School libraries, formerly a collection of books sitting statically in a building, have become high-tech spaceships designed to launch the district’s children into new intellectual territory.
“They’re the fulcrum to a lot of what we do,” said Craig Tunks, the district’s director of technology, in a presentation to the Board of Education on June 23.
“We’re finally getting to see them as the hub to other parts of our school,” he added. “We have to keep on looking at where our libraries are and where they are going.”
Mr. Tunks was joined at the meeting by librarians from East Ridge Middle School and Barlow Mountain and Branchville elementary schools, who discussed various projects they helped students with this past year.
Ranging from Civil War research to animal-themed poetry, student projects were anchored in the district’s library media centers, they said.
“We’re teaching them more than just technology skills or research skills,” Mr. Tunks said. “These are critical thinking, real life skills that they will be able to use as they grow up.”
East Ridge’s Peg Inserra testified that there was still an emphasis on books, although they were part of a more comprehensive arsenal of research tools.
The Civil War research project all seventh grade students had to complete required six sources — two of which had to be books.
“The topics that some of the students chose were really incredible,” she said. “We had music in the Civil War; women in the Civil War; photography in the Civil War…
“The project was more than just reporting on information they found in a book or on the Internet,” she added. “They really had to think about what they were trying to prove or disprove about their general topic.”
Collection review
As part of his districtwide assessment, Mr. Tunks had to put together a library collection review based on state standards that rank a school in one of three tiers — emerging, proficient, and exemplary.
Eight of the district’s libraries met the proficient standards — 15 to 20 books per pupil, 13 years or less for copyright.
The high school’s library media center was listed as emerging.
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he said. “The library at the high school had old copies of the New York Times that made their collection a little less current…
“We have to review some of our non-fiction areas and purchase some new material,” he said.
‘Weeding’
Most important to the library revamp is weeding — not the kind you do in the garden.
“Weeding is the removal of books that are out of circulation and that are also out of interest and no longer relevant,” Mr. Tunks said.
Weeding also helps create room for new books and promotes the use of electronic resources.
“The electronic resources are not a part of my evaluation,” he said.
Self-directed learning
Educators are emphasizing a “self-directed” philosophy — where students learn how to find information and learn on their own.
The district will move to “learning commons,” as opposed to the current media centers, beginning in 2015-2016.
“It’s important to remember that there is going to be a transition from the teacher in the front of the room; the teacher as the facilitator,” Mr. Tunks said. “The goal is that libraries are used to create knowledge and promote self-directed learning — that’s the philosophical difference between library media center and learning commons; they’re going to meet the evolving needs of all learners.”
Replacing Harry Potter
At the elementary level, the collaboration process has already begun, said Barlow Mountain librarian Martha Cerrato and Branchville librarian Mary Tichey-Staack.
The pair has teamed up with the library to create a volunteer book club that encourages students to engage with each other while reading a book.
While Mr. Tunks is busy weeding less relevant titles from the high school’s library, the elementary teachers have an entirely different problem on their hands — keeping popular books on the shelves and in good shape.
“We’ve had to replace Harry Potter more than three times,” said Ms. Cerrato. “It really does help when kids gain exposure to characters at this young of an age and are able to express to others what they like and don’t like about something in the story.”