If you are entering the school library media specialist field or if you are thinking about it, Library 101: A Handbook for the School Library Media Specialist by Claire Gatrell Stephens and Patricia Franklin is a great resource to guide you through your new job. This handbook provides detailed information about the responsibilities and expectations associated with a school library media specialist position. It explores many aspects of the job such as collection development, budgets, processing books, teaching classes, and managing equipment. A school library media specialists wears many hats and Library 101 covers all of them.The authors, Claire Gatrell Stephens and Patricia Franklin put their expertise and love of their jobs into this book. Both are National Board Certified school library media specialists and work at high school Library Media Centers in Florida. They both had the opportunity to open up new Library Media Centers in new schools, giving them insight into the essential needs of a LMC from the ground up. Neither started their careers as school library media specialists, but they found their way into the Library Media Center and haven't looked back.
Library 101: A Handbook for the School Library Media Specialist is organized into four parts, Day to Day Basics; The Media Specialist as Teacher Collaborator; Long-term Vision - Managing Your Collection; and Part 4 - Equipping Your Library Media Center. It is a well-organized book with clearly designated chapters and sub chapters as shown in the table of contents. The authors utilize tables and sidebars well. The reader gains a lot of insight from the sidebars, which include tips from other Media Specialists, sample lesson plans, surveys, guidelines, and other helpful tidbits. Black and white photographs, computer screen shots, and scanned documents are interspersed throughout the book and provide a good visuals for the reader. The layout of the book is nicely done; the fonts are easy to read and the text is broken up by the sidebars, tables, and pictures. The Appendices at the end of the book include a listing of National Level Professional Organizations, State Professional Organizations, Helpful Resources, Awards and Prizes, as well as a Glossary of Library Terms.
The authors explore many topics relevant to new School Library Media Specialist. In Part I, The Day to Day Basics - some of the more helpful topics were Teaching and Learning, Establishing Circulation Policies, Media Management Systems- using your software and handling textbooks are subtopics. The debate between Fixed or Flex scheduling is discussed in Chapter 5 - Scheduling: Philosophy and Practicality. Two sidebars written by library media specialists offer differing views on flex and fixed scheduling and why it works for them. Chapter 6 looks at Staffing Your Library Media Center while Chapter 7 Arranges Your Media Center, looking at furniture, computers, shelving, and decorating. Part II - The Media Specialist as Teacher Collaborator touches on the topics of Standards, Developing and Promoting Your Media Program, Research, and TV Production. Chapter 8:Standards - State, National, and Your Own only provides basic information because every state and school district has different standards, but Gatrell Stephens and Franklin offer good advice. They suggest writing your own personal standards for you LMC. "Clearly stating your vision through written standards defines your professional principles and allows everyone to work with you, and that cooperation will truly make your program thrive" (81). The Developing and Promoting Your Media Program chapter examines how library media specialists should promote their program to their stakeholders - administration, teachers, students, parents, and the community. The authors offer good advice and several resources to help accomplish this advocacy. There is a very short chapter about Research that provides a table comparing five of the information skills process models. The last chapter of Part II is a long, detailed (25 pages) chapter about Television Production. Claire Gatrell Stephens teaches the TV Production class at her high school so she brings her expertise and advice into this chapter. TV Production classes are usually found at the middle and high school level, so this chapter may not be relevant to elementary school media specialists. Part III studies the Collection Development, including Weeding, Resources, Budgets and Purchasing, and the Cataloging/Processing aspects of the school library media specialist job. The budget chapter is helpful if you have no prior knowledge of how to assess and create a budget. Part IV covers the subject of Equipment. Being a school library media specialist isn't only about books. Media covers a whole gamut of equipment and technology. Chapter 16 explores all the different mediums that the school library media specialist will come in contact with while on the job - computers, projectors, interactive white boards, visual presenters, scanners, digital cameras and camcorders are just a few. It is important to have a working knowledge of all different types of equipment and technology. The authors stress the importance of learning and keeping up with the influx of new technology. "...We must embrace emerging technologies to assist our students in meeting their academic goals" (182).
Although, Gatrell and Franklin hit on many topics associated with the library media program and the responsibilities of the school library media specialist, several topics could have been discussed more.These topics, such as grant writing, teaching, and classroom management, although briefly discussed, deserved a little more attention. The research chapter didn't discuss reference materials and the debate over moving from print materials to online resources.
Some of the topics included in this handbook may be common knowledge to a working school library media specialist, but for those just starting a new job or still in school, Library 101: A Handbook for the School Library Media Specialist is a wealth of knowledge. Readers come away with a clear vision of what a school library media specialist does everyday as well as how to make long-range program plans. This book should be required reading for all students pursuing a school library media specialist degree. Library 101: A Handbook for the School Library Media Specialist is full of words of wisdom from two media specialists who have been there and done that.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Library 101: A Handbook for the School Library Media Specialist (Paperback)
No comments:
Post a Comment