The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

The ideal school media center is globally and socially connected, providing comfortable and safe space for students and staff (and parents/community, too) to explore ideas, interests, innovation, and continuous learning. The media specialist's role is to facilitate that exploration by providing appropriate access (always seeking to push the barriers away), instruction (about using resources efficiently and ethically), and opportunity (creating programs and bringing people together to learn, design, create). The new ideal school media center is mobile, flexible, engaging, evolving... it is where the students are when they need it. The media specialist is the one leading the way, making it happen!

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I agree with a lot of what's been said about the knowledge and skills an effective media specialist must have. However, I'm still struggling with how all of this looks at the elementary level, where a fixed schedule, lack of library aides, minimal collaboration, and NCLB are all counterproductive to what should be happening.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I think that the modern library/media center should have lots of computers and tables for collaboration. There should be comfortable chairs and even small study rooms available for students. There should be a certain amount of printed books available, along with DVD's. The librarian/media specialist should be able to help students find information and evaluate the source of the information. They should also have access to multiple online databases and resources. I think students should be able to talk and work together. A separate quiet room could also be set up for students who want quiet for studying. Our library is getting there. There are less books, and more computers (50) along with tables and chairs for students to work at. Some single chair/desks along the back wall also have ethernet connections and there is WiFi in the library for student and faculty use. I'd like to see them take one of the storage rooms (very large) and turn it in to a meeting room. I'm hoping that they will continue to advance the media center.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I agree with Evan Abbey. School Librarians have to become more visible in their roles at school. If people in the community see us as tied to our old roles, we will be phased out! As our profession grows, so must we, and we need to show the community that we are keeping up, necessary, etc. We often are not the type to toot our own horns, but I think we may want to start. If we do what Deb Hanson states above, then we should be loud about it!

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I have been pushing technology since I went from handset metal type to a phototypsetter to PageMaker using the first LaserWriter in our district. At this time, I believe we have the only district high school with school-wide wireless. That alone took 3-5 years to get working. Not exactly leading edge. It is a tiring endeavor, especially when funding is so inadequate--Utah is last in the nation in student funding. Do I embrace all new forms of technology and stay on the bleeding edge? No, I do not. I cannot personally afford it, and am not empowered by funding to "check it out." The problem with this discussion is the word "ideal." It is a philosophical discussion about real world issues. It sounds good, but in this economy we are having support people fired, salaries cut, and no increase in funding. That said, the ideal media center would not have to worry about porn, viruses, or spyware. Computers would be replaced every 3 years (we have a 5-6 year rotation). Classes would not have 40 students in them. All students would have smart phones. Teachers would come to inservice sessions on new technology and its use in the classroom. There would be jobs for all, peace in the world, no hunger, and we could concentrate on bettering mankind. Its been a long year, our district was split in half by uninformed voters, and I don't know if anyone will be able to access a printer when they come back in the fall. Philosophical discussions do not help me in these situations.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

My comments are here. Mostly, the media specialists need to help the students learn by doing.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I agree completely with Scott. All the philosophical jargon and new whizbang ideas are great. I think new technology is fabulous, new ideas only develop and spread understanding and knowledge. Set up the inservice and I will be glad to attend. However, when schools are dealing with computers that don't work and no one will fix them, a district server that fails the last week of school, and no new equipment for years at a time, it might be more important to deal with the here and now and give school the new toys when someone is willing to pay for it. None of the Media Center Specialists I know would refuse to implement new technology, especially if it is in the best interest of the students in thier schools. We are all here to promote learning and do the best we can to ensure students all opportunities available. I believe it is myopic to state that Media Centers need to be only new technology or status quo. There is room for books and technology. Where's the money and equipment? Bring it on.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I agree with your vision of what libraries should be one hundred per-cent. That vision can only be for the secondary schools, however, unless you completely restructure how the Area Library Media Specialist (old job title) functions. We do not see teachers, and therefore cannot collaborate. We do not see the new equipment and are not trained on it. When someone comes from the district to train the teachers on the new equipment coming in to the schools, they do not include the media specialist in that training. Ordering, weeding, doing inventory, cataloging, budgeting and taking care of all the minutiae that goes in to running 10 schools and twenty assistants really is a full time job, but if the specialists were informed of the date of the training, they could make it a point to attend. But they are still not in a position to encourage teachers to use the equipment or help them see how to fit it into their lesson plans. I only see the teachers at one school when we have lunch together and that isn't even everyday. Put librarians back into the elementary schools and then you would have the library that you envision for every student in your district. I wish you the best in your new endeavor and hope that all you library/media dreams come true. Pat Lyman

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I see the ideal school library media center as the hub of our ideal media literate schools. I take the word media very literally and seriously.The hub should be the life of the school, the staff, the students and the larger community. The ideal school library media center should be the conduit to the world and other library centers. Where better to exemplify the collaborative nature of our lives than the library media center? As many of us know from experience, the virtual resources we have at our finger tips are exponential. We can use them all to our advantage, we can solve problems by interacting with digitized information. However, unless we have that ideal library media center at our disposal and an opportunity for some f2f, face to face, interaction, we will be living in a echo chamber and our solutions and ideas will not resonate with our world. My ideal library media center would have a window to the world where anyone, staff or students could video conference with an individual or group and get out of the echo chamber. What an opportunity! Can't wait to hear some other ideas. Thanks for the post Darren.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I agree with Evan to some extent - partly because of the way schools perceive libraries...but we, as media specialists can and must change that. The ideal school media center is globally and socially connected, providing comfortable and safe space for students and staff (and parents/community, too) to explore ideas, interests, innovation, and continuous learning. The media specialist's role is to facilitate that exploration by providing appropriate access (always seeking to push the barriers away), instruction (about using resources efficiently and ethically), and opportunity (creating programs and bringing people together to learn, design, create). The new ideal school media center is mobile, flexible, engaging, evolving... it is where the students are when they need it. The media specialist is the one leading the way, making it happen!

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

The ideal elementary school library has a bank of working wireless laptops, has an open door policy, is comfortable, noisy and does not have a media specialist that is tied down to a fixed schedule the whole day. OK, do I sound like I am complaining a little? I totally agree with Joyce that the media specialist must be an expert in information fluency and new technology tools.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I guess that to get the mortgage loans from banks you must have a good reason. Nevertheless, one time I've got a short term loan, because I wanted to buy a bike.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

Like several others, I agree with Evan, “the way schools are using media specialists is grossly inefficient.” I think many media specialists try hard to keep abreast of the latest in technology—particularly as it applies to research and presentation, but because of perception, (and I think school time restraints), we are seldom asked to contribute our knowledge to faculty or students. As has been said, the library should be the place where students and teachers come to learn more about their world, and engage in conversation and projects which reflect growing knowledge. The media specialist should be the facilitator who is able to open doors to knowledge and ways to creatively present that knowledge to a wider audience—sometimes the world via internet. But, again perceptions need to change. We are not seen in that light. While it is still important for library media specialists to be current with the latest in literature for the clientele served, it is equally important that media specialists be seen as just that—specialists in media. And many are trying hard to fill that role. Perhaps Elisabeth is right on when she said, “we need to be loud about it.” Maybe we are not loud enough.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I have heard this argument before and after five years of hearing this argument, very little has been changed. I think most of the problem stems from trying to do too many jobs. Media specialist, librarian, teacher, all the things we think needs to be done but nobody can achieve. Every school is different, so you have to tailor your activities around their strength. Do you want someone who knows technology (computers, databases, etc.) the school should have a person to do that. If reading is the focus (and it should be in our schools) than someone has to be up to date on reading skills and resources that would build up a student's vocabulary. We need the flexibility to work with teachers and staff, not stuck behind a desk scanning books. I have nothing again that, but we can't call someone a media specialist when all they are content with is paper assignments.

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

I love the sign, can I copy it for my library?

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

http:// www.sangambayard-c-m.com

The Ideal School Library - By Darren Draper

http:// www.sangambayard-c-m.com