Knowing the community you serve is one thing I have found to be the most beneficial and the most rewarding aspect of being a school librarian. Once I began to know my students individually and their wants and needs I was better able to provide what they needed. A great place to start for me was when I explored this view in LIS 610. One of our discussion board post titled Community Mindset helped me see that the library is an "unfinished system"; it is ever growing and changing. In building a future collection one should account for all the different aspects of the community it serves. It should include stories and characters that students can relate to. Students should be able to see themselves within the collection. A short writing assignment I did in LIS 610 On a TEDx Talk titled, The Library is not a Collection of Books, also helped me to see that the library is a living a breathing place. The collection should be fluid and represent the needs of the community it serves. The needs of the community should drive what is selected and deselected from a library collection. If a book has not circulated in 5 years, it is probably no longer relevant to the needs of the population the library serves.

 

     Once I realized this, it helped me to be more encouraging of student choice in the books I selected for our school media center. Even going as far as creating Donors Choose projects based off of their request for the media center. During LID 610 I also had to build a collection. In this process, I had to think of all my users. I included biographies of all sorts, ranging from wild west heroes to strong African Americans. I also had to include different formats that would appeal to different users such as apps, websites, videos, ebooks, and traditional print.

 

     Another assignment that really helped me narrow the focus for my library was the Community and School Analysis that I completed in LIS 653. This assignment really helped me see the needs of my library and what I needed to do to better meet their needs. The LIS 650 needs Assessment really helped to lay the foundation for this concept and prepared me to be on the lookout for this early on.

As a school media specialist, my practicum has also afforded me the opportunity to really grow in this area.  I feel like every day of my practicum allows me to get to know my students better and that is essential in effectively meeting their needs. From conversations with students about their literary likes and dislikes to exposing them to new genres, all of these things play a key role in helping them take ownership in the school library and developing as diverse readers and researchers. Exploring this SLO had been extremely beneficial in my journey both as a media specialist and as a Library and Information Studies candidate.