Increasing Opportunities and Engagement in our School Libraries

February 2023
By: Michelle Cottrell, District Media Specialist, LCSD

After years of working as a Media Assistant in a local elementary school, last year I was offered the position of District Media Specialist here in Lincoln County School District. It probably goes without saying that as a child I loved the school library. I remember our school library was referred to as “the heart of the school” on more than one occasion. The librarian was the magical person who knew how to answer even the most outlandish question through their ability to research and locate information. Over the years technology has made it easier to find information at the touch of a button shifting focus away from the library for many people. There is a shift happening again as we see kids and adults coming back into public and school libraries. The pandemic made it clear to many the important role that libraries have in our communities. Throughout the pandemic and since in our district we have been asking ourselves "How do we offer equitable access to kids?" and "How do we get students and staff excited about coming back into the library and utilizing our resources?"

To answer this question, we are focusing on equity, engagement, and accessibility in our LCSD libraries. So far this year we have worked towards diversifying our collections to be more representative and inclusive, added technology and tools to enhance the learning experience in the library for our students, and found ways to connect with our staff and students.

Engaging Lessons in Elementary

Though our elementary students have access to their libraries on a regular basis through their Special rotations, our circulation numbers varied greatly in our schools. Looking at the numbers helped us to conclude that schools with higher circulation were the ones with engaging lessons that helped to foster a sense of purpose during the students’ library time. Knowing this, the first step we took this year was collaborating with our experienced Media Assistants to compile and share these engaging lessons along with new lessons in a yearly plan for each of our elementary schools. The lessons are based on grade level standards so that each year students learn new information and staff know that the time in the library is important and impactful in continuing grade-appropriate learning. Our Media Assistants are given the lessons to share the knowledge that as the District Media Specialist, I am available to assist as needed or requested.

Our elementary lessons are focused on library and literacy skills with the addition of some fun and engaging activities around technology and coding. Libraries are a place for learning and this means sometimes we have to think outside the box. In December we shared Hello Ruby lessons and supplied each of our elementary Media Assistants with a collection of Hello Ruby titles for their libraries. To follow those lessons, our elementary libraries were given a set of BeeBots, which are interactive robots that can be used in literacy lessons, library skills lessons, and to introduce coding in an interactive setting. Our first school to utilize these lessons was Crestview Elementary. Grades K-6 enjoyed programming the Bee-Bots utilizing the steps covered in their previous Hello Ruby lessons. We are excited to continue growing these lessons and expanding learning for our upper elementary grades with OzoBots by the end of the school year. 

I feel strongly it is important to empower each of our highly skilled Media Assistants to adjust the lessons for their students as needed with any support they require. Each community is different and the talented individuals working with the students on a daily basis know their students better than anyone. We have found that appreciating and fostering a chance for collaboration and learning for our library staff has helped us to create more engaging lessons that increase interest and learning in all of our libraries. I am grateful that our district appreciates the hard work and dedication that all of our library staff bring to our schools. 

Reimagining Learning Spaces in Secondary

In our secondary libraries, we worked with district and school staff to find out why classroom teachers were not utilizing the libraries in the numbers they did historically. After processing this feedback, our Library and Technology Departments worked together to create a learning space that is both enticing and engaging for students and staff. In all of our secondary libraries, we now have an interactive touchscreen display that can be used in lessons by classroom teachers or in lessons run by our library staff. In one of our secondary libraries we have implemented our first Learning Lab with the hope that increased engagement will lead to implementation in all of our secondary libraries in the near future. This learning space is in the center of the library and includes technology that enhances hands-on learning. Utilizing their new interactive display, virtual reality tools, interactive workspaces, and iPads or Chromebooks students now have access to hands-on lessons that create engagement. Just as we hoped, this accessibility is introducing the library to potential readers school-wide.

One interesting question I was asked at the beginning of this year was “What does increasing technology in the library have to do with increasing circulations?” Well, the simple answer is if a student never steps into the library how could they possibly know what we have to offer? Students use technology daily and having access to technology in the library reshapes how our students and the staff view the space and provides opportunities for them to see all we have to offer. 

Of course, once they are there, it’s our job to have books that engage and interest them. To this end, we have adopted our district’s focus on equity and worked with our Media Assistants to increase representation in the books we have available in the library. Along with Bryan Freschi, the Education Technology Administrator for LCSD, I was able to attend a very informative and helpful seminar at OASL, “Diversity Audits - How Diverse is Your Collection?” presented by Ayn Frazee, Teacher Librarian and OASL President-Elect. When unpacking all we learned, we agreed this is an essential step in our work to continue towards representation. Our secondary libraries have already begun the process of their own Diversity Audits with our support and we plan to implement them in our elementary libraries as well. Additionally, through increased funding dedicated to diverse and inclusive titles and languages that our population needs, we have been able to grow our collection in a way that represents our students more wholly.

Collaboration Among Colleagues

None of this would be possible without the ingenuity of our library staff district-wide. Engaging students and staff is an ongoing process and our school Media Assistants with support from their Administrators, our Education Technology Administrator, and myself, are continually looking for new ways to engage our students and staff. Thanks in large part to scheduled opportunities for collaboration with each other, all of our libraries have been successful in finding new ways to increase student and staff engagement. Some of our most successful are also some of the simplest. From wrapping books for a “Blind Date with a Book” at a secondary school; using OSLIS to enhance a research lesson for an elementary class or High School IB Students; or inviting students to assist with reviewing books, the result is an increase in the use of the library district-wide. In our first in-person meeting of the year, we took over an hour to brainstorm ideas to increase collaboration and communication. Each time we meet in person we come back to these and find what is working and discuss new ideas for both collaboration and increasing circulation. This has been an invaluable experience for all of our Media Assistants as at times it can feel as though we are all working on islands within our schools. Leaning on each other has built a sense of community and helps all of us to better serve our students while finding inspiration within our diverse and talented team.

To be fair, all this doesn’t mean our circulations are where we want in every school or that every class is currently utilizing all of the resources our school libraries have to offer. But, all of our school libraries are active places where students and staff are finding space to continue to learn and grow. I believe with continued work from our school and district staff along with the communication and time necessary to make collaboration possible, we will continue to find ways to engage our students and grow our library programs district-wide. 

Photos taken by Taft High School Media Assistant, Patty Dodson