Getting Acquainted

Becoming a school librarian has been my dream for as long as I can remember. The thought of serving a community larger and even more diverse than my classroom is, for me, professionally exciting yet daunting.

At the beginning of each year I plan activities designed to help us get to know each other as individuals and as learners. Individual and group goals are set, and a sense of community is developed. While the curriculum remains basically the same from year to year each new group is unique, requiring me to adapt what I do and how I do it to best serve both individual and group needs.

As a (new) school librarian I will want to get to know the community I 'll be serving so positive connections can be made, and a sense of community can be built. We all know that librarians are also public relations experts, for a library is only successful if it serves, with excellence, its diverse community.

Because I hope to transition from classroom teacher to librarian at the school I've been teaching at for the last nine-teen or so years I decided to begin this blog by examining the population our library serves.

In order to develop a useful collection, it is important to analyze the school community and its impact on the collection.

1. Age and grade levels of students: Triple EEE, age 3 – Grade 8, age 13.
2. Number of students: 392
3. Number of teachers: 52
4. Number of support staff (include custodians, cooks, secretaries, etc): 13
5. Demographics of the community (rural, urban, city): rural
6. Number of towns in district: 4
7. Schools in district (include tech schools): 6
a. Fair Haven grade School
b. Orwell Elem.
c. Castleton Elem.
d. Benson Village
e. Washington St.
f. Fair Haven High school
8. Race and ethnic population:
a. Caucasian
b. Hispanic
c. Asian
d. Bolivian
e. Romanian
9. Special needs / Learning Styles (remedial classes,) Both in-class and pull out Title I services, Resource Room addresses learning impaired, spelling/language impaired, emotional-behavioral disorder, other health impaired, specific learning disabilities, and a large number of developmentally delayed students.
10. Surrounding community organizations (churches, libraries, clubs, day cares, etc.)
a. Churches

i. First Congregational

ii. Our Lady of Seven Dolors

iii. United Methodist

iv. First Baptist

v. St. Luke’s Episcopal


b. Day Care Centers

i. Bird’s

ii. Ellis’s

iii. Creative Kids

iv. Brannock

v. We Care

c. Nursery School

i. Dunleavy’s

11. Accessibility to school: Students walk, are bused or are driven by parents

12. School Programs:
Band

i. Beginner
ii. Jazz
iii. Intermediate

Key Notes (choral)
Drama
School Yearbook
School Newspaper
13. Sports:
Soccer
Baseball
Basketball
Cheerleading
Wrestling
Track
Cross Country
Field Hockey
Softball
Contact Football
Indoor soccer

14. Teacher Organizations, Unions, Committees: Addison Rutland Supervisory Union educational Association

Community Organizations who use the school (including evening & afternoon meetings):
Boy Scouts
b. Girl Scouts
c. Men’s Basketball Team
d. Historical Society
e. Planning commission
f. School Board
g. Drama
h. Hunter Safety Course
Summer Programs:
Summer School
Carp (Castleton Area River Project)

17. Public Library’s hours and programs:
Hours:
c. Tues. & Fri. 8:30A.M. – 4:30P.M.
d. Wed. 4P.M. – 8P.M.
e. Sat. 9A.M. – 1:00P.M.
Programs:
Every month a program is presented. If there is a special holiday during the month frequently it is highlighted. During the summer the library has visiting readers and it also does the State summer reading program.

18. Local Newspapers:
f. Rutland Herald
g. Lakes Region Press
h. Mountain Times
i. Sam’s good News
j. The Burlington Free Press
School Web page:
a. http://www.fhgs.org/

School Library Hours:
a. Mon. – Fri. 7:50A.M. - 3:15P.M.

School Library Staff and Staff Hours:
a. Same as school library hours.
b. There is only one librarian

As you can see our population is large as well as diverse. Our school library is the heart of our community, and it is used for most town functions practically seven days a week. My next blog will examine from a more personal perspective our library community with the goal being to build a library community that, like the Statue of Liberty, is welcoming to all. Just as I adapt my teaching at the beginning of the year to each new group in order to best serve their needs I want to be able to provide the library/ information literacy services needed by this unique community.