C.T.

Walker Media Program Mission Statement

The Mission of C.T. Walker Media Program is to support the educators
of our school by providing resources; to assist members of the learning
community in becoming effective users of information and to foster the
love of reading.

The C.T. Walker Magnet School media program mission statement is

brief and quite vague. The purpose is stated as supporting the
educators of the school by providing resources, assisting members of
the learning community in becoming effective users of information,
and fostering the love of reading. This mission statement shows the
school librarian more as support staff than as a teacher leader. It
addresses the need to provide access to information for the learning
community, which would include students and teachers, but does not
support going beyond that learning community. It also makes no
mention of ensuring access to materials outside of the physical library,
such as digital resources. This mission statement does not address the
need to provide a climate conducive to learning and is lacking a
welcoming tone.
Restating the mission statement to be more comprehensive would
present the media program in a more positive light. The mission
statement is not negative but does not feel thoughtful. Suggestions for
creating a more effective mission statement would be to mention
collaboration with other educators as one of the purposes of the library.
Ensuring the reader that the library is a safe environment for all
students would improve the image of the library. In The Indispensable
Librarian, Doug Johnson says that the library above all else creates a
program that serves students who are diverse-socially, economically,
culturally, and academically. This is perhaps the most important part
of the mission statement. If the students do not feel welcome or safe
they will avoid the library; this would be detrimental to the media
program.

A suggestion for a new mission statement is as follows:

The mission of the C.T. Walker Magnet School media program is to
provide a safe and welcoming environment for all learners to access
information from a variety of media sources. The teacher librarian will
collaborate with other educators to provide enriching instruction to
students. The teacher librarian will also provide support for information
access and technologies to all learning community members.