🏠Library Media Services

Wakemedia Monthly

Volume 11: March 2021

Responsive Library Services and Plan A

With the consult of Kelly Creech, I have made revisions to the Responsive Library Services guidance given other recent changes as students return to schools under Plan A in April. I will continue to monitor guidance provided by DHHS to libraries regarding the handling of books with Mylar covers. For now, there has not been a change since the information received in late January.

As a note, upholstered furniture can be used in the library media center. While it is hard to clean, it is not prohibited for student or staff use.

Please contact me directly with questions or further clarification.

-Kendra

NCTIES

We hope that you have found time to watch recordings of some of the NCTIES sessions if you weren’t able to attend live. As a reminder, the session recordings can be found within the NCTIES schedule at ncties2021.sched.com for 30 days after the conference. If you are interested in finding sessions that align to your WakeForward goals, this chart may help. While a small number of sessions posted prior to the conference that they would not be recorded, many ended up being recorded after all. Click on the session in the schedule and then click Video Stream to view the recording.

To earn CEUs for participating in the NCTIES conference, complete the NCTIES Virtual Attendance Documentation Form and submit it as part of an External Credit Request in WakeLearns.

New Tag Report Feature Available in Mackin

This new feature found on Mackin.com provides additional data points for an analysis of your collection. The Tag Report allows you to view how your collection is distributed across the tags in Mackin’s catalog. Tag categories include:

Diversity (subcategories include race, neurodiversity, LGBTQIA+, family structure, etc.)
Writing Styles and Formats (subcategories include beginning chapter, early reader, hi-low, in verse, etc.)
SEL
World Religions
Literary Themes

As with any analysis, it is important to recognize that the numbers generated by the report reflect the number of titles with a specific tag as determined by Mackin. The report cannot provide information that indicates, beyond average age, the quality of the titles within a particular tag. There is an OwnVoices tag, but it only provides you with the number of OwnVoices titles in your collection as a whole; you cannot view the number of OwnVoices titles in a particular subcategory.

The report can be useful for identifying potential gaps in your collection and tracking progress over time in achieving your collection management goals. Instructions for how to view the Tag Report can be found here, and on the Library Media Services site under Collection Management > Collection Analysis.

Student Devices

All available information about student devices is located at studentdevices.wcpss.net. The Tech Survey Tool is now closed for editing. New student device requests should be submitted through the Help Desk.

Support Group Session

Susan will host a support group session on April 14th from 8am-9am. This meeting will provide space to share what is working well and troubleshoot what isn’t as students continue to return to buildings. Anyone K-12 is welcome to join. We’ll split into small discussion groups by grade level if we have a large enough group.

Google meet link: ezf-acmw-yiq

Celebrating School Library Month

Last year, we let April pass us by in the name of all things unusual and upside-down as everyone adjusted to the struggles of remote instruction and an uncertain timeline of a "return." In the past 12 months, you've strived to center your school communities in the face of the greatest of challenges. While reminders of the pandemic and immense struggle are still around us, we also find ourselves in a moment to acknowledge and amplify your accomplishments as school librarians. And we're taking this moment to shout about the big things, the small things, the loud things, and the quiet things you've been doing to impact your students this year.

Here's our ask: Take a few minutes to share with us something you've done that has helped or impacted the students at your school. Fill out this form, hit send, and we'll take it from there.

We can't wait to receive your responses!

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