Reference Services and Resources: Evaluation and Improvement Plan

After evaluating the resources available and services offered in the school library, there is much work needed to transform and reinvent this space to meet the needs of our school.  I am working to breath life back into a Library, not well nurtured over a handful of years. Changes I envision happening in our Library will take at least a year to implement.  We have begun changes this year, and to celebrate the new direction, purchased furniture that creates both an inviting and functional space. Reorganization, weeding and updating of materials is a job that must be addressed to keep library space and materials more relevant. It's been difficult to implement these changes as well as ones I am learning about with the time that I have.  My responsibilities are all essential to the school community.   As this is recognized, I have been supported in these goals by my administration, fellow colleagues, office staff and parents.  In order for the proposed changes to take hold, communication of goals, needs, challenges and successes needs to be shared with the school community.    

Reference Resources Currently:

Our reference resources are incorporated into subject areas of the non-fiction collection.  At first glance, it is very full with little extra room, yet has a good flow with regards to layout and shelf height.  Many print reference resources and non-fiction material are becoming dated from 10 to 15 years of age. Some have been discarded and others still require evaluation to determine if content is still relevant.  Some books have copyright surprisingly old from 30-50 years, but still circulate and so they remain.  Using Reidling’s currency evaluation our Atlases were considered historical.  After their evaluation, our school decided to replace them with the National Geographic Atlas App.  I have purchased a few other high interest Atlas type books to have for library use and for student circulation.  I removed two unused collections of the World Book Encyclopedia 2003 and 2008 because of the online version available.  Our Almanacs, Handbooks and Yearbooks were being updated yearly, however, some of these high interest, high use materials haven’t stood up to wear and tear and as a result, have not been replaced.  The majority of teachers in our school have had limited or no experience using digital resources.  Over the past two years, a handful have started using them as a result of TL collaboration.

Goal for Change:

Much of our collection is in need of major weeding due to it's sheer volume, currency, inaccessibility and change of grade level for curricular connections.  We need space in the collection to make it more approachable and navigable so that students are effectively finding what they need.  It will allow me to create fresh looks by displaying new and relevant material.  Many books although very dated are still circulating often including the animal series “Natures Children”.  I will discard them when I am able to replace them with current material.  They are text heavy, irrelevant and many do not contain varied text features that support reading comprehension or encourage further learning by posing interesting facts, questions or websites.  Much of our ESL school population excel in their reading comprehension when these text features are present.(ERAC-ESL)

These goals appear to be somewhat dated according to the "Leading Learning" document where it talks about transforming traditional libraries into Learning Commons.  “The focus of the library program in the past was on building strong collections and resources and assisting users to find and use them effectively.”(p.4)  I believe that some aggressive weeding and reorganizing first, will help to achieve these goals so that we can embrace some of the more current goals that “build learning communities and make connections among learners, thus facilitating knowledge creation in the school community”.(p.4)

Reference Services Currently:

Many students browse unintentionally, by what looks good to them at that moment visually, rather than by interest of topic or author. My challenge is knowing what to suggest.  I am always reading student material to make recommendations, as I see they really do want and appreciate suggestions. I am feeling more confidant with student advisory, but have a long way to go.

We have been focusing on Library information and research skills as a result of hearing about the struggles classroom teachers face while doing research projects in their classes.  This led me to design and implement Library Skills Lessons which heighten their ability to learn from resources in order to create knowledge. I especially aim these lessons to the grades 3s and 4s to help improve their information literacy when they move on to grades that no longer receive library prep.  

Reference Interviews happen on the fly without much time devoted to them. Teachers come in when they can to request resources and support.  I prefer to have some time to put together materials that meet their needs, but at times this is not the case.  As a result, mistakes can be made, time wasted and both parties can be left feeling frustrated.  When I have advance warning, I can schedule time with them to show them information available through our digital resources as well as supply them with as many print resources as I can.  

Goal for Change:

After observing how students browse for books, I think “genre-ficaton” will better meet all our needs. I will be able to direct them more effectively to reading material they enjoy, and they will appreciate having other books of a similar nature close at hand.  I began this process at the beginning of the year not realizing how much time it takes.   I have received extra time for this job and I am hoping, with parent volunteers that we will get this done!  I would like to include Novelist, one of our digital resources, to steer students towards interesting books.  A problem I have discovered with it is that many of the books suggested are not in our library.  It would be ideal to have a service like it, that includes our collection in its suggestions.

A concern for me is how students perceive their library experience.  Different learning preferences necessitate different learning activities.  A balance between library information skills and creative opportunities that students need will promote their interest to contribute to the school community within the library setting.  As a Fine Arts person, it is interesting we have veered off into another direction entirely.  At the beginning of the year we learned about and experimented with "upcycling" and students created such inspiring work.  It is a reminder for me to provide an environment that celebrates creative innovation allowing students learning opportunities that promote creative critical thinking.  It’s important to have that balance to gain their trust and interest in being part of the library community.

The reference interview process, as I have experienced and learned about from the readings and class discussions needs to be more intentional and personalized in nature.  I will create a form to use when entering into a reference interview with a student or teacher, that takes into consideration the setting in which it occurs and each persons’ ability to communicate with me. This will help to avoid mistakes and wasted time spent looking for incorrect information. It will focus on my service from the point of view of the client.  Did they find the information that they needed?  Were they satisfied with the efforts made to help them find what they were looking for? Will it be an experience that will make them feel welcome to return or not? Did they learn something about reference resources in the process?  I think that when we are utilized, our value is realized and we make trusting relationships after this is the case.

Plan:

1. Much material still needs to be bought with this year’s budget and I will devote some of it to high interest types of reference resources such as Almanacs, Yearbooks, Handbooks and Atlases.  They are popular resources constantly circulating and I want to make sure we are offering something like it from each section of the collection. (working on this now)

2. Have teachers fill out a library evaluation/needs form and make an appointment with each of them to discuss a personalized support plan (before the end of this year)

3. Decide on a type of schedule that meets the needs of teachers.

-one that supports all classes in smaller weekly periods with more attention devoted to student advisory and or team teaching, inquiry, creative or research opportunities
or...

-one that allows teachers to sign up their classes for fewer, larger blocks of time that support similar projects (a problem with this is that not all do sign up. If this type of schedule is chosen, I will have a better understanding of the teachers needs based on the evaluation/needs form so I can follow up with and offer support to these teachers throughout the year)

4. Plan and facilitate monthly digital resource workshops to promote staff awareness of these reference resources and their applications for classroom use.  (One resource every staff meeting, the first is Discovery Education on April 24^th followed by Learn 360 in May)(Possible challenges include finding the time to create a workshop as well as ensuring teachers and students are using these resources once they’ve been shown.  Working alongside a teacher on a class project is a better way for them to of learn of their usefulness.)  

5. Reorganize Junior and YA Fiction sections into genre with parent help labeling (extra time is being provided to help with this project in the next month)

6. Purchase National Geographic App for iPad class set once iPads have been replaced (currently being done)

7. Weed, space and update aspects of the non-fiction main collection to make it more relevant to the new curriculum (evaluate reference resources to determine currency and relevancy during this process - this will be the last job and will continue into next year )

8. I have been working with teachers whose classes have prep from K-4.  I will work to create better relationships with intermediate teachers after I learn how I can support their needs from the evaluation/needs form (take the lead role the first time to help classroom teacher have proper time to learn a new skill or resource such as Discovery Education)

9.Continue taking workshops to further my professional development that will support our school (currently taking a workshop on Discovery Education)

Bibliography:

CLA. Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada 2014

Reidling, A. Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist: Tools and Tips, 2nd Edition

ERAC. Evaluating, Selecting and Acquiring Learning Resources: A Guide; English-as-a-Second-Language-Students 

Monroe, C. Library Information Skills Lessons