National School Library Standards - Curate

 

 

Jordan Henry

White Knoll Middle School

Lexington, SC

https://www.lexington1.net/domain/1442

 

“Key Commitment – Make meaning for oneself and others by collecting, organizing, 

and sharing resources of personal relevance” (AASL 2018, 94).

 

Mr. Henry is in his first year as librarian at White Knoll Middle School. Previously, he was a chorus and art teacher at the same school. When he examined the circulation data from the 2021-2022 school year, he found out less than 4,000 books had circulated in a school of about 800 students. Although the school was still recovering from pandemic restrictions, he knew the numbers should be higher and set about revamping the collection and the culture of the learning commons.

 

Mr. Henry has been working on genrifying the collection since he began his new position. Around the perimeter of the library books are grouped by such genres as historical fiction, science fiction, mystery and sports. Displays are dynamic and the students find books of interest to them easily. The non-fiction section is in the center of the library and will be organized in the future. Year-to-date circulation is already over 4,000 items. He also has several displays for monthly celebrations (e.g., Veterans Day, Native American Month) and daily celebrations (e.g., Origami Day).

 

Mr. Henry teaches the Big6 Research Method to students when collaborating with classes. He develops digital pathfinders which include links to print and digital resources along with interactive sources such as Google Maps.

 

Mr. Henry would like to increase the number of bilingual books in the library. With help from the Spanish teacher, he created an online bilingual survey to guide his selection of new resources for the collection.

 

Mr. Henry is working on building a working relationship with the Lexington County Public Library. Currently, students can open and print the library card application directly from the school’s learning commons website. He is hoping to further collaborate with the public library.

 

One of the biggest challenges for Mr. Henry is building rapport with the teachers to encourage collaboration. Given the previous culture of the library, he is not sure the teachers are comfortable asking for help at this time and continues to work on these relationships.

 

It is apparent from the circulation numbers and learning commons website that the things Mr. Henry has implemented this year are helping students find resources they are interested in reading.

 

American Association of School Librarians. 2018. National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. Chicago: ALA.