LIBRARY GOALS

Collection:

To provide a collection of resources in all formats that:

• Is carefully selected according to the District Collection Development Policy

• Is systematically organized to provide open physical assess

• Is diverse and represents a wide range of subjects and levels of difficulty

• Includes materials acquired from outside the school library through electronic networks, interlibrary loan, and regional and state cooperatives

• Contributes to lifelong learning while accommodating a wide range of differences in teaching and learning styles, methods, interests, and capacities

• Supports the concepts of intellectual freedom and access to information that are defined in the Library Bill of Rights* and are prerequisites to effective and responsible citizenship in a democracy

• Meets the current information needs of staff and students

• Represents a diversity of experiences, opinions, social and cultural perspectives

• Includes print materials that support both curricular and recreational reading

Facility:

A dedicated facility within each school that is designed and furnished in a manner that:

• Supports group work and individual pursuits.

• Serves as an extended classroom.

• Provides accessibility to all patrons regardless of ability.

• Adequately supports all library-related functions (lighting, furniture, technology needs, dedicated areas for reading and study, etc).

• Meets NJ state environmental and security standards.

• Is of adequate size to accommodate at least one full class.

• Serves as a community gathering location.

• Supports the concept of “library as place.”

  • Aesthetically pleasing, optimal learning environment.

  • Welcome feeling that keeps patrons coming back.

  • Serves as an ‘alternate place’ different from home or classroom.

  • Acts as a social ‘comfort zone’ suited to learning, study, reading, conferring with others.

  • Pluralistic in nature and, as such, open to all patrons regardless of individual viewpoint, age or circumstance.

  • Exists as a portal to knowledge facilitated by the presence of information experts (the librarian) and the richness of varied resources.

  • A unique institution in society that manages to provide a gathering place while simultaneously catering to the solitary, interior life: the imagination, the curiosity, the intellect.

Budget:

To provide a sufficient allotment that:

• Supports collection, facility, staffing, program and technology goals & objectives.

• Is evaluated periodically in light of inflation, student and curricular requirements.

• Includes input for the professional Library Media Specialist

• Is consistent with the district’s library mission statement and philosophy.

Staff:

Staff should consist of:

• Adequate number of trained personnel to serve the needs of the clientele.

• Certified School Library Media Specialist(s) to perform the professional functions as delineated in the district library philosophy (the Role of the Librarian).

• Skilled Library Assistants to perform library-specific clerical duties and support the work of the SLMS.

Program:

A broad and comprehensive plan that:

• Provides access to a wide range of relevant resources and technologies to meet the information needs of staff and students and develop effective strategies for selecting, evaluating, synthesizing, and communicating information

· Facilitates the acquisition and development of the information skills that form the basis of lifelong learning.

· Promotes a love of reading for pleasure.

· Provides leadership, collaboration, and assistance to teachers and to others in applying instructional principles with varied uses of information.

· Offers resources and activities that represent a diversity of experiences, opinions, and social and cultural perspectives.

· Supports the concept of intellectual freedom and access to information are perquisites to effective and responsible citizenship in a democracy.

· Extends the availability of the information from outside sources through the use of the Internet in the media center.

· Guides students in the acquisition of information through the Internet in a safe and grade-level appropriate manner.

· Uses a range of up-to-date equipment to access local and remote information in any format.

Technology Goals:

Keeping pace with patron needs in an ever-changing electronic world by:

• Acquiring the resources necessary to provide a high quality school media program

• Using a range of up-to-date equipment to access local and remote information in any format.

• Providing access to an appropriate suite of software programs that support library goals and objectives.

• Extending the availability of the information from outside sources through the use of the Internet in the media center.

• Guiding students in the acquisition of information through the Internet in a safe and grade-level appropriate manner.

• Acquiring school-appropriate emerging technologies that support program goals and ensure our students a competitive edge in an ever-changing world.

LIBRARY OBJECTIVES

1. Learners use 21^st century information skills, resources and tools to inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.

2. Learners use 21^st century information skills, resources and tools to draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.

3. Learners use 21^st century information skills, resources and tools to share their knowledge and understandings with other and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.

4. Learners use 21^st century information skills, resources and tools to pursue personal and aesthetic growth.

(From Standards for the 21^st Century Learner. AASL, 2007)