A Tale Of Two Libraries: My School Visitations and Action Plan

1. Elly Rifkin December 6, 2010 Highland Park High School District 113 Highland Park, Illinois A Tale Of Two Libraries:My School Visitations and Action Plan Jamieson Elementary Chicago School District 299 Chicago, Illinois

2. School Profiles Highland Park High School • ~2,000 students (~18/class) in G9-12 • 95% graduation rate • ~11% low-income, ~3% LEP • ~79% Caucasian, ~16% Hispanic • ~15% students with disabilities • Not making AYP in Mathematics Jamieson Elementary • 820 students (~23-~36/class) in pre-K-8 • ~96% attendance rate • 75% low-income, 22% LEP • ~33% Caucasian, ~27% Hispanic, ~32% Asian/P.I. • ~12% students with disabilities • Making AYP Wealthy & affluent district; high teacher salaries; ranked high academically in IL Part of CPS, average teacher salaries; ranked high academically in Region 1 of Chicago

3. Jamieson’s Library • Limited capacity • Outdated technology • K-5+: fixed schedule • 2010 curriculum: • Scholastic’s Reading Counts • Supportive principal • Limited budget • Minimal collaboration • Circulation relatively low • Helpful parent volunteers

4. Jamieson’s Librarian Kathleen Loftus Doing MORE with LESS!

5. State of the Library 2010 • Growing groups of immigrant/LEP students • Many children with special needs • Minimal collaboration with teachers • Limited parent involvement Translated books from ICDL, order more multicultural materials Appeal to principal to hire more aides or require a 2nd adult during library time Work with collaborating teachers to present to faculty the value of the library Devote funds to hosting more Reading Nights (& effective marketing) CHALLENGES RECOMMENDATIONS

6. Highland Park High School Library

7. Highland Park High School Library • Well-funded • Abundant technology • Multiple classrooms • Pleasing design and lighting • Very busy • Lots of teacher support • Well-staffed • Library plays key role in curriculum

8. HPHS Library Director Anne Isaacson • Manages budgeting & programming; supervises • 1 certified librarian • 3 library assistants • 1 secretary

9. Improving Aesthetics at HPHS

10. State of the Library 2010 • Expand access to resources • Improve student-teacher relationships • Communicate the importance of good research skills to ALL faculty members Increase collaboration by unblocking social networking sites like Facebook Collaborate on more formal staff development presentations with the Media Center • Be sure to include teacher success stories. • Continue making presentations to faculty at before and after-school meetings GOALS RECOMMENDATIONS

11. Collection Development Action Plan for the HPHS Library Communicated Area of Need: • High-interest nonfiction titles which tell “true stories of teens and young adults that have overcome major life obstacles.”

12. Action Plan Objectives • Primary: Improve collection management through scheduling regular collection analysis and inventory periods. • Secondary:Acquire more high-interest nonfiction titles for the collection that include true stories of teens and young adults whom have overcome serious challenges.

13. Action Plan: Tasks • Designate an annual or biannual block of time to conduct Collection Analysis using TitleWave • Prepare a brief report that summarizes the Collection Analysis results • Identify areas of need in the collection • generate a list of titles needed to improve the collection; be sure to include the cost of each item and the number of copies needed for sufficient use; and • From the titles generated, prioritize the books needed immediately. • Prepare a budget and spending rationale for acquisitions • Use TitleWise and book review sources to search for specific nonfiction titles • Use Booklist, VOYA, School Library Journal, and other review sources to narrow selections • Create a Wish List of new titles using Follett’s TitleWise software • Formally assess the usefulness of TitleWave and TitleWise as Collection Development tools

14. Action Plan: Resources • Time • TitleWave tutorial video • Electronic file with all exported MARC records • Access to review sources • $600-800 to devote to specific nonfiction titles of immediate need

15. Action Plan: Responsible Persons • Building Principal: approves funding • Library Director: manages the Collection Analysis effort; scheduling, budgeting, weeding, instructing library staff to use TitleWave and TitleWise, selecting new titles, delegating tasks to library staff, etc. • School Librarian/Library Assistants: support the Director by completing assigned tasks such as preparing reports, using TitleWise to search for new “true stories” nonfiction titles, etc. • Elly Rifkin: provides the initial Collection Analysis report to the Director via e-mail using Follett’s TitleWave

16. Action Plan: Timeframes

17. Action Plan: Funding $600-800 (for new nonfiction books that tell true stories of teens/young adults that have overcome major life challenges)

18. Action Plan: Potential Problems TIME • The biggest obstacle to improving collection management and analysis and researching new nonfiction titles is time.