Professional Philosophy

School library media programs play a large part in the achievement of students and
educators. The program must be managed, maintained, and analyzed to determine whether or not
it is meeting its full potential in regards to helping the school achieve student learning. The
media program should be used by all members of the school community in order to reach the full
achievement of the learning goals. The media center must also be a place where students can
research, learn, complete group projects, and use STEM activities. Educators must also be able to
comfortably use this space for expanding their own classrooms, and collaborating with the media
specialist to find materials for his/her classroom.

There are several ways in which I could establish a library media center environment that
promotes intellectual freedom. I agree completely with Jole Seroff, when it was mentioned that
unfiltered access sends the powerful message that our institution values free access to
information and trusts educators to help students make good choices (Seroff, 2015). Adults and
children take notice in regards to whether they are in a positive or negative environment; making
it my goal to reach the most positive environment possible for my media center. Instead of using
the filtering system that is currently set up in our school, which blocks pages with certain words
and YouTube, I would discontinue all usage of filtering systems. Just because there may be an
issue regarding a child and the misuse of resources, does not mean that the other children, and
adults for that matter, should be punished. I also believe that resources whether in physical
format or online, should be available to students. As the media specialist, I make sure that there
were enough sources of technology that students could use to access the information that they
needed. Stripling states that Equitable access to resources, whether they are situated in a
physical library or online, is fundamental to a culture of intellectual freedom (Stripling, 2015). I
will also stay up to date with the ever changing demographics of Glennville Elementary School,
especially in regards to our growing Hispanic population, to ensure that there are equal resources
pertaining to interest and beliefs. I will also curate a wide assortment of resources to be available
for students to use at school or at home.
 References:

Seroff, J. (2015). Developing a Curriculum in Intellectual Freedom. Knowledge Quest, 44(1),

20-24.

Stripling, B. K. (2015) Creating a Culture of Intellectual Freedom Through Leadership and

Advocacy. Knowledge Quest 44(1), 14-19