1 Whitney Sanders Frit 7136 September 29, 2010 School Periodical Paper There are many different reasons

why school media specialists should have policies and procedures in place for their media centers. Every school system should have a policy and or procedure on their variety of instructional materials, and these policies should relate to all materials used in a school setting. Some of these include textbooks, library books, periodicals, technology, manipulatives, and listening devices. Selection of these materials should follow the school districts standards and be relevant to the district/schools demographics. The primary objective of each schools media program is to provide books and materials which support the mission, educational philosophy and curriculum of a school or district, taking into account the varied interests, abilities, and maturity levels of the students served. Having a policy dealing with periodicals is very beneficial to students and staff. The American Association of School Libraries states, that the average size of collections has grown in the number of books, video materials, and audio materials, however the most increase has been seen in periodicals. The collection size of periodicals has increased 29 percent over the last few years, and the average number of periodical subscriptions has risen to 20 subscriptions per library (American Association, 2009). Having periodicals in the media center allows students access to a different type of resource. Students should be taught to use all resources and learn which ones are appropriate for what they are learning. In order to do this, students need the right to use

2 different types of media. A periodical policy can ensure that all students have this available to them. Each policy should state what type of periodical can be ordered, as well as, how many should be available to each student. This will allow students, no matter where they attend school, an equal opportunity. Without a policy schools within the same district would be different in what they provide students. This policy will make certain our students are given the same chances of learning. When creating a policy that deals with periodicals there are many elements and components that go into making it successful. The main focus should be on whether or not the purpose of the periodical will be useful to the students. The overall purpose of the periodical should be directly related to instructional objectives and/or the curriculum. To ensure that educational quality of a periodical media specialists can refer to their districts/schools curriculum maps and standards they have in place. These can usually be found on their states website or with individual classroom teachers. Another element would include the quality of the periodical, media specialist need to be sure that the choices include quality and useful information to the students. Periodicals do not need to all be fun reads for students, they should be beneficial to the students education. However, there is an equal balance of reading material to have fun reads and have materials that are educational. The construction of a periodical is a very helpful aspect to consider when ordering. They all need to be durable, manageable, functional, attractive, well packaged, and safe. If all periodicals include these qualities they will be used and student will enjoy using them to help with research or for other learning purposes. Periodicals will also last longer if they have these qualities. The most important element of a periodical policy would be possible uses of the periodical. You want the periodical to

3 be used and in more than one way. A useful periodical can be used by individuals, small and large group instruction, and in-depth studies (Schonfeld, Donald, Oakerson, and Fenton, 2004). By choosing periodicals that are used for many types of groups allows them to be more useful and not just sit on a shelf. As media specialists become aware of their students and staff they have a better knowledge of what they need to order (Wools and Loertscher, 2005). To do this media specialists need to ask their students and staff what type of periodical would be most beneficial. They can talk with their students and see what interest they have. For example, do they like birds, animals, or insects? This will ensure they are ordering periodicals that the students will use. Money is a different element that in todays society is ever changing. All public schools are required to spend a certain amount of money per child on print materials. As of 2009, the average cost of $15.31 should be spent on printed materials for the media center (media programs, n.p.). Printed materials include all books and periodicals. Private schools base the amount of money on how many students are enrolled. When choosing periodicals for students, media specialist need to keep all of these elements in mind. If we consider price, usefulness, construction, and purpose of the periodicals, we will all be benefiting in our students education. With every policy there will be issues that arise. Speaking of periodicals, there are several issues that we as media specialists need to be aware of and we need to work on. In todays schools the biggest issue we face is budget. All school districts are facing budget cuts and have to be very careful with what they spend their money on. Unfortunately, this may have an effect on media centers and may lower the dollar amount we receive for our periodicals. President Johnsons Great Society Plan in the mid-60s

4 dedicated dollars to school libraries. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act funding allocated additional money on top of the local districts dollars. When this federal funding stopped the school districts lacked in making up that deficit. We as media specialists have faced budget cuts for years. If any money was given to the library fund it was put towards our ever growing technologies (Wools and Loertscher, 2005). This is still an issue today. Media centers tend to be looked over when budget is concerned. Another issue media centers face is the use of periodicals. Since we spend money on them we need to be sure they are being used. In most policies periodicals are not allowed to be checked out, so students must come to the library to use them. This will cut down on the use of each one. If we are spending the money on supplying them we need to be sure they are getting the appropriate use. Media specialists have a job to try and incorporate periodicals into their lessons and show students how beneficial they can be. In our technology driven society students have so much access to reading on-line. We need to show them that not everything has to be read on-line and it is not always correct. Periodicals on-line often can lead the misinformed to think that we no longer need periodicals in print (American Association of School Libraries, 2004). Periodicals can last many years if they are taken care of. Some of them will get used more than others and at some point will need to be removed from the shelves. This is one reason why most periodical policies do not allow students to check them out. We can help this by explaining to the students the correct way to take care of these library materials. Another way to help in this issue to is to purchase covers for the periodicals. These are plastic casings that protect the covers. Libraries divide their print periodicals into two categories: current issues and backfiles. Current issues are accessible individually, generally in a

5 reading area of the library. Then they are placed into volumes and stored in stacks. These backfile periodicals are the very rarely used (Schonfeld, Donald, Oakerson, and Fenton, 2004). Considering the issues of budget, damaged and backfile periodical, consistent use, and on-line databases, media specialist must find way to solve these issues so students can gain education from our resources. With all of the essential elements and issues with policies and procedures in the media center, we as media specialists must remember our purpose. We are here to educate our students in every way possible. This means having a policy that focuses on them and dealing with the policy issues as best we can.

References American Associate of School Libraries, (2009).School libraries count! 2009 national longitudinal survey of school library media programs. [PowerPoint slide]. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/researchandstatistics/ slcsurvey/2009/slc2009.pdf N.a., (n.d.), Media programs and supplemental materials selection. Retrieved from htpp://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice/adminrules/I_Rules%20IJK.htm. Schonfeld, R.C., Donald, K. W., Oakerson, A., Fenton, E., G. (2004). The nonsubscription side of periodicals: Changes in library operations and costs between print and electronic funds. Retrieved from http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub127/pub127.pdf Woolls, B., Loertscher, D.V. (2005). The whole library handbook. Retrieved from htpp://books.google.com/books?id=ZcjyWHAHuRMS