SLO 1. The student
assesses the philosophy,
principles, and ethics of
the library and information
field.
Evidence 1- Self-checkout Portal
Evidence 2- Open door policy
I came to the library from a classroom. As a classroom teacher I had a pretty tight reign on what my students read- genre, level, quality, quantity... you name it, I could control it. For as strict as that sounds, it all went hand-in-hand with growing my students' love for reading as well as helping them to grow as readers. CMS mandated that I level my students based on the Fountas and Pinnell reading scale, so my classroom library corresponded. Each student tested into certain levels and shopped accordingly within my classroom library. They filled out logs hourly. They conferred with me about what they were reading daily. Needless to say, nothing about my students' reading was private. It was all extremely public.
I say all of this to show the monumental shift in my thinking. When I began my journey to become a school Media Specialist in 2014, I was floored by the wealth of information I gained from LIS 600, Foundations of Library and Information Sciences. The introduction to my new field stressed the importance of privacy and access. Each lecture within LIS 600 spoke towards the need for patron privacy to be protected. Specific strategies and problematic issues (like parents questioning what their student checked out) was addressed. This opened my eyes to things that were foreign to me as a classroom teacher. While it's still important to know that classroom teachers are coaching students to become stronger readers, it's also important to realize the need for privacy within the realm of libraries- school libraries specifically. Up until this point, printing out overdue notices and placing them in teachers' mailboxes for mass distribution seemed like nothing to me. Receiving emails from parents about "what book their child checked out and and when" (since it was lost) was par for the course. Looking up who had a certain book to determine when it will come back into the library for a different student was a part of my job title... until it wasn't.
Understanding the need for privacy to protect students' curiosity, personal space, and freedom to explore was a foreign concept that is now very prevalent at my school. To promote privacy we have installed self-checkout portals. Students nor volunteers check books in now since the system automatically shows who was the last holder of the book when the book is scanned back in to our system. Overdue notices are folded and handed directly to the students. Yes, I even give them directly to my kindergartners. I've yet to have an overdue notice lost in the hallway. Parent emails still come, though they're less frequent now that the "new Media Specialist" diffuses the situation without revealing the title of the book. Student privacy has shifted to empower the intellectual freedom of our learner, highlighting my ability to asses and address the principals and ethics in the library and information field.
Philosophies within library and information sciences was a smoother transition for my school. Our library has always housed a centralized printer as well as a few computer terminals for public access. However, due to safety concerns, the doors to the library always remained locked. This limited patron usage, therefore the philosophies of access were compromised. Access was another huge topic addressed within LIS 600. Patron access was paramount within LIS 600 lectures. To address this philosophy and allow equitable access for all patrons in my school, we unlocked the doors to the library. Now students, teachers, volunteers, and parents can enter the library freely. Other measures were put in place to insure student safety, but now we have an open door policy. We want our equipment and resources used to the fullest potential. Along that line, our library houses 30 Chromebooks provided by our school district. To protect these devices, they were distributed as needed and locked overnight. This limited the exposure all students had to the devices. Now we leave them out at our new Chromebook Circulars. This allows for more usage being that they are not locked up until the Media Specialist distributes them for research use. Insuring access highlights key library and information philosophies and principals that affect all patrons.
Evidence 1- Self-checkout Portal
Evidence 2- Open door policy
I came to the library from a classroom. As a classroom teacher I had a pretty tight reign on what my students read- genre, level, quality, quantity... you name it, I could control it. For as strict as that sounds, it all went hand-in-hand with growing my students' love for reading as well as helping them to grow as readers. CMS mandated that I level my students based on the Fountas and Pinnell reading scale, so my classroom library corresponded. Each student tested into certain levels and shopped accordingly within my classroom library. They filled out logs hourly. They conferred with me about what they were reading daily. Needless to say, nothing about my students' reading was private. It was all extremely public.
I say all of this to show the monumental shift in my thinking. When I began my journey to become a school Media Specialist in 2014, I was floored by the wealth of information I gained from LIS 600, Foundations of Library and Information Sciences. The introduction to my new field stressed the importance of privacy and access. Each lecture within LIS 600 spoke towards the need for patron privacy to be protected. Specific strategies and problematic issues (like parents questioning what their student checked out) was addressed. This opened my eyes to things that were foreign to me as a classroom teacher. While it's still important to know that classroom teachers are coaching students to become stronger readers, it's also important to realize the need for privacy within the realm of libraries- school libraries specifically. Up until this point, printing out overdue notices and placing them in teachers' mailboxes for mass distribution seemed like nothing to me. Receiving emails from parents about "what book their child checked out and and when" (since it was lost) was par for the course. Looking up who had a certain book to determine when it will come back into the library for a different student was a part of my job title... until it wasn't.
Understanding the need for privacy to protect students' curiosity, personal space, and freedom to explore was a foreign concept that is now very prevalent at my school. To promote privacy we have installed self-checkout portals. Students nor volunteers check books in now since the system automatically shows who was the last holder of the book when the book is scanned back in to our system. Overdue notices are folded and handed directly to the students. Yes, I even give them directly to my kindergartners. I've yet to have an overdue notice lost in the hallway. Parent emails still come, though they're less frequent now that the "new Media Specialist" diffuses the situation without revealing the title of the book. Student privacy has shifted to empower the intellectual freedom of our learner, highlighting my ability to asses and address the principals and ethics in the library and information field.
Self-checkout Portals
Philosophies within library and information sciences was a smoother transition for my school. Our library has always housed a centralized printer as well as a few computer terminals for public access. However, due to safety concerns, the doors to the library always remained locked. This limited patron usage, therefore the philosophies of access were compromised. Access was another huge topic addressed within LIS 600. Patron access was paramount within LIS 600 lectures. To address this philosophy and allow equitable access for all patrons in my school, we unlocked the doors to the library. Now students, teachers, volunteers, and parents can enter the library freely. Other measures were put in place to insure student safety, but now we have an open door policy. We want our equipment and resources used to the fullest potential. Along that line, our library houses 30 Chromebooks provided by our school district. To protect these devices, they were distributed as needed and locked overnight. This limited the exposure all students had to the devices. Now we leave them out at our new Chromebook Circulars. This allows for more usage being that they are not locked up until the Media Specialist distributes them for research use. Insuring access highlights key library and information philosophies and principals that affect all patrons.
New Chromebook Circulars for full time access.
