Introduction

The following school library program is designed to serve the needs of students at Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School. This is a vocational school with the majority of the students’ destination upon graduation being the world of work. Courses offered are at the Applied, Workplace, Locally Developed Compulsory and Preparatory levels, as well as the General Learning Program. Students are generally struggling with basic literacy skills and therefore the main focus of the library program is to enhance learning in this area.

Mission Statement

We aim to provide an accessible, inclusive learning environment that fosters reading literacy for enjoyment and information; provides up-to-date print, non-print, and electronic curriculum –related resources; and makes research opportunities available through cooperative planning with staff and students.

The role of the teacher-librarian:

is to, in conjunction with other staff, act as motivator and facilitator encouraging and guiding students as they use a wide range of resources to seek information; to investigate topics; to solve problems; to develop literacy skills; to gain a genuine enjoyment of reading; and, foremost, to develop into lifelong learners.

“Libraries play an essential role in stimulating students

to improve their own achievement and foster a

love of reading and learning.”

Gerard Kennedy, Minister of Education,

May 26, 2005

Our School Library Program is Key to Student Achievement

• Reading Literacy• Information Literacy• Information &

Communication Technologies (ICT)

• Collaboration• Library Management

1. Reading Literacy

• Balanced Literacy• Resource Selection• Reading Programs• Lifelong Reading

Reading Literacy Goals

• To provide resources and materials to meet both personal, non –academic needs and interests in a range of reading levels and variety of formats.

• To foster the enjoyment of reading by encouraging students to join various reading clubs

• To provide resources for D.E.A.R

• To expose students to local authors and members of the community at large as they share their personal reading literacy development

• To invite speakers and storytellers to expose students to the richness of oral traditions

• To help students prepare for writing the OSSLT.

Reading Literacy is promoted through:

• Men’s Reading Club• Women’s Reading Club• Literature Circles• D.E.A.R.• SAGE Youth Literacy Program• Books-on-tape• Graphic Novels• Reading Literacy Workshops

Men’s & Women’s Reading Clubs

• Staff group leaders and students meet once a week to read and discuss self-selected materials in an informal setting while eating pizza.

(“If you feed them, they will come.”)

“Research indicates that struggling adolescent readers need opportunities to choose their reading materials. This is critical for readers who may have had many years of failure and who may associate reading only with low-level information retrieval, dry writing exercises, assessment, or busywork.” Think Literacy Success: the Report of

the Expert Panel on Students at Risk in

Ontario.

Literature Circles

• Literature circles are established in collaboration with individual English classes allowing students to form groups according to interests.

• Teachers and the teacher-librarian act as facilitators.

D.E.A.R. Resources

• We provide and replenish resources in individual classroom D.E.A.R. bins ensuring that the resources are varied in nature and address a variety of interests and reading levels.

• If you have specific requests, please let us know.

SAGE Literacy Program

• We coordinate the scheduling of students and volunteers to meet and work on basic literacy skills.

• Volunteers are provided and trained by the non-profit organization SAGE Youth which is committed to the development of literacy skills and is especially aimed at ESL learners.

Books-on-Tape

• We have a large selection of books-on-tape to meet almost every interest and reading level.

• Students can sign-out the books-on-tape and enjoy them in our audio lab.

Graphic Novels

• If students enjoy reading comic books they are going to love reading graphic novels.

• Students are encouraged to check out our newly acquired collection now on display.

Reading Literacy Workshops

• Aim to provide individualized tutoring for students preparing for the OSSLT with the help of volunteer teachers from a variety of subject areas.

• Students can sign up at the circulation desk.

2. Information Literacy

• Inquiry and Research

• Academic Honesty• Critical Thinking

Information Literacy Goals

• To teach students how to find information using Smart Search Strategies

• To help students develop essential questions to focus their research

• To guide students on how to choose and apply information

• To encourage critical thinking

• To aid students in citing sources and learning about cyber-ethics

• To provide learning opportunities for all learning styles

The Research Process

• Staff and the teacher-librarian have on-going consultations on how to make our school information literate and help students through the following steps:

1. Define & Clarify

2. Locate & Retrieve

3. Select, Process, & Record Data

4. Analyze

5. Synthesize

6. Share & Use

7. Reflect, Transfer & Apply

3. Information & Communication Technologies (ICT)

• Online resources• Virtual learning• Integrating

technology• Media literacy

Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) Goals

• To teach students how to search online databases and web sites

• To create and maintain a library web site• To select and evaluate useful links• To teach students how to create PowerPoint

presentations• To aid students in the production of a DVD

Yearbook• To assist students with resume preparation

“Research consistently demonstrates that well-stocked and professionally staffed school libraries are strongly linked to information literacy skills, student achievement, aptitude and

interest in reading, success at the post-secondary level, and Canadian cultural

identity.” Ontario Coalition for School Libraries

June 3, 2004

4. Collaboration

• Planning• Teaching• Assessing and

Evaluating• Cross-curricular

Leadership

“It has been demonstrated that, when librarians and teachers

work together, students achieve higher levels of literacy, reading,

learning, problem-solving and information and communication

technology skills.” FLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto

Collaboration Goals

• To work with other teachers and staff to develop authentic inquiry-based learning activities and evaluations

• To consult with staff and students on purchase of resources

• To form grade-level subject teams to ensure and contribute to the consistency of curriculum delivery

• To ensure that skills are developed sequentially and utilized across the curriculum in both simple and complex research activities

Student’s Point of View“I enjoy going to the library. I like the sound of the quietness. It makes me feel happy. When it is quiet I can fully immerse into the book I am reading. I love the smell of new books. The smell makes me want to read the book that much more. I truly enjoy the sight of all the walls full of books. I enjoy knowing that there is so much knowledge and wisdom at my fingertips. The best part about going to the library is the feeling that I belong there.”

Sir Guy Carleton Student

June, 2007

5. Library Management Goals

• To develop the collection to meet curriculum needs and the professional development of staff.

• To make new materials available as soon as possible.

• To let teachers, staff and students know what is available for use.

• To promote the use of seminar rooms for individual learning opportunities.

Library Management Goals (cont’d)

• To check books in/out efficiently• To catalog all new resources• To take care of book repairs• To improve the selection of magazines to better suit

students’ interests, hobbies, and academic needs.• To create reports on collection needs• To promote resources through displays and book talks• To ensure the computers, photocopier machine, overhead

projectors, Smart Board, and library automation system are always operational

Library Facilities• Main Library/ student work area

• Parking Area for Audio Visual equipment (TV/VCRs/DVD players)

• Computer Lab with 16 student computers each with Internet access and connected to a printer

• Two seminar rooms (A & B)

• Audio Lab

• Resource room for the Visually-Impaired

• Teacher resource room containing the school’s professional resource collection, photocopy machine and printer

• Library work office

• Teacher-Librarian’s personal office

• The library is open before school, during classes and at lunch time.

“Students at schools with better funded school libraries tend to achieve higher test scores, whether their schools and

communities are rich or poor and whether adults in the community are

well or poorly educated . . . The size of a library media centre staff and collection

is the best school predictor of student achievement”

Keith Curry Lance

1994 U.S. Study