Cicely Lewis, Ed. S

Reflection:

As a program administrator the media specialist has to manage the budget and manage the funds for the media center.  Many times there is little to no money available for media center. Gwinnett county is one of the few districts that truly invests in the library media center.  Every year we are allocating funds for books and books only.  This year I received $10,000 for books only.  I had to weed many books to make room and I also increased our ebooks and audiobooks.  In addition, I purchased GACE books for teachers.  One of the ways to acquire money for the program is through grants.  I will use data to show the need for resources for the media center.   Everything is data driven now.  The numbers speak so I plan to use this to advocate for my problem. As a media specialist, you must advocate for your program!  People in the school have no idea how much work is involved in being a media specialist.  I have had teachers come in after 3 classes just left and two community events and everyone just left and they see an empty media center.  They look around and say, "Wow, I wish I could do nothing all day!"  They don't realize how much is going on because they only see a glimpse of the daily activity.  This is why the data is so important.  It shows how much we do.  Many library programs have died because of lack of advocacy.  Being a program administrator also means that the space has to be managed.  This mean juggling classes, community events, meetings and more.   I use Teamup Calendar to manage the space.  It allows patrons to make reservations but they cannot overlap.  It also allows me to manage student passes.  Teachers have to make reservations for their students.  When they make reservations, it immediately populates on my screen.  My students have a read only copy pulled up at the circulation desk and they can see who has a reservation.  It has really helped to improve my media center.  

 

 

The Grant Application that I submitted was not approved and the community specialist director informed   me that  I needed to focus on items specifically for the media center.  I have plans to resubmit for next year.   Our school has a foundation that awards several $500 grants to programs in the school.  I wrote two grants for programs to help our community.  One of my grants was intended to help buy books for newborn babies at the hospital.  My plan was to make sure every baby left the hospital with book.  Although I did not get the grant for this program, I plan to submit it for another grant.  Hopefully, it will be funded.  I also plan to have my students raise money  next year to raise funding .

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I completed the GA  DOE 2015 Library Media Program Evaluation Rubric. Although we scored exemplary in most areas, there are a few areas that we scored basic.  We scored basic in five areas.  I would like to improve these areas by proposing the following action steps:

1. Change the media center orientation and database instruction to provide students with opportunities to explore technology tools and meet the needs of diverse learners using the AASL standards.

2. According to criteria #9, we are understaffed.  I will provide an activities report in the form of an infograph to show how heavily the media center is used in order to justify hiring a clerk.

3. I will submit a proposal to present at conferences in order to share strategies with other Media SPecialists across the state.

4. I will utilize the media committee more when making decisions instead of making decisions on my own.  I  will do this by meeting more than once a year via newsletter, Googlechat, youtube videos and more.

5. I will create a comprehensive manual outlining media center policies and have the media committee review it.  

 

There is an area where I scored proficient and would like to move to exemplary.  This area is using administration support to promote collaboration with the library media center. Although I have collaborated with many teachers, there are still some who are hesitant to use the library services.  In addition, many do not see the need to collaborate.   My plan to move this area to exemplary is by doing the following:

1. Provide orientation to entire staff during Pre-Planning.  During this instruction, I can introduce my program and highlight all of the opportunities for professional development and classroom instruction support.  This will require administration's support because I need to be added to the agenda.  

2. Increase the Media Center newsletter to monthly rather than by semester.  This will require administration's’ support because I must have permission to email the entire faculty.

 

1. Offer more professional development opportunities for teachers throughout the year.  This will require budgetary support as teachers’ only free time is during lunch.  Therefore, I will need funding for refreshments and promotional items.

 

1. Require teachers to collaborate and use the library media center by adding it as a component to our school improvement plan and school accountability report.

 

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