Library Media Tech Talk

Back in 2015, I decided to pursue an ALA-accredited MS in Library Science from the University of North Texas. I already have an MS in school librarianship, but I wanted to expand my opportunities and knowledge beyond my public school career. After working on the second degree in librarianship part-time at UNT for five years, it finally came to completion this spring.  I decided to do a study of Arkansas' school library budgets as a major research project for a two-semester seminar class. Since 2009, I've read articles about how numerous library budgets and staff have experienced major cuts in all types of libraries. For the blog this month, I want to share highlights from my final paper and a link to the full document for those that want to read it. I also want to thank the 109 participants in my survey instrument from the membership of the Arkansas Association of Instructional Media (AAIM) for making this study possible! Below are the highlights from the research paper. Y...

I have always loved the music of Elvis Presley. When I was a child, my parents frequently played Elvis records at our home. This music was a major influence on me when I became a musician as a teenager. From a library and programming perspective, Elvis is an important artist to share with the entire learning community since his influence made rock and roll music popular on an international scale. A Spontaneous Idea Hits Big Several years ago in January, we decided to put on an "Elvis Week" program in the library when I was the Jr. High librarian at Lakeside. I remember it being a success since most learners didn't really know much about Elvis (other than recognizing his image and some of his music). I have been wanting to bring this program back but wasn't sure how our high school learners would respond. We brainstormed the idea for this January (as a way to celebrate his birthday). We decided to have an Elvis "lip curl" photo activity. We thought ...

Our administrative team witnessed our first International Mystery Hangout earlier this year. As a result of seeing the high level of student engagement, they began to brainstorm how the activity could be spread to our other schools in the district. The assistant superintendent over curriculum asked me if I might be able to share about the Mystery Hangout/ Mystery Skype activity to our district teacher librarians on a professional development day in February. I was delighted to have this opportunity! This was a chance to show our district teacher librarians the power of connecting their students and teachers at each level (Primary K-2, Intermediate 3-4, and Middle School 5-7). After thinking about it, I decided to see how the assistant superintendent felt about me actually making Google Hangout connections during the time we were provided for the meeting. Talking about the activity is good, but actually modeling a Hangout or Skype session is even better! Before I checked with the sup...

Earlier this year our special services administrator, Mrs. Courtney Eubanks, approached me about participating in Disability Awareness Week. I was very interested in the idea. It is important to serve all types of learners in the library and give them a voice. I was especially interested in a disability awareness activity that Mrs. Eubanks described to me. She told me that she had access to several activities that allowed students to experience disabilities in a learning station format. I shared this activity with the library staff, and we were all excited to give it a try. We also partnered with our local First Step organization that assists students with disabilities in our community. It was decided that we would have a fundraiser in the library for First Step during Disability Awareness Week. The "Walk a Mile In My Shoes" Activity We decided to have a total of four learning stations for students to experience on the day of the event. Our Family and Consumer Science tea...

The Flexible School Library: Creating A 21st Century Space For Our Learners Our school administration approached me about exploring the idea of updating our existing library spaces three years ago. We brainstormed the issue for months and even considered adding on to our high school library by overtaking an attached courtyard. We soon scrapped this plan since it was going to be a high cost to our district. After examining our former junior high library facility (which is still a part of our 8th -12th grade high school complex), we noticed that the space could be expanded to include an outside entryway, abandoned office space, and teachers' lounge to create a much larger space. We began the process of planning how the renovated areas could look and function. We knew the spaces would have to be large enough to hold over 12,000 print materials with room to grow. Our learning community would also need flexible areas that would allow collaboration events with their classes. There ar...