Library Programs and Technology Integration
The Rosendale-Brandon School District’s library media program’s philosophy is to help each student excel and achieve maximum potential by providing a 21st Century learning environment, fostering a love of reading, and promoting the effective use of information and communications technology. This objective reflects the school and district goals of increasing student achievement through collaboration and the use of technology.
In addition to information literacy skills, the library program also promotes lifelong learning by emphasizing reading for pleasure, enrichment, and recreation. Information resources are increasingly produced in formats that are more diverse. This poses new challenges in the areas of acquisition, access, and storage. Students and staff have access to diverse multicultural collections, which contain recreational as well as informational materials. Collections include books, reference tools such as databases through Badgerlink, recorded books, e-Books, MakerSpace kits, computers, and other nonprint materials as well as the various technologies to provide access to these electronic information resources.
Resources are selected to meet the diverse needs of the student population, including a span of reading levels from grades 4K-12. Although the RBSD community is not very culturally diverse, the national population pattern is still taken into consideration when materials are selected. Suggestions for purchases are also regularly solicited from students and staff members.
The District has tried to make many of its resources available online. Currently, students and staff are able to inter-library loan 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 used by students and staff.
While the IMC in all buildings offer space 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 students with learning disabilities and speech impairments. Those teachers use software to read higher-level materials to their students as well as pages from the Internet.
Staffing
The library media technology specialist and the technology integrationist arrive at 7:40 AM and depart around 3:45 pm. Staffing has changed throughout the years with the addition of more classroom responsibilities at the middle school level, 1:1 programming at the high school, and traveling at the elementary level. At the start of the 2025-2026 school year, Laconia Elementary School will have a shared library media technology specialist, who will be teaching STEAM first semester at LMS. Laconia Middle School and High School will have a full-time technology integrationist. The library media technology specialist and technology integrationist still serve as the first point of contact for any technology concerns in their assigned buildings.
Technology Integration
The library media technology specialists hold multiple roles within the district including, but not limited to, library services, technology integrationist, staff development, technology support, and classroom teacher. The district provides a Chrome device to every student and staff member and has completed installing a touch panel or tv screen with a Chromebox in every classroom. There are also Windows machines in some special education and school offices and other miscellaneous devices throughout the buildings that the library media technology specialists help service. They provide training on the devices, software, and other programs as needed. They are an active member of the technology committee offering insight regarding problems, solutions, services, projects, devices, and purchases and bringing concerns expressed from the staff. Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, both the library media technology specialist and the technology integrationist were active members of the District Innovation Team, which focused on integrating AI into the classroom.
Technology Troubleshooting
The LMTS have a unqiue role within the district as they are not only responsible for the IMC, but they work with the technician (Matt Storz) to maintain and service all of the devices within the district. Using a ticketing system, the LMTS and technician work together to resolve any technology issues the students, staff, or administrators may be experiencing. The team also sends devices in for repair and will generate insurance claims at the high school. The goal being to provide support in a timely manner so that instruction can continue without interruption.
Curriculum
Elementary library classes provide instruction in digital media literacy, enabling students to critically evaluate and effectively utilize information across diverse platforms. By fostering these essential 21st-century skills—including critical thinking, collaboration, and digital citizenship—library classes move beyond traditional book access to build a necessary bridge to the continually evolving realm of modern library services. The goal is to ensure all students become engaged, responsible, and knowledgeable participants in an increasingly complex global and digital society. With the return of the LMTS to the elementary library, classes have resumed on a weekly schedule for 4K-3rd grade and a flex schedule for the 4th and 5th grades.
Technology Spiral K-8 (current technology spiral)