Scheduling in My Library

[karenklieg]

I am putting together a proposal for my superintendent on what a 21st century elementary school library should 'look' like in a school of 600 students. My main concern is that I have so many classes, many of which are preps, that there is no time for teacher/librarian collaboration in my 1-3 classes. Presently, I am a 30-min. prep for grades 1&2, half the year (not changeable); a 40 min. weekly prep for grade 3,and not a prep for kindergarten.
I am OK with my 4th & 5th grade classes; I see them on a weekly basis for one hour (each class for half the year) where we do technology-supported research - we have use of both the library and the computer lab and I have the support of the technology teacher and classroom teacher (part of the time).

My schedule right now basically looks like 6 classes per day, with barely any free time at all. Although my grade 1/2 classes are only a prep for half the year, they are used to coming in on a weekly, scheduled basis. With 5 classes on each of those grade levels, I want to propose a "Week A, Week B" schedule, where grade one comes, let's say, during Week A for their 'prep time' and Grade 2 comes during Week B, thereby opening up some time for flex scheduling.

I have all the 'stuff' I need: a laptop cart, 6 pcs, smartboard, audio recorders, databases, good book collection, etc. - I just don't have the time in my schedule to utilize it properly with my younger grades! I feel like I am running a daycare center for them and I HATE that!!

My physical space is OK... not really room for simultaneous happenings, my media center is small, relatively speaking. but I am adjacent to the computer lab.

I am limited as to what I can change regarding physical space and prep covering. So, working with what I have, I am trying to come up with a solution...

Your comments are welcome!!

[Nancy Dickinson]

I agree with Cathy. Unless the teachers are on board, you will have a mutiny. Good luck!

[karenklieg]

Cathy,
We do have a site-based team, so that is definitely an interesting thought. I like your idea about meeting with teachers... I am going to rethink this a little. Most of my 1st and 2nd grade teachers are relatively new teachers, so they might be more open to this kind of discussion. Thanks!

[Cathy Nelson]

In most schools in SC, library scheduling is a SITE-BASED MANAGEMENT decision. It would pretty much be a waste of time for the librarian to do a presentation to the board or superintendent. From my experience, the one's who have the most voice and impact for this kind of change are the teachers. If the teachers do not voice it, then it is not necessarily considered important. Maybe your target audience needs to change, and then brainstorm with a teacher audience for viable solutions.