MEDT

6461, Summer 2016

Project 6c: Facilities

Beverly Hughes

Woodland Middle School at Euharee media center

Request for renovation of facilities
Needs analysis
In my twelve years as a reading/language arts teacher at Woodland Middle School at
Euharlee (WMSE), I have taken my classes to the school library for circulation visits over 700
times. During those visits, I have had the opportunity to observe the traffic patterns of students
and stakeholders in the library. The library is bright with natural and fluorescent lighting. There
are colorful rugs at the entrance and in front of the circulation desk to communicate a warm and
welcoming atmosphere and help reduce the strain of the heavy traffic patterns. Dr. Teri Mull has
encouraged a climate of literacy by hanging READ posters from the American Library
Association (ALA), which feature celebrities. She also took pictures of teachers and staff
members posed with books similar to the READ posters to show students that the adults at
WMSE are also interested reading. Finally, Mull purchased or created vinyl stickers with famous
quotes that promote reading and hung them around the recessed ceiling over the checkout desk.
The library is conducive to learning as it has areas for two whole classes to work in separate
locations in the library, which is especially useful during the bi-annual book fair. While a large
group can receive instruction on the ceiling-mounted digital projector, the other group (large or
small) can work in sets of four or less near the two rows of computers. There are 22 desktop
computers in the library for students or staff members to use. Faculty can also use a room within
the library to access professional materials or conduct meetings. Mull has hosted many subject
area planning meetings in the library, where teachers convene to get information on how to better
conduct a project or communicate about lesson plans. The technology issues are limited to
keeping desktop computers near one of the six columns located the center of the library.
However, this does not have a heavy impact due to the 1:1 technology available to students at all
three grade levels. The library is frequently overly humid, but classes only stay for 30 minutes at
a time, so the impact on student achievement is limited. After making a floor plan, I interviewed
Dr. Mull, who has been the media specialist at WMSE for the entire seventeen years the school
has been open.
There are many elements that work well in the WMSE media center due to Dr. Mulls
highly-logical organization system. She has found ways to make sure that she can supervise
student activity in every section of the library from her checkout desk, which became necessary

MEDT 6461, Summer 2016

Project 6c: Facilities

Beverly Hughes

when the media clerks position was eliminated. She has also added a student self-check out
system to encourage responsibility of library materials and ownership of library facilities from
students. Additionally, she quickly made a parent resource center in one corner of the library to
meet a mandate of Title I funding.
However, there are also some elements that she would like to see change. The primary
issue that she sees from every grade level (6, 7, 8) is that students will clump in small, disruptive,
and highly-distracted groups in the back corner of the library to avoid adult attention and to gain
peer attention. As mentioned by Woolls, Weeks, and Coatney (2014) changing the layout to
provide for different activities may reverse negative attitudes of students and teachers or change
their perception of behaviors that are acceptable in the room, (p. 59). Additionally, Mull
mentioned that the reference materials are located too far in proximity from the area in which
students work in small groups. Mull also would like to see a way that students can work
independently without taking a whole table or as Woolls, Weeks, and Coatney suggested (2014)
such as quiet areas for those individuals who are easily distracted, (p. 148). During our
discussion, we also talked about the importance of meeting the goals of the School Improvement
Plan (SIP) and the Striving Readers Grant (SRG) requirements of reading a variety of genres
including periodicals. Andy Spinks (2009) reported, Test scores are higher when students have
access to library media collections with more accurate and up-to-date information (newer books
an more current periodicals), (p. 2). One of the suggestions that I offered was the addition of a
MakerSpace area to host a small group with STEM-activities. Bush and Jones (2010) wrote,
School librarians promote social skills when they support and host activities that encourage
students to make connections and work with each other, (p. 96). Finally, I recommended that
Mull include more graphic novels to pique student interest in reading. For the second year in a
row, a graphic novel has won a Newbery Honor as indicated by El Deafo (Bell, 2014) and Roller
Girl (Jamieson, 2015). Whereas graphic novels tend to have a lower word count and Lexile level
both due to the short sentence structure and common wording used in basic conversations, they
still have a literary value and should be incorporated into the collection.
Goals and proposed changes
Goal 1: Find ways to encourage students to look around the library instead of clumping in the
back corner to avoid adult attention and to obtain peer attention. Indicated on proposed map by:

MEDT 6461, Summer 2016

Project 6c: Facilities

Beverly Hughes

Proposal to achieve goal 1: In order to encourage students to look around the library, the shelves
that line the entrance of the library will showcase the genre of the month on one side and
recommendations from students and faculty on the other side. Also, new arrivals will be moved
to the first case of 4high (currently: reference). More selections will be added to the series
shelves to increase the series shelves to three cases, since these are incurring higher circulation
and are located almost opposite from the clumping corner. Additionally, the periodicals will be
moved to the bookcase nearest to the circulation desk (currently: new arrivals). It is also
recommended that when Dr. Mull shares these changes with the reading/language arts teachers,
that she should encourage the teachers to take an active role in supervising the clumping corner
and in promoting the newly-stocked areas.
Goal 2: Move reference materials to area behind the parent resource center, so that it will be
closer to student independent work area. Indicated on proposed map by:
Proposal to achieve goal 2: Since students at WMSE have 1:1 technology and frequently rely on
the Internet to supply their reference materials, there has been less interest in the reference
materials in the library. However, the materials are still used for research projects, which are
used largely in small groups or independently by students. Therefore, the reference section will
be moved to the area behind the Parent Resource Center (currently: periodicals) in order to be
closer to the small tables that students use for independent work. During our discussion of the
floor plan, I also recommended that Mull add a copy of the current Georgia Drivers Manual for
the students who are preparing to take the test to receive a learners license. I will have a hard
time keeping that on the shelf once the eighth-graders find it, Mull joked. It is possible that she
will add this to the reference shelves or this could open the door to high-interest reference
materials receiving their own space during a future floor plan revision.
Goal 3: Add individual student spaces. Indicated on proposed map by:
Proposal to achieve goal 3: Woolls, Weeks, Coatney (2014) wrote, Space must be available to
allow teaching, reference, and group work to go on in one area, while, in another, students may
come in individually or in small groups throughout the day to browse or check out new reading

MEDT 6461, Summer 2016

Project 6c: Facilities

Beverly Hughes

materials, (p. 148). The library currently has plenty of space for students in whole class, small
groups, or as individuals. However, some students find that they work or read better with fewer
distractions and would benefit from a single-student seating option. Eight individual study
corrals will be added to allow students to work independently. One will be placed at one end of
the five nonfiction shelves (400s-999s), and in three other areas as reasonability permits.
Goal 4: Increase accessibility of periodicals to support SIP and SRG requirements in addition to
CCGPS. Indicated on proposed map by:
Proposal to achieve goal 4: Requirements from of the School Improvement Plan (SIP) and the
Striving Readers Grant (SRG) received by WMSE, in addition to the Common Core Georgia
Performance Standards (CCGPS), state that students should read a variety of genres in order to
increase fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The SIP at WMSE specifically requires that
students have access to periodicals in order to meet that reading goal. Several teachers
throughout the building use the magazines ordered via Title I funding (SCOPE, Science World,
Time for Kids, etc.) in their classrooms. However, many of the magazines go unused, but still
contain high-interest articles that students could enjoy. The bookcase that is located closest to the
circulation desk will now house the periodicals including magazines and newspapers. For
magazines that are ordered in sets, one copy of each set of magazines will be placed on the
bookcase for student perusal. Since the school already subscribes to the Daily Tribune (Bartow
County news) and the Atlanta Journal and Constitution (AJC), a copy of each will be placed on
the periodical shelf to remain there for one weeks time. A table for four or less students and
corresponding chairs will be placed near this bookcase to encourage students to read there. The
furniture in this area could be changed to armchairs later if student behavior and space allows.
Goal 5: Add a MakerSpace. Indicated on proposed map by:
Proposal to achieve goal 5: In order to support interest in and academic achievement in STEM
(or STEAM) content areas, a MakerSpace will be added to the library to provide students the
opportunity to create and collaborate. Initially, this space will be limited to a rectangular table
that seats up to eight students. This space can be used with small groups and a teacher to

MEDT 6461, Summer 2016

Project 6c: Facilities

Beverly Hughes

supervise or as a reward for students to support behavior goals of the school wide intervention
system to promote positive behavior.
Goal 6: Incorporate more graphic novels. Indicated on proposed map by:
Proposal to achieve goal 6: The final suggestion for a change to the floor plan of the WMSE
library is provide space for graphic novels to be added to the collection. Since most of the current
bookcases are currently full, this would require that some pieces of the collection be weeded out
based on lack of circulation or inability to meet weeding guidelines. For example, there is a
collection of Junior Illustrated Classics and picture books on the backside of the bookcase across
from the circulation desk; the front side of the bookcase houses short story collections. There are
very few Reading Counts! quizzes (RC quizzes) available for the Junior Illustrated Classics
(JIC), which results in a lower circulation for these books, since students are required to take RC
quizzes to prove that they read the book. The requirement is the current way of assessing
independent reading, since students must read in order to increase their fluency, vocabulary, and
reading comprehension skills, which all result in a higher Lexile score and End-of-Course (EOG)
test scores; this focus on improved scores is to meet CCGPS, and requirements of the SIP and
SRG. The picture books have a similar story as the JIC, except that they tend to have a lower
Lexile level, which does not contribute to growth for students on grade level; they have a lower
word count, which is the way that teachers have been assigning a grade to the passing of the
quiz. For example, a book must have 10,000 words to be counted as a full text, or the passed quiz
would result in a partial grade for students. Therefore, books that have lower readership can be
weeded out to provide room for the addition of graphic novels. The graphic novels would be
moved to the front side of the bookcase, where they would have more room for several students
at a time to peruse the books. In turn, the short story collection would be moved to the back side
of the bookcase, while the very small picture book collection would be moved to the area near
the Parent Resource Center which is near the student tables for independent work. The books
available in Spanish for ELL students could stay on one of these two bookcases as the readers of
these books represent an average of 1% of the student population per year.

MEDT 6461, Summer 2016

Project 6c: Facilities

Beverly Hughes

Sources

Bush, G., & Jones, J. (2010). Tales out of the school library: Developing professional
dispositions. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Spinks, Andy. (2009). Library media programs and student achievement: Research and
research-based practices for library media specialists and education leaders. Retrieved
from Cobb county school district, Library media education department website:
http://www.cobbk12.org/librarymedia/
Woolls, B., Weeks, A. C., & Coatney, S. (2014). The School library manager. (5th ed.).
Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

MEDT 6461, Summer 2016

Project 6c: Facilities

Current layout of the WMSE media center:

Beverly Hughes

MEDT 6461, Summer 2016

Project 6c: Facilities

Proposed layout of the WMSE media center:

Beverly Hughes