Evaluation Plan to Improve our Reference Collection

The following evaluation plan document will be shared with my administration at my current school as well as with our Wye School Library Learning Commons Leadership Committee.

Background
Wye Elementary School is currently going through a massive transition within Elk Island Public Schools.  Since August 2018, construction has begun for a new school to replace Wye Elementary.  At the March 14, 2019 public board meeting, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) approved the new name for Wye Replacement School.  The new name will be Heritage Hills Elementary.  In addition to a new name, EIPS has also decided this new elementary school will be a dual track school consisting of English and French Immersion.  The current occupancy date set for Heritage Hills Elementary is September 2020.  In preparation for the relocation, it is imperative a comprehensive evaluation plan is in place for our entire library collection including the reference collection.  The evaluation plan will include evaluation of our current collection to determine any necessary weeding that needs to take place as well as evaluating acquisitions that are needed to enhance our reference collection.  Our acquisition of French resources will be entirely new as we are not currently a French Immersion school.  We need to ensure our collection is up to date, relevant and meets the needs of all students as we open a new building within the Heritage Hills community. 

Evaluation of Current Collection
Empowering Learners (2009) states the library media program should provide, "a well-developed collection of books, periodicals and non-print materials in a variety of formats that support curricular topics and are suited to inquiry learning and the user's needs and interests" (p. 38).  

Wye Elementary School's current collection of the reference resource section is limited.  We currently have 23 titles in this section.  The majority of this section consists of atlases which when using the Evaluating Reference Resource Checklist would indicate they should all be weeded.  In addition to atlases, Wye School holds 3 different Kingfisher encyclopedias.  These include the animal encyclopedia, history encyclopedia and the geography encyclopedia.  The remainder of the reference resource section includes resources relating to Alberta and Strathcona County history.  Although these resources are old in nature they do provide historical information currently not available any other way.  From this evaluation, we know the atlases will need to be weeded and additional resources should be considered to enhance our collection.  In addition, French materials will need to be explored. 

Plan
According to Riedling (2013), our primary consideration regardless of format for reference materials is providing "easy access to a high-quality collection" (p. 17).  This is the start of a 2 year plan to increase the reference resources available for our students.  

2019-2020 School Year

• During the 2019-2020 school year, staff will be continuously updated on reference collection acquisition and possibilities.  they will be asked to continuously share their thoughts on what they would like to see in the reference collection.  This information will be communicated in our school weekly as well as at staff meetings.  There will also be an ongoing Google sheet available which includes reference material acquisition possibilities with two sheets - one for English materials and one for French materials. 
• Continue to weed collection in preparation for move to new school using Table 2.1:General guidelines for replacing reference materials located within Reference Sills for the School Librarian by Reidling (p. 24, 2013).  If resources do not meet these guidelines or are damaged these resources will be pulled from current collection.  Once item is weeded from collection, in consultation with Library Learning Commons Leadership Committee, it will be determined if resource can be used to support classroom library collections or be completely discarded.  
• Research and collaborate with staff on the best use of the following resources - atlases, dictionaries and thesauruses.  How many should we purchase?  Where should they be housed?  In the Library Learning Commons?  In the book room?  A few copies in each classroom?  Decide on this process and have it written down in our School Wide Literacy Plan so all staff know where these resources will be located once purchased.  
• Ensure constant communication with our district literacy consultants and the second language consultant on resources available to build our reference collection. 
• Meet with literacy lead teacher and library technician at French Immersion schools within our district to see how they have been supporting their reference collection.  
• Once occupancy date has been set, purchase new collection to be shipped to Heritage Hills Elementary.  This includes reviewing the Reference Resources Acquisition sheet. 

2020-2021 School Year

• At the beginning of the 2020 school year, all staff will partake in a library orientation of the new space.  This will either happen during one of our operational days or within the first few days as an after school meeting.  This orientation is to familiarize all staff of the new Library Learning Commons space including the reference collection.  This orientation will also include a tour of the book room where we house additional literacy materials.  
• From here, staff will be asked to join the new Heritage Hills Elementary Library Learning Commons Leadership Committee to include both English and French teachers.  This new committee will use the Leading Learning Framework (2014) to develop a Learning Commons vision for our new space and ensure we are looking at each standard.
• Within the first few weeks of school, all students will partake in a library orientation of the new space.  The will include orientation of our reference collection.
• Throughout the school year, continue to work on collection acquisition to support the new space. 

Considerations

• Although budget needs to be considered, we are in a unique situation as we will have some additional dollars available to support the Learning Commons and reference section for the 2019-2020 school year and additionally for the 2020-2021 school year due to new school funds. 
• Some of the current limitations on building our reference collection is the relocation of Wye Elementary.  The overall vision of the new Heritage Hills Elementary is to have the most up to date materials and resources available.  Purchasing too many resources now already ensures the publication date is later than if we wait another year to buy.  Additionally, purchasing resources now means all stamps and bar codes will have Wye Elementary School rather than Heritage Hills Elementary.  We have not received our 4 digit Alberta School code yet for Heritage Hills Elementary so we are unable to order bar codes.  
• Since Elk Island Public Schools already has many databases available through the Online Reference Centre, no additional database subscriptions will be purchased during the 2019-2020 school year.  During this time, if a recommendation is made then every effort will be made to see if we can at least get a trial offer to test.  Any additional purchases will only be considered for the beginning of the 2020 school year and beyond. 
• It is essential whenever possible to purchase the same resource in both English and French if it meets the needs and criteria.  This is to guarantee equal access to resources for all students within Heritage Hills Elementary.  

Individuals Involved 

Administration - Principal and Assistant Principal 

Teacher Librarian

School Staff

Literacy and Second Language Consultants

French Immersion Lead Literacy Teachers

Library Technician Cohort including District Library Technician

It is imperative that over the next 12 months we continue to update and modernize all aspects of our collection including our reference area to ensure we can adequately meet the needs of our current population as well as the increased number of students who will be attending Heritage Hills Elementary in 2020.  We will continue to research and purchase additional reference materials to meet the needs of our French Immersion students who will also be attending in Fall 2020.  In order to maximize the usage and enhance student learning, proper orientation of the new space, proper way finding and reader's advisory are all factors which need to be considered.  The overall success of our plan will not fully come to fruition until we are in our new space and are able to see our students using the reference materials to enhance their learning.  

References 

AASL.  Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs.  Chicago:  AASL, 2009.  

EIPS Board Approves Name for Replacement School in Heritage Hills. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.eips.ca/about-us/whats-new/post/eips-board-approves-name-for-replacement-school-in-heritage-hill

Riedling, A., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013).  Reference skills for the school librarian(3rd ed.).  Santa Barbara, California: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. 

Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada. (2014). Retrieved from https://apsds.org/wp-content/uploads/Standards-of-Practice-for-SchoolLibrary-Learning-Commons-in-Canada-2014.pdf

Digging Deeper into Reference Materials

As LIBE 467 comes to a close, my learning about reference materials has increased exponentially throughout the course.  There are so many aspects of reference materials which I did not know about.  I also learned how reference materials and services apply to learning in the Learning Commons.  When I look back on my own years of schooling in elementary and secondary school, the main reference material that was used was the encyclopedia.  As I entered university and was required to do more research, that is when I was exposed to more databases and periodicals.  I look at my first experiences at the university library and feeling completely overwhelmed of not knowing where to start or even who to ask.  Thinking back to that time, makes me realize even more the importance of having teacher librarians in elementary and secondary schools to help students develop the skills and confidence to effectively navigate the reference materials available.  Throughout university, the internet started to emerge as an additional resource for students to use.  Our students now have to have even more advanced skills to navigate the endless amount of resources at their fingertips.  

Throughout this blog post, I will reflect and share some of reference materials which I tried to dig deeper into and how they may apply to my specific school situation.  I will also share some reflections on what I learned and want to learn more about. 

I had never heard of OER Commons before this course.  The idea of a free online library of educational materials for teachers sounded very appealing.  Unfortunately after just a few basic searches, I became disappointed. I went under the STEM resources and went to look for different STEM text sets. The most recent searches that came up were dated 2012 and 2013.  Although the resources were about Building Text Sets , I find this very old and am probably more likely to find better text sets and information regarding curating text sets through reading popular blog posts or even through Twitter or Pinterest. 

Maybe I do not fully understand the possibilities of the OER Commons and this is an area I need to explore further.  if any of my readers have any additional suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.  Additionally, I found the same with Listservs.  In a previous course, I had to take information found from a Listserv and post it.  The Listserv did not seem very well used, difficult to navigate and was not updated often.  Again, I wonder if individuals are looking elsewhere to obtain the information such as more common platforms like Facebook Groups, Twitter, Pinterest and blog posts.  

I spent some time looking at The Children's Literature Web Guide.  There is some great information in some areas such as Authors on the Web, but again you can tell this site is older and not updated regularly.  

The Deep and Dark web are areas I had never really been exposed to or thought about until this course.  I feel like I have a better understanding thanks to the information shared on Dark Web News.  I found the article Deep Web: What is it and how to access it?  The Ultimate Guide  very beneficial in helping me learn more.  I do wonder how best to explain this information to elementary students or even if it is necessary.  Maybe it is something to explore with upper division two students.  This is an area which I feel requires more reflection on my part. 

Being a grade one teacher in the classroom for many years, I was exposed to some databases, online encyclopedias and reference materials which were specific to that grade level through our Online Reference Centre on the Learn Alberta site.  However, being in a Teacher Librarian position this year has expanded my use of this site and my experiences in using databases to become more familiar in what is available for our students.  In Alberta, the Online Reference Centre is where databases are accessed for all schools.  After speaking with Aaron our course instructor during one of our hangouts, he suggested that some schools supplement these types of features by purchasing a specific school license.  I found this very intriguing as I had never thought about doing this before.  Since a grade group at my school was looking at learning more about biographies, I decided to look into the Gale - Biography in Context.  I was able to get a free 30 day trial.  Although there is a lot of information on this site and seems to be kept very current in biography content, it was not a good fit for our elementary students.  The reading level was too high as well as it does not offer the ability to read it to them.  I would recommend it for junior high or older. 

A reference resource recommended throughout this course was Culture Grams.  This resource is available through our Online Reference Centre and I have shared this with a few classes within my school.  A feature which I really appreciate on this database is the Kids Edition.  The Kids Edition reads to the student.  As mentioned earlier, this is often a deciding factor in trying to convince a teacher in my building to use the resource.  

An aspect of databases which I never considered until this course was looking into what was offered from my public library.  In Strathcona County all residents can get a library card for free.  This is a great way for students to access additional databases.  I will consider highlighting Strathcona County Library's features more in the future.  On the public library page, they have a complete section devoted to research.  This section has online journals, databases and encyclopedias.  When I narrowed the search to just Kids, the available choices were limited but it did however offer some which we do not have at school that many students might find beneficial.  My personal favourite was World Book Kids.

An area from this course which I feel I have focused on more than any other area since taking over as Teacher Librarian, is having my students use the school library catalog.  A feature discussed in this course is the ability for students to use the school library catalog as a starting point for bibliographies.  Prior to me taking on this new role, students at my school had never logged into the school library catalog or even knew the features and possibilities.  I have worked hard with each grade level to introduce them to the school library catalog and how to use the information available to support their learning.  I have even done a Breakout EDU with classes focused on them using the school library catalog to solve various challenges.  

Atlases were an area of interest to me and I explored this in Assignment 1.  However, I think Google Earth has an abundance of possibilities which are not being used effectively by many teachers and teacher librarians.  Five years ago, I attended a Google Summit session on Google Earth and I left the session in 'aw' with the information available on one site.  Since then, Google just continues to improve its features.  Most recently, Google released, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Although this is in its infancy stages, I think the concept and ideas gets to the heart of Riedling (2013) saying how stimulating geographic materials are for the imaginative mind (p. 84).  I would like to explore more lessons with my students using Google Earth to share with them the capabilities.  

This course has opened my eyes on the vastness of reference services and materials available for the Library Learning Commons.  Although I have learned about many different services and materials, I feel like I have really only scratched the surface on what is out there.  There seems to be an abundance and that is the most difficult part in narrowing down what to offer to students in a way to not overwhelm them.  Even though there is an abundance, I do feel there are limited reference materials available for elementary students.  From Riedling (2013) many factors have to be considered when evaluating a resource - this includes the format, ease of use and accessibility.  Many resources available are too difficult for my audience which hinders their ease of use and accessibility.  As I prepare for Assignment 3 and continue building our school's reference collection this will be something I will continue to keep at the forefront of my mind.  I will continue to look at ways to try out different reference materials before purchasing by asking for free trials or previews.  I hope to also continue to utilize social media and Facebook groups to ask others for recommendations before purchasing.  Digging deeper into reference materials has opened my eyes to the possibilities in the Library Learning Commons. 


References:

Cuthrell, S. Deep Web What is it & how to access it (Ultimate Guide 2019). Retrieved from https://darkwebnews.com/deep-web/

Google Earth. (2019). Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego? [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRMplV9SpA

Google for Education. (2018). EDU in 90: google Earth in the Classroom [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWq8nhocU5M

Google for Education. (2019). EDU in 90: Innovate with Google Earth [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrJy8ectHNc

Riedling, A., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013).  Reference skills for the school librarian(3rd ed.).  Santa Barbara, California: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC. 

Managing and Evaluating Reference Services

From the beginning of this course, I have been looking at the reference section in our library.  Is it functional? Is it up to date? Are students using it? What is its purpose? What needs to be weeded? Why do we have a reference section in elementary?  Are there better resources? The list of questions seems to go on and on.

As much of the information over the past few weeks shared has been connected to policy and various guidelines some of which are directly connected to British Columbia, I decided that I needed to dig further into my Alberta Education curriculum to see what I could find relating to Learning Commons and reference services and materials.  

Alberta however is going through some major transitions right now.  We are on the horizon of adopting a new K-4 curriculum for optional implementation in September 2019, but our Alberta Education website is also slowing moving over to a different web format so resources can also be difficult to locate.  

I was able to come across this Learning Commons Policy and Guidelines.  I found the policy and guidelines very interesting as some aspects were directly related to the importance of reference sources and services.  Most notably ensuring students have access to quality resources in both digital and print to address all student learning needs (Alberta Education, 2014).

Learning Commons Policy and Guidelines

To meet and address the student learning needs, the Library Learning Commons must have the materials available to meet the curious and intrigued minds of our students.  Our advances in society are made through the curiosity of individuals. The library can provide that starting point for our students to seek out information, answer their inquiry questions and challenge their thinking.  From much of the reading through this theme, a recurring thought came through for me and that was the importance of relationships.

The teacher librarian must develop effective relationships with all stakeholders.  Reidling, Shake and Houston (2013) share about the importance of reference interviews and how the “reference interview still involves human relations, communications and interaction with the student” (p. 105).  If we as teacher librarians do not have those relationships with students they will not feel comfortable approaching us with their questions for research projects or reader’s advisory. The same is true for the educators we work with.  Building those relationships with our colleagues is key to the success of the Library Learning Commons.

I found the role of the teacher librarian information in module 6 very interesting as my school district does not have a job description currently for teacher librarians.  As my school is the only one currently with a teacher librarian role we are currently creating this job description. I look forward to sharing this with my current administration. My administration has been very involved in learning more about Library Learning Commons and how to effectively support all students in our school to provide equal access. After last year’s creation of a Library Learning Commons Leadership Committee, my administration decided to put a greater focus on budget allocations.  My administration even put budget lines in for fiction and non-fiction. Again this is where relationships is so key in managing and evaluating reference sources and materials. The more involved you can get your administration in the Library Learning Commons, the more they will understand the need for certain resources or also the cost in attaining some resources.  Open communication and sharing of information about the Library Learning Commons is key.

After working through Assignment 1, I realized how much more work is required in our Library Learning Commons.  Since I started my position in September, I have worked hard to continually weed the collection mostly just based on age alone.  I have also spent a tremendous amount of time with our First Nations, Metis and Inuit consultant reviewing our resources in this area to ensure appropriate information.  As my school gets closer to moving into our new location, I know more time will have to be devoted to collection development as we will be focused on what needs to be weeded as well as what will need to be purchased in our new location.  

Finally, when evaluating reference services, I feel the biggest challenge or hurdle to overcome in my building right now is the continuation of building relationships.  There are many teachers in my building who are utilizing the services I can provide such as working with students on information literacy, how to access our digital resources, how to find resources in our library though using the OPAC system. Teachers are also feeling more comfortable with asking me to pull resources based on what they are currently teaching.  However, I still have teachers in the building who have not accessed any services that I can provide. I know this is an area I need to continue to work on and look forward to talking with my administration on how we can evaluate the success of whether having a teacher librarian this school year enhanced the Library Learning Commons.

References

Learning Commons Policy and Guidelines. (2014). Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/learning-commons/learning-commons/

Riedling, A., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013). Reference skills for the school librarian(3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, California: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Library Learning Commons Website

This week has required a lot of discussion with my administration regarding my final vision project.  I was also thankful for the Google hangout on Tuesday to continue to formulate the audience and rationale.

As a school district we already have a school web page.  On this school web page, each teacher has a section called an e-teacher page.  This is a spot where teachers communicate with parents, share events, etc. From last week’s post, I have been playing with the idea of creating a web page for the Library Learning Commons.  Since we already have an e-teacher section on the school website, I thought about possibly using this instead of creating an entirely new webpage. However, after speaking with teachers and administration this may not be the best approach since it does not allow all the functions I would like to include on the website as I continue to expand the Library Learning Commons site.  So instead, we have decided that we will put the link on the e-teacher page as well as on the school website to connect the audience to the resource I create.

The website idea came about because the Teacher Librarian position is new at my school.  The students, teachers and parents are excited as to the potential of having a Teacher Librarian but they do not know all the supports I can actually provide.  My hope is a library website will be a new and positive avenue to help clarify the services and opportunities that a Library Learning Commons and Teacher Librarian can provide.  In addition, I hope this website will be a form of promotion of the fantastic resources and materials available in our Library Learning Commons. We have already made several changes to our Library Learning Commons this year and we know  communication is essential more than ever at this time to support this new direction. As I am thinking of what this website will look like I have to remind myself it is a working document and it will always be undergoing continuous change and revisions based on the feedback I receive from all stakeholders.

My final vision for this project is a website with three different pages. One page for students, one page for teachers and even possibly one page for parents.  Since a Learning Commons website is completely new in my district, I feel the possibilities are actually endless. I am feeling very overwhelmed as I want it to look very polished but I have to remind myself it is just in the infant stages.  As we evolve as a district in this area I look forward to receiving feedback from my colleagues as to how my web page can improve. Below are my beginning brainstorming ideas using Popplet about what each page may contain. If you have any additional thoughts or suggestions, please share in the comment section.

Ideas! Ideas! Ideas!

When this course first started back in September and I took a look at the Vision of the Future project, I truly didn’t have many ideas.  I was just starting out in my new position as a teacher librarian and really didn’t know what I was in for entirely.

Now, two months of school have passed.  The ideas on how I would love to move our Library Learning Commons forward have grown exponentially.  This has happened from the numerous blog posts I have read in this course over the past few months. The ideas have also continued to grow because I have increased the number of individuals in my professional learning network who are teacher librarians and media specialists.  Additionally, the ideas have also continued to come based on conversations with my colleagues, administration and parents as they are sharing some of their thoughts and ideas with me. I am excited about the enthusiasm that has been shared with me from my colleagues, administration and parents as this has helped create a positive atmosphere in the school about the Library Learning Commons.

However, with all the ideas which have come forward I am also feeling the pressure of the ever growing to-do list.  I want to continue to move our Library Learning Commons forward using the Leading Learning - Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada but this then makes an endless list of to-do tasks.  The ideas shared in the blog posts from this course on creating a culture of literacy provided an endless amount of opportunities which are far too many to try in one year.  The ideas shared even in my own school community have created so much potential but a to-do list which couldn’t even be completed if I worked 18 hours a day.  

My hope in my final vision project is to start to compile some of the ideas which have come forward and create a one-stop shop for a variety of stakeholders.  My initial thoughts include creating a Symbaloo, a shared Google drive or even a website. My vision for this final project is creating something that is continually evolving to meet the needs of my school community and something that is easily updated, adapted and changed if necessary.  

I would like my Final Vision Project to somehow address the following goals if possible:

I am excited about where this Final Vision Project may lead and the opportunities it will possibly provide. 

Leading Learning – Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada. (2018). Retrieved from http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/

Learning Journey

This phase of blog posts provided ample opportunity for research and reflection.  I found I was very comfortable writing about creating a culture of literacy and professional learning communities. These two topics are passions of mine and I enjoy researching and learning more about them both. Creating a culture of literacy posts were the most relevant posts for my current situation as this is an area my school is currently putting a lot of attention towards this school year.  I enjoyed reading how other schools and libraries are promoting literacy. Through my own exploration and the explorations of others in the class, I continued to learn more about the role of a Teacher Librarian. The role of a Teacher Librarian is multifaceted. Teacher Librarians might be called on to do a variety of roles in our schools. We also have to be flexible in our own learning to accommodate the educators and students in our buildings.  With these multifaceted roles it also became clear from the variety of posts the role of the Teacher Librarian continues to evolve. It will continue to evolve as we experience curriculum changes and budget constraints. Our students and colleagues come to school with a variety of different skills and we must adjust to meet their demands.

The specific module which resonated with me that requires some additional professional knowledge is the subject of World Libraries.  This is an area I had never explored until Module 8. I found reading some of my peers’ posts very interesting and educational. It was interesting to view how my colleagues support different literacy organizations based on their school, church and community involvements.  I feel this is an area in which I have to explore further and continue to educate myself about. The other aspect in Module 8 regarding the use of mobile devices is something which also has never been a concern in my current educational setting. I am very fortunate to work and live in a very affluent area where the lack of access to devices or internet has never been a concern for our school or students.  The concerns in my school are about using devices effectively to maximize student learning. My school is 1:1 at all grade levels and is well supported by infrastructure.

My top 3 takeaways are:

READ, READ, READ
To foster a reading culture in schools, you need to be a reader as well.  This includes reading picture books, non-fiction, novels and professional books around literacy.  If you know books, authors and the research, you will be better equipped to have conversations with everyone in your building - staff, students, administration and parents.  

Share your Enthusiasm

This applies to fostering a culture of reading in schools as well as professional development.  Share your enthusiasm for literacy and learning with anyone who will listen. Your enthusiasm toward certain ICT skills and pedagogy and your willingness to learn will help set the stage when talking to your colleagues. It can become contagious and will undoubtedly assist us in creating a learning culture.

Be Kind to Yourself

After reflecting on these past four weeks. One thing that continued to surface was the abundance of resources, materials and ideas available.  There are many different ways to foster a reading culture, develop your ICT skills and build professional communities. With the abundance it can feel overwhelming.  You will want to try everything. Some things you will try and it will work out great. Other activities will not go as planned. At the end of the day, it is more about the willingness to try, experiment and continue to grow while still being kind to yourself and know you are doing the best you can.