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Laurel ReisenDemographic AnalysisLIS 693September 8, 2017

I. Qualitative and Quantitative Data

A. Detailed description of the school’s local community

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School is located in beautiful historic Mt. Pleasant, NC, a 100%

rural community in eastern Cabarrus County.  The elementary, middle, and high school are all

named after the town of Mt. Pleasant, have the same school colors of blue and gold, and the

same mascot, “Roaring Tiger.” The people of the community have lived here for generations.

Most of my colleagues have lived in this town all their lives and are former students of this

elementary school and attended the middle school and high school in this community. The

brand-new logo for Mt. Pleasant schools is “One Town. One School. One Family. Tiger

PRIDE.”

Less than a mile away from the elementary school is the Mt. Pleasant branch of the

Cabarrus County Public Library. This library branch opened its doors in 1996 and was the

result of a grassroots funding effort of the community. (Mt. Pleasant Branch Library website)

The citizens of Mt. Pleasant support their public library as evidenced by their yearly fundraiser:

a play cast with prominent community members such as the mayor of Mt. Pleasant and local

business owners.

According to the United Census Bureau, the population of Mt. Pleasant, NC is 6,622.

About 95% of the population is White, 4% is black and the rest is Native American, Asian or

Other.  Clearly, Mt. Pleasant, NC is not a very diverse community.  This mostly White population

speaks English only in the home (98.2%) with the remaining speaking either Spanish or an

Asian language.  The 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5 Year Estimates indicate the

community’s poverty level is 10.8%.  The population that is 16 years and over is 4179 and 67%

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of that population is in the workforce.  Over a quarter of the occupations are in Management,

Professional occupations (28.3%) followed by Sales and Office Occupations (25.7%.)

Production, transportation and material moving occupations are behind that at 19.1%.  Private

salary and wage workers make up the majority of the workforce in Mt. Pleasant.  (77.1%.)

(factfinder.census.gov)

B. Detailed description of the school, staff, and students

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School is a traditional public school and is part of Cabarrus

County Schools. Mt. Pleasant Elementary School serves 670 students from kindergarten

through 5th grade and has an Average Daily Membership of 671.  Our school population is

92.4% white, 3.2% Hispanic, 1.8% Black, 1.9% Multi Racial, .4% American Indian, .3% Asian.

Of our school population, 37.59% qualify for free/reduced lunch.  Nineteen percent of our

students are identified as Exceptional Children, 8.2% as Academically and Intelligently Gifted

and 1.5% are English Language Learners.   The school library should reflect this population with

a wide range of materials of various reading levels.

Of note is 2016-2017 was the fifth year that Mt Pleasant Elementary School EXCEEDED

EXPECTED GROWTH.  This means, since August of 2012, our staff has helped our students

grow at a rate well over what is expected.  There is no other elementary school in our county

who exceeded growth the last two years, let alone the last five.  (Corey Cochran, personal

communication, September 7, 2017)

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School consists of 67 staff with 42 certified teachers.  Five of

the staff are male:  Principal, Technology Facilitator, Physical Education Teacher, and two

Custodians. Only two staff members are nonwhite.  The School Library Media program should

reflect the population, but also contain some diversity to reflect the world.

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Figure One2012-2013ncreportcards.org

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Figure 2 2012-2013 School Yearncschoolreportcards.org

        Figure 3

2012-2013 School Yearncschoolreportcards.org

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Principal Corey Cochran is the head of our school, assisted by Assistant Principal of

Instruction, Deborah Burris.  Also, working in the front office is our Data Manager, Treasurer,

and Clerical Staff consisting of a full-time receptionist and a Teacher Assistant who works in the

front office part time, and does interventions with students the other time.  We have a custodial

staff of 3:  2 males (1 of the 2 nonwhite staff members) and 1 female. We have 1.2 AIG

teachers.  One is employed at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School full time and another works one

day at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School and the other 4 days at another elementary school.  We

have a School Psychologist (.66 position) and is based here but is shared among other schools.

We have a full-time nurse employed by Cabarrus Health Alliance.  Our School Resource Officer

is employed by Cabarrus County Government.  Two School Counselors (1.5 positions) regularly

teach Guidance Lessons opposite my Media Lessons.   There is one ESL teacher who spends

an hour or so with our students each week.  There are 2 full time Exceptional Children teachers

and an EC Lead Teacher who serves in an advisory role and does not interact directly with

children. Our school has five assistants that work with all five kindergarten classrooms and five

first grade classrooms. Additionally, there is an assistant who takes turns covering teacher

lunch and recess on a rotation basis for all grade levels. There is a Technology Facilitator.  The

School Librarian and the TF have a great working relationship and collaborate on lessons.

Figure 42012-2013 School Year ncschoolreportcards.org

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There is a School Improvement Team that meets monthly. The three committees of the

SIT Team are Curriculum Committee, Multi-tiered Support Committee, and Student Support

Committee. Members of the SIT team include the assistant principal of instruction, technology

facilitator, school library media coordinator, school counselor, two teachers from each grade

level, AIG teacher, and PTO members and are led by the principal. Members are voted by the

school staff each year. Over the summer, we meet and formulate our upcoming school year

goals for all three committees. These goals are also approved by the school staff.

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE GOALS:

Impact Goals:By June, 2018, MPES will increase the percentage of students in grades 3 – 5 who are proficient in Reading from 58.1% to 60% as measured by the NC Reading EOG and in grades K – 2 who are proficient in Reading from 64.7% to 67% as measured by the Reading 3D TRC Benchmark Assessment percent proficient.

By June, 2018, MPES will increase the percentage of students in grades 3 – 5 who are proficient in Math from 63.0% to 65% as measured by the NC Math EOG

Fidelity Goal:Fidelity goal will be determined by the MPES Curriculum Committee after we have received the new CCS Classroom Walkthrough Instrument and thereby know what we can measure by the CWT instrument.

MULTI-TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORT COMMITTEE GOALS:

Impact Goals:

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School will maintain the percentage of students following school-wide discipline expectations at 90% or above.

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School will maintain the percentage of students who feel safe at school at 92% or above as measured by the end-of-the-year CCS student survey.

Fidelity Goal:

By June 2018, classrooms will meet the following benchmark based on the CCS Classroom Walkthrough Instrument: student engagement is rated as moderate (75%-89%) or high (90% or above) at least 95% of the time on CWT.

STUDENT SUPPORT COMMITTEE GOALS:

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Impact Goals:

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School will maintain the percentage of students following school-wide discipline expectations at 90% or above.

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School will maintain the percentage of students who feel safe at school at 92% or above as measured by the end-of-the-year CCS student survey.

Fidelity Goal:

By June 2018, classrooms will meet the following benchmark based on the CCS Classroom Walkthrough

Instrument: student engagement is rated as moderate (75%-89%) or high (90% or above) at least 95% of the time on CWT.

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School is well supported with an active Parent Teacher

Organization. The PTO approached the librarian and asked if they could provide new furniture.

The school librarian immediately whipped out a dream budget. The PTO slashed it in half with a

promise to fund the rest at a later date. The school library is now furnished with brightly colored,

children friendly seating where there once was a library filled with drab, donated hospital office

rejects. The PTO runs the Book Fair for the school which is the main source of revenue for the

collection. Of note is the little-known fact that several PTO members approached me and

encouraged me to apply for this position while I worked at Mt. Pleasant branch of the Cabarrus

County Public Library.

C. Statements of the school’s mission and the school library’s mission

The overarching county mission is:We will value, teach and empower each student in a culture of educational excellence.

The mission of Mt. Pleasant Elementary School is to develop respectful and responsible life-long learners with the partnership of parents and community.                                                                                         Cabarrus County Schools website

There is no school library mission as of this writing.

D. Description of the school library staff, program, and services (i.e. type of schedule, hours, program focus, etc.).

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One single person works in the library:  ME!  I am a librarian with 25 years of public

library experience, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and a Master Degree in

Library and Information Science.  This is my fourth school year in a school library and I am in

the process of attaining school library licensure.  I am assigned a mentor in another elementary

school in our county.  Fifth grade library helpers shelve materials for me during their recess

time.    

I am on a fixed schedule for classes and teach 2-3 classes a day.  I see three grade

levels each week during one quarter and rotate with the other grade levels the next quarter. The

district recommends librarians teach 50% of their day and manage the library the other half of

their workday. Students check out books during their class time.   Students can come to the

library outside of scheduled class time.  This time is referred to as Open Checkout and two

students from each class can come to the library at a time.  Students must have their library

card with them in order to check out library materials.  Books check out for one week and can

be renewed twice.  There is no “official” overdue policy at the moment but it is on my list of

things that need to be done.  I will restrict checkout if items are over 2 months overdue.

The entire school has a copy of the following “Open Checkout” schedule.  Each day

“Open Checkout” hours are announced on the morning news and are included in staff

announcements. I do have to tweak the schedule occasionally to accommodate meetings/staff

development/testing.  I use Outlook Calendar to keep track of the library schedule of classes

and Open Checkout.

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 9:30-11:15AM  9:30-11:15AM  9:30-11:15AM  9:30-11:15AM  9:30-11:15AM 1PM-1:50PM  1PM-1:50PM  2PM-2:50PM  1PM-1:50PM  1PM-1:50PM

Figure 5Open Checkout Schedule MPES 2017-2018

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The majority of students using the media center during open checkout is overwhelmingly

fourth graders followed by second graders. Of the 50 top patrons over the past year, half came

from fourth grade. Next came second graders, followed by first graders. No third-grade student

made the top 50 patron list.

Books and eBooks are available for students to check out.  Students may use 12 of the

computers in the library for research and searching for books.  There is a small professional

collection for faculty but it is not well utilized.  My Assistant Principal of Instruction would like me

to expand this collection.  It is on my list of goals.  DVDs are housed in the media office and

there is a standard form and official policy regarding showing DVDs and other media in the

classroom.

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Figure 6Top 50 Patrons Year to DateFollett Library ReportSeptember 1, 2017

Note: Patron homerooms are identified as the grade they are in now rather than last year’s grade when the majority of checkouts occurred.Patron names are omitted from this screenshot.

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II. Analysis of data

A. Strengths

Mt. Pleasant Elementary School is a strong elementary school in terms of performance

and staff. For five years, our students consistently exceed growth. There is very little faculty

turnover. Most professional teaching positions are filled with county transfers of teachers who

have put Mt. Pleasant Elementary School on their transfer list and have waiting for an opening

at our school for years. There are no newly licensed teachers. Mt. Pleasant Elementary School

often has 3-5 student teachers from University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Appalachian

State University each year. The teachers at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School want to be here

and are wildly supportive of one another. Staff morale is high.

The school principal is a reader and a strong proponent of the school library media

program. Before I interviewed, I spoke with him and asked what he was looking for in a school

library media coordinator. His response, “I want someone who makes reading fun and makes

the library a positive place where children want to be.” (Corey Cochran, personal

communication, August 17, 2014) I believe, as the School Library Media Coordinator, I am

fulfilling his vision as evidenced by my glowing employee evaluations, parent correspondence

with the principal and other teachers, as well as personal stories from students.

The teachers and staff at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School do an excellent job of

planning and setting goals. Committee meetings have a purpose and the staff is involved in

many of the decisions. Mt. Pleasant Elementary School is a school that is well loved by all

those attend, all those teach and all those that live in the Mt. Pleasant Community.

B. Weaknesses (Or Opportunities for Growth)

Mt. Pleasant natives do not take kindly to outsiders. The former librarian was not well

received by parents and staff not only because she was from a neighboring town and her

children went to private school instead of Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, but also because

she never made an effort to become part of the Mt. Pleasant community. When she transferred

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to another school, various members of the community approached me and suggested I apply for

the open position. I was known in the community because I was the Branch Manager of the Mt.

Pleasant Branch library and active in various town events. This vignette reminds me to remain

connected to Mt. Pleasant by attending events and involving myself in the local community by

continue to serve on community boards such as the local museum and the Friends of the Mt.

Pleasant Library.

The town of Mt. Pleasant itself is not a very developed town. There are few restaurants

and chain businesses. Domino’s Pizza © just arrived last year and is the first and only food

delivery in Mt. Pleasant. There were unhappy feelings when Family Dollar moved into the

community and an uproar when low income apartment homes were built. A police officer

described Mt. Pleasant as being at least 10 years behind most of the towns in the county.

(Narty James, personal communication, September 2, 2016).

The school library program is well regarded, but in a minor way within the school

community, and there is zero personnel support in the library. There is an abundance of parent

volunteers for major events such as Book Fair but regular mundane tasks such as shelving and

running copies are not popular. The use of Teacher Assistants is reserved for direct student

interaction such as what is required for coverage in K-2 classrooms and small group

interventions. There will likely never be an assistant allocated to the school library media

center. The School Library Media program must rely on student volunteers. Unfortunately, this

is a project that requires time and has not been given a priority resulting in many returned books

piling up on return carts. Further, students are not given adequate readers’ advisory or

reference interviews because one person is in the library conducting all library tasks. Library

circulation consists of students grabbing a book that looks interesting and modified self-check

out.

The library is underutilized and undervalued. A possible reason may be because the

school community is unaware of the value of libraries other than a place for students to check

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out books and time for teachers to have planning time while their students are occupied. Not all

grade levels are avid library users. Grade levels will come to the library for classes as part of

their special rotation, but some grade levels do not send students for open checkout. Of glaring

note is third grade. Third graders seldom come to the library on their own to check out books.

When they are in second grade they are avid library users and when they go on to fourth grade

they use the library outside of regularly scheduled library class time, but evidence indicates that

is not the case in third grade. This is puzzling because the third-grade pod is the closest to the

media center and third graders and their teachers pass several times a day. The School Library

Media Coordinator must become more prominent in the third-grade level meetings and be a

strong advocate of School Library Media Program to these teachers. Further the School Library

Media Coordinator must present strong evidence demonstrating the link between increased

library usage and increased Reading Test scores. At a Third-Grade Professional Learning

Community (PLC) meeting last year, the PLC chair included this in her meeting notes:

Discussed the lower than county average Reading test scores. We are doing the best we can with what we have been given, and are focusing on interventions and meeting all students needs.  (Melissa Swinson, personal communication, March 7, 2017)

Another possible reason for underuse of the library is that there is no real

comprehension of the how and why of the library. The school library program at Mt. Pleasant 

Elementary School does not have a mission statement.  A strong prominent mission statement 

will remind students and staff of the importance of libraries and their strong role in student 

learning.  This mission statement should be succinct and accurately describe the role of the 

school library.

Your mission statement proclaims your purpose—your reason for being.  As a school librarian, it underscores what makes you unique and indispensable to students, staff, and as research studies have shown, the entire educational community.  (Weisburg page 15)

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Another weakness is the absence of policies and procedures for the Mt. Pleasant School 

Library Media Program.  There is an outdated School Library Handbook for Cabarrus County 

School Library Media Coordinators that includes general procedures but site based policies and 

procedures are encouraged.  Mt. Pleasant Elementary School’s Library Policies and Procedures 

should be developed.  If the school community does not understand how the library works, 

there is less likelihood it will be used thus decreasing the impression of importance.  

Students can be influenced about the importance of libraries with the inclusion of 

diverse characters in literature.  The community of Mt. Pleasant contains very little diversity, 

but the world outside Mt. Pleasant is diverse and the students need exposure to the cultural 

diversity of the world we all live in.  The entire school staff attended Cultural Diversity and 

Sensitivity training for two years but the overall sentiment was that it was not needed because 

they treat everyone the same and were not racists.  This program has since been eliminated, 

but I personally view that there is still a need at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School.  

III. Conclusions

After gathering qualitative and quantitative data about the Mt. Pleasant community, Mt. 

Pleasant Elementary School and the School Library Media program and thoroughly analyzing 

strengths and areas of improvement, several conclusions have been made that would make 

excellent goal projects.  Obviously, I cannot meet all needs or spread myself too thin but there 

are multiple areas where the school library can contribute.  (Akers, Anne, personal 

communication, August 20, 2017) However, what stands out most is library advocacy.  I need to 

advocate for the library program by sitting at each grade level’s table during their PLC meetings, 

creating a mission statement and developing clear policies and procedures.  Other goal projects 

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may include a yearlong reading motivation program such as a Book Club to assist with one of 

the goals of the School Improvement Plan and to demonstrate the link between increased 

library use and increased reading scores. A structured volunteer recruitment and training 

program would assist with help needed in the library and allow me to focus on reference and 

reader’s advisory with students and teachers.  A cultural professional development directed at 

staff coupled with the generous addition of culturally diverse library materials would be a 

worthy goal. 

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Bibliography of Resources Used

Cabarrus County Schools.  (2016.)  www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us

Mt. Pleasant Library. (2017.) Cabarrus County. Retrieved from www.cabarruscounty.us/government/departments/library/mt-pleasant-library/Pages/default.aspx

North Carolina.  Town of Mt. Pleasant, NC Website (2016.)  www.mtpleasantnc.org

North Carolina School Report Card, Mt. Pleasant Elementary School.  (2008-2013.)  Retrieved from www.ncpublicschools.org/

Top Patron Report: Mt. Pleasant Elementary School.  Follett TitleWave.  Created September 1, 2016.

U.S. Census Bureau (2010). Retrieved from [factfinder.census.gov].

Weisburg, H. K., & Ballard, S. D. (2017). Leading for school librarians: there is no other option. Chicago: Neal-Schuman, an imprint of the American Library Association.

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