Meet Lower School Librarian, Natalie!

Natalie joins the Lower School this year with a passion for the library's role in education. A Chicago native, Natalie earned her bachelor 's degree in elementary education and master's degree in library and information science from Loyola University Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, respectively. She started her career as an elementary school l ibrar ian in Urbana, before she m o v e d t o N o r t h Carolina where she became a middle school librarian in Chapel Hill. Natalie also serves on the Tech Team for the Lower School.

This school year, the library transitioned from a fixed, weekly library class to a FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE designed to allow teachers to collaborate with Natalie to teach information literacy skills in current units of study. Students still visited the library weekly to browse, read, and check out books.

Guided by student r e q u e s t s a n d curricular needs, t h e l i b r a r y p u r c h a s e d a c o l l e c t i o n o f

GRAPHIC NOVELS and subscribed to the electronic resource PEBBLE GO to support early literacy and research.

With new books filling the shelves quickly, the student checkout limit was increased from one book at a time to FIVE CHECKOUTS at once. Check out the Library Collection section to see how this affected our circulation statistics!

In order to share all that’s new and happening at the library, Natalie started a blog at LSLIBRARY.CFSNC.ORG with helpful project links, recommended reading, the library calendar, and more.

New at the Lower School Library

Real Estate WatchJUNE 2015 PREPARED BY NATALIE S. HARVEY LOWER SCHOOL LIBRARIAN

“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” - Maya Angelou

4809 Friends School Rd.Durham, NC 27705

(919) 383-6602

The library program is a fine balance of...literature appreciation - instilling a love of reading and learning in students - and information literacy skills - teaching students to search, collect, create, and evaluate information effectively both online and in the library.

What else is new?Schedules, collections,

and checkouts - oh my!

Lower School Library ANNUAL REPORT

C A R O L I N A F R I E N D S S C H O O L 2014- 1

5

T h e L S L i b r a r y w a s extensively weeded this school year, as it never has been before!

After carefully reviewing the collection, about 2,000 books were identified for deselection and donation. As a result, we have updated our collection from an average age of 1992 at the start of the school year to 1996 after weeding was complete. We still have a long way to go in order to create a truly up-to-date collection.

Top 10 Circulated Fiction & Graphic Novels

10S i s t e r s b y R a i n a TelgemeierChecked out 15 times.

9Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamilloChecked out 16 times.

8Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff KinneyChecked out 18 times.

7Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff KinneyChecked out 19 times.

6Amul e t 3 : T he C loud S e a r c h e r s b y K a z u KibuishiChecked out 24 times.

5Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul by Jeff KinneyChecked out 25 times.

4Amulet 6: Escape from Lucien by Kazu KibuishiChecked out 25 times.

3Amulet 2: The Stonekeeper’s Curse by Kazu KibuishiChecked out 28 times.

2Amulet 4: The Last Council by Kazu KibuishiChecked out 30 times.

1Amulet 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu KibuishiChecked out 34 times.

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

August 2014 May 2015

Total LS Library Materials

Other8%

Picture Books27%

Dewey (mostly nonfiction)35%

Fiction30%

Lower School students love to read!

Students had the choice to check out more books this year. While some preferred to take one book at a time, many students checked out several books at once. A few students even became library regulars, frequently swapping out their books at recess on days the library was open.

0

750

1500

2250

3000

2013-14 2014-15

Total LS Library Checkouts

Library CollectionThe library collection is curated to implement, enrich, and support the curriculum and to meet the individual educational, emotional, and recreational needs of students and staff.

The library collection consists of approximately 6,000 physical materials. There are three major sections of the library collection (fiction, Dewey, picture books) and several small sections (early readers, graphic novels, reference, audiovisual, parent).

Carolina Friends School Lower School Library Annual Report 2014-15 Page 2

With so many collaboration opportunities, time slipped away from these potential projects...

• Engaging in the complete research process with 3rd/4th year classes• Nonfiction writing process with 1st/2nd year language group• Story sequencing with 1st/2nd year language group• Book soundtracks in Music• Mexico research in Spanish• Bibliography for gifted readers• Summer reading program

and more?

“School librarians provide the all-important human connection between students and information, as well as between teachers and information. They promote a love of reading and learning. They curate collections that support a sense of wonder at the breadth of possibility in the world. Their human touch lifts information access from a rote and random activity to purposeful, meaningful learning.”

Abarbanel, Elisabeth, et al. "The New School Library: The Human Connection to Digital Resources and Academic Success." Independent School Magazine. Summer 2013.

Teaching & Collaboration

As a teacher of information literacy skills, Natalie co-taught and supported a variety of projects throughout Lower School this year. Here’s a sample of those activities and collaborations:

Teaching Collaboration•How to choose a book using the I-PICK strategy•How the library is organized and how to find books•How to find the right book to support nonfiction writing•How to use the Pebble Go database for research and learning•How to navigate and use Google Drive

Forest - Animal research•Using the library catalog•Using the Dewey Decimal System to find nonfiction•Creating a bibliography

Mountain - Newscasts•Creating storyboards•Finding copyright-friendly images•Filming green screen scenes

Carolina Friends School Lower School Library Annual Report 2014-15 Page 3

Special Events & Programs

Deborah Wiles Author Visit

North Carolina Children’s Book Award

David BaronNugget Designer Visit

Carolina Friends School Lower School Library Annual Report 2014-15 Page 4

Want to see what new books were added to the Lower School Library this school year? Check out our Shelfari at:

shelfari.com/cfslslibrary

To help raise funds for the new Lower School Library and to share our Interest Group program with the world, we entered the $200,000 Follett Challenge, hoping for a chance at one of the 13 prizes that would be awarded to recognize the best in K-12 innovation.

Though we did not win, we were able to showcase the Lower School Interest Group program. The support we received from the CFS community was overwhelming and heartwarming.

You can view our video entry at:https://youtu.be/5rp4fVbm-pA

LOWER SCHOOL BUDGET COST

Author visit $1,200

Pebble Go subscription $500

Books & Supplies $300

TOTAL $2,000

LIBRARY BUDGET COST

Books $2,442

Library circulation software $398

Supplies $307

Professional subscriptions $114

TOTAL $3,261

Grant Opportunity Library Expenses

Pro3%Sup.

9%Software

12%

Books75%The library purchased 220 books to

add to the collection this school year, nearly two books per child.

The Lower School supplemented the library budget this year, increasing the total funding by 60%, which allowed for the purchase of necessary research resources and made our author visit possible.

InventoryFor the first time in 12 years, a complete inventory of the Lower School library collection was performed.

319 items were not found and therefore marked as Lost.

The total value for those items is approximately $5,600, nearly twice the annual library budget.

What does this mean?

When items are missing from the inventory, this means that they appear as available in our library catalog even though they are not on the shelf. The discrepancy could be caused by books being taken from the library without being checked out (and never returned) or errors in discarding books. The results remind us of the importance of library stewardship and being diligent about implementing an annual inventory to better track and care for our shared resources.

Carolina Friends School Lower School Library Annual Report 2014-15 Page 5

North Carolina School Library Media Association Annual Conference

North Carolina Association of Independent Schools Divergent Thinking Summit

Friends Council on Education Librarian Peer Network

Saying goodbye to our current space...

and getting ready for our new

Learning Commons! Carolina Friends School Lower School Library Annual Report 2014-15 Page 6

Professional Growth