Hello colleagues,
Welcome to the January edition of the State of the Library, which reviews the month previous. December was taken over by finals, with very few instructional days, so I skipped ahead to January, and there’s a lot to say!
Find this and other State of the Library update emails archived at http://libraryatsage.blogspot.com. (With images edited to protect copyright, and names edited to protect the innocent.)
In-Service Day
If you’re interested in getting started with PBworks but couldn’t make my session about it, you can download the handout here and watch videos, or come talk to me about using this website-creator tool in your classroom!
Usage
Things started up again with a bang at the library, and usage has shot up to higher than any other month this year. Electronic circulation went over 1,000 full-length articles searched, and book circulation is almost twice any other month so far at over 260. I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves!
As always, you may see more detailed statistics on the wiki.
Mission Statement
After months in the making, the library’s Mission Statement and Collection Development Policy is finalized and live on the web for our community. It’s important for every library to have a policy that guides acquisition of resources and keeps community goals in mind—I encourage you to take a look. The document is meant to be continually revised!
Featured Resource: ARTstor
ARTstor is an image database that shows art objects, paintings, drawings and even buildings in high resolution. The image view tool works in your browser and you can zoom in to items to see the smallest details, from cracks in plaster to fine brush-strokes. ARTstor also has a detailed image information feature that shows you measurements, collection locations, and more. Please check it out by visiting library.artstor.org while on campus. Register a name for yourself if you would like to visit off-campus. Let me know if I can guide you through the amazing features of this database!
Library Instruction & Class Visits
Multiple research projects are underway right now, with the history department leading the charge. Ninth graders in Patterns of Civilization are working on their National History Day projects. Nikole S. and Chris D. were kind enough to invite me to their classes to remind tenth graders in European history about our available resources as they begin research for their second semester papers, and also went over some database searching tips they’ll find useful as they continue their academic careers. The Chinese classes are studying Chinese culture with papers of their own, and Donna O.’s visual art classes received some detailed instruction on the featured database (below) ARTstor.
Resources
Tyler Z.’s science classes are working on comic strip based projects while Nathan H.’s current issues classes are delving deep into the Cold War and intellectual freedom issues. We’ve also had some arts requests for artist biographies and ceramics history, and a student request or two! Please let me know this month if you expect to request some library materials, as we are being careful with collection funds.
Service Learning
Our partners at Killybrooke brought some of their fifth graders into the library last Service Learning Day to partner with their buddies while they researched their science experiments. Fifth and ninth graders participated in a brief activity on why citation is important and then let loose to find sources and background information on important science concepts. The library is going to host third graders from El Sol at the end of this month for a similar activity! Click here to see the first handout.
Library Environment
Khara has been invaluable in the lower library over the past few months, and we both put an extra effort in during final exams to make the library a study environment, a new endeavor that was largely successful! Things are back to normal with a bustling library atmosphere that often has a couple classes at once, so let me know if you would like to schedule some time for your classes to focus here in the upstairs library.
Feedback Welcome
Khara and I have also discussed the library’s resources and policies quite a bit with our CAIS committee. Everyone has provided valuable feedback and we appreciate your surveys, commentary, and messages. Please don’t hesitate to communicate feedback to me about what the library has to offer! We’re always improving.
