Media Center Evaluation

May 2, 2009 -

As I reviewed the Georgia DOE 2008 Library Media Program Self Evaluation Rubric, I found that our strengths were in Categories 1 (Student Achievement and Instruction) and 3 (Facilities, Access, and Resources). This is were I felt that we had the most proficient and exemplary marks.

Category 2 (Staffing) is probably an area where we should improve, but I don't know that we really don't have much input to make any changes. However, I'm sure that most media specialists feel the same way. In fact, we probably have it pretty good compared to some other schools. We have 2 media specialists and 1 media clerk in our school of approximately 1700 students. That sounds good, I think. However, in my first year as a media specialist I was most over whelmed by all the extracurricular duties. We (the other media specialist I work with and the media clerk) often had to neglect our school library duties in order to get the extra-curricular duties accomplished.

Here is a list of all the extra duties that we (as a department) take care of:
- Junior Class Sponsor
- Senior Prom
- Senior Week
- Homecoming
- Ring Ceremony
- Honors Night
- Relay for Life
- Fixed Assets (starting next year)

I don't know if that looks like a long list to someone who has never planned any of these events, but I can tell you from experience that most of these events take countless hours of time to plan and organize for a school our size. Prom, for example, doesn't mean that we just decorate the venue; we sell tickets out of the media center, paint the wall hangings in the media center, store the props in the media center, and many other things. Honors Night was the equivalent of planning my wedding! I sent nearly 300 invitations, prepared the program, prepared and organized the presentations, organized the special awards and gifts, kept up with RSVPs, prepared the 500 slide power point (with pictures...), etc.

I don't mean to sound whiny by describing all of this, but I just want to make a point that there is a large portion of our time that is spent doing other things. If we were "just media specialists" it would be an easier job...but we kind of do it all :) This is simply on area where we could improve, but probably won't.

I think that we are proficient in Category 4 ( Administrative Support) and 5 (Staff Development) overall. The main areas where we should improve here is in meeting with our administrators more frequently. I feel that we have their support, though.