion 2011-2012 has been a good year for the Libraries, with excellent services provided. Borrowing statistics were higher than last year. The collections throughout the Libraries have grown again, and all Libraries engaged in an impressive list of activities to promote reading and research skills within our community. I would like to wish all the Librarians, old and new, best of luck next year, and hope that this and last year’s report will be helpful in finding future solutions for on-going issues.
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