Librarians wear many hats. We are educators, administrators, curriculum writers, and much more.  We are in charge of our libraries, and we advocate for the libraries by providing budget requests, statistics, circulation information, and user-services.  We are leaders in the school becuase we provide access to information to students and staff in search of answers.  We provide space for students and staff to learn, research, collaborate, and create. It is important to work collaboratively with administration to ensure that what we are doing in the library matches the school vision goals.  

The Twin Valley library has a wealth of resources that are not being used to their full potential, and it also has many resources that are out-of-date. This is hindering our students’ learning, and providing a disservice to their education. In LIB 555, our final assignment was a budget plan that included library goals, budget goals, curriulum needs, and a proposed budget.  The old budget was listed with a proposed budget along with a justification for why the increase is needed. 

With my new library set up, I have had to meet with my principal, upper administration, teachers, and school board members. I presented to the school board with my proposal, and I have written grants in order to pay for many of my upgrades. Attached is the presentation that I did in front of the school board when I was asking for them to incease the library budget.  Being in charge of the budget and asking for more money every year is a difficult task, but with research to back up my justifications, I feel confident that the school district would approve an increase if they had the funds to allocate. I have allso attached the Twin Valley Community Education Foundation Grant that was awarded to me to get the student literary magazine up and running in the library. 

Attached is my analysis of how the standards have changed over time and the difference between AASL's Standards compare to older curriculums and standards.  We are re-writing the curriculum at Twin Valley, and learning about these new standards is an example of effective personnel practice as we try to keep current with the national and state standards. This is from LLT 574 where we learned about managing the library and keeping up with personnel practices.  

Also included is my fieldwork journal from LIB 555. In this fieldwork, I talk about meeting with my principal, administrators, and school board to get my new library plan approved and in motion.  In order to ensure that I am taking the steps to manage the library efficiently and effectively, it is important to communicate with my administrators. 

I work closely with the teachers who are in charge of internships at the high school.  Each semester, I have between 2 and 3 interns who help me with various tasks in the library.  It is my goal to communicate clearly with them their expectations and goals for their internship, and it is my hope that they gain a valuable experience with me.  Attached is the mentor packet that I receive when I accept interns in the library. 

The teachers at Twin Valley High School are able to sign out library time or Chromebook carts so that the library space and resources are shared and used equally amongst teachers. My LibGuide has a link to a Google Sheet with signups for the library presentation space, library flexible seating area, and library Chromebook cart.  When the teachers use the library, I often reflect with them on how the library is meeting their needs and the needs of their students. We also schedule time to plan lessons together and work on improving lessons with library resources or technology. 

Because the students at Twin Valley do not need passes to be in the library, they are required to sign in to Library Trac.  Teachers can log in at any time to see who is in the library to make sure that their students are where they are supposed to be and when.  We can also collect data on library usage and the patrons who use the library most frequently.  

In order to keep up to date with the Access PA services, I went to a training on the Power Library.  My certificate for the Power Library Continuing Education is attached and is an example of library evaluation services and self-assessment of the library.  In order to keep our records current and be able to access the database correctly, we need to be informed about updates through these trainings. 

In LLT 574, we learned about assessments in the library for both the students and the librarian.  While creating assessments can be difficult sometimes because of they type of instruction that takes place in the library, there are many ways they students can still be assessed.  Formative assessments are very important in the library.  It is also important for the librarian to be assessed.  Using the Danielson model, librarians must be held accountable for performing proficiently in the 4 main domains (Planning and Preparation, The Classroom Enviornmnet, Instruction, and Professional Responsibilities) as teachers and other educators.   Attached is my review of the Danielson Framework and how it applies in my library. 

Developing partnerships with both teachers and students is essential to running and maintaing a library media center. One of the reasons that I got into education is because I love interacting socially with people and collaborating on projects.  It is the best when I am able to collaborate with students.  The student book club at Twin Valley is a group of avid readers and teachers.  We meet once every 12 school days, and we have read up to 10 books in one school year together.  The student network is amazing, and collaborating with interested students and teaching is an amazing experience.  

PLSA and PETE&C offer up options to develop partnerships with other librarians.  It is a shame that there aren't more opportunities to collaborate because everyone has obligations to fulfill, but when we are able to meet up, it is valued time. I am currently trying to get into the Makin Consortium to be able to share online materials with other libraries, and the SHAREit function of Access PA helps with that as well. Attached is a set of notes that I took at my last Access PA training.  It is called Shareit-Access PA

About once a month the librarians in the district are able to meet and discuss happenings in the schools.  We are meeting more often now because we are curriculum writing this year, and it is more important than ever to be part of a network, not individual libraries.  In May, we met to discuss our needs for the library and how we should approach curriculum writing for this year.  What we currently do, what our goals are, and what our ideal library looks like were some of the topics discussed.  Attached are the minutes from that meeting- 5.11.18 Notes.

Being a leader in the library is essential to the library's success. Communicating with my colleagues and students is an everyday task, and reflecting on what takes place in the library helps to guide decision making.  I try to help as many students and possible and be a leader in inquiry-based learning to them and to teachers.  I try to be a leader with my colleagues and bring new ideas to them for their curriculum.  I try to be a leader within the school by bringing new ideas into the library that will benefit the whole school and bring a positive atmosphere into the hub of the school. One of the ways that I try to help with leadership is by running the LibGuide for the school. 

Within the Twin Valley High School LibGuide, teachers ask me to make pages for them with resource lists and database collections.  I enjoy this task because I get to be a part of the curriculum, and the students are given specific tools to use for assignments.  I am able to add and edit these pages as needed for the teachers, and the students can navigate them with ease once they are set up with pictures, links, text, and widgets. Attached is a link to the Biology Libguide page that I made for one of our teachers. 

For extracurricular activities, I am involved in many things.  I run the student book club, and I am the advisor for the Valley Labyrinth.  I take part in chaperoning field trips and dances, and what takes up most of my time is my involvement with the high school musical.  Over the past 10 years, I have been the director or producer for the spring musical, and while it is time-intensive, it is very rewarding.  Part of being a librarian is being versitle and well-rounded, and I believe that being a part of the extra curriculars helps to be a leader not only in the library, but in the school as well. Attached is the poster for the 2018 musical- Tarzan, for which I was the producer.