Media Center Visitations

The three media centers that I visited were all unique in their own special way. On these visitations I learned a lot from each media center, some good and some bad. The way the media center was run depended on the school district and the media specialist.

For the most part the three media specialist that I talked all worked together with teachers. The media specialist really had no say in the assignments or projects, but they all had a say in the resources being used. Furthermore, they also had no say in the assessment. However, one media specialist had her own assessment for each project. She would observe the students as they worked on projects and homework and would ask them questions on the resources they used. She then would write it all down and keep it on file and would make changes to resources or the way she did things with the assignment if she had to. All three media specialists had an open relationship with the teachers and would ask them if there were any resources or materials that they could get for them. They would then take that in consideration when ordering materials for the media center.

All of the media centers I went to had computers in their media center. There were no more than ten computers in each center. One media center had a computer lab right next to the media center where teachers could sign up and take their classes. One media center did have a LCD projector that they could use located in the library. The other two could get one if they asked for one. I was surprised that none of them had a copy machine in the library. I do not either; it is one thing I would like to add to my center. All of the media centers had printers for the computers. One of the media centers printers was used by the entire school. While I was in there, teachers were coming down and getting stuff that they had printed. All of the media centers do resource sharing with all the libraries in Ashtabula County, which is the same thing my library does.

There really was not that much program planning. One of the media centers did have a book club, but it was not going as well as she wanted. She said that the problem was that they were struggling to find time to meet. She said not all the students could meet after school, so it was hard to find a time when they all could meet. The club was looking into meeting in the morning before school. Two of the media specialists are new and they just took over their centers two years ago. They were both just staring to come up with ideas for their media centers.

All three media specialist had school Internet policies that had to be turned in before students were allowed to use the computers. The computers in their centers were to be used for homework and projects only. One center was a little leniate and did allow students to surf the Internet if there were no students that needed them for homework. All of them were aware of the copyright laws and fair use policies and their schools were strict on following them and enforcing them.

All three collections were different. One of the media centers collections was old. The problem was they didn’t get much money to buy new materials. He said the best thing about his library is that they can resource share with other libraries. So what he doesn’t have he can still get for his students. The other two collections were similar. They had fairly new up to date collections. One center said that she was really trying to build up her fiction section. When she took over two years ago, it was older and she has really tried to focus and build it up. The other media specialist said that she was trying to build up her biography and autobiography section. Two of the media specialist said that they try to build up a different section each year, where the other said she orders a little bit for each section. She tries to focus on what the teachers need and get the new fiction books that are coming out. They all said they try to focus less on reference sections and spend more money on the other sections because of all the information online.

One of the media specialist had a sign up sheet for teachers to use the library. It was a calendar where the teachers sign up for certain days that they will bring their class down. They then would come and talk with the media specialist to discuss the assignment and the resources needed. The media specialist then would write that information down. Another media center had a sheet where that the teacher must fill out explaining what they were doing and asking for the resources and materials that they need. Both had great communication between the teachers and they both did it in different ways.

Two of the media centers were brand new and just built. They were awesome. The one had a nice set up with a spot set up for computers, spaces for working, easy access bookcases, and a spot for magazines and newspapers. On the far wall it was all glass over looking a great scenic view. They had chairs set up next to the window for students to sit and read and do work. However, I feel that this was a lot of wasted space that could have been used for more bookcases. The other new center was also nice. A wall split the Junior and senior library in half. There was a window where you could look into the two libraries but no door connecting them. Nice spatial set up with the bookcases. It offered plenty of room for students to work where teachers could bring down their classes. Not many computers though, only ten, which would be hard for an entire class to do work on the computer.

Out of the three only one media center had extra help. In the other two it was only the school Library/Media Specialist to do all the work. The one center that did have help it was only for half a day for three days a week. When the media specialist did have help, she would work on cataloging and getting books on the shelves, while the assistant would man the desk and help students with their research. For all the schools they were the only certified media specialist in the school district. In the elementary schools and junior highs they had assistants that manned the media centers. In all three the high school media specialist were to oversee the elementary and junior high libraries. They all said they had really good assistants running the elementary and junior high media centers and they let them control their own budgets, but just looked over it.

All of the media centers budgets were controlled by the principals. One of the media centers had a very tight budget, but knew exactly what they had to spend on each thing. One of the other media centers had a nice budget and had a certain amount of money that they could spend on each area, which included: services, books, magazines, newspapers, supplies, and videos. The last media center had a loose budget and didn’t know what her exact budget was, which amazed me. She fills out a purchase order and then it has to be approved and she has never been turned down. All three control the money and decide exactly what it is spent on. They all have to fill out purchase orders and get it approved by administration. They all also had control of the elementary and junior high budgets, but they let the assistants control it and decide what it is spent on. However, they did check and see what they spent it on.

None of the three really did that much marketing or promotion for events. If they had to they said that they would make announcements. They would also use posters for promotion. They did however, have displays in their media centers to promote books. They also did a nice job with their bulletin boards promoting books and things for their local library. This one area they all said they need to do a better job on.

Only one media center had a program evaluation. The one media specialist would ask the students and teacher about the resources and materials they were using for their assignment. She then would write that information down and evaluate the materials to see if she needed new materials for that assignment. She also did a visual observation of how the students were working and made a mental note of what was working and not. They all kept track of circulation through an electronic count to see how their media center was doing.

Overall, this was a great experience to see how different media center were run. There were many ideas I will definitely try in my center. There were also things that I saw that I would try to do differently. One thing that sticks out is I definitely would have some sort of evaluation set up to check and see how things are working and not working in my media center. I also would want to know my exact budget for the year, so I knew what I could spend.