The BBS High School Media Center 2012-2013 Report summarizes the resources and usage of the media center over the past year. It provides details on the audio/visual and print/digital materials available, including over 700 VHS and DVD titles, 10,205 print volumes, and various digital reference resources. It also discusses the high usage of the media center, with all periods booked daily. Issues addressed are the need for improved information literacy skills and problems with the online catalog system. The report concludes by thanking readers and providing the media center's website for more information.
1. BBS High School Media Center
2012-2013 Report
Prepared by
Kathleen McKim
High School Media Specialist
2. Mission Statement
The High School Media Center strives to be a
learning commons with flexible spaces for
students and staff to access information,
create and collaborate in a 21st century
environment.
3. Audio/Visual Resources
• Over 700 titles enhance subject-area teaching (622
VHS, 177 DVD). An additional 200 VHS resources were
just received from the English Department.
• After a 3 year study, subscription streaming media was
found to be unfeasible due to budgetary, bandwidth and
copyright limitations within the school and within Kuwait.
• Other tech tools include a DVD/video viewing room with
a 72-in. flat screen TV, a green screen video recording
studio*, a portable media trolley, a USB printing station,
22 computers with color printing station for student use
(*new in 2013-2014).
4. Print and Digital Resources
• 10,205 total print volumes (5,592 Arabic; 4,613
English), including 1,350 print references (668
Arabic, 682 English)
• Digital reference collection
– NewsBank
– Encyclopedia Britannica Online*
– Bloom’s Literary Reference Online*
– Facts on File Health Reference Center*
– 400 OPAC links to ebooks via Project Gutenberg
(*new in 2013-2014)
5. Media Center Usage
• Overall, we were booked 5 out of 6 periods
every day this year, largely due to the
faithfulness of the Arabic teachers in bringing
students for free reading selections as
mandated by the Ministry of Education.
• We were thrilled to host the Buffalo State SUNY
Graduate Courses for the first time ever.
Participants gave high remarks and made the
best use possible of the media and space
available.
8. High Interest Nonfiction. Survey Says!
• Nonfiction is cool. A 3-year project to develop student interest in
nonfiction reading paid off this year when Mr. Steve’s Grade 10
English classes selected books, read them, and then completed
online surveys and informal interviews with the librarian about the
books. Here are some student responses:
– I liked the story because they clearly explain organized crime and how all the
criminals organized it. It also clearly shows you all the suspects and their
motives.—Hussain (information fluency, organization of information)
– The book is about how the internet affects our brain, but not only the internet, but
also our surroundings and websites like the radio, TV, youtube, twitter. It has
many medical references which we took in Biology and gave me a lot of
information about how my brain is affected by technology.—Bader (critical
thinking, decision making, connection to real life)
– What I liked about the book is that she talked about her actual feelings towards
every hardship she faces in her life, it allows the reader to connect with her. I
chose this book because I wanted to be a surgeon so not only does it help me
connect and learn more about what I’m going to face in my future, but it helps me
learn more about the field of medicine.—Farah (pursue personal and aesthetic
growth)
9. Issues of Concern
• BYOD: classroom teachers complain that
students lack information literacy skills yet the
librarian remains an untapped resource.
• OPAC Vendor System: increasing frustrations
with AAS regarding response time for customer
service and user interface. Jobs are left
unfinished by vendor.
• The vision of the media center as a ―learning
commons‖ has not become part of BBS
educational discourse.