Maryvale Staff/Teacher and Student Media Center User Survey Results, April 2016

In April 2016, Maryvale staff members were emailed surveys, and they were asked to share the
links to the student surveys with their classes through the students Google accounts. The
surveys were emailed to 30 staff members and to all students in grades 3, 4, and 5. These
students have individual Chromebooks and are capable of reading and answering the questions
on the surveys independently.
As of April 15, 9 staff members and 101 students had completed the surveys.
Overall results:
The overall results of the two surveys combined indicate that the collection is often inadequate to
meet the curricular needs of the students, and to meet their needs for pleasure reading as well,
and the French collection is especially lacking resources.
There is a positive view of the media specialist, she is approachable, helpful, and staff believes
that she helps the school meet instructional objectives. Students indicate that they are largely
comfortable asking for help and that they enjoy library visits.
Both the staff and student surveys provide indications or statements about inadequate staffing:
the media specialist does not have sufficient time to spend on in-depth inquiry projects, nor is
staff always available to assist student with book selection and location in the media center.
STAFF SURVEY RESULTS
The actual survey results and their implications were as follows:
Survey responses regarding the participants, the media center space, and the media
specialist:

Responding staff members were representative of all programs at the school. All of the staff and
teachers who responded and who indicated that the question was applicable to them indicated
with strongly agree or agree that:

they are comfortable using the media center

the media specialist is helpful and approachable
the media center space and materials are accessible to them
the media center space is accessible to students
the media specialist asks for input when selecting materials for the media center
the media specialist helps the school meet instructional objectives

Implication: The school teachers and staff work well with the media specialist, and feel that the
media center is accessible to the school community. There does not seem to be any issues with
working with the media specialist to select materials and with the media specialist helping the
school meet instructional objectives. There is a positive opinion of the media specialist.

Survey questions regarding the adequacy of the collection for instruction:

There were varying opinions on the adequacy of resources for instructions. Areas that were
indicated to be inadequate include:

French books in all subjects and French books to support the curriculum and research
Science and social studies content for grades 3-5
Reading, research, social studies, science, audio, and video in French
Staffing a case was made for an additional full-time media specialist so that the
curricular needs of the students with 2.0 may be met. There is insufficient time for the
media specialist to help with the inquiry projects

Implication: The responses indicate a need for collection development in the several areas,
especially in French materials. There was also a strong opinion expressed that the current
staffing level is insufficient to allow the media specialist adequate time to help with the inquiry
projects.

Best time of day for staff to find media center materials:

Staff indicated that the best time for them to use the media center to find instructional materials
is before school, with all staff responding accordingly. Second was after school with 78% of
staff, third was during lunch/recess with 55%, and 44% indicated that during specials was the
best.
Implication: This indicates that if media center staff hours need adjustment, the staff should
remain before school, as all staff indicated that this was one of the best times for them to find
materials in the media center.
Database usage:

All staff members who responded indicated that they use Tumblebooks. Other staff members
self-identified PebbleGo second, Brainpop third (this is funded by the PTA) and CultureGrams
fourth. Data from the database companies shows the usage, and these resources are heavily used,
as are many of the others including Britannica and World Book and Discovery Education.
Implication:
The electronic resources are used and valued by the teaching staff, and MCPS should fund the
most heavily utilized resources, especially those for the French immersion program where there
are fewer up-to-date print resources available.

Collaboration

Classroom teachers at Maryvale are required to collaborate with the media specialist. The staff
member who replied that he/she never collaborates is likely a non-classroom teacher. Ideally,
collaboration would take place often rather than sometimes.
Implication: This is further evidence that perhaps additional media specialist hours are
warranted.

STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS

Grade level distribution of participants

Of the 101 students responding, 61 identified as 4th graders, 19 as 5th graders, and 21 as
3rd graders.
Class visit and book exchange enjoyment

Class visits
The majority of the students responded that they enjoy (57%) or sometimes enjoy (35%)
media center class visits (for lessons). Only 7% responded that they do not enjoy class visits.
The comments section included getting more information when classes come to the
library; have more helpers in the library; and that one student likes it when he or she learns
about subjects we never learned about before. Sometimes we learn about stuff we already
know. Another student suggested having more interesting classes with more activities to make
media center learning more fun.
Implications: The majority of students enjoy media center visits at lease most of the time, but
there were indications that the material taught is not always new or interesting. Perhaps varying

the activities, trying new approaches or creating makerspaces, or surveying the students again
would be beneficial.
Book exchange visits
The majority of students enjoy visiting the media center for book exchanges, with 77%
responding yes, 19% sometimes, and only 4% responding that they do not enjoy book exchanges
In the comments section, several students mentioned that often they cannot locate books
on their own, and that the library staff is too busy to help them go to the shelves to locate the
book, so they select another book. Several also mentioned the need for additional graphic
novels. Many students mentioned the need for more materials in French, and the fact that
English kids get a selection 5 times the size of ours. One French Immersion (FI) student
suggested increasing the number of English books FI students are allowed to check out in
addition to the French materials. This student indicated a need to go to the public library since
there is a limit of only 1 English book per FI student.
Implications:
Perhaps an increase in the checkout limits of English books for French immersion students is in
order. Students mention a need for additional staffing to assist with locating books. The
inadequacy of the French collection in comparison to the collection in English is also a problem.
The collection of graphic novels should be increased to meet student demand.

Library Staffing and approachability:

Most of the students (63%) responded that there are people in the library to help them
find books, yet 29% responded sometimes, while 8% said there are not. Most of the students
(65%) responded that they are comfortable asking for help in the library, but it would be ideal to
have all students be comfortable all the time. 28% indicated that they are only sometimes
comfortable and 8% are not comfortable asking for help.
Implications: Perhaps library staffing needs an increase so that staff members are available for
readers advisory and helping students locate books during book checkout. While the majority
of the students are comfortable asking for help, there is still a significant number who are only
sometimes comfortable, and a few who are not comfortable. Additional efforts should be made
to ensure that the students know that they can always ask the media center staff for help.
However, if the students are not comfortable asking for help because the media center staff are
busy with other students or classes, it is an understaffing issue, not an approachability issue.

Learning

Half of the students indicated that they learn a lot in the library, 41% said they sometimes do,
while 9% responded negatively.
Implication: Most of the students feel that they are learning in the library. Perhaps creating
more differentiation of lessons would allow more students to learn more.

Locating books on their own

Only 54% of students indicated that they know how to find books on their own in the
library. While only 2% indicated that they cannot locate books on their own, 44% indicated that
they sometimes know how to find books on their own.
Implications: The implication of these responses is that additional lessons on how to locate
library materials is needed. The students need a refresher on the use of the library catalog, and
on where library materials are located in the media center so that the majority will be
comfortable finding materials on their own most of the time. By the middle of the school year in

3rd grade, which is the minimum grade level of participating students, the students should be able
to locate media center materials on their own.
Several students mentioned in the open-ended questions that the library needs more
signage and more staff to help with book selection and location.

Adequacy of the collection for pleasure and curricular needs

For pleasure: Only half of the students indicated that the media center has enough books they
enjoy reading for pleasure. 12% indicated a negative response, while 38% indicated sometimes.
Many students gave suggestions for expansion to the collection, providing specific genres
(graphic novels especially) series, and types (many suggested a need for addition French books).
For school work: While 57% of the students indicated that the collection is adequate for their
school needs, 10% indicated that it is not, and 33% responded sometimes.
Again, the students were very helpful with suggestions of ways to improve the collection
for doing their school work: More books about math, science, the solar system, pollution,
history, insects, American Indians, animals, and inventions. The most popular suggestions were
for math and science, and for more of everything in French.

Implications: Students are indicating that the collection is insufficient to meet their needs for
pleasure reading and for their school work. This is additional evidence that the collection needs
to be updated and enhanced.

Online resources

The students provided many useful comments and suggestions in the open-ended questions, and
the areas of the collection most mentioned as areas for improvement include:
all areas of French
science
math
graphic novels
crafts
drawing
history
writing
animals
advanced French books
Lego books
The list of suggestions needs to be evaluated to determine if the collection is, in fact, lacking in
the areas that the students identify as inadequate. If it is lacking, additional materials to support
the students requests should be added.