The Library Media Technology Specialists serve in a variety of roles within the district. Brandon and Rosendale Primary share a part time LMTS that travels to RI to teach ELA and to the elementary schools to teach library information skills. RI/RBMS has a part time LMTS that also serves as the middle school technology teacher in addition to maintaining the IMC. Laconia has a full-time LMTS who also co-teaches throughout the year. As their roles vary from school to school, they have identified four main responsibilities:
(1) provide weekly classes for library skills, technology instruction, and checkout; and
(2) provide technology support to staff as promptly as possible; and
(3) maintain the library media center; and
(4) provide professional development.
Brandon School
The LMTS at Brandon School is part-time and shared with RI to teach 8th grade ELA and to RP to teach library skills. The media center is open from 7:45am – 3:30pm, at which time students and community members may use the library or the former computer labs. One full-time media specialist and one part-time (45 minutes a day) assistant staff the media center. If the facilities are needed outside of these hours, a “building use” request can be made and the facilities will be open to them.
The school library collections are expanded by providing interlibrary loans via the Brandon Public Library (with access to the WinneFox System), Rosendale School Libraries, and access to global networks such as the internet. The collection has also expanded to include a book room which is housed in the library, Follett Shelf, which provides access to e-Books, and Follett Catalist Digital, which provides access to online audio books and Sora, providing both ebooks and audiobooks. Online subscriptions, such as Baderlink, and other web-based information are made available to staff, students, and other community members through the Brandon Destiny webpage, located on the District website.
The library media center has room for three full classes, two at the tables and computers, and one at the steps. The media center has thirteen networked computers as well as two adjacent labs, one with thirty workstations and one Smartboard and another with twenty-five workstations and one Smartboard, extra Chromebooks, four iPads, four Kindles, and two Kindle tablets. Brandon School does have both wired and wireless access throughout the building, which provides a reliable connection to the network for the laptops. Classrooms at Brandon School are equipped with ViewSonic touch panels, document cameras, student Chromebooks, wireless access points, and teacher desktops and a teacher Chromebook in most rooms.
Brandon School continues to provide resources for all student populations including Spanish-speaking students, learning disabled, and visually impaired students. In order to provide resources to these students, Brandon School has a selection of books in the Spanish language as well as a translation program available on both the iPads and Kindle tablets. Brandon School also has increased the number of audiobooks in the form of Playaways and GoReaders, as well as online through Destiny and Sora. Even though these resources are available for a specific target audience, all students can check out these resources.
Continual cooperation and communication with staff and students within Brandon School is important as the pace of change in resources, the needs of researchers, and “just-in-time” training become more prevalent. The Brandon School Media Center will continue to place the collection of information resources that support the needs of the student and staff members as our first priority. Only through collaboration can the media center identify the resources that will need to be acquired.
Brandon school currently houses 18,877 items in its collection. The average age of the collection is 2006, which is slightly below the suggested 2010 guideline. The reading level averages at 4.9, which is the center of a traditional bell curve that is almost balanced between grade 4k-4th and 5th-8th. The average lexile is 670, which also fits with the reading level at a 4th grade level. 39% of the collection is considered to be “aged titles.” These aged titles are from all sections of the library, including the book room, which has multiple copies. As such, the percentage is misleading and is higher than it actually is. The collection at Brandon School continues to grow, and currently has 64.9 items per student, which is higher than the 50 items per student goal set in the past.
Brandon School Collection Analysis
Laconia High School
The Laconia High School Information Media Center (IMC) houses almost 9,000 items and consists of a large large area with tables and chairs that could accommodate 1 to 2 classes at a time. There are two computer labs affiliated with the IMC and an island of eight desktop computers. There is a charging station for students to use and approximately 30 loaner Chromebooks that can be checked out to students if their device needs charging or repair.
Our book collection mainly consists of fiction books, current issues topic books, and history/biography books. Unfortunately with our 1-to-1 computing our library needs have changed. There are many students who read for pleasure from our fiction section and make requests for titles and authors they would like purchased. The other two large book collections in the media center are: 700’s section which consist of many arts and sports books, and 900’s section which are made up of history and biography/autobiography titles. We have integrated our reference books into our main collection for easier access. We also have a new collection of Playaway audio books that students may use with or without the physical book. Also, due to an increase in EL students, the library now houses the beginnings of a Spanish collection, currently 116 items.
Adjacent to the IMC is a computer lab with 30 stations. Teachers may sign up to bring their classes in to work on projects and individual students may use these desktop computers during their study hall if they so desire. The library media specialist often teaches technology lessons for the staff at Laconia in this lab. Our publications and Microsoft classes use this lab as their classroom during the hour(s) that they are being taught. We have purchased 500 Adobe Creative Cloud licenses for this lab and it is used often, mostly for Premiere, Illustrator and Photoshop lessons. Our business teacher received a Microsoft Imagine Academy grant to pay for up to 50 Microsoft 2019 Office licenses. There is one other lab that is across the hallway from the IMC with 30 Chromebox stations. It is primarily used for computer science and state testing. The IMC lab has data projector, while the Classroom lab has a LCD panel. In the past few years, a grant and CSF’s paid for many Makerspace materials that are housed in the library and available for use by students and staff, including a Silhouette machine, stereo equipment, electric piano, guitar, microphone, Waterbot, etc.
The overall collection average age is 16 years, which includes ordering everything requested for curriculum needs as well as ordering lots of new and award winning recreational reading books. With the addition of SORA in 2020, students can access ebooks and recorded books both at school and while at home. The state-provided Badgerlink resource is also used by students and staff, especially for research.
The media center staff consists of a full-time certified Library Media Specialist. The LMTS arrives at 7:45 AM and stays until 4:00 PM unless arrangements have been made to stay longer. A part-time library assistant position was not refilled when the employee took a position elsewhere. The LMTS currently uses a few student volunteers to help with some of the day-to-day library tasks.
The LMTS collaborates with teachers on multimedia projects as well as teaching research and media literacy skills, and fills other library or technology requests from faculty. The staff is available to assist students who want some help choosing books. We do encourage some book research through the core subjects so our students don’t lose these research skills. Currently, all four media collections in the Rosendale-Brandon School District are accessible through Destiny.
While the IMC does offer spaces for special needs students to work both independently and with aides, most computer-based special education services are located in the classrooms for the learning disabled.
Rosendale Intermediate and Rosendale Brandon Middle School
Rosendale Intermediate and Rosendale Brandon Middle School are now housed in one building that used to be Rosendale Intermediate School. Although it serves the same grades, it is now recognized as two separate schools with the consolidation of Brandon Middle School. Rosendale Intermediate School consists of 4th and 5th grades and serves approximately 100 students. Rosendale Brandon Middle School consists of 6th - 8th grades and serves approximately 250 students. Most classrooms are equipped with ViewSonic touch panels, teacher and student Chromebooks, and wireless access points. Some special education classrooms, the office staff, and administration still have a Windows desktop as well. Each student is issued a Chromebook for use in the classroom.
Seating is available throughout the library for use during class time or after school programming or meetings. The LMS has a Chromebox desktop computer that can be utilized for library checkout. There is a conference room within the library that seats 8, which is available for staff and student use. Adjacent to the media center are two former computer labs, which are now classroom. Both of these rooms are equipped with a teaching computer and ViewSonic touch panels. While the collection is still used heavily, the media center is no longer the active area it was due to limited staffing. 4th and 5th grade classes come weekly for book check-out. Middle school students usually come in with their Language Arts teacher to checkout weekly as well.
The Rosendale Intermediate School Library Media Center (IMC) houses approximately 11,551 items, roughly 66% is fiction titles, 33% is nonfiction titles with an average of 34 items per student. While the collection generally meets the needs of our students, the average reading level is 4th grade, with the majority of the books falling between a 3rd and 8th grade reading level. The LMS is currently aggressively weeding the collection in preparation for the consolidation in 2024-2025. The nonfiction collection needs to be strengthened in the language, philosophy & psychology, and religion & mythology sections. The fiction collection is especially strong and has recently been adjusted by genrefying the collection and growing the graphic novel and audiobook collections. A small storybook fiction and Spanish language section has been created to meet the needs of the Forensics, language arts students, ELL students, as well as some of our special needs students. The collection is supplemented by student access to SORA, an online paid subscription service that provides ebooks and audio books.
There are three required middle school computer classes that are taught by the middle school media technology specialist: “Computer Basics” (grade 6), “STEAM” (grade 7), and “Introduction to Computer Science” (grades 8), the classes are based on the expectations found in Wisconsin Standards for Information and Technology Literacy. The media technology specialist also collaborates with core teachers on research projects, technology projects, and others as requested and time permits.
The media center staff consists of a part-time Library Media Technology Specialist (LMTS). The LMTS is responsible for the library media center, technology classes, and technology support for the building. Generally, the library is always open during normal school hours, although it is often not staffed. The library media specialist arrives at 7:30 AM and departs around 4:00pm.
The library program at RI/RBMS continuously builds on the knowledge and skills students acquire throughout their schooling by introducing information literacy skills and strategies students will need to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. In addition to information literacy skills, the library program also promotes lifelong learning by emphasizing reading for pleasure, enrichment, and recreation. Students and staff have access to diverse multicultural collections, which contain recreational as well as informational materials. Collections include: books, reference tools, recorded books, e-Books, MakerSpace kits, and other nonprint materials as well as the technologies to provide access to these electronic information resources.
The LMTS selects resources to meet the diverse needs of the student population, including a span of reading levels approximately from grades 2-12. Although the community is not culturally diverse, the LMTS still considers the national population pattern as she selects materials. She also regularly solicits suggestions for purchase from staff members and from students. Students and staff are able to inter-library loan materials using Destiny. With the addition of SORA in 2020, students can access ebooks and recorded books both at school and while at home. The state-provided Badgerlink resource is also occasionally used by students and staff.
While the IMC does offer spaces for special needs students to work both independently and with aides, most computer-based special education services are located in the suite of classrooms for the learning disabled and speech-impaired. Those teachers use software to read higher-level materials to their students as well as resources from the Internet.
Rosendale Primary School
The Rosendale Primary School Library Media Center provides services for approximately 176 students in Early Childhood (ages 3 or 4) through grade 3, the attendees of the Rosendale Childcare Center (which is located within the building), and a professional staff of approximately 40 adults, including the staff of the District Administration office. The media center houses about 13,286 items, mainly children’s fiction and easy-reading nonfiction with an average of 75 items per student.The professional collection is housed within the library. The staff includes a part-time certified Library Media Specialist (LMS) and a part-time library assistant. The media specialist spends approximately 15 hours and the assistant spends about 5 hours per week in the library.
The collection is particularly strong in everybody fiction and contains a good variety of non-fiction based on the needs of the classroom teachers. Forty-one percent of the collection is aged, however. The LMS is strongly pushing staff to utilize free media resources, such as YouTube, Badgerlink, and PBS Learning Media, as alternatives; while the district provides access to paid resources, such as BrainPop and BrainPopJr, for them as well.
Classrooms at Rosendale Primary School are equipped with SMART boards with data projectors or smart panels, document cameras, teacher and student Chromebooks, wireless access points, and teacher desktops in most rooms.
The LMTS teaches computer skills to K-3 grade as well as online catalog skills using Destiny during her weekly classes to students in grades 1-3. Other services are offered only as time permits, but every effort is made to achieve any requests. Development of a strong collaboration program between the LMS and the classroom teachers is strongly desired by the LMS.
While the collection is still used heavily, the media center is no longer the active area it was in the 1990’s due to limited staffing. Students come regularly for their assigned classes and check out many items. Teachers borrow collections to support their units; e.g. biographies, whales, polar regions, black history month, etc. However, students are less likely to use the media center independently, since teachers are uncertain whether or not an adult is supervising the facility.
The LMTS selects materials with a wide range of reading levels, from early childhood board books through elementary-level novels and nonfiction. Audiovisuals are also chosen to meet the needs of students from ages 4-9. The media specialist selects materials that consider the cultural diversity of the nation, although the community and surrounding areas do not display such diversity. She also considers special education needs when materials are chosen. The Individual Educational Plans provide guidance, especially for the acquisition of hardware and software programs.
RP students currently have access to the state-funded “Badgerlink” database. Primary teachers often employ their Google Classrooms as an easy way for their students to access web sites needed for their lessons. Currently, K-3rd grade teachers also teach keyboarding skills using teacher-preferred, free, online typing programs. The main goal of keyboarding at this level is to have the students develop good keyboarding habits, not necessarily to type quickly.
Rosendale Primary Collection Analysis