Team Up

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School Victories: Team Up!

School Victories is starting a new initiative, Team Up!, in which member groups can help each other on specific advocacy efforts. Groups can help each other by spreading the word about research, policy, and other organizing activities. We’re each more effective when we all work together.

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The PA School Librarians Association (PSLA) is looking for research help from other School Victories members. PSLA could use your effort to support an important statewide study of public school library services for K-12 students. The State Board of Education and the PA Department of Education are conducting the study pursuant to House Resolution 987, which was unanimously adopted by the PA House of Representatives on October 5, 2010.

 

Here’s how you can help:

 

Step 1. Contact your school principal or school librarian to schedule a convenient time to visit the library in your local public elementary, middle or high school. Conduct a visit even if the school library is no longer operational, in order to document this fact.

 

Step 2. Tour the facilities and meet with one of the library program staff members (preferably the librarian), asking about the following three main discussion topics and other issues that seem important for your school library. How have these characteristics changed over the last three years?

  • Access: What are the hours and days of operation for the library program? Do students have access, both as part of class groups and as individuals? Do teachers work with the library program to research or coordinate lesson plans and curriculum?
  • Staffing: How much staffing is available in the library? Who is staffing the library (full-time or part-time certified librarians, teachers, aides, volunteer parents)? Does the staff cover libraries in more than one school?
  • Resources: How up-to-date are school library program resources, including books, technology, and other media? What is the condition of the facility and the furniture?

 

Step 3. E-mail your findings, in an e-mail or Word document, to School Victories so that we can post these to PSLA's activity, HR 987 passes the PA House of Representatives.

 

Extra Credit: Document your visit with a few photos and send them to School Victories along with your other findings.

 

This research will be very important for ensuring that school libraries receive the attention and the resources they deserve.

 

To see an excellent example of this completed assignment, click here to view the research summary from Grove City Community School Partnership (GCCSP), a fellow School Victories member. 

 

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School Victories is here for support if you need assistance in posting a new activity or navigating the site. If your group would like to launch its own “Team Up!” Project, let us know so we can spread the word. For all inquiries, please contact Connie Sung at csung@elc-pa.org.

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