Observations PostingChris Frink

Info 525

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

• Rancho Santa Margarita, California

• Serves 6 – 8 Grades• Approx. 50 x 100 ft.• 60 computers divided

between three areas

1. SMCHS’ collection provides access to appropriate information relevant to the school’s curriculum. It is fairly up to date, but has room for improvement.

• Students have access to a wide variety of online databases such as EBSCO. SMCHS subscribes to almost as many databases as some local colleges.

• The library contains sixty computers with Internet access, which are available to students whenever they aren’t in class. Most of these are in two separate labs which are available to classes by reservation.

• Collection materials range in age from the 1970s to the 2000s and numbers over 30,000 items.

• The library head, Michael Spencer, takes requests from teachers for new materials.

• The library has a small collection of the current year’s textbooks for students to use in the library.

• Mr. Spencer focuses on purchasing new reference materials when updating the library’s collection. When he acquires new editions of materials, the old editions are taken off the shelf.

• According to Mr. Spencer, the SMCHS library has large gaps in its religious studies and reference collections.

2. The SMCHS library hinders learning by having its computers divided between three areas. I would improve it by expanding the computer lab on

the east side of the library into the small garden on the outside.

• When the building was originally built, it was not intended to have a computer lab. The rooms used for computer labs were originally offices for the school’s AV department.

• The sixty computers are separated into groups of twenty-eight, fifteen, and seventeen and are on opposite sides of the building.

• The average class size is 30 students, so classes are often divided between two of the areas.• Michael Spencer estimates the building is 10k square feet, but considers the building narrow.

3. Mr. Spencer or his aide are available in the library from 7 AM to 6 PM (4 PM Fridays) for students and faculty. Mr. Spencer also assists with setting up

equipment for school events. Within the library, the staff works well together, though there is some friction with other staff members.

• Either Mr. Spencer or his aide are always in the library to provide assistance. They give instructions on searching the in-print collection.

• The day I visited, Mr. Spencer was asked to help set up microphones and speaker equipment for the dedication ceremony of the school’s new sports complex.

• Mr. Spencer assists teachers with new ordering any materials they need for their classes.

• The library keeps track of replacement equipment such as projectors for when classroom equipment breaks down.

• Members of the IT department sometimes take equipment from the library without obtaining permission ahead of time.

• Overall, the small library staff size is balanced by having few students who have time to use the library during class hours, keeping the staff’s effectiveness up.

4. The library staff consists of two full-time employees. Michael Spencer has been working as SMCHS for two years while his aide was hired shortly before

my visit. The library’s budget was approximately $50,000.

• The old staff members retired two years ago, prompting the hiring of Mr. Spencer.

• The library sometimes has volunteers.• 30% budget cuts in recent years.• Budget issues have forced Mr. Spencer to

learn how to be more flexible and creative with his budget.

• SMCHS used to subscribe to the database GALE until this year when it got too expensive for how often it was used. The budget from subscribing to GALE was then used to subscribe to three other database, including EBSCO, which Mr. Spencer feels is as good as GALE.

5. The most striking difference between Santa Margarita Catholic High School and the other programs I visited is the size of its budget.

• SMCHS has a budget of $10,000 for books and regularly spends $30,000 on subscriptions for online databases.

• SMCHS is a private school and is not dependent on the state for its funding.

• SMCHS can afford to have two full-time staff members.

Portola Hills Elementary School

• Foothill Ranch, California

• Serves K – 6 Grades• Approx. 26 x 44 ft.• 39 computers, 4 in the

library and 35 in the lab

1. The collection at Portola Hills Elementary provides materials that are appropriate for most of its students, which range from Kindergarten to Sixth

Grade.

• Half of the library’s space for printed materials is devoted for reference materials.

• Books that are required reading for lessons are set aside on shelves.

• Encyclopedias and dictionaries were last updated in 2001.

• Library head Eileen McGervey admits that she the collections prioritizes needs of younger grades.

• Four computers are in the library for students to access the online card catalogue. A separate lab has 35 computers.

• Computers in the nearby computer lab have games that are related to the school curriculum.

• When updates are possible, new materials are chosen based on curriculum and student interests.

2. The library is very small, but this does not hinder learning much since student access is extremely limited. The Portola Hills campus is very tight and leaves almost no room to expand the library. The best way to improve it would be to make it available

to students after school hours.

• Each class is scheduled for 25 minutes of time in the library each week. This is the only scheduled chance the students have to find and check out books from the library.

• Mrs. McGervey wants to do after-school hours, but the budget cannot afford to pay her to be in the library for another hour. She says she sometimes waits in the library on her own time so that students with special needs or requests can get personal service.

• The library is part of the school’s administration and has limited space between it and the next building. The computer lab is also part of a building with no room to expand.

3. Mrs. McGervey was very involved in helping each class during their appointed library time. The part-time computer lab monitor also assisted students in the

operation of the computer lab. They worked well with the teachers that brought in their students.

• Mrs. McGervey helps instruct students in the basics of library science: differences between fiction and non-fiction, how to use the Dewey Decimal System, how books are ordered, etc.

• Mrs. McGervey helps the teachers select new textbooks that support the curriculum.

• Mrs. McGervey makes arrangements to check books out after school for students who read at a lower level than their classmates and are embarrassed about it.

• When the kindergarten classes come in, Mrs. McGervey reads a story that is related to their lessons.

• Information for an optional reading points program is available for students to look at.

• The lab attendant helps teach students how to use new programs and assists in computer troubleshooting.

• Parent volunteers do many of the small jobs around the library, like reshelving books.

4. Portola Hills Elementary has a very poor budget that barely supports one full-time librarian and one part-time computer lab attendant.

• The library’s entire budget this year comes from fundraisers, such as the “Birthday Book Club,” and the PTA.

• The PTA pays 90% of Mrs. McGervey’s salary.• In previous years, the library’s budget got as high as $40k, though was usually in the $19k-

$23k range.• “If it weren’t for the PTA, our doors would close.”• The library’s collection is updated primarily by receiving donations from parents.• According to Mrs. McGervey, the entire Saddleback Valley School District has only two

librarians who are also certified teachers.

5. The most striking difference between Portola Hills Elementary and the other programs I visited was the separation between Library and Media

Center.

• The Library and the Computer Lab are in separate buildings, but are fairly close to each other.

• The small size of the library combined with the strict scheduling of library time for classes makes it impractical to put a computer lab in the library. The four computers the library has are sufficient for its needs.

Aliso Viejo Intermediate School

• Mission Viejo, California• Serves 7 – 8 Grades• Approx. 60 x 35 ft.• 35 computers in the

library

1. The collection provides materials relevant to the curriculum, but many of the in-print references haven’t been updated more recently than 2001. When there is

money to update the collection, new items are split between student interests and required reading materials.

• Average copyright year: 1987• Over 16,000 copies of the year’s textbooks

versus just under 9,000 other printed items in the library’s collection.

• Information about reading counts and the library’s catalogue are available online.

• 35 computers with Internet access are available to students during Lunch and Snack periods.

• Books required for English and History classes are set aside with specially-regulated access.

• Large collections of extra textbooks are kept in the library storage room.

2. While the Aliso Viejo Intermediate Library is the smallest of the three programs I visited, its primary problem involves a complete lack of full-time staff members. The

library needs a full-time staff member more than anything.

• Marlene Foster, the librarian at Aliso Viejo Intermediate, splits her time between this school and a school in Cerritos, California. She is in Cerritos on Tuesday and Wednesday, Aliso Viejo on Thursdays and Fridays, and she takes turns at each on alternating Mondays.

• On the days that Mrs. Foster is not at Aliso Viejo, students are unable to check out books from the library or use the computer lab during break periods. There is only computer lab access to classes that schedule use of the library in advance.

• During my visit, students came in on several occasions to check out copies of a book required for English class, “The Giver.” On the days when Mrs. Foster is not there, they will be in trouble if they forgot to bring their books that day.

3. The extent of teaching assistance I saw Mrs. Foster give was helping students with problems related to the Reading Count program. She did not

assist when classes came in to use the computers.

• Mrs. Foster’s main job in the library is to keep track of the books. She also keeps an eye on the computers when students aren’t using them during classes.

• Mrs. Foster worked on fixing problems with Scholastic’s online program to keep track of Reading Count scores.

• Mrs. Foster does not help select textbooks, but she is in charge of selecting other new materials for the library. When purchasing new materials, she tries to find new books that are either popular with the students or are part of the Reading Counts program so that students will have more options.

4. Aliso Viejo Intermediate School Library has a staff of one part-time librarian who, as I mentioned earlier, splits her time between two schools. She has an

extremely-limited budget to work with.

• Teachers are expected to supervise their students during visits to the computer lab.• $2100 for textbooks• $500 for office supplies• Mrs. Foster buys some supplies from Staples at discount and sells them back to students.

This gives the library a little more to work with while providing students with a source of office supplies when they need them.

• Mrs. Foster gets around $300 from the state in the form of grants.• The library also has a yearly magazine drive to help raise funds.• When students lose books, Mrs. Foster sometimes uses the replacement fees they pay to get

newer books instead of replacing the books that were lost.• There are small vending machines that sell

pencils and pens for 25 cents each. Studentsmay also make photo copies for 10 cents apage.

5. The most striking difference between Aliso Viejo Intermediate School Library and the other programs I visited is the small size of the library facility.

• Though the Aliso Viejo library has a bigger building the Portola Hills, its building is divided down the middle into the library and the computer lab.

• Many of the library’s shelves are only half-full. With seemingly so few books on the shelves and adequate storage for extra textbooks, a larger building isn’t as necessary.

• The computers also have adequate space.

6. What did I learn?• In order to work in a school library, you need to have good personal skills.

You need to be cooperative and available to work with, but at the same time, you need to make sure you aren’t taken advantage of.

• Don’t take your budget for granted; use whatever you’ve got wisely so you can provide the best service possible.

• It really helps to love what you do. A good attitude goes a long way when you’re working out problems.