Policy and Issues 1 Stephen Justin Keith FRIT 7132 2-22-2011 School Library Media Center Facilities Use

Policy and Issues The school library media center was once limited to four walls and its expected informational contents. If one wanted to visit the library, they could only do so when the library doors were open by physically entering the area. Today, the library still has its four walls containing the physical facility, but there is also a virtual factor that allows the facility to stay open continuously. When considering the use of the facilities, safety, non-library uses, patron accessibility, technology use, and other day-to-day issues must be addressed not only for the physical library, but also for the virtual portions of the library as well. A user-friendly facility that attracts patrons is the most important goal to keep in mind. Libraries, like any other public facility must include elements in their facilities policy such as non-discrimination clauses concerning patron use and handicap accessibility modifications (Hahn, 2002). In article published by Joy McGregor entitled "Flexible Scheduling Implementing an Innovation, hours of operation and flexible scheduling must also be taken into consideration. When planning the use of the school library facilities, it is important to consider the needs of the teacher, individual student, and the whole class. The school library should have a policy that allows everyone adequate access on a daily basis. This may be accomplished by creating a sign-up sheet, calendar, rotation or any other number of organizational tools. It is important to have a policy that does not allow one teacher or class to use the library in a way that would prevent other classes or individual students from being able to have adequate opportunity to use the media center. Many school library media centers can accommodate only one or two

Policy and Issues 2 classes at a time, but with current technology, students and classes in most schools have the ability to access the school library virtually. If the library is physically full, they may have the ability to use a computer elsewhere in the school to go online, search the schools library catalogue, complete research, and even download books virtually. According to Sannwald, the public library may serve as a commons for people to come together. The school library is not much different and is usually designed so that it can cater to group presentations for the purpose of library orientation, classroom presentations, and other library related events; however, there are many non-library events that commonly encroach on the librarys space. Whether it is testing, athletic scholarship signings, or athletic film reviews, the library has a space that is valued for many different non-library activities. While these activities may get people into the library that might not otherwise be there, it raises many issues. Beverly Vigue points out the importance and techniques for ensuring safety on the school campus. Usually if the non-library activities are during the regular school day and proper scheduling occurs, these events are not a problem, but often times these events happen when the library is closed and the normal library media staff is not available to oversee the event. The issue could be further complicated if the group wanting to use the media center is not a group affiliated with the school itself. Even the Library of Congress has a policy regarding using the library facilities for special events, so it should not be unexpected for the average school library to take its use for special events into consideration. The policy may include such things as safety, identification badges, and whether or not fees will be charged for use of the facility. Currently, there is a trend in the educational world and the private sector to share the use of facilities and equipment (Marie, 2007). It is not uncommon to see elementary, middle, and high schools located on the same campus sharing sports complexes and other facilities. Often

Policy and Issues 3 times you may even find that a technical or state college is just across the street and has partnered with the high school to share facilities among students. All too often in todays society, the school library media center is faced with an ever increasing popularity paired with reduced budgets. Because of this, many areas have decided to merge their resources into one large library that serves a particular area. In an article by John Lubans (2002) the dual purposes of this building are clarified. The organization chart features a public library department that provides services for children and young adults at the public library services desk, collaborates with other library departments, and serves as an effective bridge between general public and academic needs. Many cities across the United States have merged their public library, public school libraries, and local college libraries into one library in order to address budgetary concerns (Rockman, 1999). Another trend that is taking place in school library facilities is to remove the book shelves or replace them with an automated retrieval system to make more space in the media center for things such as coffee shops, snack shops, comfortable couches and chairs, Wi-Fi hotspots, and electronic charging stations. Some schools have taken a page right out of the book of large book store chains like Barnes and Noble and redesigned their facilities in a way that creates a whole new media center vibe. This type of facilities modification brings other policies that should be addressed. Most libraries have traditionally had a no food or drink policy, but with this type of facility, it is understood that food and drinks will be a normal part of the facility. Policies regarding use of outside technologies such as laptops, cell phones, and e-readers will become a necessity as well. While the school library media center facility is no longer contained within four walls, many of the traditional policies and procedures still apply concerning the use of the facilities;

Policy and Issues 4 however, as we move toward consolidated libraries, more technologically-oriented libraries, or a combination thereof, we need to adjust the policies accordingly. It is of prime importance to keep the patron in mind when considering the policies. The policies should always encourage the use of the facilities by everyone as often as possible, while protecting the patrons and the facility itself. A good facility use policy will allow many different people to use the library facility at the same time as often as they want to and it will permit them to enjoy themselves while doing so. The patron should always have a desire to come back and use the school library media facilities again.

Policy and Issues 5 References Hahn, S.E. (2002). Assessing customer demands: making changes that count . Library Administration & Management , 16(1), 16-23. Lubans, J. (2002). A portrait of collaborative leadership: donald e. riggs and nova southeastern university's joint-use library. Library Administration & Management , 16(4), 176-178. Marie, K. L. (2007). One plus one equals three: joint-use libraries in urban areasthe ultimate form of library cooperation. Library Administration & Management , 21(1), 23-28. McGregor, J. (2006, September 27). Flexible scheduling implementing an innovation. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume9/flexible .cfm Rockman, I. F. . (1999). Joint use facilities: the view from San Jose; an interview with C. James Schmidt. Library Administration & Management , 13(2), 64-67. Sannwald, W. W. . (2007). Designing libraries for customers. Library Administration & Management , 21(3), 131-138.

Vigue, B. (2011). A HANDS-ON LESSON. T H E Journal, 38(1), S12-S14. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. <!--Additional Information: Persistent link to this record (Permalink): http://proxygsugso1.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&A N=58523869&site=ehost-live End of citation-->