The document summarizes the current state of the school media center and proposes changes. It describes the existing layout, policies, and resources. Surveys of students found that they are generally satisfied but want faster internet, more computers, and before-school access. The proposed changes include adding 11 new computers, an interactive whiteboard, document camera, headphones, and converting a business office into a faculty lounge to make the space more welcoming.

1. Nathan Miller FRIT 7132 – Administration of the Instructional Media Program Dr. Melissa Allen Spring 2010

2. School Information Media Center Information Current Floor Plan Policies Photo Tour SurveyMonkey Results Needed Changes Revised Floor Plan

3. JDHS houses 741 students in grades 9-12 JDHS is currently home to 74 faculty members including 7 administrators/advisors and 2 clerical staff members. JDHS moved to the current building in 1999

4. The media center is staffed by one full time media specialist and one full time media paraprofessional. The IT office (my office) is also housed in the media center. A total of two offices, two storage rooms (one of which doubles as the server room), and a conference room The book collection is made up of approximately 16,000 copies. GA State Standards require at least 2000 copies or 10 per student. With 741 students, we have met this requirement. 19 computers are available to students as well as being available for teachers to reserve for class projects.

5. Patrons have access to 13 magazine subscriptions in print and over 200 available through online databases and subscriptions. The media center was remodeled last summer before the beginning of this school year due to flood damage so the media specialist was able to redesign the media center and eliminated almost al of the problem areas that existed. The current floor plan on the next slide is the actual floor plan that she created for the company building the new cabinetry.

6. JDHS Policy per Student Handbook: Materials may be checked our before school, during break and lunch, and at other times when the student is in the media center Materials are not to leave the media center without first being checked out Books may be checked out for two weeks and may be renewed Over-due books accumulate a fine of five (5) cents per day “ Free Fine Days” are held once a semester allowing students to return late book without incurring a fine Lost and/or damaged materials must be paid for (replacement cost) Students who abuse materials will lose their library privileges Removing or damaging barcodes will result in a $1.00 fine

7. Internet Usage Policy per JDHS Student Handbook: The use of Internet resources is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use will result in the cancellation of those privileges and/or disciplinary action by school officials. All activities by all persons while using the Internet in Jeff Davis County Schools must be in support of education and research, and be consistent with the educational objectives of Jeff Davis County Schools. All persons accessing the Internet from a school site are responsible for all on-line activities which take place through that access. When using another organization’s network or computers, all persons must comply with the rules appropriate for that network.

8. I feel that an addendum needs to be made to the student fines policy that allows for lost materials to be paid for at the replacement value of the lost item. Students should also be given the option to work off the fines if it is determined that they are unable to pay the accrued amount of fines or replacement fees. Another policy that many students dislike is the filtration of web sites. This is a policy that cannot change. However, a change could be made to allow students who have completed their class work to browse the internet at their leisure as long as there is not a class working in the media center.

9. Fiction MAD Center Non-Fiction Resource Media Prep Media Office Bus. Ed. Office Server Room IT Office Media Conf/ AV Circulation Desk Café/Reading Corner

12. The media center is located in a far corner of the building. This makes accessibility an issue for some because of the long distance from the classrooms. When immediately inside the doors are the circulation desk/book drop and a reading nook to the right. Media Center

13. With the remodeling, the bookshelves were shortened to provide a better view of students in the media center, especially students using computers. This feature had been long requested by teachers.

14. This nook used to house a few computers but has been converted to a cozy reading area. Student input helped dictate the transition of this are into a reading nook. The remodel allowed more room for seating fro students and faculty alike. This provides a much better environment for group activities and faculty meetings.

15. This room houses a/v materials including videos and DVDs. It also houses the laminating machine. It is available as a conference room or as a private testing room.

16. Magazines are displayed in a rack as part of the new student reading area New titles are displayed on top of the bookshelves to draw attention to new books, especially if the titles have been requested by students and/or faculty

17. The media center has 19 computers available for student use. With the remodel, the computers were rearranged so that the teacher or media specialist could see all of the students and computers at the same time. Previously only half of the computers could be monitored at any given time. We recently completed the addition of a mounted projector and projection screen to the media center. This has greatly enhanced the services we can offer to teachers and administration in our media center. While all teachers have not yet begun to fully utilize this area, many have and many more have expressed interest in doing so.

18. The only accessibility specific services we have available in the media center is a program called ZoomText that helps vision impaired individuals by magnifying the screen for easier reading. We have not had any requests for any other types of assistive technology but are always receptive to those needs.

19. I used SurveyMonkey to create a short open-ended survey regarding our media center. I had far more student participation than faculty but the information gleaned was very useful nonetheless. Below is a link to the survey. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/R6YXLTD

20. I surveyed several classes as they used our media center using a survey I created on SurveyMonkey. The results were: 87.5% of students were satisfied with the technology services offered. Students unanimously expressed the need for faster internet but that is provided at the district level and is beyond our control. 78.6% of the students surveyed were satisfied with the variety of materials available. Some students expressed that they would like more books related to helping them apply for college and other topics related to life after secondary school.

21. Students surveyed expressed an interest in access to the media center being made available early in the morning. Some other popular suggestions were more computers, more magazines, and access to the card catalog and patron information (i.e. book due dates, fines, etc…) from home. Students expressed that their favorite thing about the media center was access to the internet and most of the same students expressed that their least favorite thing about the media center was the slowness browsing the web.

22. A lack of computers is the most readily identifiable problem. We have only 19 computers and the average class size at JDHS is 24 students. A speaker system is needed for the new projector and screen. Currently the desktop that runs the projector is connected to a small set of desktop speakers making it difficult to hear multimedia presentations while in the seating area.

24. As our media center was recently remodeled, most of the physical improvements were taken care of at that time. As a result, the improvements I would like to make are more directed at making better use of the space that we have available and offering more services to our teachers and students.

25. 11 new computers will be purchased to bring the total number of available computers to 30. The additional computers would also require additional counter space to put the computers on. This will allow us to accommodate even the largest class sizes at JDHS. Dell OptiPlex 760 $929.93 each

26. I would like to make an Interwrite SchoolPad available to teachers in our media center. Many of our teachers use these devices very effectively in their classrooms and I believe this would be an asset in the media center as well since we have completed the addition of the projector and screen. $365.39

27. Many of our teachers also use document cameras in their classrooms to show printed materials. I think this would be a welcome addition to our media center in conjunction with the projector and screen. $533.39

28. Headphones are needed in our media center to provide students with access to multimedia materials. Without headphones, students cannot listen to any materials on their individual computers without disturbing those around them. This would also be of great assistance to our students with hearing impairments. $17.63 each

29. In an effort to make the media center more welcoming to faculty, I would convert the business office into a faculty room. This would be a place where faculty could read, eat lunch, prepare lunch, drink coffee or tea, or even get in shape on the Wii Fit. This would be expensive, but if I had an unlimited budget, this would be a welcome addition.

30. I would like to replace the seating in the reading nook with more comfortable seating to encourage patrons to take advantage of this area. I would place soft seating like this couch in the nook to entice students and faculty to utilize this area.

31. Additional Computers New Faculty Room. This room will house the items listed earlier Reading Nook Couch Desktop computer runs projector. This is where the Interwrite Pad and Document Camera will be used. A set of headphones will be provided upon request. Enough will be available to have one set per computer Media Prep Media Office Faculty Room Server Room IT Office Media Conf Circulation Desk Café/Reading Corner