South Delta Secondary School 2009-2010 Library Program

Sharon Doyle, Teacher-Librarian (.86) and Information Technology 9/10 teacher (.14)

Charlene MacFarlane, Library Technician (.50) @ SDSS and (.50) @ DSS

This year marked the beginning of transition for our school library. We learned to manage or ‘make due’ with less; less, meaning, less money, less resources and less staff. Library time was reduced to .86 and Library Technician time was reduced to .50. We agreed on a Day 1 / Day 2 schedule between Delta Secondary and South Delta Secondary with Charlene working at South Delta on Day 1s. This eventually allowed the library to remain open while I taught IT 9/10 during C block.

As a result of decreased staffing the library closed at 3:00pm instead of 4:00pm. Furthermore, the once popular Web Wednesdays were no longer offered.

We faced another setback due to the district eliminating the School Based Education Initiative Grant; these were a great source of successful collaborative endeavors. I successfully applied for SEI grants since my arrival at SDSS in December 2006. These grants were a fantastic opportunity for the library to collaborate with teachers.

Library Funding Since 2006 our library budget has decreased by 44%. With each budget cut we are purchasing less and less books, DVDs and online materials such as databases and eBooks. School Year Library Funding French Immersion Funding Total 2009-2010 4337.00 2501.00 6838.00 2008-2009 9358.00 3125.00 12483.00 2007-2008 9672.00 2826.00 12498.00 2006-2007 9840.00 information not available accurate figure not

available

Self Check-Out The decrease in staffing forced us to rethink our check-out system. We implemented a Self Check-Out system to allow students and teacher to borrow library resources. This ‘honour system’ asked patrons to fill out a form that was located at the circulation desk. People filled in name, grade, title, and barcode number. Charlene would then process these

Library Hours Monday – Friday

8:00 – 3:00

School library funding decreased by 44%.

Staffing, Scheduling and Funding

Initiatives

Library staff is unavailable. Please complete the Self Check-Out form.

check-outs the next day when she arrived. While there were a couple of hiccups, it generally worked quite well. This is something we will continue to use in the future. Scholastic Teen Readers Club: a Library–English department fundraiser In November 2009 we initiated our first ever fundraising activity. With the support and cooperation from English teachers, Grade 8 and 9 students were offered the chance to order Young Adult books from Scholastic. Our school library received rewards and points to use toward Scholastic books and classroom supplies. This year we purchased books for the school library and a book club set (10 copies) of The Outsiders. Campaigns In an effort to make the library more visible we embarked a number advocacy campaigns. These were met with great success and we hope to build on this in coming years.

Freedom to Read: February 21-27 Canada Council for the Arts and the Canadian Library Association sponsor Freedom to Read week, February 21-27. We promoted this with the staff and students by taking pictures of people reading their favourite book. We then created a slide show that was posted on the hallway monitors and embedded in the school website. People were excited to have their picture taken. We also created a book display of titles that have been banned or challenged in public and school libraries.

World Book Day: April 23 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) sponsors World Book and Copyright Day. We promoted this day to help promote reading. We created a book display of popular titles. We also created a slide show to promote the new books in our school library. Students and teachers were encouraged to enter the World Book Draw. To enter students and teachers told us their favourite book. Winners received gift cards to the local book store and a little box of sweet treats. Twitter SDSS is now on Twitter. We are telling the world ‘what we are doing’. We are also experimenting in using Twitter as a medium to communicate the library’s monthly report for the staff meetings. SDSS Library Blog In order to ‘spice’ up my book talks, I create a book blog. I write reviews and post them to our SDSS Library blog. This year I focused on books that have been made into films. The blog includes movie trailers and I speak to the how the movie and book are different. This has provided a multi-media dimension to book talks and library orientation.

Despite the reduction in funding and staffing the library is still heavily used. Furthermore, we enjoy a positive professional learning relationship with staff and students.

Learning with the Library

Class Sessions

Classes booked Special Events PC Laptop Cart MacBook Cart 2009-2010 279 56 340 153 2008-2009 294 40 402 105 2007-2008 368 35 437 n/a

Of the 279 classes booked into the library 36 classes were for the Information Technology 9/10 class, which was scheduled in the library. This class was re-located to Room 122 in January 2010. This C block scheduling caused some confusion during this transition year as teachers were not able to access the space or the resources. Some teachers decided not to book the library for any of their classes.

While numbers show a decrease from previous years it is important to remember that library availability was reduced due to reduction in Teacher-Librarian time from 1.0 FTE (2008-2009) to .86 FTE (2009-2010).

Our school library continues to be the hub of learning; learning that transcends beyond the physical walls. The Library was available to staff and students in other ways: satellite library book trolleys, PC and MAC laptop carts. In an effort to accommodate learning I worked collaboratively with teachers and arranged for satellite libraries (large carts of books) to be signed out to the classroom teacher; these books were brought down to the students in their classrooms, in many cases in conjunction with one of the laptop carts. Examples of satellite libraries include:

• Canada in the 1950’s (SS 11)

• Canada in the 1980’s (SS 11)

• Napoleon (SS 9)

• Moyen Age (Sc. Hum. 8)

Collaboration and Reciprocal Teaching

We have been able to build on our previous successes of Digital Storytelling and Podcasting. These digital collaborations were conducted with the French Immersion department, namely, Madame Olsen. Furthermore, classes continued to use the ‘En français s’il vous plait’ and ‘IT 9/10’ Ning social networks, Capzles and Edublogs. The School Library continues to work reciprocally with teachers. Our reciprocal teaching lessons help students learn to use technology and a variety of information sources for academic purposes.

Reciprocal teaching projects include:

• People of the Renaissance (Hum. 9)

• Artists of the Renaissance (SS 9)

• Inventors of the Industrial Revolution (SS 11)

• AIDS / HIV (Sc. 8)

• Epidemics and Pandemics (SS 8)

• Napoleon (SS 9)

• Canada in the 1950’s (SS 11)

• Canada in the 1980’s (SS 11)

• World War II (SS 11 and History 12)

• Political developments in early British Columbia History ( SS 10)

• History of Blacks in Canada (SS 10)

• Greek Gods and Mythology (Eng. 8)

• Middle Ages (SS 8 and Hum. 8)

• History of the Canadian Pacific Railroad (SS 10)

• French Philosophes (SS 9)

• Psychological disorders (Psych. 11)

Students on Study Block On average, 20-30 students call the library home during any given study block; this translates to 80-120 students per day. These students use the library space, computers, materials and the school wireless connection. In addition, while students are in the library they are under the supervision of the Teacher-Librarian; thus there are varying degrees of discipline issues that can arise on a regular basis. Our Library-Technician also supervises students on study block; in particular, Charlene is solely responsible for supervising students during C block as I am teaching in a computer lab. Lunch Hour The school library is a popular destination for lunch time. While library seating accommodates 89 people, there are upwards to 125 students in the library at lunch. As part of my extra-curricular involvement here at SDSS, I supervise the library every lunch hour; that translates into 3.75 hours per week.

Library Monitors and Peer Tutor Another extra-curricular programme at our library is our small group of Library Monitors. Even though our posted hours state we are closed at 3:00pm, I am often here until 3:30 or 4:00. Our Library Monitor programme has made great strides; we now have 3-4 students who regularly help out in the library. The library made a new connection in working with a Peer Tutor. I was fortunate to share a Peer Tutor, Ella Hurworth, with Ms. Holland, our AP English teacher. This proved to be a productive and rewarding experience for me and the Peer Tutor. I hope to explore the possibility of working with a Peer Tutor again.

Circulation Again, despite the reduction in hours, the library is still a popular place. Our circulation increased again. We see a 2.25% increase in circulation from last year. Over the past four years we see a 56.5% increase in circulation. The majority of our circulation is related to the English Language Arts curriculum. All English teachers provide an independent novel study. Most students choose the titles from our school library collection. In addition, SDSS has a large student community of readers. Many students come to the school library to get the latest titles.

CIRCULATIONS HOLDS 2009-2010 6740 52 2008-2009 6593 66 2007-2008 5834 56 2006-2007 4310 12

Our Library Collection

Print Collection The majority of patrons are reading novels. One of the contributing factors is that the English teachers support independent reading as an element on their classroom routine. However, it is important to note, that SDSS enjoys a student population that enjoys reading on their own. You will often see students in the library at lunch and

after school selecting books for the weekend and the school holidays. Despite our dwindling budget we are continuing to support the curriculum as best we can. This year we focused on developing our collection to better meet the needs of the English and Social Studies departments. Purchases

• Black Canadians (SS 10) • First Nations History (SS 9-10) • Novels for independent reading (Eng. 8-12)

Weeding

We have continued to clean up our collection. We weeded 1800 copies; these included old magazines and books. These weeded items were made available to all staff before the remainder was forwarded to recycling. It is our hope to remove some book shelves to make room for more study tables, individual study carrels and computer terminals. Subscription Online Resources We are continuing to promote our subscription online resources. These are databases that house and search ebooks and articles for journals, magazines and newspapers from around the world. World Book Online EBSCO GALE

Hits Hits Hits Total Research Hits ’09-‘10 61780 ’09-‘10 753 ‘09-‘10 407** 62940 ’08-‘09 14159* ’08-‘09 651 ’08-‘09 2975 17785+458***=18243

’07-‘08 212

’07-‘08 3764 *Figure represents District Wide hits, **Figure low due to elimination of 2 major GALE products (Biography Resource Center and Student Resource Center), ***Figure represents the Oxford Reference Online database we used in 2008-2009 Despite the cutbacks to our online collection, we are experiencing heavy usage of our database in comparison to other high schools in the district. The teachers are very supportive of these quality academic resources and encourage student to use them for research. Our numbers for EBSCO have increased due the elimination of 3 other research products. It should be noted, that the increase in no way comes close to the usage we experienced when students had access to Biography Resource Centre, Student Resource Centre and Oxford Reference Online.

NOVELS MAGAZINES REFERENCE NON-FICTION

DVD EQUIPMENT

2009-2010 55.19% 9.91% 8.44% 21.38 3.07% 2.01% 2008-2009 54.58% 9.33% 9.47% 24.66% 3.53% n/a 2007-2008 60.20% 8.98% 4.54% 21.01% 5.19% n/a

Due to cutbacks to libraries, the following research tools are no longer available,

• Biography Resource Center • Student Resource Center • Oxford Reference Online

Unfortunately, due to budget cutbacks we were not able to renew our subscription to the following databases; Biography Resource Center, Student Resource, Center and Oxford Reference Online. We hope to investigate funding from other sources, maybe capital, to help fund the $2200 USD needed to pay for the cost of these valuable resources. The Best Young Adult Books of the Decade and How to Use Them in Your Program (Grades 6-12): Bureau of Education and Research. April 27, 2010 This seminar spoke to new books for young adults. The speaker also utilized and demonstrated a variety of strategies to help promote a school’s library programme. I am looking forward to implementing movie and book trailers into our SDSS Library Book Blog. In addition, I was intrigued how the speaker integrated poetry into a school library programme. Delta Teacher-Librarian Association I am an active member of our specialist association. I attend meetings and often demonstrate strategies for integrating technology into a school library programme. I am also a regular contributor to our FirstClass conference. Information Technology 9/10 Course Development Information Technology was a new course for me to teach. The IRP of 1997 is out of date. I worked to create a course around the power of web 2.0 and free applications. The course was delivered in a traditional classroom setting but the materials were delivered online. All students’ assignments and projects were submitted via our social network. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the course. IT 9/10 course available @ https://sites.google.com/site/it9sdss/ Magazine Renewals We will begin to run the magazine renewals out of the Business Assistant office. Judy Rosmus, our Business Assistant, graciously suggested this as a means of streamlining our operations. Technology Coordination I am excited to further explore the fusion of library and technology. Next year our school’s technology coordination will run out the library office. This is a great partnership as so much of the ‘tech stuff’ flows out of the library. Drop Everything and READ: Canadian Library Month Our two reading campaigns this year, Freedom to Read and World Book Day proved to be successful. I plan to add a third campaign, Drop Everything and Read, for the coming year. DEAR is an initiative sponsored by the British Columbia Teacher Librarian Association (http://bctladear.blogspot.com/). Weeding and Shelf Space We will continue with our weeding project. The final goal is to remove 3 sets of bookshelves and make room for student study carrels.

Professional Development 2009-2010

Goals 2010 – 2011

Collection Development We are continuing to update our learning resources. Our focus for the 2010 – 2011 school year will be updating our Reference and non-fiction collection. We have a number of course assignments that we can use as a basis for purchasing future learning resources. Within the context of updating our print collection we will also be looking at further expanding our online resources such as eBooks and subscription databases. Library Layout Plan In anticipation of future grants or building renovation projects we will look at developing some new design layouts for an ‘ideal school library’. At present the shelving and computer configuration is not conducive to a 21st century learner library. Grants and Funding With ever continuing cutbacks to school libraries, I hope to explore our options for grants from the private sector as well as grants from the teacher-librarian and library associations. Some projects that might be eligible for grants include the following…

• Audio book collection • New student computers • Various book collection development on the following themes (non-fiction and

fiction books for boys, books by BC and/or Canadian authors, BC history, poetry, art, sports).

These are only a fraction of books that we need to update our library collection.