Running head: FIELD EXPERIENCE REFLECTION

Field Experience Reflection

Rachel Taulbee Wise
University of West Georgia
According to the American Association of School Librarians, the school
library media specialist must serve a variety of roles including teacher,
instructional partner, information specialist and program administrator
(Empowering Learners, 2009). In addition to taking the required courses to
learn about the many facets of library media, it is essential to serve time
volunteering in the field to observe first-hand the responsibilities and
challenges faced on a day-to-day basis. One of the most beneficial things
Ive learned through this experience is the importance of treating each and
every individual entering the library with respect and offering a warm
welcome. Too often students, teachers or outside visitors encounter a library
media specialist that isnt too welcoming and immediately that visitor has a
negative feeling associated with coming to the library. Practicing patience
and keeping a good attitude will help all patrons feel more comfortable
coming to the library and using the wealth of information it offers.
While volunteering, I had the opportunity to witness how to reshuffle
fiction books into genres. At both Big Shanty Intermediate and Hillgrove High
School, the school library media specialists made the decision to sort books
based on their topics including themes such as Fantasy, Horror,
Mystery/Suspense, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Graphic Novels and
more. I loved that they were willing to put in the extra time and effort to

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provide this service to the students. Now instead of students aimlessly

walking through the aisles of the fiction section hoping to find a book that
catches their eye, they can walk directly to a genre that interests them and
browse for a book more quickly. This also opens the door for them to start
reading other authors that write within the same genre. Unfortunately, the
middle school in which I currently teach isnt up to the task of genrefying
the collection yet. If it were up to me though, Id start sorting the collection
immediately in order to peak the interests of students and increase overall
circulation. There were many other impressive things I observed while
volunteering time throughout this program including how to meet the needs
of all students, follow key guidelines to meet ethical requirements, advocate
for the media program, and collaborate to ensure students and teachers are
benefitting from the services of the school library media specialist.
Special Needs Students
During my volunteer experience I was able to learn how each media
center serves the needs of students with disabilities. At Big Shanty
Intermediate, a group of MOID students visited the media center for a lesson
on World War I. This was the same lesson the media specialist taught two
other times that day, but this time it was for a class of four students. In
addition, the class with students with emotional behavioral disorders also
visits for a lesson once every two weeks. I think it is essential to make sure
all students are involved in the curriculum and present in the library setting.
When volunteering at the high school level, I met a young lady who would

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come to the media center each afternoon and help straighten books or greet
other students. The media specialist encourages all teachers to bring their
classes to the media center including those with special needs. Each location
was equipped with headphones and software designed to meet the needs of
all students.

Through additional research, I located a helpful website

called Tech Matrix that I hope to use in the near future when planning to
purchase resources such as assistive technology devices. Not only does it
allow users to browse over 400 different products, it also provides research
articles on the theory and practice of using assistive and educational
technologies. Every student must feel welcome in the school library media
center and it is the media specialists role to ensure each childs needs are
met when they are within our presence.
Multiculturalism
Libraries play a major role in shaping childrens cultural awareness
therefore media specialists must create a collection that mirrors the diverse
backgrounds of the students it serves. Through various conversations with
practicing media specialists, observations, and required readings throughout
the certification program I have learned a few key ways to ensure
multiculturalism is addressed. First, I plan to incorporate books and resources
that include main characters and themes from around the world. By
promoting these titles in various creative book displays or including them in
virtual book talks I will be providing students a glimpse of the diversity of the
collection.

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The learning environment within a school depends on the strength of

the relationships among students. By teaching students to be more culturally
sensitive and aware of differences among cultures, we as library media
specialists are cultivating a safe environment that includes respect for one
another. School library media specialists can implement monthly book
displays focusing on different themes throughout the world such as holidays
or celebrating Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month. They can
invite community members to read excerpts from books or poems aloud to
the students and can promote family literacy with events throughout the
school year. The library is a place students must feel comfortable visiting no
matter what their background. Offering diverse resources in print,
electronically, magazines and other Web-based materials is one way we can
provide a culturally sensitive environment.
Ethics
The American Library Association (ALA) provides a set of eight
governing principles that all school library media specialists must follow. Of
these eight principals, I especially liked the one encouraging SLMS to resist
efforts to censor library resources. I can see where some people may become
confused as to what constitutes selection and what is considered censorship.
According to an intellectual freedom and censorship question and answer
pamphlet from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), the
selector seeks reasons to include material in the collection; the censor seeks
reasons to exclude material from the collection (2008). This is a great way

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to determine whether you are actively trying to add to a collection to

diversify the materials offered or whether you are trying to exclude material
based on personal decisions.
A student has the right to express his or her intellectual freedom and
as Article V of the Library Bill of Rights states, A persons right to use a
library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background,
or views (As cited in Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A brochure,
2008). It is important to have a policy in place that addresses the process of
selecting materials to be added to a collection. Procedures for reconsidering
challenged materials must also be included as well as the requirement for all
challengers to read the entire book and fill out paperwork documenting their
concerns. By providing this material up front and posting it on the schools
media center webpage or blog, SLMS can keep the process transparent for all
involved. The safety of children must remain of upmost importance in any
setting, including within the school library media center and the Code of
Ethics helps to guide educators and SLMS in the right direction.
Advocacy
In order for a strong school library media program to survive the everchanging landscapes of education today, it must have a plan for advocacy.
The need to share key information with local community members, school
boards, PTAs and professional organizations hasnt changed from its start in
New York in 1995 with the presentation entitled Libraries Change Lives and
Library Media Specialists Make it Happen (Giambra, 1998). Its imperative

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that stakeholders understand the role library media specialist play in

enhancing students overall educational achievement. Without advocating
for this program, we risk losing it. As Marlene Asselin (2002) stated,
effective educational advocacy is based on knowledge of current concerns
and initiatives of policy makers. She continues to list the major themes of
those concerns including equity, opportunity, quality instruction and high
levels of student achievement (Asselin, 2002). A library is no longer simply
a place to house books. It is a place to explore, research, collaborate, and
produce products.
Through my field experience and reading various articles on advocacy,
Ive created a few goals to implement once I am able to serve in a media
specialist role within the schools. Id like to make sure to keep a record of
the teachers and classes that visit the media center daily in order to provide
a monthly overview of patron participation and visits. At the high school in
which I volunteered my time, the media specialist created a Glogster that
totaled the number of visiting classes and the amount of students who came
to the library before school, during classes, as well as after school. By doing
this simple task, she was able to demonstrate the library was in demand and
being used each month. In addition, Id also like to serve as a leader within
the school and attend as many committee and leadership meetings as
possible. As Doug Johnson (2002) stated, our best teacher-librarians are
ones who serve on site-based councils, technology committees, and
curriculum teams, and in other decision-making positions. I want teachers

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and administrators to know that I am working with them to promote the best
interests of the students and the school as a whole. I cannot do this without
creating a presence among the school. Another goal to promote advocacy
for the media center program is to continuously share the great things
happening within the walls. Kathy Lehman (2002) said it well when she
shared, keeping the school community informed in critical to securing
philosophical and monetary support for library resource programs. To do
this, Id like to keep a media center blog that shares current and upcoming
events, collaborative lessons occurring within the school, new print and
electronic resources available, and brief video tutorials on how to use and
implement some of the electronic resources available. I hope by sharing the
usage statistics, collaborating with teachers to support instruction, and
communicating through the use of a media center blog, I will be able to
advocate for the media center and its support for students of all ages.
Copyright
When it comes to copyright, it is important that both teachers and
students understand the law and follow appropriate guidelines to ensure no
rules are broken. In order to best teach copyright practices, I would show a
short video clip and provide a brochure with the key points covered in the
law. Teachers should also be made aware of the Code of Best Practices in
Fair Use for Media Literacy because it sets different limitations for educators
and students. According to Hobbs (2010), educators are allowed to make
copies of newspaper articles, TV programs, and use and keep them for

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educational use; Create curriculum materials and scholarship with

copyrighted materials embedded in them; and share, sell, and distribute
curriculum materials with copyrighted materials embedded in them
(Mitchell, PowerPoint slides). As a middle school teacher, I feel I would also
benefit from short scenarios concerning copyright and fair use that would
actually occur in a school setting. Teachers could read the scenario and
decide whether it was an infringement of copyright or if it was legal under
the fair use guidelines. Because teachers have so much information given to
them in the beginning of a school year, Id also post this information on the
media center website or blog so they can refer back to it when they have
time or concerns about copyright. For the students, Id also create a short
animated video sharing the copyright law and even more about plagiarism
and post this on the website as well. Students need to learn how to display
digital citizenship and advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible
use of information and technology as stated in the ISTE National
Educational Technology Standards for Students. The library media specialists
role is to teach students how to be responsible digital citizens and following
copyright laws is one part of the job.
Collaboration
While volunteering at the elementary school level, I had the
opportunity to witness the media specialist teaching a lesson to fifth grade
classes on World War I. She built trenches using chairs stacked on top of
tables with fabric covering them. The students were greeted at the door of

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the media center and given an iPad, clipboard and piece of paper, a pencil,
and a helmet made from yarn and a green paper bowl. The media specialist
spoke to the students as if they were soldiers for the entire class period. She
led the lesson using a Promethean board and visited various websites with
embedded audio clips and activities. The students worked in pairs to write a
letter home explaining their observations and experiences while in the
trenches. At the high school setting, the collaboration between the media
specialist and teachers was a little different. For example, a ninth grade class
came in for an orientation lesson that included a Pow Toons video
presentation, a question and answer session, and a scavenger hunt. The
students had to visit the various areas of the media center to answer the
scavenger hunt questions. I liked the idea of a short, animated video
conveying all the necessary locations and rules of the library. I chose to
create my own Pow Toons video on the media center at my current school.
Next I created a pretest and posttest on Google Forms with the essential
library skills and map of the media center included. After showing students
the orientation video, I also had them complete a scavenger hunt that
allowed them to visit each area of the library and physically experience
shelving books in the appropriate location as well as ordering them in
different sections. Both media center specialists reported meeting with
teachers and collaborating on lessons for various grade levels and subject
areas. The lessons were posted on the media center specialists blog or
website so students could easily access the materials from home or school.

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I understand and agree that classroom instruction is and will remain

the primary focus of education, and unless we have an impact on it, we will
be seen as superfluous (Johnson, 2002). It is for this reason I plan to
collaborate with teachers on a weekly basis. Being present with them during
their grade level or subject area collaboration meetings will enable me to
listen to current and upcoming units of study and offer suggestions on how I
can support and enhance the lessons. Building a relationship with the
teachers through communication and collaboration will not only positively
impact student achievement, it will also help increase advocacy for a strong
library media program in the school.
Program Administration
In addition to ensuring students become responsible digital citizens
and promoting a love of reading, library media specialist must also manage
and oversee the entire program including budgets, purchasing materials,
planning for the layout of the library and more. Luckily, there are parents and
some students who are willing to lend a hand in the library and help out
when they can. At the middle school in which I currently teach 7th grade, we
have at least one parent volunteer a couple times a week in the media
center. Typically this parent helps shelve the recently returned books and
straightens up the bookshelves. At Big Shanty Intermediate, parents of the
3rd, 4th and 5th grade students were volunteering their time to help the library
media specialist complete the genrefication of the fiction section. Parents
were given a long list of titles and a cart full of stickers and clear labels. Each

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book on the list needed to have a sticker indicating its genre on the spine
along with a clear label over top to keep it protected. The paraprofessional
working at this location was in charge of overseeing various students while
visiting the library and keeping an eye on them when they completed the
self-checkout of their books. She was also busy repairing a stack of books
that needed some heavy-duty tape because of their frequent use. From what
I observed while in the field, the paraprofessional on staff is responsible for
day to day tasks of keeping the library running smoothly or setting up book
displays while the certified media specialist focuses on building and weeding
the collection, teaching classes, working with the budget and other tasks
that only the SLMS can perform.
Student workers play an important role in both the middle and high
school settings I observed as well. At the middle school level, student helpers
would come in before school started and would help return books to shelves
or would help straighten the tables and chairs before the media center
opened to all students. In high school, there were about six students who
worked in the schools media center throughout the week. They were
selected to take part in this mentorship after an application and interview
process. These students helped check in and check out books, shelve items,
run errands and assist other students when needed. This opportunity helped
teach them to be responsible and increased their communication skills with
other students as well as adults. It certainly takes a lot of helping hands to
keep a successful school library program working well.

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Conclusion
The role of a school library media specialist is one of the most
important in the field of education today. In order to fully prepare to meet the
roles and responsibilities required, one must be willing to serve as a leader in
the field and continue to pursue professional development opportunities.
Volunteering in various school settings and staying informed with research
based articles and news concerning school library media is one step in the
right direction and I am happy to say it has helped me understand the
importance of the SLMS current role in education.

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References

AASL Intellectual Freedom Committee. (2008). [Intellectual Freedom and

Censorship Q &

A brochure]. Retrieved from

file:///Users/Rachel/Downloads/AASL_intellectual_freedom_brochure
%20(1).pdf
American Association of School Librarians. (2009). Empowering learners:
Guidelines for

school library media programs. Chicago, IL: American

Library Association.
Asselin, M. (2002). Evidence-based Practice. Teacher Librarian, 30(1), 53.
Giambra, C. (1998). 'Libraries change lives': advocacy campaign begins in
New York.

Emergency Librarian, (3), 18.

Johnson, D. (2002). The Seven Most Critical Challenges Facing Our

Profession. Teacher

Librarian, 29(5), 21.

Lehman, K. (2002). Promoting Library Advocacy and Information Literacy

from an

'Invisible Library'. Teacher Librarian, 29(4), 27.

Magi, T. J., & Garnar, M. (2015). Intellectual freedom manual. [electronic

resource. Chicago:

ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library

Association, 2015.
Mitchell, K. Copyright & Fair Use for Digital Learning [PowerPoint slides].

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