Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Final Steps of Planning Process
After reading chapters 7-9 of our text and listening to the presentation by Karen Lowe, what thoughts do you have as you work through the final planning process? Granted. Funds are tight. What creative ways can you think of to enhance/develop your collection without guaranteed school funds? How are you going to be ready when money IS available?
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After reading the book and listening to Karen I kept thinking that I am never going to be able to complete this process. My main concern is convincing the administration that this needs to be done. Where am I going to get the funds we need to do this properly?
ReplyDeleteI got together with my head librarian and discussed what gaps we have and what budget I could use. She helped me work out a plan that will work.
Weeding the library is going to be one of the hardest parts. Convincing administration this is what needs to be done will not be easy.
Unfortunately, I have a very limited amount of money to spend on books every year. I will not even be able to purchase one book per child. My budget is very small, but I am not going to give up. One of the teacher's in my building has been discussing the issue of out of date books with me and asked me how she could help. Last year she was able to get the KCCI Read With Me grant. So we sat down together and started running some ideas. I will continue to have a Book Fair in fall which made about $800 this year. We are also working on several grants. We have already finished two and working on a third. Hopefully one will come through.
I will focus on the areas that have the biggest need.
Looking at the scope of the project, it is easy to become disillusioned. I find I have to continually remind myself that this is a five-year process and commitment. Actually I think filling all the gaps will take much longer.
ReplyDeleteMy administrator is very supportive and sees the importance of what I am doing. I am extremely fortunate! However, while she tries to be as generous as possible, she is limited by her budget as well. I do know that my budget will be less next year and it will not begin to fill the existing gaps. My wish list for the 500's is very long and will have to be pared down.
I am starting wish lists for each of the years in the plan. As I find resources which might fill a need, I add it to the appropriate list. As I work on each area then, I can re-evaluate those titles on the list.
I have some prospects for grants and will begin working on those proposals in the near future. It would be nice if I could write a multi-year proposal, but that is unlikely.
I have been running concession stands to provide funds for fiction books. I may have to reallocate some of those funds but would rather not.
In the past I often used the "shotgun" method of getting resources for the library -- a little here, a little there -- so now it will have to be a change in my thinking to use the rifle method. My plan is to start with either the 500s - because it has been such a focus in our district -- or the 300s because it is another area of large need in my library.
ReplyDeleteI am anxious to sit down with my principal to talk about the library's needs. She is very supportive of the program, so I think seeing my plan might be an aha for her (as it was for me to take a closer look), and it may allow her to squeeze a few more dollars out of the tight budget we have.
I have had good luck lately using the website "Donorschoose.org". So far I have had three "projects" funded, which has brought me hundreds of dollars in books. We also get to use bookfair dollars, and some money comes from our school fundraiser.
Regardless of when the money comes (thinking hopefully it will be sooner than later), I will have a plan at the ready of how to spend it! :)
I am excited that I finally have a plan for improving my library. This is only my second year here and I knew it needed major work, but the thought alone was overwhelming. I am now able to see how it can be improved with a systematic approach.
ReplyDeleteAs I worked on creating my five-year plan, I was conscientious of how large the sum of money was that I was requesting. I worked diligently to create as many alternatives as I could to keep cost down. Of course, I won't show all of my cards at once! ;0)
I have informally presented my plan to a couple of administrators, including our superintendent. We are looking to add a new building, either a middle school or a high school. This building will hopefully be complete in 3-4 years. Since these grades are currently housed under one roof, I explained that if I divide the budget according to middle school and high school and keep track of spending, I can pull packing lists or other documents in the future, pull those books and move them to the appropriate building. This will alleviate having to buy all new books at one time. This would also keep all of the books from outdating at the same time!
In case a large pool of money happens to fall in my lap, I always have a large wish list ready to go on Titlewave!
When I first started this process I wasn't sure where it was going to lead me to. But I'm glad to say that at the end of it I came out with a plan. Not only that, but the plan has data to back it up.
ReplyDeleteSo my first contact is going to be our curriculum director. She is the one most likely to "listen" to me. Not only that, but she has access to grants that could help with the funding of the plan. Speaking of funding it is my thought to approach the foundation for the money. If they see the 5 year plan they can set money aside to help with it. Last year they granted me money to improve the 500 collection in the middle school, so maybe with more data they will give more money.
Planning for the future, I'm already thinking about what is first in the 5 year plan and gearing my selections towards that. I think I may just have to start making Dewey wish lists on titlewave in case the "Book Fairy" comes to visit. In a way it's nice to know what the goal is for each year instead of trying to piecemeal something together. I'm excited to get started. Wonder where that "Book Fairy" is right now?
I continue to learn and this process has allowed me to collaborate with other teachers, implement new systems and discover more services provided by our Destiny Library Catalog system. My staff and I have used this opportunity to combine title records and clean up the catalog, check the A++ record against our current catalog and add tags and update our catalog, we placed a striped sticker on Wilson Core Collection books for easy identification, and a green sticker on books from the “college bound” list, we put a red checkmark in older books that we want to keep and added the date they were evaluated to make weeding easier next time. We have removed many items that were simply outdated and unusable. I have evaluated several sections in the collection by pulling the books in content areas and collaborating with teachers, together we have determined which books fit the content areas, which books and materials were relevant to the curriculum and fit into the curriculum maps and core curriculum and purchased new materials that teachers wanted for content areas. This has been a very productive process and I’m very happy that we aggressively evaluated, weeded and replaced books and materials this year. I had a small grant and I also lobbied for and received some additional district funds in the fall. We have carefully used those funds to update key areas of the collection. Next year does not look as promising. Due to budget cuts I have been notified that 2 out of my 4 associates will not be back next year. So it has been particularly important that we were able to work through key sections of the collection and make substantial progress. I don’t know when in the future I will have this level of staff and therefore time to devote attention to curriculum alignment and collection development.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I've made a five year plan for a collection, but I feel it's been a very worthwhile process. The hardest part for me was creating the budget. There was really no formula that I could use for a regional media center with a supplemental library. If I had used one of the formulas suggested, it would have been completely out of line with the role the AEA Media Center plays. So, instead, I made up my own - one that I think stretches to build up the collection but it still achieveable. I, too, will be ready when potential grant money comes through.
ReplyDeleteIt is my goal to share this plan with my supervisor, AEA consultants and teams, and Media Advisory groups in the future.
This has been a very worthwhile process. I did not realize how out of control I had let our collection become. After reading Karen Lowe's book and listening to other teacher librarians, I feel like I have the necessary information and tools to put the collection back on the right track. I have put together a 5 year plan, knowing that I will be able to revise and tweek it as necessary.
ReplyDeleteSince beginning this process, my program has taken a step backwards. In early March, the principal decided to cut my secretary to half time. Basically this leaves me in the library by myself all morning. In spite of this and with the help of volunteers, we have been able to weed all of our fiction and biography sections. Despite removing over 600 books, the shelves do not look bare. I am very motivated to get to the 900s next month before school is out.
I am happy to have a plan and data to share with my principal. With all of the budget and staff cuts being talked about, I hope to use the plan as a way of keeping my budget at its present level and wait for better years.
In the past, I have written and received a DRA grant for books, so I will try to do that again. Of course we always accept donations and look for freebies. In addition, we were able to have a high school book fair this spring. It proved to be successful enough that we have already signed up for next fall and spring.
I like the fact that I now have a 5 year plan to improve our library collection and I'm looking forward to sharing this plan with my superintendent as it will give him a clear picture of the library's needs and how they can be met. I'm hoping it will have a positive impact on the library budget in the future if more money becomes available. Unfortunately, my current budget doesn't allow me to buy one book per student. However, this year our school split book fair dollars between field trips and library resources. I am interested in exploring other ways to supplement our library budget. I appreciate the ideas shared.
ReplyDeleteIn the past I had kept one book wish list on Titlewave which had worked for my "shotgun" approach to purchasing books for the library. Since I now have a plan for improving the library, I have started multiple wish lists for each of the years in the plan which will work well for the "rifle" approach. I feel I will be ready when money becomes available.
As I worked though the final (and most difficult) steps of this process, I had mixed feelings because I will not be the one to carry it through to completion. I will be moving to a brand-new school next year, so my collection and my 5-year plan will remain behind under someone else's care. However, I feel very hopeful that the new librarian will work to develop the collection as per my plan. Heck, there's already a list of what s/he should weed for the next five years!
ReplyDeleteThe budget portion of the plan has me doubting that anything will come of it. The district's money situation is bleak, so I don't forsee any extra money being funneled into the library budget. I do still plan to present the plan to my current principal to --at the very least-- raise his awareness of the needs of the collection. Maybe that will lay the groundwork for richer years in the future. In the meantime, I think that the new librarian can take advantage of PTO funds and book fair profits, and could maybe work with one of our school's business partners to obtain some more money to carry out the plan.
I think that the best way to be ready when money does come our way is to have the plan close at hand. It could be easily resurrected at any point in the future, keeping the same sections as the focus of each year. I wouldn't necessarily select books yet, because they may be outdated by the time money is available. Instead, remember how to use Wilson's, and keep Cheryl's and the Karens' email addresses handy. In the meantime, maybe one section could be tackled each year instead of two or three.
For me, the unexpected benefit of taking this class and going through the process was that it helped me to develop my new "from scratch" collection for the new school. Follett created a list of my entire current collection as the basis for my new collection. So I "virtually weeded" all of those yellow- and orange-highlighted titles, and I used the Wilson's Catalog (which I had not used before this class) to supplement the collection with highly recommended titles. As a result, I feel really good about the nonfiction section I have created.
I had read an earlier edition of Karen Lowe's book and even gotten to the point of printing out a shelf list, but then stalled. This class has allowed me to take the process "one bite" at a time and I now see that I will easily be able to replicate it in another five years. I also managed to get the weeding done so I am sure the books that are left on the shelves are up-to-date and relevant.
ReplyDeleteObviously, we are all in a time of financial crisis and funds will be tight for awhile. I need to dedicate myself to finding outside funding sources--grants, etc.--and I need to rethink doing at least one book fair a year. Thanks to those of you who shared sources of funding!
When I do get money, I will be better prepared to spend it wisely. I will work with content area teachers and their curriculum to see what resources they will actually use. No sense buying books, even if they do fit with the curriculum, if they're just going to sit on the shelf! Wilson will be a big help in selecting quality books and I can use Titlewave, as others have suggested, to keep my wish lists ready for any financial windfall that might occur.
Although I an doubtful that it will do much good, I will share my five-year plan with my principal, superintendent and business administrator. All they can say is "No", right?
Wow! Does anyone feel their elephant is the largest? I believe my elephant grew in the past few months. I have been reading the new blogs the past week. All of my feelings and emotions concur with most of the other teacher-librarians. I am envious of Joy who has 4 paraprofessionals to help her with the task. I bet it is a good feeling, and then on the other hand, saddened by what is happening to her staff.
ReplyDeleteMy principal allowed my paraprofessional to take this class with me, so she could be involved in the process of the alignment. Heidi, my paraprofessional, is wonderful. She has a heart of gold and is willing to learn and dig in. Now that the shelf list has been marked on from A to Z and from 000 to 999, the plan is developed along with the budget; it is time to start the weeding process.
During the past 5 years as Bryant's teacher-librarian, I have been improving some sections of the Dewey section, however, after looking at the plan I will need to do some serious purchasing if the budget allows. I do have a small budget that will help improve the collection. I, also, use Book Fair profits to add to my collection. Another source of funding comes from parents’ businesses. We, too, are having tough times in the district.
I have to believe I can only tackle what money and time will allow.
I have my plan in hand and am ready for action. Let's start weeding!!!
I am both eager and nervous about carrying out the plan that I've finally decided on. It is so exciting to think that I could really make a difference in the way our students and teachers are supported in their curriculum. I plan to make resource lists in the catalog (we use Destiny) and encourage teachers to take the materials for instructional opportunities and/or a class library. I am also curious to see what our nonfiction circ stats do when we have high quality, current materials available.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with two things. First, my current principal is retiring this year. He is very supportive of the library program, but he will not be the person in charge of budget any longer. I am crossing my fingers that we will get a new principal that understands the value of a quality collection & program so I can get at least some budget increase. I plan to ask my current principal to lay the groundwork for the new principal by talking up the library program and the work being done, and I plan to talk with the new principal shortly after s/he begins in July.
My second "point to ponder" comes with the Reference section. I use the Encyclopedias, atlases, and almanacs to teach research skills, but other than that, they sit on the shelves. I am hesitant to spend thousands of dollars to update these print resources (encyclopedia, almanacs, science encyclopedia) when we have such high quality (and perpetually current) online resources through our AEA. World Book Web has 3 levels (kids, students, adult), and the students who are struggling readers can hear the article read aloud to them at the click of the mouse. Why is it important to give them a print copy of World Book Encyclopedia that is above their reading level anyway? Is there a wonderful children's encyclopedia that is not too watered down to be useful? I put the Reference section in the 3rd year of my plan so I'll have time to think this through.
I have learned so very much from this class. It is by far the most beneficial professional development I've had since I finished library school in the fall of 2005. I think collection development is just about the scariest part of being a teacher librarian, and it is so wonderful to have a comprehensive, well-researched, methodical way of improving and maintaining the collection. I plan to talk with our district media coordinator to see if she would consider doing a group study of Karen's book next year so all of our district librarians can have the guidance that I've had this year. Plus, then we could appeal to the Foundation to get funds for every building to help with budget concerns. :o)
Thanks you, Carol and Karen, for guiding us. I konw you'll be there for us as we continue working on this for the next several years.
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ReplyDeleteAs I worked through this process, I thought WOW this is a huge job, but a very crucial job. This process has really helped me know my collection and learn the K-5 curriculum. I have also found it rather frustrating. It was difficult to sort through the sections when looking at my bibliographies of each Dewey section because some of the Dewey numbers on Karen Lowe's Appendix A did not match up with my collection's assigned Dewey numbers. Basically, I'm saying someone did not know what they were doing when they assigned the Dewey numbers to the books in my library. This is one of those huge tasks I need to undertake to get books in the correct Dewey sections of the library.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, my district had a DE site visit this year and we were cited on the library's collection being outdated and the lack of a variety of formats of materials. I know this may not sound like good news, but it is because now the district has allocated almost $8000 for my elementary library to use on books. YAHOOOOOO!!! I am going to use that money to get the collection updated based on my 5 Year Plan. I will start with the 500's since the science curriculum is in need of updated materials. I will also update my fiction and easy sections. I can't wait to weed the 500's and the fiction and easy sections. They need it soooooo badly.
I hope I will get significant amounts each year of my 5 year plan, so that I can effectively update the collection. I feel like the administrators think updating can be done in one year. This 5 year plan will be very good to share with the admin. I loved Kim Carlson's idea to start Dewey wishlists on titlewave. That will be a very good way to organize the sections that need updating and be ready for the upcoming years of the plan.
To reiterate what others have said, this has been the most practical, relevant class I have taken. Thank you Cheryl and Karen for guiding us through it. And thank you to Karen Lowe for writing the book with the step by step directions on how to "eat this elephant" one bite at a time.