NEASC+QUESTION+6

Given the school's mission, there are adequate resources (space, equipment, materials, and community) to support the school's program. General statement about the building, staffing, hours of operation, meet the needs of the community. Wiring, Strengths work together as a team, see program 6-12, what doesn't work well ..... MS program. Distance from technology; not connected to computer labs, makes print/digital divide seem hard edged, would change teaching if we were attached. We reinforce technology, technology not reinforcing print. School support for staff and materials outstanding, not as well supported in the technology piece. Middle School, I have long held that the Middle School library program, while sufficiently funded for material and technology belongs in the Middle School building. Lower and Middle School libraries are still very much about place as well as product. Independent reading is a corner stone of these programs and the fiction collections reflect the diverse reading interests and abilities at these levels. Research is taught in terms of defining task and the subsequent steps to find and effectively use information in all of its forms.There are still opportunities to practice using the catalog to find a book, the table of contents to determine it's usefulness and keywords to find information in the book using the index. As a result, a robust fiction and non-fiction collection should still be a focal point of Middle school library service. Middle School students have an immediacy to their information and reading needs that would be best served with a geographic proximity to the students. The Middle School as stake holders in the MS/US library currently have an attractive comfortable tower room designated for their use. In contrast to the actual square footage of the MS/US library it is small and continues to be shared with the MS/US DVD/VHS collection as opposed to dedicated to Middle School library program. A library adjacent to the Middle School computer lab would create an information center that would adequately address the space, information and reading needs of the Middle School population, both students and staff.
 * Standard 6**

Upper School-- preliminary draft notes

[Brief thumbnail quantitative data--number of carrels; group seating; computers; collection size]

Upper School teachers and students use the Middle/Upper School Library floors extensively throughout the school day. It is not only a teaching space for research projects, but of course also a study environment and a place for teachers to work in a quiet place apart from their offices. Additionally, since 2002 the Library has been designated as a make-up testing center, with a teacher assigned most periods to proctor them. At very busy times nearly every seat is taken, and when there are multiple research projects being taught, or when classes are heavily booked into the Library for project research, students who have the choice to go elsewhere on campus generally do. The new Union space has helped provide a social setting for students who enjoy working together on homework and has relieved much of the pressure on the Library to be both a collaborative space and a dedicated study zone. [The new schedule is addressing the issue of the recurring busy periods to some extent.] Close coordination of project scheduling can prevent most of the extra crowding. Some is simply the inevitable result of the ebb and flow of the school year.

Throughout most school days, at all but the heaviest research paper times of the year, there is adequate seating for students studying or making up tests. Students who wish to use a computer during their time in the Library, however, are not always able to find one free among the eight designated for student use in the Reference Room. The fact that many students bring their own laptops to school is helpful. When a class comes to do research, the Middle School's library computers are sometimes available for use, but not reliably, due to the active program in that division. As more and more research is performed online, and as nearly all students wish to use the online NoodleTools program for notetaking and citation, the need for of more dedicated laptops for the Library is becoming clearer and being addressed through the budget process and as part of the overall technology planning and direction for the School. Managing a fleet of laptops requires staff time and attention [more needed here]

For Upper Schools, there is a particular need to be continuously alert to trends in the rebalancing of print and digital resources supporting the program and leisure reading needs of students and faculty. As digital resources become richer and more accessible, what is the appropriate size of the print collection--in reference, or in fiction and nonfiction? Upper Schools everywhere are looking at this question and making decisions based on their own school's mission, their knowledge curricular demands of the program, accessibility issues, and their philosophy of how to best connect readers with good literature and appropriate research materials.

At Wheeler, the shift resource use between digital and print reference, nonfiction and periodicals collections has meant a reduction in number of titles and percentage of the collection represented in these areas. Weeding and rebalancing the collection has always been an ongoing process, but changes in the information world have resulted in more increasingly intensive weedings of print resources to make sure the collection is one that is used and represents a core collection. It also represents an appropriate shift in the percent of the budget devoted to increasing the number and range of digital databases selected to meet program needs.

The Middle/Upper School Library holds a collection of [2500] DVDs, videos and music CDs and fully supports the audiovisual demands of departments. Teachers in both divisions actively suggest and request media titles for purchase and the Library is able to be responsive to these requests.

The School has provided excellent support for all areas of library acquisition--print, AV media and digital.

Staffing: [Department Head input] There is not likely to be staff added in future although if a strategic plan is developed looking at an Information Commons model might precipitate a change in principal work responsibilities for library staff. This would include troubleshooting and maintaining laptops, netbooks, ebook readers; charged, ready to circ, managing returns, keeping them loaded with appropriate software and ebooks, etc.

Department Head perspective: a 5 year strategic plan should be developed to incorporate major shifts from print to electronic collections as well as physical plant changes, equipment needs and budgetary changes that will direct money away from print buying and toward a more digital future.

How are teachers involved in planning the use of technology in their own classrooms? How are library and related resources adequate and appropriate to support the program? Type in the content of your page here.
 * Discussion questions:**