School Library Media Facilities 1

Running head: SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA FACILITIES

SMP 4: School Library Media Center Facilities

Jessica Brown and Emily Clark
Georgia Southern University
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Facilities
The media center at Norton Elementary School has a

calming atmosphere conducive for learning. There is

enough lighting without being overpowering, as well as

natural light from the windows along the outside wall. It is

fairly quiet, but not silent. While it is near the cafeteria,

this doesn’t pose a problem since the space is large enough

that reading and working areas are far enough from the entrance that students are not distracted

(Bress, 2013). Decorations are muted but inviting so as not to be overstimulating to some

students. There is a skeleton that is dressed for different times of the year, posters of staff and

celebrities enjoying books, a miniature tree that is

decorated for various holidays to help showcase seasonal

books, and some brightly colored floor rugs. Throughout

the year, student work is also displayed along the shelves.

The space is large, allowing shelves to be low and far

enough apart to allow all students to access books and

resources, including those with physical disabilities. While

there are multilingual books available, they may be difficult to

find for a student who is not familiar with how the books are

categorized. There are many spacious reading areas, including

tables and chairs, sofas, plush chairs, reclining floor seats, and a carpet area with colorful stools

and stuffed animals with which students like to read. There is a main instructional area with a
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Smart Board, but it can easily be moved to the area with tables and laptops. Both of these spaces

can accommodate an entire class, and there is a reading area that could potentially accommodate

a third class as well. This third space is often used as a story area for younger grades. There are

tables where students can work in groups or individually, and

often upper grades use this space. There are computer tables

with a desktop PC

and a class set of

laptops, along with

plenty of outlets for

charging. There is a

school wireless

network, along with a guest network for visitors (although the students may only use the mobile

network for its filtering). The laptops are often moved to

the instructional area as well so that our media specialist

can do research lessons and creative projects with the

students. Additionally, there is a vast array of learning

activities for students to do, a periodical section, a

multimedia room where students work together to

broadcast our daily announcements, a well-stocked teacher

resource room, and a media center conference room for

staff.

The circulation desk is in a central area where staff can easily supervise students

throughout the library. There is a staff phone, laminator, book return area, some shelving, and
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book carts near the hallway door. There is a staff chair at the desk, but it is rarely used because

the librarians are constantly circulating the room interacting with students and teachers.

There are signs showcasing the various categories of books, popular series and authors,

and even pictures to help guide the younger students to books that are right for them. Books are

color-coordinated based on both Fountas & Pinnell levels and Accelerated Reader levels to give

students a range of levels of books close to their reading levels. There are Kindles available for

students to read electronically. Students also have access to resources at home through their

individual eClass portals, which are accessed with a username and password. There are links to

online leveled readers, Follett Destiny Discover (the online media center catalog, including the

digital book collection), Mackin Via databases (online research library), Classworks, G Suite

(Google Drive), and over the summer, students also have access to MyOn. Norton’s media

center website can be found at this link: https://www.gcpsk12.org/domain/9147.

Norton’s media center is inviting and accessible to all learners. There is a wide selection

of resources available to staff and students. There are flexible options for individuals, small

groups, and whole classes. There are a variety of learning activities in which students can

participate on a regular basis, as well as displays to pique their interests. However, the media

center could benefit from a makerspace such as the one presented in the article “How This

School Library Increased its Student Use by 1,000 Percent” (Gonzalez, 2016). It has all the

accommodations for a creative space for the students but is organized to go with the curriculum.

It is a way to organize creativity without making it a free-for-all play area. Students can still

collaborate, design projects, make videos, and research, but with a focused purpose.
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Another thing that could be added is a showcased display of multilingual books. While

the media center at Norton certainly has these in inventory, English Language Learners could

benefit from a display of popular titles in multiple languages in a special section of the media

center. This would make them easier to find, and they could have a wider selection. They could

easily access high-interest titles in their home languages at a

higher complexity level rather than having to stick with beginner-

level English books. This shelf would be a great place for it. It is

currently used for adopted books, but there aren’t very many of

those, so the shelf could be easily shared with multilingual books.

Plus, it is easily accessible to students, so it would be easily seen

by students who may have trouble using an English-based

cataloguing system.
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References

Bress, A. (2013). Making your school library more functional to individuals with autism. Library

Media Connection. Retrieved October 16, 2019, from

https://go.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1844603/viewContent/31295177/View

Gonzalez, J. (2016). How this school library increased student use by 1,000 percent. Cult of

Pedagogy. Retrieved October 16, 2019, from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/school-library/