| Mattoon Middle School Library |
2010 no. 5 |
| Library Profile |
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| What is unique about your library?
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I believe that inside every child is a love for reading.
It is our job to find the right book to spark that love. One thing that is very
unique about our library is that we put away half of our budget to be purchased
at Barnes and Noble, by our students. We have a Manga Group and a Student
Reading Committee who help choose books for the library. It is very important
to us that the students have a voice in collection development. Last Friday was
our yearly trip to Barnes and Noble. Before the trip, the students met and talked
about what we have and the guidelines for choosing books. The students choose
the books; we purchase them, catalog them, and get them ready for check out.
For weeks afterwards, we will have new students coming into the library asking
about the books they have heard their friends talking about. It’s a great way
to get new library users. Word of mouth seems to work the best for this age
group.
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| What are the primary goals and objectives of your library? |
To get every child in the school to read is my main
objective. We also try to assure student success by identifying each students’
need while addressing and reducing any barriers to learning they might have. We
also try to use a variety of teaching strategies to engage students in their
own learning. |
| What cooperative efforts are you currently doing? |
I am always cooperating and working with teachers to help
the students meet their learning needs. I serve on school and district
committees. The LTLS drivers tell me that we are one of the biggest school
users of LTLS interlibrary loan. My students enjoy being able to get books that
we don’t own. I do training in LINC with all my incoming 6th graders
so that they can become familiar with the technology. |
| Tell us a story about your library. |
I was working with the Manga students. It was when
we first started the Manga Group and before we had a good Manga collection. I
had one boy who was very interested in Manga and he came back to more
meetings and we discussed getting more Manga in the library and using PDAs to
read. One day I was called down to the office. There was a gentleman waiting
for me with a check for $33,000 to purchase PDAs and a Manga collection for the
school library. He told me that his grandson had told him all about the Manga
Group and what the library planned on doing, and he figured he would help those
goals become a reality.
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| If money were no object, what services would you add? |
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| What is popular in your library? |
I would say it’s a three-way tie between Fiction, Gaming,
and Manga. Those three things really get students into the library. Our Ready
to Read Across Mattoon event each year is also very popular. The Student
Reading Committee gets together and decides the book for that year and
challenges the community to read with them. The students present at service
organizations and businesses. Each year we pass out about 1000 books. We ask
people to read and send their comments back and pass the book along. If anyone
has questions they can contact me (Anieta) 217-238-5850 or email
atrame@mattoon.k12.il.us |
| How does your library use online tools to connect to your users? |
We have a website where students can access databases, but
with the cuts we had to get rid of all databases except First Search. We are
limited to the online tools that we can use because of school rules. |
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Request a visit to your library Library of the Week Executive Director: Jan Ison, Editorial and Design Team: Michelle Ralston and David Lottes |
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