An Interview with a SLMS

A summary of my interview with our SLMS:

        The mission statement of our media center is posted prominently on its Moodle page: “the mission of the East Hardin Middle School Library Media Center is to provide a program which incorporates curriculum, technology, and staff to enable students to retrieve, evaluate, and utilize information as well as develop a love of reading and life-long learning.”  Our library media center is staffed with one LMS and one library clerk.  Our LMS maintains the school’s home page, activities calendar, and computer labs, sponsors our school news team known as the “Rebel Reporters,” and often collaborates or co-teaches with colleagues.   She is essentially one of the “movers and shakers” at our school.   I like to think that if she doesn’t have the answer to my question, she knows where to go to find it.

            The media center policies are posted clearly on their Moodle page which is linked to our school’s page.  New students are given an orientation to the media center during the first few weeks of school via Rebel Reports and class visits.   Students are allowed to borrow two library books at one time and books are circulated for a two-week period, which does not include weekends and school holidays. Most resources are arranged by general categories as nonfiction, fiction, and biography; we also have an extensive collection of paperbacks arranged by author and genre.    For students, reference books and magazines are restricted to library use only; however, teachers are permitted to check out any available resources.  Since our training in Literacy First, the media center has been adding Lexile numbers on books during cataloging and processing.  We have an online computer catalog with access to several libraries in our county; if you can’t find a book or resource on our shelves, our LMS will request it on interlibrary loan or purchase it for our school collection.
            When asked about our material selection policy, our LMS sent a copy of the policy and forms required for filing a challenge.   There are two ways to challenge instructional materials: an informal reconsideration requires a school representative to explain the selection process and qualifications of those person(s) selecting materials to the complainant while a formal reconsideration requires the complainant to fill out a detailed “request for reconsideration of instructional materials”  to specifically explain the concerns with the material. This form is then reviewed by special committee appointed by our SBDM.   We have had few formal challenges to instructional materials because most concerns are addressed by school representatives informally.  
            For classroom use, our media center has eighty-three trade book sets with additional resources that are indexed by grade level; new sets are being added to the collection often.   In addition to a research lab that houses twenty-five small computers, our media center has a mobile notebook cart that can be checked out by teachers.   Teachers also have access to several print professional development resources arranged by topic or content area.  Our LMS will collaborate on lessons when requested; she has worked with me on several research projects during my time at EHMS.  For example, we created a biography research project for my sixth graders and we gathered several nonfiction resources for my students to use.  She made suggestions for research topics and seemed to have a never-ending list of sources, both print and online, for students to use.