Standard 5.3 Personnel, Funding, and Facilities
Candidates apply best practices related to planning, budgeting, and evaluating human, information, and physical resources. Candidates organize library facilities to enhance the use of information resources and services and to ensure equitable access to all resources for all users. Candidates develop, implement, and evaluate policies and procedures that support teaching and learning in school libraries.
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Reflection
![Picture](/uploads/5/1/0/1/51013159/facilities-design_1.jpg?302)
One of my major projects during SLM502 Organization and Assessment was to create a website explaining my library’s policies and procedures. I began the process of creating this website by analyzing current MCPS rules and regulations for libraries, technology, and instructional materials. Then, I used these documents to develop policies and procedures for planning, budgeting, evaluating and organizing resources, and more. In an effort to promote transparency and active participation in these library processes, I compiled all of my policies and procedures into one convenient page of my library website. In addition to organizing a library’s digital resources, another important step in promoting access to resources was designing the library facilities themselves.
These policies and procedures support teaching and learning in school libraries because they ensure that library resources are evaluated, purchased, and organized in a way that promotes equitable access for all users. They also provide a systematic approach for running the library on a day-to-day basis. Having a plan for potential challenges like lost books, ethical use of information, and students’ privacy, ensures that I am ready to handle challenges if they arise. It also makes students, parents, and school staff aware of the expectations to prevent some of the challenges from arising in the first place.
This process taught me the important lesson that it is beneficial to encourage the library community to participate in the development and implementation of the library’s policies and procedures. Since I created these policies before being hired as a media specialist, I plan to revisit them with stakeholders from my school community once I transition to a new school. This will allow me to begin forming relationships with the school community, review existing library policies from multiple perspectives, and revise any policies necessary to better support teaching and learning in my school.
These policies and procedures support teaching and learning in school libraries because they ensure that library resources are evaluated, purchased, and organized in a way that promotes equitable access for all users. They also provide a systematic approach for running the library on a day-to-day basis. Having a plan for potential challenges like lost books, ethical use of information, and students’ privacy, ensures that I am ready to handle challenges if they arise. It also makes students, parents, and school staff aware of the expectations to prevent some of the challenges from arising in the first place.
This process taught me the important lesson that it is beneficial to encourage the library community to participate in the development and implementation of the library’s policies and procedures. Since I created these policies before being hired as a media specialist, I plan to revisit them with stakeholders from my school community once I transition to a new school. This will allow me to begin forming relationships with the school community, review existing library policies from multiple perspectives, and revise any policies necessary to better support teaching and learning in my school.