All posts by John

General, School Media Specialist

The South Carolina Impact Study on School Librarians

LightbulbRecently South Carolina came out with a school librarian impact study.

Quick Link to the study reports: 
Phase I report and Phase II report.

Results you need to know:

The Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) results were examined for all elementary and middle schools that responded to the 2013 South Carolina School Library Survey. For all students, excellence on PASS standards was associated with the following characteristics of school library programs:

  • Having at least 1 full-time librarian and a full- or part-time library assistant
  • Spending $7,500 or more annually and $13.33 or more per student
  • Logging 20,000 or more checkouts and 36 or more items per student
  • Providing access to 40 or more e-books
  • Having public access computers in the school library and 18 or more (versus fewer than 6) elsewhere in the school
  • Receiving 4 or more group visits per week.
  • Having a librarian who teaches information literacy 20 or more hours per week
  • Having a print collection of 13,000 items or more (versus fewer than 7,500 items)

The High School Assessment Program (HSAP) results were examined for all high schools that responded to the 2013 South Carolina School Library Survey. All students were more likely to meet HSAP standards and to perform at the proficient level or above, if their schools had:

  • At least 1 full-time librarian
  • At least 2 full-time librarians
  • At least 1 full-time library assistant
  • Total library expenditures of $12,500 or more
  • Total circulation of 7,500 or more checkouts
  • Total print collection of 11,000 or more items
  • Total e-book collection of 70 or more titles
  • 15 or more group visits to the library per week

Where does your school stand regarding these characteristics? If you couple this with the recent Washington state study school libraries can make their case even stronger!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/pt386qp, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Academic, General

MILE 2015: A CMLE Scholarship

Roxanne Backowski smaller sizeThe following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient Roxanne Backowski, Library Technician at St. Cloud State University.

What were your favorite takeaways or new things learned?  As a result of attending this event, can you identify and explain a few things you can use/apply to your work or practice?

To say the least, Minnesota Library Association’s Institute for Leadership Excellence (MILE) was energizing and an enlightening experience. Before the conference, I took the Clifton Strength Finder Assessment and received a personalized report with my top five strengths (Harmony, Deliberative, Intellection, Input, and Learner).  Nikki Daniels, a conference presenter, took us through a more in-depth session on our strengths. I was able to apply the explanations of different types of strengths to my coworkers which has already helped my understanding of their work style. In addition, I have shared my top five strengths will my supervisor and even my family, so they can have a better understanding of me and how to capitalize on my strengths.  Learning about my strengths has made me more self-aware.  It has been difficult to accept that we are not supposed to focus on improving weaknesses or to waste energy attempting to be well-rounded people.  Rather, we are to improve and capitalize on our natural talents and strengths to be an effective leader.

Another takeaway from MILE was the importance of play. Barry Kudrowitz’s presentation on Facilitating Creativity through Humor and Play made me realize how much of a serious minded individual I can be.  We are more creative when we view an activity as play. I can apply this by changing my attitude toward work tasks–whether it be making a game out of scheduling students workers or attempting to generate creative ideas or solutions at a team meeting.

Some other tidbit takeaways I learned were about library advocacy and the power of telling stories about the value of a library, the plethora of leadership opportunities in MLA, the benefits of interviewing through panels, how to have difficult conversations with employees. I plan to try to gather stories as part of my everyday work, look into MLA increased involvement, and continue to work on articulating points to student workers.

Academic, General

Academic Libraries offer Open Textbooks

Library booksCampus bookstores beware, there’s a new textbook provider in town: Academic Libraries! But instead of long lines, high costs, and lousy buy-back prices, campus libraries are providing open textbooks.

One example is at Portland State University (PSU). Recently “Portland State University Library announced the publication of five open textbooks authored by PSU faculty for PSU students. In their first term of use, these textbooks saved students more than $23,800.” Rather than being a barrier to education, these open textbooks are a prime example of the possibilities of synergy between faculty, staff, and the library on a campus.

Another example is at Louisiana State University (LSU). “The LSU Library is promoting a new program that enables students in more than 100 courses to access electronic textbooks, rather than having to purchase costly printed ones. The change represents significant savings for students, who typically shell out several hundred dollars each semester on textbooks. E-textbooks are free.”

Is there a future for campus bookstores? What do you think?

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/kbxol2x, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
General, School Media Specialist

What to look for when you’re hiring a school librarian

The magic umbrellaWe realize this is the time of year that some districts are hiring media specialists. This might include districts that have been without them for awhile or who are replacing retirees. In her recent “Open Letter to Principals,” Library Girl gives hiring principals a list of things to look for when hiring school librarians. As she says, hiring a school librarian can be more important than hiring a new teacher, “because your school librarian will work with every teacher and every student in your building. Here’s what to do:”

  1. Look for someone who loves children more than books.
  2. Look for the right person as opposed to the right degree.
  3. Look for data and outcomes.
  4. Look for someone who can grow readers, not just reading scores.
  5. Look for a leader (or one in training).
  6. Look for a learner.

Read the whole article now!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/ozv3aq6, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

MN Legislative Update

Capital SunsetThe following legislative update was written by Elaine Keefe, library lobbyist for the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) and Information Technology Educators of MN (ITEM). 

Received: Tue, May 26, 2015 at 3:02 PM

Additional Vetoes:  On Saturday Governor Dayton finished signing and vetoing bills passed in the regular legislative session.  In addition to the omnibus education bill, he also vetoed the omnibus jobs bill and the agriculture and environment bill.   Among the reasons the governor cited for vetoing the jobs bill was the meager level of funding for broadband grants.  As expected, the governor signed the agriculture policy bill, which includes the exemption for seed libraries from agricultural regulations.

Special Session:  This afternoon Governor Dayton is holding separate meetings with Speaker Daudt and Senate Majority Leader Bakk to begin special session negotiations.  The bills that are expected to be part of the special session are the three budget bills that were vetoed – education, jobs and agriculture/environment – plus the Legacy bill and a small bonding bill.  Governor Dayton has also mentioned the possibility of agreeing to a temporary income tax cut in exchange for more education funding.  He also wants legislators to reverse a provision that was in the omnibus state government bill allowing Greater Minnesota counties to hire private sector auditors rather than having to be audited by the State Auditor.  Given that the list of issues to be resolved has grown, many observers are skeptical that the special session can be completed in early June.  Governor Dayton has said he wants the special session wrapped up by June 15.

Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 310
St. Paul, MN 55103
(office)651-293-0229
(cell) 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/p4m2ool, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0