Jump Start Your Year— Planning

Of course you aren't a kid anymore, but do you still have that "kid" feeling of excitement just before school starts in the fall? We do! You know the feeling—that little flurry of anticipation. It's a new school year. Anything can happen! It can be the best year ever!

Whether your school district provides one day or one week for preplanning, you probably started thinking about the new school year long before those preplanning days began. The first weeks of school you were surely busy fulfilling the needs of teachers and administrators, but it is also important to consider what the new school year will hold for the library media center. Take time to review your end-of-year findings. Then evaluate your teacher and student surveys. Are there any patterns emerging? Did all your teachers key in on one aspect of your management that you want to change? Did all of your students love a particular program you created last year, so you need to do more of the same? Next, evaluate your end-of-year inventory. With your new school year budget, do you need to replace or upgrade equipment? Did you notice a deficiency in your nonfiction or fiction collections on specific topics related to a unit that a teacher uses each year?

Once you determine how you need to spend your funds for the new school year, communicate that to your administrator. Submit goals for the new school year that align with the library media center mission statement, the school district mission statement, and the academic standards. Submit a tentative budget at this time. This may be a revised budget since you probably submitted one to your principal in the spring when all budgets were submitted to the district. Budgets can be fluid, so your administrator may be able to find you more funds for unexpected needs.

It is early in the year so be sure to decide what you want parents, students, and teachers to know about your library media center and your program. You might consider preparing an informational flyer for each of these groups.

Many schools hold some sort of open house at the beginning of the school year, and this is a great time to distribute your flyers to parents. Include information like the library media center hours and circulation policies. If your school uses a research plan such as the Big6™, include information about the research model along with other academic standards your library media program supports. Help parents by including ideas and tips about reading to or with their younger and older children. For example, parents can alternate reading pages aloud with their older elementary and middle school children. They can also read the same books, no matter what level, and then engage their sons or daughters in discussions to improve comprehension and higher-level thinking skills. Remind them that the more students read for pleasure, the higher their test scores and grades are likely to be. Give parents your school email address and school phone number. Let them know you welcome volunteers to assist with clerical tasks and special programs such as book fairs. Make parents a part of your program and they will support you when you need them.

Don't forget your students. Prepare a student guide at the same time you are preparing parent flyers because much of the material is the same. Distribute these guides to students during your library media center orientation or the first time you meet with students during the new school year. Make sure you introduce yourself and your entire staff to the students since they will interact with all of you during the school year. Include library media center rules and checkout procedures. Take a positive approach by telling students what you can do for them as well as what they can do for you!

Place the teacher flyers in mailboxes or distribute them at a faculty meeting. Use an easy software program such as Microsoft Publisher to create a pamphlet or a three-fold flyer that introduces your staff and delineates services you provide for teachers. When speaking with staff, identify curriculum connections you can make with their programs. Make sure they know you are willing to either come to their classrooms or address students in the library media center. If you are on a fixed schedule, mention some of the lessons you teach and how these lessons connect with state benchmarks. If you are on a flexible schedule, make sure teachers know you are willing to collaborate with them on lessons and share planning and assessment. Explain to teachers how to schedule their classes for maximum benefit to their students. You can also remind them of copyright rules regarding video presentations and any other district copyright policies that affect them.

While reflecting on your program and the new school year, you and your administrators may determine that teachers need technology training to use hardware or software more effectively or maybe a new curriculum focus needs emphasis. Create a plan to facilitate these identified staff development workshops. Your plan may include actually teaching the skills or assisting those who teach the workshops by providing the equipment or software they need and scheduling library media center space for the presentations. Whether you have a large library media center staff or just one clerk, meet with your staff as the new school year begins. Catch up on all summer news, and then talk about your focus for the new school year. To ensure your staff is supportive of not only your new initiatives but also daily tasks, make them feel they are an integral part of the library media program. Listen to their ideas and adjust duties so that they are working in a happy atmosphere, ready to help you support students, parents, teachers, and the administration.

The new school year is definitely underway! Preparation is the key for all teachers including those of us in the library media center. Get ready, get set, and go for the best year ever!

Resources:

Bertland, Linda. Resources for School Librarians. http://www.sldirectory.com/index.html (accessed March 21, 2006).

Keeling, Joyce. Lesson Plans for the Busy Librarian: A Standards-Based Approach for the Elementary Library Media Center. Vol. 2. Libraries Unlimited, 2005.

Woolls, Blanche. The School Library Media Manager. Libraries Unlimited, 2004.