Our Annual Report For 2018-2019

For the past several years, we have used Microsoft Sway for our platform to share library annual reports. Previous to this, I essentially shared a one-sheet text document that contained our statistics. It was a rather boring way to share the report, but it worked for many years. I like how Sway allows us to share important photos, videos, and text with library stakeholders!

View our 2018-2019 annual report here.

While there are many things that library programs do throughout the year, somehow we have to give our stakeholders a snapshot of the year in our reports. We want them to end the year thinking about how the library program made a difference in the learning community. Most importantly, we want to give them a return on their investment in the facilities, resources, and our own salaries! 

What I Share

Some years I've shared more information while for some I've cut back on how much I include in the report. At a minimum, I try to share our library statistics, library collaborations for the year, and reservations made in the library. It is good to be mindful that stakeholders are busy (especially administrators), and they probably will not look through a really long report. However, some administrators might expect a detailed annual report. You will have to use your best judgment as you put your report together. No one knows your school better than you!

I always try to pick the best time to share my report. If I were to share it the last day of school, administrators would be bogged down with so many tasks they wouldn't get to look at it. I generally try to share it during June and/ or July when all administrators are back from their vacations.

Final Thoughts

Over the past 11 years, I've worked for two school districts as a secondary teacher-librarian. Both superintendents I've worked for have been impacted by the sharing of a library annual report. I can recall both of them made comments about our library statistics after I had shared the report. My most recent superintendent still makes comments about our annual report statistics. I think it is important to note that a district superintendent is like a CEO of a company. They are interested in seeing evidence of efficient use of funding and personnel. Gone are the days when we are guaranteed a job as a school librarian. Don't be afraid to share the work you do. It is not bragging. It is showing value and relevance. Be sure to share your annual report in the comments below! 

Other links that may interest you:

How We Were Able To Skype With Four Scientists

Our Outsiders Library Collaboration

Our Book Pickup Service

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How I Used Microsoft Sway For Our Annual Report

I've been sharing library annual reports since I have been a school librarian. Administrators often get small snapshots of the library during the school year. They are busy people pulled in a million different directions each day. For me, sharing an annual report during the summer gives us a chance to show our administration what happens in the library from a statistical perspective. Administrators are also more likely to have a moment to look at a report during the summer months.

A screenshot from the completed Sway

Why Share Annual Reports?

Annual reports are just another way to tell our stories from the library and share the value of what we do for students. It also gives a return on our stakeholders' investment. Libraries are expensive. If we share circulation statistics and other usage information, it can help change perspectives. Some teacher librarians have complained that their administrators don't have time to view their reports. This is a valid concern, but what if they do happen to view it? A few moments of their time could change their thoughts about what we do in the library. For these reasons, it is worth the time to create the report each year. I'm guilty of showing them snippets of the report as I'm working on it in an attempt to generate curiosity. Another positive of sharing annual reports is that it shows we are making a strong effort to keep and report good records. This reflects well upon us as program administrators. It is also excellent evidence for us to use in our yearly evaluations.

A Quest For Different Formats

This year Misti Bell (my 2015-2016 teacher librarian co-worker at LHS) and I decided to experiment with an infographic for our annual report. We wanted to get away from the standard text document containing basic statistics and make the project more appealing to administrators. Misti created a wonderful infographic using Piktochart. She used the free version (which worked great for creating the report). However, we wanted to share video clips and Tweets from social media in the report. I liked Piktochart, but I needed something that would do more for the presentation. It is important to sometimes change the format we use for presentations to keep it interesting for viewers. We must also search for the most effective methods to tell our library stories and share the value of our program.

Microsoft Educator Community webpage screenshot

Sway

I have talked about becoming a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (#MIEExpert) in a previous blog article this year (thanks to the help of my friend, Tracey Wong). Through the MIE Expert group, I have learned about one of their new graphic presentation tools called Sway. I decided to use the library annual report as an opportunity to learn more about Sway. I had previously joined the Microsoft Educator Community, and I knew there were free training courses and videos available. I searched for resources on Sway, and I found the following link:

https://education.microsoft.com/GetTrained/Introduction-to-Sway

There were 10 video modules to watch (most of them were between 2-3 minutes long). After completing the videos, I felt confident I could create a Sway with photos, charts, video clips, and more. It took me about an hour to complete the first draft of the Sway. I shared it with teacher librarian colleagues and co-workers for advice on what to improve. After two days of editing, I felt my first Sway annual report was ready to publish.

Go here to view our 2015-2016 annual report via Sway.

How To Access Sway

I have access to Sway.com through Docs.com and also through our district's Office 365 login. I recommend creating a free account through Microsoft here if your school doesn't have Office 365. You will then be able to go to Sway.com and create your own presentations. I look forward to getting feedback from our administrative team as they view the statistics of 2015-2016 through the Sway report! Please, be sure to share your improvement ideas and comments below. Also, feel free to share your annual report links in the comments. I'm always looking for better methods to share our library's story through the examples of others.

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The value of summer library services.

Students teach the mystery of Skype!

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It's Not Too Late To Send That Annual Report!

Last year, I wrote an article about the importance of annual library reporting to school administrators. I have tried to send some form of an annual report each of the seven years I have served as a school library media specialist. Remember that your bosses are viewing data constantly. Principals and superintendents see value in budgets, test scores, student enrollment numbers, and even faculty absence statistics. When you send a report to them, it gives a snapshot of what you are doing in the library. Many people tend to think this is a waste of their time, but I disagree. Many times over the past seven years, I have had both superintendents and principals talk about our statistics. They remember these numbers because the statistics reflect usage of many different services. This gives a return on their investment! If you don't share these numbers with them, how will they know?

I converted our annual report to a .JPG file, so I could easily display it here on the blog page. (If it is hard to read, go here for the .PDF document.) We like to share our circulation statistics from both facilities in the high school complex. We also include textbooks since that is a substantial part of our services. In addition, we show technology work orders that we submit (tracked in our SysAid work order system). There is an entry to show how many days our libraries were reserved and how many students signed in/ out of the library during the school day. We also added our social media outreach this year since it is one of our many services.

The numbers reflect that both library facilities are very active. The West End Library didn't have as many reservations this year due to our PARCC testing support for roughly 9-10 weeks. I decided to share this in the report by adding a PARCC support statistic. This was still a library service! We simply redirected our services based on the needs of the school learning community.

There are many ways to share reports to administrators. We try to keep ours to one page each year. Remember that administrators are very busy with numerous responsibilities and their time is precious. We feel that if we keep it to one brief page, they might actually have time to read it! This format has worked well for us at Lakeside High School. I hope that you will consider sharing your statistics with school administrators, teachers, students, and parents. It will change the way they view what you do!

How I used Microsoft Sway to create our 2016 annual report.

Go here for the 2014 article on library annual reporting. (It has a link to Joyce Valenza's awesome 2013 library annual report!)

I have started a monthly email newsletter for the subscribers of the Library Media Tech Talk blog. If you are interested in exclusive content not appearing on the blog, be sure to subscribe by submitting your email address! Subscribe here!

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Email: stony_evans@lakesidesd.org

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