State of the Library Report for the Principal

Stephenville High School Library

State of the Library Report for the Principal

May 2013

Librarian: Rachel Kammerer

Computer Lab aide: Jackie Melvin, Angela Kitchens, Lacey Cook

SUMMARY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

·  Weeding of the 900s and biography sections

·  E-book integration to the library collection

·  Promotion of e-book access at Open House and throughout the school year

·  Teen Read Week art contest “It Came From a Book!” winner (Elizabeth Afeman)

·  Staff development in using databases efficiently

·  World Book Night participant

·  Created a variety of displays throughout the school year (see library webpage for pictures)

·  Created databases for Outstanding Books for the College Bound, books turned into movies, and “If you like this, read…”

·  Updated and enhanced library website on a regular basis

·  Attended Texas Library Association (TLA) conference and returned with many new books and ideas for the library

·  Created an SHS student spotlight display using newspaper clippings

·  Trained two computer lab aides this school year

·  Cleaned out & recycled magazines older than 5 years (except National Geographic)

GENERAL LIBRARY DUTIES:

·  Book/materials/supply/equipment

o  budgeting and ordering

o  inventory

o  circulation

o  maintenance

·  Reviewing books for order

·  Researching books and materials to order

·  Collection analysis

·  Collaborating with teachers and students

·  Reading books in the collection

·  Writing book reviews

·  Learning the current resources our library provides

·  Teaching staff and students about library resources

·  Helping staff and students find resources

·  Created a variety of displays throughout the school year (see library webpage for pictures)

·  ID machine

·  Scheduling of library, labs, mobile carts

·  Filing/shelving materials

·  General library maintenance & cleaning

·  Laminating

·  Weeding of materials (damaged, worn, outdated, format)

·  Website maintenance

·  Overseeing student workers

·  Sending the elevator up and down

·  Collect monthly statistics and create report

·  Daily mail (magazines, solicitations, other correspondence)

·  Teach information/media/technological literacy

·  Teach documentation of sources

CIRCULATION AND USE STATISTICS:

Patrons in database: 1654

Number of items (books, equipment, and A/V) in library: 15408

Average age of collection: 1994

Items per student: 15.41

Total replacement cost for all titles is $320,186.67 (This number is based on amount entered in Alexandria. This may not be 100% accurate.)

Total number of checked out items for school year 2012-13: 9022

Total lost items:153

·  Total replacement cost $2,480.12

·  Total collected from patrons $110.06

Total discarded items: 339

CLASSROOM USE OF LIBRARY FACILITIES:

This year, I spent time with teachers trying to show them strategies for using our databases more efficiently. I sought out opinions from the staff about purchasing Easy Bib. At this time, the consensus is to use the free version and not purchase the other components.

There were 12,905 students that signed in (not with a class) and 39,625 students (with classes) through the library doors using the computers and/or checking out books. Some of these classes included collaborative lessons between myself and teachers:

·  Using databases/web literacy

·  Book talks

·  Freshmen orientation

·  Research projects

The mobile carts were checked out 189 times.

The 204 lab was regularly utilized for three class periods a day. The total usage of this lab was 18,600 students for the year.

NEW PURCHASES/ACQUISITIONS:

This year most of the proprietary budget was spent on books, focusing on ordering non-fiction books for Mrs. Roeming’s AP English class, books listed in the Outstanding Books for the College Bound, and replacing books in the 900s and biographies with more current publications.

Students made requests mostly for fiction books. There were several requests for books and movies in Spanish. Teachers requested titles as well, both for curriculum support and recreational reading.

Databases were evaluated, and we maintained subscriptions to Gale, EBSCO, Maps 101, Teaching Books, Culture Grams, Discovery Education, World and I School, Britannica Online, and Country Reports.

Magazine subscriptions

A collection of e-books was purchased for the first time this year, so students and staff can have access to books on any device. Currently, there are _____ titles district wide, including fiction and non-fiction.

DATABASE STATISTICS (August 2012-May 2013):

Britannica online

Country Reports

Culture Grams 4831 pages viewed/444 unique sessions

Discovery Education

EBSCO 10,064 sessions/28,821 searches

GALE: 9,717 sessions/ 53,542 searches

Maps 101

Teaching Books

World and I School

TECHNOLOGY UPDATES:

In May, the three mobile carts were taken and replaced with 8 laptop carts. These new carts are departmentalized, so the library will no longer be in charge of scheduling.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES:

I participated in World Book Night (April 23). This is a literacy program that promotes reading. The book I received to hand out is entitled The Worst Hard Time. As I read the book prior to April 23, I was able to tell recipients about the content. April 23 fell during testing week, so my initial plan of handing out books at a softball and/or baseball game changed. I ended up handing out books to the Social Studies department.

I presented a Banned Books Week program to the Stephenville Zonta Club.

I spoke to Delta Kappa Gamma about the district’s ebook program and how the SISD Education Foundation Grant made that program possible.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

This year, I attended Texas Library Association Conference held in Ft. Worth. I was able to hear and meet authors discuss their books. I had many titles autographed. I heard sessions about “branding my library” and creating a virtual presence. I came home from the conference and began making some immediate changes to the website and my blog (ReadingJourneys.blogspot.com).

In the fall, I attended Library Harvest at the Region XI ESC. Here, I learned more about upcoming YA titles and was able to meet with vendors about databases.

TEACHERS AND THE LIBRARY:

Being part of the library is not an autonomous job. On any regular working day, the library assists students not only with books and technology, but also helping the campus run smoothly by creating IDs, color printing, laminating, managing Extended Day assignments, and calling Technology to reset passwords.

I hosted three hot chocolate days in the library. One was specific to meeting Angela Kitchens, the new computer lab aide. The other two were more for building relationships with the staff.

At the beginning of the year, the computer lab aide helped separate forms and update data in Skyward to help the office staff. She also scheduled bookings for the library, computer lab, mobile carts and the 204 lab throughout the school year.

All of the district librarians met monthly to discuss issues and practices related to our libraries, Alexandria and Overdrive. We also discussed new initiatives we’d like to explore and used the time to share what we learned at various workshops, conferences, webinars, etc. with each other. These meetings were a useful time for collaboration.

I proofread various documents for staff members during the year.

Pulled books for teachers to facilitate efficiency in the library as well as identify gaps in the collection.

FUTURE GOALS

·  Serve on the campus site based team

·  Collaborate with more teachers on how the library can assist their teaching goals

·  Create a teen library advisory board

·  Use Library TV more efficiently for book trailers & announcements

·  Create a monthly student-led book club

·  Attend Library Harvest & TLA

·  Weed fantasy section

·  Weed 300s & 400s

·  Replace 300s & 400s with more current and relevant resources

·  Clean out map collection

·  Clean up records in Alexandria

o  to reflect true replacement costs in order to get a more accurate replacement cost value

o  change policies to reflect updated categories

o  change medium types

o  maintain series

o  have consistent cataloging (fix errors)

·  continue to learn more about latest version (last update) of Alexandria