Grants to School Libraries 
As I sit at a table
by the circulation desk at Kerr
Middle School, I begin to
understand what is meant when some people say the library is the hub of a
school. I’m talking with Deborah Baker, Kerr’s library media specialist. For
the 30 minutes I’m there, the area is a whirlwind of activity.
Looking around as Ms.
Baker gets up to help some of the students checking out books, I see three
students sitting at different tables doing make-up tests, six others browsing
the shelves looking for books to check out, and several student library aides coming
in to ask what they should work on. Ms. Baker quickly dispatches one to help
another student find a book on race cars, and another to check out a student’s
new books. Faculty come in and out to do their work, and – remembers Ms. Baker
– several classes met in the library in August when air conditioning was not
working well in some classrooms.
“We’re really in
service to the school,” Ms. Baker explains. “Most people know we’re here to
support reading, but there’s a lot more than that.”
But supporting
reading and a love of books is one role that school libraries continue to play.
At Kerr, Ms. Baker started a book club a few years ago, which meets 30 minutes
before school starts. It has been so popular that this year they changed from
monthly to weekly meetings. Besides a few perks, like being able to check out
three books at a time instead of two, the students join the club in order to
read.
“We start with a
genre they know and love: fantasy,” Ms. Baker conveys. “Then we explore other
genres, like the classics, suspense, and historical fiction.”
Anita Friend,
Mid-Del’s instructional facilitator who oversees the district’s libraries/media
centers, says each library sets its own tone in the school. Most, however, closely
coordinate with the other teachers in the building so that they can provide an
extension to what happens in the classroom, taking learning a step further.
They often complement the various content areas by helping students learn how
to use their resources to find answers to their questions.
“We want students
to understand that librarians don’t know everything. Our superpower is that we
know how to find out everything!” Ms. Friend adds.
When I ask Ms.
Friend how school libraries have changed in the years since most adults knew
them, she notes that the idea of American libraries has basically stayed the
same over the history of the United
States. It was Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s
founding fathers, who established the first public lending library - a subscription library. His intent was
to pool members’ resources so that they could purchase books together and lend
them to each other. Benjamin Franklin continued to advocate for public
libraries throughout his life as a way the common person could gain knowledge
and better contribute to the public good.
Access to the
holdings of school libraries – and libraries in general – is what has changed,
continues Ms. Friend. One way that school librarians support learning is to
help teach research skills. For example, as the internet has allowed students
access to an overwhelming amount of information, helping students learn how to
assess and evaluate sources becomes even more important.
“For example, we
help them learn how to evaluate a website and determine its probable credibility,”
continues Ms. Friend. “Is it a dot gov, or a dot edu, or a dot com? Are there a
lot of ads? Do the creators of the website put their name on it – can you tell
who runs that site? We help them learn to ask questions like that.”
In addition,
several Mid-Del educators use new technologies to help engage their students in
reading and sharing their learning with others. Mrs. Kristi Hazelrigg, Parkview
Elementary’s library media specialist has involved her students in creating
podcasts in which students report on things like their research on past
presidents, and even “bloopers.” A podcast she recently created encourages
children as they learn to read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyJQXw6-qk0.
What does this added element do for student
learning? Mrs. Hazelrigg explains, “Something I have noticed about podcasting
with kids is this: whether or not kids are excited about a research project
initially, when you tell them you’re going to record their presentations and
put them on the internet for their family and friends - and potentially, the
world - to see, immediately, their enthusiasm skyrockets. Their eyebrows lift
in surprise, their eyes light up, and you hear a lot of giggling in the buzz of
excited conversation. Some seem embarrassed but you can tell they are thrilled.
It lends a sense of importance to the project. Suddenly it’s not just
schoolwork, but something that could someday end up on YouTube. That’s big for
an elementary kid.”
A place for
reading, exploring, and researching – thanks to Mid-Del’s library media specialists
and the many teachers they work with, school libraries continue to be places
where students’ minds are stimulated and their hunger for new experiences is
fed.
The Mid-Del Public Schools Foundation
provided $24,000 to school libraries in Mid-Del in spring 2011, funding every
school in the district and starting an Advanced Learning Library. In a
challenging budget year for the schools, when libraries’ purchasing budgets were
cut entirely, librarians were able to maintain basic subscriptions, and purchase
new books and resources thanks to the Foundation’s generous donors.
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