Patrons (stakeholders) of school library media centers are students, parents, teachers, and community members. Describe at least three motivational activities that you as the library media specialist may use with each group to encourage use of the library media center.

The purpose of the library media center is to assist all patrons in the development of the skills necessary to be life long learners. Also, the media center is a place where all patrons can go to learn for information or go for enjoyment. The library media center provides many motivational activities that would be suitable for students, teachers, parents, and the community. These motivational activities can include booktalks, workshops, brochures, and booklets, for parents, teachers, students and the community.

The teachers-librarian shows enthusiasm about reading and knows about the best books for encouraging children to read. At every opportunity, the teacher-librarian highlights new booktalks to teachers about the latest award-winning books, suggest sequels and follow—up books to ones recently read in class. This is done through booktalks, video and audio programs and reading buddies. Booktalks are use to promote reading. Also, booktalks are an excellent way to provide students with information about available titles or text sets for independent reading or literature circles. Sometimes, the classroom teacher will ask the teacher-librarian to prepare a series of booktalks, to be given in the classroom or in the school library; these talks can help launch an author study, a new theme, or a special project. Next, the video and audio programs can provide students the opportunity to receive activities through PowerPoint slide shows. Also, the students can view the center activities through the local cable access channels, school-wide video systems; DVD’s or run on an old television set in a display case. Also, students can use the reading buddies. Reading buddies are books in a bag in which students are allowed to checkout books from the library in a bag and have their parents read with their children and discussed the book with their child. After, taking the book home every child will get the opportunity to briefly discuss his or her book.

Teacher-librarians have long been responsible for promoting reading in schools. We carefully collect exciting print and electronic resources to support the curricula taught in our buildings. We give booktalks, invite guest authors and illustrators, and provide teachers with topical and thematic text sets, mini-collections that via the classrooms in our schools. We plaster our library walls and our schools halls with posters to motivate youth to read. We organize book clubs and book fairs and invite students, teachers and parents into the wondrous world of literacy. We believe that these promotional activities help create avid readers and we act accordingly. These areas in which I believe that teachers can help in reading is through co-teaching, foster workshops and displays and bulletin boards. There are many ways to achieve the benefits of having two educators in one room. When we team-teach, the student-to-teacher ratio is lowered at the point of instruction. More students have opportunities for individualized attention and groups of students can be better supported as they learn essential skills and content in literacy development. The lessons are designed for co-teaching students in grades k-6 and may be used in middle school grades depending on students reading proficiencies. All of the graphic organizers and students assessment tools are available for download. Workshops provide information to teachers to help with the teaching and the learning process to motivate teachers to use the library. Workshops are also used as a teaching tool to reinforce what has been discussed through the state, local and federal mandates. Through workshops, teachers will become more aware of what the library media center had to offer such as displays and bulletin boards. Displays and bulletin boards get teachers involved with designing and creative attractive displays. These can be set up in standard areas such as established showcases and bulletin boards. However you might also create murals on paper and cloth for your walls, hang mobiles from the ceilings, design panels for your ceiling, and create flags.

In schools where teacher librarians and classroom teachers collaborate to promote literacy, the school library is seen as a gateway to the world of resources beyond the school’s walls. It is, first and foremost, a shared, physical, on-site collection of learning resources used by all teachers and students; in addition, it provides access to local human community resources, resources from other libraries, and links to online databases, virtual tours, and various web resources. Although classroom teachers try to develop classroom libraries, these never have the full range of resources offered by a school library. The teacher-librarian collects books and materials that support the classroom program, perhaps setting them up on a temporary basis in the classroom or as an information station in the school library for students to take and use in classroom projects. The teacher-librarian often acts as a community contact setting up guest speakers, parents or experts in curriculum projects, arranging field trips to local facilities, and location useful community resources not normally housed in the school library. The three areas in which the teacher-librarian can help the parents and the communities are through brochures, newsletters and booklets. Brochures are used to communication with the parents and the community. These brochures focus on the mission of the library media center. Also, brochures provide evidence that the LMS had collected about the effective of the LMC program and the importance of school libraries. Next, newsletters are also used to communicate with the parents and the community. Newsletters provide information and activities that are happening within the LMC. Booklets can be used to develop materials in which the library media center had produced from other sources such as copyright guidelines, citing sources, evaluating websites, fact and opinion, primary resources or other topics would be valuable to the parents and the community.

In summary, the media center is a place where all patrons can go for information or for enjoyment. This information can also be provided at the school library as well as the public library. This information can be obtained during the regular school year as well as during the summer time. As classroom teachers instruct students in literacy and promote it, the teacher-librarian reinforces traditional and critical literacy skills, teacher information, media, visual, and new literacies, and promote life long reading. Providing children with access to a wide variety of reading materials is recognized as a crucial factor in literacy achievement, and classroom teachers need to work closely with the teacher-librarian to get students into the school library as often as possible. Using the school library as an extended classroom allows students to explore the widest variety of resources while using those resources for meaningful learning and independent reading.

References

Bishop, Kay (2007). The collection Program in Schools, Concepts, practices, and Information Sources: Greenwood Publishing Group Inc. Post West. Westport, CT.

Asselin, Marlene, Doiron, Ray. (2005). Literacy Libraries and Learning:  Pembroke Publishers Limited. Portland, ME.

Moreillen, Judi. (2008, June). Position yourself at the center: co-teaching reading comprehension strategies. The Journal for School Library Professional. Pgs. 27-34.

Miller, Pat. (2002). www.//eduscapes.com. The school library Media Specialist: Program Administration