The media center at Tattnall County High School serves over 900 students and 91 faculty members. It has various sections including a circulation desk, office, work room, periodical section, large group area, computer stations, and collection area. While the physical space provides an attractive environment for learning, the document notes several areas for improvement, such as making the collection area more open and adding a quiet space. It also states that the virtual learning commons is lacking and does not meet best practices as outlined by Loertscher, such as having information, literacy, knowledge building, experimental learning, and school culture centers. The document recommends improvements to the virtual learning commons to better connect students and the community to resources and allow for

1. School Library Facilities
Tattnall County High School’s media center is fairly large. The center
services over 900 students, as well as, 91 faculty and staff. The media
center is located to the far left of the commons area.
Upon entering the first set of doors, there is a small alcove for a table
display. The second set of doors takes you into the media center.
The circulation desk is directly in front of the entrance to the center.
The network hub and HVAC hub is located in the office directly
behind the circulation desk.
To the right of the office is the production room and
storage. The production room houses a copier, laminating
machine, Ellison machine, and work table. Students are
allowed in the work room to use the Ellison and laminating
machines. Our Channel One and DirecTV is housed in this
area as well. The work room also serves as our break room.
The storage closet, in the back of the work room, houses AV equipment
and magazines.
To the right of the entrance is what used to be the media conference
room, now the TKES/LKES liaison office. There is a small section of
books for our onsite Pre K lab which is located next to the periodicals.
Around the corner from the periodicals is the large group area.
This area houses 5 rectangular tables, one of which is higher for
wheelchair accessibility. The large group area will accommodate
32 people and has a projector and screen for presentations. The
large group area has a large window area that faces the side of the
gym building. This is also where the recycling bin is located.
Entrance to Media Center
Circulation Area
Media Specialist/Tech Office
Work Room
Periodical/Pre K section
Large Group Area

2. The computer section is located to the left of the circulation area.
There are four rows of tables with four computers and one station
that is networked to the poster printer for faculty. These stations
are currently in front of the reference section. These computers
face the huge window that faces the back of the school. The stand
up computer stations have four computers and one station for
wheelchair accessibility. The stand up stations have OPAC quick
links installed on the desktops for students to look up print
resources in our library.
Each of the computers are networked to one printer. The print jobs are released at the circulation
desk by the media specialist. All school applications are accessible on all computers. To the right
of the computers are three square tables for individual and small group work. These tables have
four chairs for those students working on projects, etc.
The collection area consists of fiction bookshelves lining the
exterior walls and the nonfiction bookshelves are in the interior.
There are nine sections of 7 foot bookshelves for fiction books.
There are seven sections of 7 foot bookshelves for nonfiction
books. This area is very closed off and has several blind spots
within them.
Computer Stations/
Small Group Area
Stand up Computer
Stations/Collection Area

3. Because of the new HVAC system, we now have a dehumidifier installed, as well as, new
lighting. Having two sets of lights allows for the large group area to be dimmed while giving
presentations, yet not affecting the other areas of the media center. The media center is carpeted
which helps to provide a noise buffer. Traffic flows with ease due to the size of paths between
each area. Each path is wheelchair accessible.
We have wireless throughout the school. Therefore, all laptops and chromebooks have wireless
access. These technologies connect automatically to the TattnallSchools connection. Visitors
trying to connect to our wireless will connect to TCHSvisitors which has limited access.
Our website is http://tchs.tattnallschools.org. It is powered through Echalk. The website is
mainly used for current events and class pages. The media specialist is the site manager and is
responsible for the calendar and homepage. This website is accessible to faculty, staff, students,
and parents on any device. Each teacher has a class page where students can access current
information. Most teachers have linked their Echalk page to Google Sites and Weebly where
they have more control of the layout, etc. The media center has no virtual facility for students to
access. Therefore, students do not have access to Galileo, OPAC, etc unless they are at school.
This has limited their access to the physical facility of the learning commons.
Our firewall/filtering system blocks many social media sites. This poses problems when teachers
try to access sites for instructional purposes. An email explaining the purpose of the website use
must be sent to the county Technology Specialist to unblock the site. This poses problems for
teachers who plan the lessons at home and find out the next day they are blocked. Several videos
on YouTube are examples of this.
We do not have ebooks or ereaders in our facility. This may be something we look into in the
near future. There is no set BYOD policy either. The school rule related to technology is that
students cannot have cell phones or mp3 players at school. Several students have brought
laptops and tablets but are limited in access because of the connection to TCHSvisitors.
Our media center has come a long way in that it is organized and user friendly. The faculty and
students have provided positive feedback for the changes that have been made this year. The
overall cleanliness and organization has made a big impact. The media specialist can now
monitor the computer stations from the circulation area. Adding newer seating areas has also
helps with the welcome feeling of the environment. There are ample areas for individual, small,
and large groups to utilize. Overall, the media center’s physical facility has an attractive layout
which produces a positive climate conducive to learning.
There are areas in need of improvement. The collection area is too closed off which poses
classroom management issues. Students tend to go back there to “make out” or use cell phones.
This area needs to be opened up. I would like to see a quiet area put in the middle. This can be
done by weeding the collection and removing several bookshelves. This will also open up
shelves for out facing displays.

4. The reference area also needs to be moved from the computer section. Most of our reference
books are very outdated and need to be weeded from the collection. Others need to be
interspersed into the collection itself. This will provide more room in the computer and small
group area as well.
According to Loertscher, a learning commons is a common, or shared, learning space that is both
physical and virtual. It is used to move students to explore, experiment, and collaborate. The
Virtual Learning Commons is the digital learning community where the whole school
participates (Loertscher et al.,2012, p 20).
The VLC part of our media center is much need of improvement. Loertscher lists five areas of
the VLC as information center, literacy center, knowledge building, experimental learning, and
school culture. Our school website is more static than interactive. We have an information
center that is the point of entry to other areas. However, it does not link to other databases, etc.
We also have something of a school culture part. However, it is more within the information
page itself.
Because we lack an effective VLC, this becomes a barrier to our students and community.
Providing links to our information center of databases, tools, activities, etc. would allow students
and teachers to utilize global resources. Creating a literacy center where book and writing clubs
could meet would be productive. This center could be used for collaborating on multiple literacy
activities with all learners. Introducing a knowledge building center would provide a space for
designing and collaborating experiences that all patrons could utilize. An experimental learning
center would allow all patrons to become a part of the school improvement and action research.
This space would allow everyone to play a part in the improvement of the school community.
As for the school culture center, we currently post pictures, announcements, etc to the
information page. Having a section just for this would be a better “draw” for the students. It
would provide space to promote all aspects of the school environment through multimedia links
(p22.)
Our mission is to do “whatever it takes” to create an environment where everyone is a teacher,
learner, producer, and contributor through collaborating with resources and others using
technology throughout the learning process (AASL, 2009, p10). The physical space of our
learning commons provides an environment conducive to learning. The virtual environment is
lacking in all areas. Using the analysis and improvements above will change the school culture
and transform the way learning and teaching occur at TCHS (p.20).
References
Loertscher, D. V., & Koechlin, C. (2012, October 1). The Virtual Learning Commons and
School Improvement. Teacher Librarian, 39, 20-24.