YOU ARE THE KEY...
Introduction
Students today live in a challenging but exciting
world of exploding information explosion. Both within our particular
societies, and in our increasingly interdependent global society,
knowledge has rapidly become the key resource from which all other
assets are constructed. It is imperative that students become
information literate, and effective media programs are the key to
information literacy. Dynamic, student-centered library media
programs foster information literacy and lifelong learning. In this
context, school library media specialists' opportunities to construct
authentic, information-based learning experiences have never been
greater. Along with these opportunities come significantly increased
responsibilities.
If these exciting learning opportunities are to be
realized, and if the growing responsibilities of library media
specialists are to be met, then effective and efficient planning of
library media programs is a key requirement. Three basic ideas --
collaboration, leadership, and technology – support the vision of
library media programs described in Information Power: Building
Partnerships for Learning (2001, p.47). These broad concepts offer
unifying themes for planning and administration of effective,
student-centered library media programs. In this spirit, a clear and
creative vision is essential for planning and guiding strong and
vibrant programs, which ultimately serve the learning community of
students and others in our rapidly changing world. Moreover, by
embracing such a vision, library media specialists may ultimately
share the rich rewards that come from serving and living in learning
communities of active, creative, lifelong learners.
Program planning has several components, and we have
provided these as sequential steps below. We do not wish to give the
impression that program planning is a simple matter. Before beginning
it is imperative that a media specialist be thoroughly familiar with
Information Power. We also recommend A Planning Guide for Information
Power (AASL, 1999) as an essential tool in the program planning
process.
In order to meet the challenges set forth in media
centers today, program plans should address the following elements:
1. Philosophy: describe the media center’s
educational philosophy, the role of the media specialist, and the
purpose of the media center. This portion should reflect your own
philosophy of media service and mission.
2. Mission statement: Summarize and condense the
media center’s philosophy into a single action statement.
3. Evaluation: Evaluate your program against past
goals and standards.
4. Long range goals: at least 4 goals, written to
be accomplished over a 5-year span. These goals should be grounded
in Information Power. At least some of your goals should be
directly focused on moving your program from one level of
achievement to a higher level. It is acceptable to focus on a few
targets at a time. The key is to make progress every year.
5. Objectives (or short range goals): in order to
accomplish the long range goals, list component goals that can be
worked on over the next year. Some long-range goals may not be
addressed by these short-range goals. Short range goals must relate
logically to the long range goals. Goals (short and long range)
should align with your philosophy and mission statement. It may
help to think of short range goals as activities. Given your long
range goals, what activities can you conduct in one year to help you
make
progress on this goal?
6. Facilities: What changes need to be made to
improve facilities in order for your program to align more closely
with the ideas of Information Power? Include technology and
equipment in this needs assessment, if improvement is needed.
7. Budgeting Plan: What moneys does your media
program have access to? How will you divide this money to accomplish
your goals? Break the overall amount down into percentages to spend
in categories. A prominent consideration should always be collection
development. Categories may include books, periodicals, hardware,
software, equipment, personnel, special projects, etc.
8. Media Committee: Describe the role of the Media
Committee in relation to program planning. Including this
explanation in this document will distribute ownership of the Media
Program throughout the learning community, and help ensure that it
has an advisory role in important media decisions. Describe how is
it chosen, how often it meets, and the specific actions it performs.
9. A plan for planning: describe your annual review
process, to include program evaluation and strategic planning. How
will you know when your goals are met? What data will be collected?
Who decides what needs to be done, and when?
Steps in Program Planning
Step 1. Define the philosophy and mission statement
for your media center.
The Philosophy portion of a planning document
justifies the existence of the media center as a central element of a
school. It should support goals for the media program, and integrate
them within the overall school plan. Once written, the philosophy
statement can be used in many documents pertaining to media planning,
and may change little from year to year. Most important, the
Philosophy statement should harmonize with principles set forth in
Information Power. It should also reflect established vision and
goals fo the local school system and the school itself.
Two examples of a philosophy statement follow:
“The Library Media Center provides all members of
the school community with access to information, reading and
research assistance, and instruction that supports the curricula and
educational goals of our school. Integration of the Library Media
Center Program with the curricula fosters a partnership with
teachers and ensures that information skills are an integral part of
learning so that students will be able to function successfully in
the information society. The Library Media Program extends and
enhances classroom experiences and stimulates the development of a
lifelong love and appreciation of reading and learning.”
“Our philosophy for the Media Center will focus on
the integration of library media instruction with classroom
learning. Instruction will be designed to teach literacy and
information skills that meet all instructional areas. Our
collection will be chosen with care to reflect the needs of all
students and staff. Our collection will provide an abundance of
quality resources in all formats to meet a wide range of learner
abilities, developmental levels, and modalities.”
The Philosophy portion of the plan can be as long as necessary. The
next step is to condense this philosophy down into a much shorter
mission statement. The mission statement should be no longer than a
couple of sentences reflecting a broad but concise overview of the
school media center’s educational goals. Mission statements are
sometimes called “vision statements.” Two examples follow:
“The Library Media Center will develop lifelong
readers and effective users of information.”
“The mission of our Media Center is to guide,
motivate, and inspire our students toward becoming productive and
educated citizens who are effective users of technology and lifelong
readers.”
Step 2. Evaluate media program services to determine areas for
improvement, expansion, addition, or deletion.
Once the philosophy and mission are in place, the next
step is to examine the current media program and determine how well it
reflects this philosophy. The Media Committee should perform and
coordinate an annual evaluation of the media program. Aspects of the
media program to evaluate include:
-
Specific concepts expressed in the Philosophy
-
Performance on media center goals and objectives,
as laid out in previous Media Plans
-
External criteria from national, regional, state,
and local standards offer guidance in improving media programs
(such as Information Power and SACS).
Evaluation is a difficult undertaking, but many resources are
available to guide you through the process. The Media Committee
should develop or modify appropriate appraisal instruments. Input
should be sought from teachers, students, administrators, parents,
media staff, and the local community. Results should be compiled and
used to revise and develop media center goals and objectives. Data
from evaluations should be preserved from year to year as a record of
progress.
Step 3. Identify needs.
Performing an evaluation process as described in Step
2 will highlight areas where the Media Program is not meeting the
needs of the school, areas where the Media Program could contribute to
the mission of the school, and resources that are currently not
available. At this stage of the planning process, needs are not so
much missing “things” (like computers, books, etc.), but shortcomings
in important areas of the media program. For example, if standardized
tests indicate that reading scores are falling, and part of the media
center mission is to support reading achievement, then one need would
be to improve support for reading instruction.
Again, standards set forth by the local board, the
state, and SACS will offer guidance in identifying media program needs
and deficiencies. Once these service needs are identified, move on to
naming resources which would help rectify them. Make sure to consider
facilities, funding, staffing, and technology, instructional
materials, and print resources.
Step 4: Establish goals and objectives.
Information collected from media services evaluation
and needs assessment will assist the Media Committee in determining
strengths and weaknesses in the media program. This outline may help:
1. Identify problems
2. Brainstorm possible solutions
3. Evaluate possible consequences of each solution
4. Choose the best course of action.
On the basis of this information, formulate five to ten realistic
goals. Goals, also known as “long-term goals,” should be broad.
Objectives should be specific and measurable. Goals may take three to
five years to attain, while objectives can be attained within one
year. Two or more objectives should be written to meet each goal.
After establishing five to ten realistic goals, give the
administration and faculty a rough draft for their review and
comments. Make revisions as needed and disseminate again with a
summary of previous comments.
Examples:
Goal 1:
Implement an information literacy program for students and teachers
through the use of technology
Objectives:
A. Plan an information literacy program for students and teachers,
including staff development
B. Educate and assist students in acquiring information through
the use of the Internet and available software/hardware
C. Purchase software that supports school curriculum while
simultaneously encouraging information literacy
Goal 2:
Improve the media center learning environment so that it is more
conducive to constructive student activity by providing more adult
supervision and assistance
Objectives:
A. Develop a plan for recruiting volunteers, including incentives
and guidelines
B. Develop a training program for media center volunteers
C. Implement plan and assess after one year
Step 5. Place goals and objectives within a five-year rolling Media
Plan.
In generating the media plan, the media committee
should focus on the goals and objectives established in Step 4. Also,
identify an evaluation for each goal. This evaluation should answer
the question, “How will we know that this goal has been met?”
Once the courses of action have been decided upon,
they should be organized into a five year rolling plan. Evaluate and
modify the plan yearly. At the beginning of a new year, the previous
year is dropped, and the plan is revised and edited to include the new
fifth year.
This process must be continuous to be effective.
MEDIA PROGRAM PLANNING WORKSHEET
STEP ONE (Philosophy)
Philosophy:
Mission Statement:
STEP TWO (Evaluation)
|
Questions to consider |
Supporting evidence: How do you know that this is
so? |
|
What program services need improvement or
expansion?
|
|
|
What program services need to be added?
|
|
|
What program services should be deleted?
|
|
STEP THREE (Needs)
1. In what ways does the existing library media program not support
the media center philosophy?
2. In what areas are additional instructional
resources needed?
3. What instructional resources are needed to meet
these weaknesses/deficiencies?
STEP FOUR (Goals):
|
Goal/Objective
|
Goal 1
|
Goal 2
|
Goal 3
|
|
What is your long term goal? |
. |
. |
. |
|
How does this goal relate to the media center
mission? |
. |
. |
. |
|
According to your service evaluation and needs
assessment, where are you in relation to the goal? |
. |
. |
. |
|
What objectives will support your goal?(Think of
these as short-term goals.) |
a.
b.
c. |
a.
b.
c. |
a.
b.
c. |
|
What resources/personnel will be needed to
implement your objectives? |
. |
. |
. |
|
What specific problems do you anticipate? |
. |
. |
. |
|
What are possible solutions to these
problems?Which is the best alternative (given personnel, time,
resources, money, space)? |
. |
. |
. |
|
How will you measure progress toward your
objectives? How will you know when your objective is reached? |
. |
. |
. |
STEP FIVE (Rolling Media Plan)
MEDIA PLAN
________ School Year
Shade the years to which each goal/objective applies.
|
Goals/Objectives
|
Year 1
______
|
Year 2
______
|
Year 3
______
|
Year 4
______
|
Year 5
______
|
|
1a. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
1b. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
1c. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
2a. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
2b. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
2c. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
3a. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
3b. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
|
3c. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
. |
Step 6. Establish a budget.
Each year, the state provides a sum of money for each
media center based on Full Time Equivalency (FTE) counts. Your local
school system distributes this money, which is then divided into
funding categories (or “lines”). In some systems, media committees
may decide how to divide money between categories, while in others the
percentage per category is established in advance. In some systems,
“moving” money between categories is allowed. Learn as much as you can
about your local budgeting situation. Together with your media
committee, do your best to match your funding allocation to your
goals.
When establishing a budget for a media program, it is
important to focus on your previously established goals and
objectives. Allocation of funds should continue to support the
improvement of the media program including advances in technology and
changes in curriculum.
Examples of dividing budgeted funds according to the
media center’s needs may include:
|
Goal |
Planning Objective (Short-term goal) |
Budget Categories |
|
To enhance information literacy achievement among
students |
Purchase productivity software for each media
center computer so that students may create resource and
inquiry-based projects |
Software |
|
To support the curriculum |
Purchase titles to support newly adopted reading
series |
Books |
|
To improve the media center learning environment |
Replace old, heavy, squeaky chairs with new,
mobile, stackable, and quiet chairs |
Furniture |
These decisions must be discussed and approved by the
members of the media committee at your local school.
The Duties of the School Media
Committee
The school media committee addresses media concerns at
the school level and provides input to the system media committee.
Members of this committee should include an administrator, the media
specialist, a teacher representative from each grade or department, a
student representative, and a community or parent representative.
Since the role and structure of each committee is defined by learner
needs and the school’s instructional program, committee composition
may differ from school to school even within the same system.
The school media committee:
-
Develops procedures for implementing the system’s
instructional media and equipment policy.
-
Establishes media program objectives and priorities
based on instructional goals in order to develop immediate and long
range plans for the media program.
-
Assesses available media resources as related to
instructional needs and recommends priorities for media budget
proposal.
-
Participates in evaluating and modifying media
services.
-
Recommends media policy revisions.
-
Establishes procedures for the participation of the
total school community in media selection.
-
Recommends procedures that insure accessibility to
media services for all.
-
Informs the community of the procedures for formally
challenging materials used in the school and responds to those
challenges.
-
Creates and promotes procedures for copyright
awareness.
-
Assists in identifying and planning media or
technology –related staff development activities.
-
Recommends applications of technology for inclusion
in the media and instructional programs.
References
American Association of School Librarians, &
Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1998).
Information power: Building partnerships for learning. Chicago:
American Library Association.
American Association of School Librarians. (1999). A
planning guide for Information Power: Building partnerships for
learning with School Library Media Program Assessment Rubric for the
21st Century. Chicago: ALA.
Authors
|
Kristi Bearden |
Cathy Garmon |
Greg Odell |
|
Anna Burdett |
Shann Griffith |
Julie Richardson |
|
Paula Bond |
Kelly Gruhn |
Laura Ryan |
|
Lisa Campbell |
Amy Hamilton |
Suzy Searcy |
|
Eden Clark |
Buffy Hamilton |
Bonnie Smith |
|
Julie Criser-Pate |
Candice Hamilton |
Laura Smith |
|
Katie Dirr |
Heather Johnson |
Stephen Smith |
|
Vicki Dobbs |
Ann LoCicero |
Jason Thomas |
|
Mary Ann Fitzgerald |
Michelle Mercer |
Cathy Wojcik |
|
Paula Flageolle |
Karen Mobley |
|
Handbook
Foreword