Evaluation Plan of the LLC Reference Section

 Introduction

The transition from a traditional school library to a Library Learning Centre (LLC) is allowing students and teachers to use the space in a whole new way. The re-designed curriculum needs the LLC to be a place where the school community can come and do inquiry, collaborate and feel supported in their learning journey. Is our current LLC ready and able to guide the community to answer their burning questions?

Analysis

Our current LLC has not seen any changes to the reference section for over 5 years. All of the physical reference materials are in a back room that students do not have access to. The resources are outdated by more than 15 years and the reading accessibility would only be suited for our more proficient readers in the school. Our district subscribes to many digital reference resources such as, World Book Kids, National Geographic Kids, EbscoHost, Canoe and Tigtag. The school community has full access to these resources while at school, and some of them even have login credentials for at home use. Even though these resources are digital, there is not an easy access point for the school community to get to them. According to the Achieving Information Literacy rubric on a school library collection on accessibility and currency, the school would float between acceptable and below average, and this is only because our district subscribes to specific reference materials. 

Resource	Below Average	Acceptable	Exemplary
Physical Accessibility	Physically accessible to most users No access to these learning resources through library catalogue	Physically accessible to all users most of the time Learning resources in other parts of the school are accessible through the school library	Physically accessible to all users All learning resources in the school are included in the online library catalogue
Intellectual Accessibility	Intellectual accessibility is not addressed  Materials provide limited support for students cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills	Intellectual accessibility is addressed in the school library  Material available to students is within the range of their cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills, and reflects student interests and the cultural interests valued by the children’s families.	Intellectual accessibility is addressed in the school library, and the school.  The wide range of material available to students is within the range of their cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills, and reflects student interest and the cultural background of the student population.
Curricular Support (Relevancy)	Materials support some of the curriculum	Materials support much of the curriculum	Materials support all of the curriculum
Currency	Copyright dates within the last 10 years: less than 50% of the collection	Copyright dates within the last 10 years: 50 - 70% of the collection	Copyright dates within the last 10 years: 80% or more of the collection
Collection Maintenance	Significant number of resources are worn, damaged, missing components or need of repair	Most materials are complete and in good repair. Some items are missing components	Materials are complete and in good repair

AIL (pg 32-33)

Rationale for Change

The education system has seen a huge shift in the way the curriculum is presented to students. Teachers are giving students more agency in how and what they learn. There are also more teachers embracing inquiry based learning. For this to be possible, the LLC needs to be equipped to help support the whole school community. Teachers need reliable resources that they can trust and use with their students, and students need guidance and a space to develop the skills to use these resources. At the moment our LLC is not up to a usable standard to help our school community to build information literate students. 

After meeting with teachers, it has become clear that they are not sure what reference resources the LLC has to offer. Inquiry projects are happening in individual classrooms, but since the LLC does not have any physical resources that are current or available for students to use, and the digital resources are hard to locate so they are not being used, most teachers are using Google or non- fiction resources from the LLC to get their information. Information literacy is another point of interest within our school community. Reidling states that for people to be prepared and function in our current world, they need to have the abilities to access, comprehend, use, and evaluate information (7). So, our students should be leaving elementary school with basic knowledge of how to critically think about the information they are reading. Right now information literacy skills have been taught in individual classrooms. This is leading to some students who have a wide range of skills and other students with little to no skills about information literacy. Creating a grade-based set of skills to teach the entire school population would help students leave with a general understanding of information literacy skills.

The Plan

1. A designated reference section and space needs to be created in the LLC. 

• This space needs to include an iPad or chromebook that students can use to access digital reference materials. 

• This space also will need some physical reference materials. Research will need to be done to find resources that will be useful to the school community and connect with the curriculum. 

• This space would also benefit from some flexible seating where students can gather to collaborate and discuss materials that they are interested in.

• This space will also need to be promoted to the school community with lessons about how the space should be used.

Example:

  Bespoke Primary School Library With A Feature Wall, Tiered Seating And It Furniture. (2023). photograph.

2. Create a library website that will offer the school community quick and easy access to the digital reference subscriptions that our district offers. 

• The website will have quick buttons on the homepage that are visually appealing so students are able to have easy access.

• The website will need to be promoted to the school community. Ideally this page will be the first place students look when they are looking to conduct research or  inquiry about a topic. 

• Lessons will have to be given to the school community on how to use and access the digital reference resources.

Example:

     

e-Library Learning Commons: Reference Section (2023). screenshot

3.  Design a lesson plan on how to support the school community in teaching information literacy skills. 

• Survey the school community about what information literacy skills they would like students to gain in certain grade levels.

• Create grade group lesson plans based off of the information that was received from the survey.

• Deliver the lessons to grade groupings to teach varied information literacy skills. 

The Timeline

It would be ideal to revamp the LLC reference section in the next 2 years. The biggest hurdle will be time and money allocated to this project. It is important to have involvement from the whole school community. The teacher librarian will be leading the way, but the teachers and students need to have a say in how the reference section is created so that it is useful to everyone. Administration will pay a part in allocating a healthy budget to make these resources useful. The district IT department might need to be involved with creating a new library homepage, or they might have some tips on how to make it visually appealing. This revamp does not seem overly ambitious and the LLC and school community could see improvements in these areas in as soon as 2 years from the start date.

• Before September: The teacher librarian will create a space in the library to make a reference section. The LLC already has iPads that can be used in this space for students to access the digital resources. Research will have to be done and reference resources will have to be ordered because all the current resources are out of date. These physical resources need to be ordered by August 1st to be received and put on the shelf by September. If there is money in the budget some flexible seating can be added, maybe a couple bean bag chairs and some lap desks. 

• Before January: Students will have been introduced to the physical reference section and how to use the space in the LLC. This introduction can be done over time during  library exchange blocks. First start with the physical resources and then move onto the digital resources using the iPad. During this time the teacher librarian will also create a library homepage that has easy access to digital resources

• Before June: The teacher librarian will share the library homepage with the school community and tweak any issues that have come up since sharing it. There will be time for the teacher librarian to work with classroom teachers to introduce the digital resources with the students. There will also be time for a survey to be given to the school community to see what information literacy skills would be useful for the students to learn and practice.

• Before September (the following year):  The teacher librarian will review the surveys and create grade grouping lesson plans to teach information literacy skills to the school community. These lessons will be implemented during blocks set aside in the teacher librarian’s schedule. 

• Things to take into consideration: Firstly, This plan is doable but it has to be a priority for the school community. If there is little to no support in this area then it will be difficult for the teacher librarian to implement the use of a revamped reference section. Secondly,  if there is no or little allocated budget this plan will take longer to achieve. Lastly, the teacher librarian needs to promote the reference section as the place the school community needs to use in order to support their research and inquiry units. It would not be worth the time and effort if the school community does not know or use the reference section. 

Conclusion

Our LLC is in dire need of a reference section. WIth the curriculum re-design and more teachers leaning toward inquiry-based projects, there needs to be a designated space for students to find reliable information. However, not only do we need to build our physical resources, there also needs to be promotion of the digital resources we already have access to. Google seems like it is the first place that teachers and students go to find information. By creating an easy access point to find these reference resources, they will be used more often. Once all of the resources are put into place, there needs to be a focus on teaching students how and what to do with the information they are receiving. Students need to develop their understanding of information literacy.

Work Cited

Asselin, M., Branch, J. L., & Oberg, D. (2003). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Canadian Association for School Libraries.

Riedling, Ann, Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, 

(Third Edition). Linworth.