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3/25/2013 3:52 PM Dominican University | Graduate School of Library and Information Science LIS 773-01 - School Libraries ASSIGNMENT: VISITATIONS REPORT/ACTION PLAN Students, either individually or collectively, will create some representation that reports the visitation experiences and details the action plan item(s) for the libraries visited. Due date Your visitations report/action plan is due April 29. What to do Each student must visit two school libraries, one elementary and one secondary. Working either alone or in partnership with another or a number of other students, prepare some kind of representation of your visits based on your assessments of the school libraries visited. Your representation should reflect the following: descriptions of the librarians interviewed, descriptions of the library programs visited, summaries of the interviews conducted, recommendations for enhancing the library programs visited, and one action plan item focused on some aspect of collection development for one of the libraries visited. Each student or group of students will prepare an informal talk for class that highlights the representation. Allotted time for the talk will depend on the number of students/groups presenting. What I will look for This assignment requires you to integrate select aspects of multi-phase assessments in order to develop an informative and critical representation (including one or more action plan items) of the school library programs visited. I will look for evidence that you conducted some research in advance of your school visits, that you took time to observe the business of the libraries and librarians in action, that you prepared for and conducted semi-structured interviews with your library hosts, that during your interviews you discussed possible areas for collection development, and that you reflected critically upon your visits in making recommendations for enhancing the programs. Your visitations report/action plan will receive up to 20 points based on the following rubric:
Descriptions 4 Exemplary 3 Outstanding 2 Effective 1 Marginal 0 Interviews Recommendations Action Plan Presentation

Rich but concise; multi- Evocative of experience; Realistic but edgy; dimensional; critical; selective; integrated forward-looking; reflective proactive Sufficient in detail; multi-dimensional; critical; reflective Sufficient in detail; multi-dimensional; documentary Lacking in detail; one-dimensional; minimally rendered Reflective of experience; Realistic; practical; selective; integrated limited in scope; proactive Evidentiary only; Realistic; practical; selective; not integrated limited in scope; reactive

Fully detailed; realistic; Artful; well-formatted professional; complete Well detailed; realistic; Well-organized; well-formatted professional; complete Reasonably well detailed; realistic; formatted Organized; professional; incomplete Unorganized; difficult to follow; incomplete

Sketchy rather than Impractical; ungrounded; Lacking in detail; selective; not integrated lacking impact ungrounded; poorly rendered

Wholly lacking merit, or completely non-existent.

PREPARING FOR YOUR VISITS You will report on visits to two school libraries. One should be an elementary library (PK-5 or K-8) and one should be a secondary library (6-8 or 9-12). If you work in a school, you may report on the school library at your school, if you wish. Otherwise, target schools of your choosing and contact the librarians to request time to ask them some questions about their programs and to observe them in action. Be mindful of the potentially hectic schedules in school libraries, but negotiate for a specific, sufficient amount of time, perhaps an hour or longer. Let your host know that you would like some factual data about the library, such as hours, staffing, scheduling, budget, collection statistics, technology presence, student population, learning community , etc. Explain that in the interview you will ask their suggestions for areas of the collection that you might examine for targeted development. If you are successful in arranging times, thank them, and honor your appointments. (You might also ask where you should park, enter the school, and sign in.) Prior to your appointments, conduct some research on the media centers you will visit. Check out the schools Web sites, the libraries Web sites, and the schools report cards before you conduct the interviews. For school report cards, use either or both of the following sites: http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getProfileSearchCriteria.aspx http://iirc.niu.edu/

Prepare for your interview by scouring the following questions. You want to conduct a semi-structured interview, which means you want to discuss some specific areas of library management, but you do not want to be too rigid about it. The conversation should target the areas you want to cover but should also flow. The best way to prepare for such an interview is to know a lot more questions than you will actually ask in the interview. In that way, if your interviewee seems determined to broach a topic, you will have equipped yourself to follow. Conversely, if your interviewee seems determined to avoid a topic, you will have equipped yourself to branch into a different topic. The following questions are by no means exhaustive, but they should provide you the inspiration you need to develop a structure for your interviews. Adapt them as you will. Information Access and Delivery o o o o o o o o o o o o What automation system do you use? Did you help choose it? What do you like and not like about it? How frequently do you weed and conduct inventory? What is your circulation policy for materials? What role do print resources play in the age of the Internet and online resources? Do subscription databases come out of your library budget, or does the school, the district, or some other source provide them? Does your collection contain multilingual resources? If so, how do you select, organize, market, and use them? Do you involve faculty, administrators, or students in selecting materials? Does your collection include access to e-books? How are you managing them? How do you collaborate with teachers? Will you describe one collaborative project you developed with another teacher? What went well? What would you change? What impact are the Common Core State Standards having on your relationship with teachers? Do you use ISAIL? How do you teach library/information literacy skills? Do you have a research/information search process model? If so, which one do you use? Is it used school wide?

Teaching and Learning

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What is your relationship with technology? Are you responsible for teaching technology skills? Are you responsible for computer maintenance? What are some challenging collegial experiences in this position? How do you attract reluctant readers to the library? Do you offer any reading incentives? What was one of your most challenging classroom management situations, and how did you deal with it? What is your relationship with your school administration? What special programming do you do? Have you presented during staff development? What was the focus of your presentation? How did you petition for time to present staff development? Do you have a public relations/advocacy program or practice? Do you have a friends group, or an advisory board? What is your relationship with your local public library? What is your relationship with other schools in your district? Does your library have a vision and/or mission? Who developed it, and how does it guide your management of the library? Does your library have a selection policy? How has it guided your management of the library? Does your library, or does the school or district, have an acceptable use policy? How does it guide your management of the library? Does your library, or does the school or district, have a social media policy? Do students have open, or filtered, access to the Internet and to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter? Are you responsible for equipment in your building projectors, whiteboards, etc.? Who determines your budget? How do you allocate funds? Do you have sources for funding outside the budget? [ You do NOT need to know specific numbers.] What kinds of statistics do you keep? [Obtain any statistics that you can. You can use those as a guide in your Linking for Learning presentation.] Do your statistics impact funding, staffing, or spending? Have you ever done a school board presentation? If so, what did you do, and how did it go? Does the administration require you to teach outside the core function of the library? What support staff do you have? Does the administration require the staff to work outside the core function of the library? What type of scheduling do you have? Fixed, flexible, mixed, block? How/Where do you spend most of your time? What consumes your day? What role does the library media program/staff play in the curriculum of the school? What kinds of decisions can you make on your own? What decisions must others review?

Communication

Administration

o Are you involved in a mentoring or teacher induction program? Miscellaneous o o o o What are the most important student issues you, or the school, or the learning community need to address? What do you wish you had known before taking this job? What was your best preparation for this job? What classes were most helpful in providing a foundation for your career as a school librarian? What other training? Page 3 of 5 | VISITATIONS REPORT / ACTION PLAN

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What is one goal that you have for next year for the library? What is your greatest professional challenge? What advice can you give me as a new school librarian?

CONDUCTING YOUR VISITS Please honor your appointments. Plan to arrive at the school early enough to find parking, find the main office, and sign in.

Interviewing Consider recording the interview. If that is not possible, take brief notes, but do not try to capture everything word for word. You should focus your attention as much as possible on your interviewee. Trying to take detailed notes will become tedious for you and for your interviewee. Ask for statistics, annual reports, monthly reports, marketing brochures, or any other printed material that might inform your assessment of the programs. Consider extending your visit if you are comfortable, wish to stay longer, and can afford the time. Ask if you can shadow the librarian for a day or half day. Observing Ask if you can visually record your visit. Photographs may help you tell your story. Be mindful when taking pictures of children, however. Taking and displaying photographs of anyone, particularly of children, without permission is legally and ethically slippery. Lurk for a while and watch how the media specialist and support staff interact with users, and how users make use of the space. Soak it up. Take a few field notes. Explore the space yourself and note what fascinates you, what puzzles you, and what you might do differently if it were your space to manage.

REPORTING YOUR VISITS AND ACTION PLAN(S) Either by yourself or with another or other students, craft a representation of some kind that describes your visits and makes recommendations for enhancing the programs you visited. Include in the representation the action plan item for developing the collection in one of the libraries you visited. In order to do justice to a representation of your visits, you must be selective in what you choose to report, and you must integrate details from a number of sources into a unified, cohesive, and interesting story. Include the following elements in your representation: [ ] Descriptions / Interviews Use the data you collected before your trip and from your interviews and observations to tell the story of your visits in a visual and critical way. Include descriptions/depictions of the schools and library spaces you visited as well as the librarians you talked with. Make any interview data apparent as such. Reflect critically upon your visits. Depict your overall impression of the library programs within the contexts of the learning communities the librarians serve.

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[ ] Recommendations Include recommendations for each of the spaces you visited. What recommendations would you make to improve the library and why? What would you recommend keeping as is, adjusting, or doing away with altogether? What actions would you take if you found yourself in the librarians position in the next school year to improve the library? If you found yourself in a position to consult with the librarian, what would you suggest that would make the library more successful? [ ] Action Plan Develop an action plan item (rather than an entire action plan!) to address a specific and narrow area of collection development in one of the libraries you visit. Tie the action you propose to real budget figures that you gather from your interview (if possible), and relate the action you propose to the librarys mission (if there is one.) Include a graphical representation of your action plan item, such as a table or chart, that includes all the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. The objective(s) of the collection development. Tasks that need to be done to accomplish the objective(s). Resources needed to accomplish the objective(s). Person(s) responsible for accomplishing the objective(s). Timeframe(s) required to accomplish the objective(s). Funding required to accomplish the objective(s). Potential problems or obstacles that might prevent the accomplishment of the objective(s).

PRESENTING THE REPORT Your representation should inform an oral report that you will make in class. Use whatever means you deem appropriate to tell the story of your visits in the time allotted. After all individuals and groups have reported out, we will have a lively discussion of what we all will take away from the visits and the reports.

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