James H. Baker Sixth Grade Campus
Library Advocacy Plan
Through greater campus
visibility of the library throughout the campus, student reading scores will
increase on state-mandated testing by ten percent and library circulation will
increase by fifteen percent. Teacher class visits to the library will increase
fifty percent.
How this will occur:
Both teachers and students will create book trailers
that will be displayed on school televisions throughout the building using
multimedia presentation tools such as Animoto and PowerPoint. ELA Teachers will use student
book trailers as a major media project for students in their classroom this
year. Teachers will advertise books pertinent to their teaching subjects by
displaying library books on chalkboards and on bookcases. The school librarian
will select a variety of books on curriculum and allow teachers to pick by
delivering these during department meetings. Teachers and students will “Get
Caught” reading for pleasure through pictures taken by the librarian and
library volunteers, which will be created into posters by the librarian for
display. These posters will be displayed throughout the school and changed
twice a month. Small rewards/ prizes will be given out to participants; gift
cards donated from local businesses for teachers and prizes for students. Teachers
will be asked to bring their classes to the library on a rotating basis once a
month. Students will have more time spent in the library and see that all
content-area teachers see reading as vital to learning.
Library Vision Statement:
James H. Baker Sixth Grade Campus Library strives to foster a lifelong love of learning through the collaborative teaching of a variety of resources in order to prepare students for the 21st century.
James H. Baker Sixth Grade Campus Library strives to foster a lifelong love of learning through the collaborative teaching of a variety of resources in order to prepare students for the 21st century.
Relation of Advocacy Plan to Library Vision
Statement:
All teachers will participate in the collaborative effort
to create reading for pleasure as a priority on our campus. Teachers will be
stakeholders in the school library as fellow educators.
Ways to Appeal to Administrators About the Advocacy
Plan:
The school librarian must first appeal to the
administrator or administrators in order to execute the library advocacy plan
of whole campus participation in library visibility. First, the school
librarian will create and present the plan during the summer before the school
year even begins in order to demonstrate the measurable goals being sought:
student reading growth on state-mandated tests. Objectives, goals, dates, and
measureable results must all be included in this presentation. Next, the school
librarian must list all the ways the increased visibility of the library will benefit
the entire school, from educators to students. Third, the school librarian will
outline ways that administrators and educators can measure the growth of
students throughout the year. Then, ways the school librarian can present
professional development workshops for faculty will be presented to the
administrators. Lastly, using social media, the school librarian will post the
advocacy plan after approval by administrators on a library site.
Ways to Appeal to Teachers About the Advocacy Plan:
There are many ways for the school library to get teacher
buy-in for the advocacy plan. First, the school librarian will present
professional development workshops on how reading scores relate to all subjects
and how each teacher can help increase these scores. The benefits of increased
scores on state-mandated testing will be explored for the whole campus. Next,
the school librarian will create collaborative units with teachers in order to
benefit both educators and students. Every effort will be made to lighten the
load of teachers, from the librarian grading portions of projects to presenting
lessons in classrooms. Third, teachers will have ideas brought to them by the
school librarian, books will be delivered for displaying to department
meetings, and basically the school librarian will do as much as possible to
make life easier for them. Then, measureable growth goals from ten percent to
fifteen percent rise in reading scores on state-mandated reading tests will be
seen as result of every teacher on campus rather than just ELA or math. Lastly,
the librarian will create a reading lending library for educators in the
library office in order to make reading a priority for educators and create a
comfortable space to read, as well as share beloved books. Teachers caught
reading for pleasure in their spare time will be asked to have their picture
taken by the librarian or a student and participate in the “Get Caught Reading”
poster display throughout the school. Local businesses will donate gift cards
that will be given as incentives to teachers participating in the display.
Ways to Appeal to Students About the Advocacy Plan:
Students will be encouraged to participate in the library
daily through student volunteers recommended by teachers. This will be a reward
and incentive for good behavior for all students and not just based on grades.
In order to advertise the benefits of volunteering in the library, a breakfast
will be held for these students each semester where they can invite a friend. Next,
students will help the librarian create posters of teachers and peers that have
“Get Caught Reading.” Students will take pictures using school library digital
cameras (with educator permission) of peers and teachers reading across the
campus. Small prizes will be given to students and the “Get Caught Reading”
poster display will change every two weeks in order to feature as many people
as possible. Then, students will be asked to share book trailers they have made
for class projects and in their spare time across campus televisions in the
library and hallways. These student book trailers will also be posted on the
library social media sites. Last, a reading incentive program will be created
by the school librarian for all students. Twenty-five books will result in
students participating in the incentive party where large and small prizes
obtained through grants such as bicycles, Kindles, and popular books will be
given out as prizes. Each student will win at least one item.
Obstacles to Advocacy Plan:
As with all library advocacy plans,
there will be obstacles that the school librarian must face. First, not all
administrators may be willing to lend support to the plan. Some administrators
allow educators more freedom than others, and unless the administrator buys
into the plan to raise library visibility, then some educators may not either.
The school librarian must rely on allies to keep the enthusiasm of the advocacy
plan going. Next, time will be a huge obstacle for both the school librarian
and other educators. State-mandated testing has pressured teachers into only
teaching to the test. As deadlines approach for testing, faculty buy-in may be
harder to obtain from some educators. The school librarian will be busy
collaborating on lessons with teachers, so working on the plan to make the
library visible all school year may make enthusiasm wane and make the goal easy
to put to the side. Some goals may change throughout the year, such as how
often the library display of “Get Caught Reading,” but overall enthusiasm for visibility
must not be allowed to subside. The overall goal is noble and worth reaching.
Then, there is teacher buy-in from the get go. Teachers in subjects other than
English Language Arts may not see how the library being visible has anything to
do with them or what they teach. There will always be naysayers, so the school
librarian must strive to collaborate with all subject teachers, so that all
educators can see how the library benefits all students and areas of learning. Last, the money to execute the advocacy plan
may not be in the library budget. Relying on grants, local businesses donating
prizes, and even asking adult volunteers and teachers to supply items and food
for students are ways to stretch limited library budgets.
Measureable Results of Advocacy
Plan:
First, student reading test scores on the state-mandated test of the STAAR will increase by at least ten percent from last year. Current student scores will be compared to the scores of last year’s class in order to measure the results of growth. Secondly, circulation of books will increase by at least ten percent. Using data from the Follett Destiny library catalog, print-outs of records will allow weekly and monthly records to reflect how much more books are circulating than last year. Lastly, class visits to the library will increase fifty percent. Instead of just having ELA teachers bring students, all teachers will visit the library with classes at least once a month. Lessons will still be presented to ELA classes twice monthly, but the increased presence of all teachers’ classes will present the message to students that reading is vital to all school subjects and all teachers on campus believe this to be true. Class visits will be recorded by the school librarian using excel spreadsheets.
Media Release for Local Newspaper:
At James H. Baker Sixth Grade
Campus, something new and exciting is happening throughout the school. Rather
than the library being a remote place students visit with their reading class,
every teacher is taking part in a new initiative to make the library more
visible on campus. Books are being displayed in every classroom, teachers are
discussing books in their own private space in the library (complete with a
coffee bar and some arm chairs from a local resale shop), and posters of
teachers and students that “Get Caught Reading” are displayed throughout the
school. Student book trailers are played in the hallways on television
monitors, while student volunteers eagerly shelve books. Local principal Mindy
Evans shakes her head in wonder. “Reading has caught on here like wild fire.
Now we have to pry our students’ hands off books!” In an effort to raise test
scores and raise circulation, a campus-wide program began by the campus
librarian has helped the library spread to all corners of the school. “Seeing
our adults and students passionate about reading and the library has not only
helped the popularity of the library, it has raised the visibility,” campus
librarian Erin Ferguson explains. All of the community, including parents and
students, are invited to the James H. Baker Sixth Grade Campus Library Open
House on September 20th, from 6 PM until 7:30 PM. The Scholastic Book Fair will
be open to the public and refreshments of light snacks will be for sale to
raise funds for new library books.
TEKS Related to the Advocacy Plan:
(6) Reading/Comprehension
of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw
conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence
from text to support their understanding. Students are expected to:
(A) summarize the elements of plot development (e.g., rising action,
turning point, climax, falling action, denouement) in various works of fiction;
Students will
need to understand the plot of a story, as well as how to summarize a story
without giving away the ending, in order to present a book trailer using a
multimedia presentation.
(27) Listening
and Speaking/Speaking. Students speak clearly and to the point, using the
conventions of language. Students will continue to apply earlier standards with
greater complexity. Students are expected to give an organized presentation
with a specific point of view, employing eye contact, speaking rate, volume,
enunciation, natural gestures, and conventions of language to communicate ideas
effectively.
Student
presentations of book trailers created in ELA classes as projects will require
speaking skills with enunciation, communication of ideas effectively, and
employing eye contact.
(28) Listening and
Speaking/Teamwork. Students work productively with others in teams. Students
will continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are
expected to participate in student-led discussions by eliciting and considering
suggestions from other group members and by identifying points of agreement and
disagreement.
Students
will work in teams to critique book trailers and produce “Get Caught Reading”
Posters. The school librarian will depend on student volunteers cooperating
with others in the library to achieve goals.
Overall Advocacy Plan Evaluation
The school librarian will gather
data to see if the goals of the advocacy plan have been reached: a) ten percent
student growth on the STAAR Reading test, b) fifteen percent circulation growth
within the library, and c) fifty percent more teacher class visits per month.
Whether or not these goals have been reached, the school librarian and various
stakeholders in the library (administrators, teachers, parents, and community
members) will meet at the end of the school year and decide on how the advocacy
plan should be revised and why certain measures were more achievable than
others. Using a survey, the school librarian will ask faculty members for their
input on the success of the advocacy plan in the library, as well as what they
would like to see in coming years. Then, the school librarian will meet with
administrators to come up with a new, viable plan for the coming school year.
Survey for Faculty Members
The
following survey will help your school librarian decide on goals for the coming
school year. Please submit your honest opinion anonymously and feel free to add
comments. Circle the number you identify with.
Scale:
1- Disagree strongly, 2- Disagree, 3- Undecided, 4- Agree, 5- Agree Strongly
1. I play an important part in preparing my students
for the Reading STAAR Test.
1 2 3 4 5
2. I enjoyed playing a role in creating more visibility
of the library this school year.
1 2 3 4 5
3.
I would be
willing to collaborate on lessons with the school librarian or collaborate even
more next year.
1 2 3 4 5
4.
The library plan
for more visibility took too much instruction time from students in my class.
1 2 3 4 5
5.
The school
library is fundamental to student learning.
1 2 3 4 5
6.
Student reading
STAAR scores are likely to be higher this year.
1 2 3 4 5
7.
Students are
reading more this year than last year.
1 2 3 4 5
8.
The library
space for teacher gathering and lending books benefitted me personally.
1 2 3 4 5
9.
I am willing to
be a stakeholder or supporter of the school library this coming year.
1 2 3 4 5
10. The school
library is a vital space on my school campus.
1 2 3 4 5
Suggestions and Comments:
References:
American
Library Association. (2009). The advocacy
plan workbook. Retreived from:
Association
of American Publishers. (n.d.). Get caught reading for teachers and librarians.
Retrieved from: http://www.getcaughtreading.org/teachers-librarians.php
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