1. ANNUAL END OF YEAR
REPORT
JUNE, 2018
Compiled and composed by:
Karen Hornberger, Library Media Specialist
Palisades High School
Library Media Center

2. PURPOSE OF REPORT
This is our 16th annual report. The purpose of this report is to reflect upon
the school-year and to educate readers on the programs and services that we
have offered throughout the year, supporting both students and staff with the
goal of making students as academically successful as possible.
You may notice that
I use the same
design every year!
This is just to allow
me to spend my
precious end of year
time on other tasks!

3. ARRANGEMENT OF REPORT
Section One provides data on our school, usage of the library, our resources, and
statistics.
Section Two provides information on some ways in which I, the Library Media
Specialist, have supported student learning and achievement.

4. SECTION 1
• school data
• usage of library
• our resources
• usage statistics

5. OUR SCHOOL
Palisades High School is located in Kintnersville, PA with a current enrollment of
approximately 600 students and approximately 60 faculty members.
Karen Hornberger is the Library Media Specialist.
Candice Rousseau is the Library Assistant.

6. OUR HELPERS!
This year I received additional help since I gained Candice Rousseau as my
library assistant! She allowed me to work with teachers and students, supporting
academic needs. Candice took the lead on Chromebook Central: supporting
student’s technological needs, managing repair/tickets, and helping students
print. She was also very helpful with student management as she managed study
hall/visitors, monitored passes, and maintained an environment of respect and
rapport. Additionally, she provided copier assistance and maintenance, assisted
with book circulation, supported school needs by helping building secretaries;
distributed overdue notices; addressed incoming phone calls; and helped process
materials during genrefication and removal of discarded materials. Managing
Chromebook Central was quite the constant task. Candice calls us “bookends”
and she certainly supported me in innumerable ways!
We also had student helpers! These students mainly did school work while they
signed books in and out. They were also very helpful!

7. LIBRARY USAGE
We experienced increased visits by all visitor categories: English with
268 visits, social studies with 316 visits, and “other” (health,
guidance, world languages, etc.) with 70. These numbers represent
both classes utilizing the library space (with and without assistance
from library staff) and librarian visits to classrooms.

8. ADDITIONAL VISITORS
In addition to classes that visit, each period we also have:
• Student assistants
• Students on permanent pass
• Students from the Cyber Center
• Students from study hall
• Students using the copiers
• Students taking tests
• Meetings
WE are a very, very BUSY and WELCOMING library!
We now have a resource room where our Cyber Center was and the Cyber
Center is now located where the old computer lab was. This resource room
is imperative for us to provide a quiet space for times that we need this
option.
☺

9. OUR COLLECTION
In our collection, we have:
• Print books ( 13,597 titles)
• eBooks (over 10,300 titles in the EBSCO High School Collection & over
24,000 titles in the EBSCO eBook Collection)
• Advanced Placement Source (articles from scholarly journals, etc.)
• SIRS Issues Researcher (articles from national and global magazines and
newspapers)
• NoodleTools (bibliography/notecard/outline generator)
• Videos
• Audiobooks
• Calculators
• Two Chromebook/charger carts
• PLUS… state-provided Power Library Resources!

10. COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
Last year, we did not have the recommended number of books per student, according to
state recommendations. This was due to weeding many outdated materials. This year, we
increased our collection from 11,772 to 13,597 materials. We did continue to weed
materials, but the print collection is 19 years old. The financial support of the district
curriculum budget allowed us to reach the desired number of books, since they generously
took on the cost of our subscription databases after better understanding our needs during
last year’s department review. We hope that they continue to offer supplementary support
for a few additional years in order to allow us to continue to update the collection. With the
rising cost of databases, it has felt impossible to keep up with maintaining a healthy
collection that is approximately 15 years or newer, inclusive of the number of
recommended books per student. This year, with the additional funds, I was able to add
nonfiction. I met with many students during the research process to ensure that we had a
healthy collection to meet their individual research interests and needs and added books to
our wish list whenever we had aged or lacking materials.

11. COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT: GENREFYING
This year we also took on the task of genrefying our fiction section!
Our new categories are: Realistic Fiction; Science Fiction & Fantasy; Suspense,
Horror, & Mystery; Historical & Military Fiction; Classic & College Bound; and
Short Stories. The students enjoyed looking in specifically themed shelves. I plan
to further weed the Historical & Military Fiction section to allow more space for
the Suspense, Mystery, & Horror section. After genrefying, Historical/Military
saw 138 circulations where Suspense/Mystery/Horror saw 438. This reflects
current usage trends. We, formerly, had a reading assignment that was integrated
into social studies courses; however we no longer have that requirement, leaving
the books less heavily used. Future weeding of the Historical/Military section
will allow us to make changes to allow for the more popular section of Suspense,
Mystery & Horror to increase and thrive.

12. TINICUM CIVIC ASSOCIATION
Tinicum Civic Association has, yet again, graciously donated money to
our library. We were able to update our collection mid-year, and chose
titles that students had been requesting. We were VERY grateful for their
donation.
The Tinicum Civic Association raises funds through community based
events with the purpose of supporting local non-profit organizations that
contribute to the general welfare or enhance the quality of life in our area.
Please consider helping the association by volunteering at or attending the
upcoming Tinicum Arts Festival, July 7-8, 2018 in Tinicum Park or by
visiting Stover Mill Art Gallery located on River Road in Erwinna.

13. OUR CIRCULATION
In-House Materials represents the circulation of print materials along with AV materials
and this remains the most popular way to use library resources.
eBooks (or eResources) solely represents eBook accesses (and excludes
access to electronic articles from newspapers/magazines, interlibrary loan materials, etc.)

14. CIRCULATION BY GENRE
Fiction remains our most popular print “In-House” material, however, fiction saw a
decrease in circulation (possibly because of the genrefication
process which really disrupted the shelves) and nonfiction and biography saw
increases. We hope to see an increase in fiction again next year!

15. OUR CIRCULATION
Advanced Placement Source offers articles from scholarly journals with over
half originating from international publishers. This year, there were 2,050
searches performed within the database. Students have begun to find more and
more free scholarly journal articles via Google to fulfill their scholarly journal
article requirements for research and we will watch this trend to see if we still
need/want to subscribe to this database.
SIRS Resources offer articles from national and global magazines and
newspapers. This year, there were 5,233 accesses to SIRS resources.
NoodleTools is a bibliography/notecard/outline generator. This year, there were
1,956 bibliographies created through our high school.
We requested 18 interlibrary loans this year and will also monitor whether this
decreased trend will continue to consider whether to continue the service.

16. SECTION 2
• supporting students and teachers

17. RESEARCH INTEGRATION
Over the past four years, we worked on isolating skills for each grade level to focus upon
during research and integrated these skills into research units. This year we continued to
do so, however modified 10th grade skills to exclude the former requirement of utilizing
global sources and social media searches as a research method. These former skills will
now be suggested instead of required. In the future, the 10th grade students will continue
to work on integrating statistics into research and will now receive more
guidance/support on note taking skills.
The following skills are the ones that we have isolated per grade level:
● 9th grade students: thesis statement construction, outline construction and
formatting, and citation formatting (parenthetically and within a Works Cited list).
● 10th grade students: note taking strategies and integration of statistics during
research.
● 11th grade students: using peer reviewed articles from scholarly journals and
annotating a bibliography.
● 12th grade students are to synthesize all skills learned during prior years.

18. 9TH GRADE RESOURCE UNIT SITES
Below are the launchpads for all of the unit sites that are designed for 9th grade
which incorporate thesis statement, outline, and citation work. The Bioethics
Debate site was a new site created this year for 9th grade students and does not
currently integrate the three isolated skills, therefore you currently see an asterisk
next to its name. I was asked by two science teachers to create this site to support
their debate unit. In addition to creating the site, I supported each class for three
days as they conducted their research in the library.
Grade 9
English: Career Research Paper
Social Studies: Reconstruction Paper
Social Studies: Civil War Paper
Science: Bioethics Debate*

19. 10TH GRADE RESOURCE UNIT SITES
Below are the launchpads for all of the unit sites that are designed for 10th grade. The units that have no
asterisk incorporate all of the 10th grade isolated skills. In light of the upcoming 10th grade research skill
changes, I changed the content within the sites which did incorporate all of the isolated skills to support
the new expectations. There were no new sites developed this year for 10th grade, however the
Imperialism Unit was heavily modified. Additionally, one teacher had requested that I gather images that
centered around the Soviet Union (Gulags, Show Trials, Great Purge, etc.) I created a shared Google
folder that houses these images to share with him so that he could use them with his students
Grade 10
English: Modern Day Witch Hunt (The Crucible) Paper
English: Julius Caesar Research *
Social Studies: Imperialism Unit
Social Studies: World War I Research*
Social Studies: World War II Battles Research *

20. 11TH GRADE RESOURCE UNIT SITES
Below are the launchpads for all of the unit sites that are designed for
11th grade which incorporate scholarly journal and annotated
bibliography work. There were no new 11th grade unit sites developed
this year.
Grade 11
English: Persuasive Paper
English: Debate Project
Social Studies: 1920's Paper
Social Studies: Truman Paper
Social Studies: Vietnam Paper

21. 12TH GRADE RESOURCE UNIT SITES
Below are the launchpads for all of the unit sites that are designed for
12th grade which synthesize all research skills learned in prior years. The
World Religions site is new this year. I was asked by a social studies
teacher to create a World Religions Google Site that students could use to
access resources. This site was not to revolve around a specific unit but
instead to serve as a home for quality resources. This site holds an
asterisk since it does not synthesize all of the isolated research skills
presented in the years prior.
Grade 12
English: Dictator Paper
Social Studies: Senior Paper
Social Studies; World Religions*

22. NEW RESOURCES FOR INSTRUCTION
Throughout the year I created new resources for students.
■ One 9th grade English teacher was working with her students on the
concept of fact/opinion during the 9th Grade Career Paper unit and asked
me for any assistance that I could offer. As a result, we collaborated on a
document that I eventually shared with all the 9th graders via the Career
Research Paper Google Site to encourage them to better identify
fact/opinion when writing a research paper. I hope that it will really help
our students in research writing since they often do not consider the
balance of fact and opinion during writing.
Here is the document

23. NEW RESOURCES FOR INSTRUCTION, CONT.
■ Similarly, another English teacher asked me to help her students
with expanding upon their research paper writing. I went into the
classroom to teach expanding their writing beyond the utilization
of information from their outside sources. I developed and used
this worksheet for students to interact with. It utilized excerpts
from the example paper that was posted in The Crucible Research
Unit Site. As a result, I added this document to The Crucible
research site.
Here is the document

24. NEW RESOURCES FOR INSTRUCTION, CONT.
■ In preparation for the expectation for 10th grade students to exhibit
note taking skills in isolation, I worked to make the note taking
resources that we have for our students more clear. As a group, our
English and social studies staff decided that we did not want
students to be required to perform note-taking utilizing one specific
method, so I worked to further develop three options that would
allow for successful note taking. I also created a note taking rubric
that we will use to assess student growth. Next year, I will likely
need to modify the resources a bit more after using them more
often and grading student work.
Here are the note taking resources

25. LESSON OUTLINES
● This year, my Professional Growth Objective was to grade assignments
that students completed as a result of my co-teaching presentations. In the
past, the classroom teachers would often take on that role for me and I’d
hop off to teach the next class. The task of grading greatly illuminated for
me where students struggle and where they are strong. As a result, I made
changes to instruction based upon student work. This was completed for
most of the regular lessons that I teach and I have in my calendar for next
year to develop additional outlines for the scholarly journal, statistics, and
note taking lessons. Below is a link to the altered lessons that were
changed after analysis and reflection. They are in the form of lesson
outlines. I directly correlated each task to its alignment to each rubric.
Here is the link

26. CO-TEACHING AND INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE
● I often go out to the classroom setting to instruct. One struggle that I have
is that, as support in the classroom increases, one on one help to students
who are behind or struggling is less available within my schedule. I try to
be available for teachers to send certain students to me who need
additional help (both in the classroom setting and in the library). I often
present the skills to these students little by little (in small chunks) and
closely watch how they cite a source or produce written work and provide
immediate feedback. I was able to do this with many students this year
and it is probably a more rewarding part of my job. This one-on-one help
with individuals or small groups is sometimes indicated within the co-
teaching log as “support” but is not indicated in this log if a student has
been sent to me in the library.
Here is my co-teaching log (which is also linked in our visitation statistics)

27. DIFFERENTIATED MODE OF SUPERVISION
● This year, I participated in a study group with another high school teacher,
our middle school librarian, and two middle school teachers. It was our
middle school librarian’s first year as a full time librarian within the
school and she finally had an opportunity to grow as a co-teacher. We
developed a plan to strategically implement foundational research skills.
We chose to develop a tiered approach and took the concepts we expect in
high school and worked to provide exposure and develop familiarity in
staged skill developmental experiences, grades 6-8. It is a work in
progress, but they really came far this year. Unfortunately, the librarian
will now no longer be a full-time librarian again as she will now take a
part time role as a gifted teacher. We hope this year has provided a
foundation for future growth.

28. DIFFERENTIATED MODE OF SUPERVISION,
CONT.
● Through work in our study group, I increased service to our high school
and taught with more teachers than ever before. One main achievement
that I set and fulfilled is that I facilitated a meeting with the English and
social studies departments to make teaching of our isolated skills more
consistent. I had created a talking points/trends document to lead the
discussion (which was based upon many individual conversations and
never as a large group of professionals with similar tasks). Through this
meeting we agreed on consistent methods and changed the course of some
of our direction. It would be ideal to continuously meet as a group who
contribute to a wider effort year after year to create experiences for
students which will help them become strong academically.
Here is the link

29. SUMMER READING PROGRAM
I currently chair our summer reading committee which includes my facilitation
of the selection of books that students are required to read and assignments
students are expected to complete. It includes ensuring the availability of titles,
development and supervision of assessments and makeups, and analysis of the
program, etc.
Here is our current Summer Reading Program site.

30. READING OLYMPICS & DEBATE CLUB
Our Reading Olympics team that Amber Schlosser and I co-advise did very
well this year, earning a red ribbon in competition. It was a very fun night with
truly superb students!
Our Debate Club, which I co-advise with Aimee Trieu, was able to
(unofficially) join a league (LVIDA) this year! We were honored to receive
official status for next year after earning a record of 15 wins to 3 losses! Our
first topic was on whether the Federal Communication Commission should
reenact the Fairness Doctrine while our second topic was on whether the
United States government should privatize federal prisons. We had A LOT of
fun testing out which roles each student was strongest at performing!
We are so proud of our students!

31. GOALS FOR THE FUTURE
My goals are:
● to continue to develop the integration of research skills.
● to introduce/unroll our new expectation of note taking skills.
● I hope to keep developing our high school collection to make it more up to
date, useful and appealing to students and staff!

32. IMAGES
SLIDE 2: REFLECTION BY ANDERSON MANCINI
SLIDE 3: COLORED PENCILS BY CHEVRE
SLIDE 5: LOCKERS BY TLPARADIS
SLIDE 31: DARTS BY STEVEPB

33. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO
READ OUR ANNUAL END OF YEAR
REPORT!
HAVE A WONDERFUL AND RELAXING
SUMMER!