2015 Judy Serritella Exemplary Library Media Program Self-Evaluation Rubric

Part 1: Memo to Principal

MEMO
TO:

Principal, John Doe Schools

FROM:

Media Specialist and Library Media Practicum Student, John Doe Schools

DATE:

October 4, 2015

SUBJECT:

Media Center Self-Evaluation

Mr. Principal,
Recently, the Media Specialist and the Library Media Practicum Student evaluated John Does
media center. The evaluation tool used was the 2015 Judy Serritella Exemplary Library Media
Program Self-Evaluation Rubric. The purpose of the self-evaluation was to determine areas of
strengths and weakness within John Does media center. This self-evaluation rubric is a
comprehensive tool and evaluates media centers within the following six categories: Student
achievement & instruction, technology, staffing, facilities, access, & resources, administrative
support, and staff development. The rubric allows for media centers to be rated basic, proficient,
or exemplary in twenty-one areas within these six categories. John Does media center rated well
with six areas meeting standards within the exemplary, or highest, rating. Additionally, eleven
areas were rated as proficient. The remaining four areas received basic ratings, suggesting some
areas of needed improvement.
The Media Specialist Practicum Student has developed an action plan to move these four areas
rated as basic to the proficient level. Additionally, an action plan was developed to move one
proficient area to the exemplary rating. Please see the attached plans to be implemented at John
Does media center to move it toward exemplary status.
Part 2: Action Steps for All Areas Rated Basic
Four areas within the self-evaluation rubric were rated as basic. The following are action steps to
move these areas to the proficient level:
Category 1- Student Achievement and Instruction
3. Professional library media staff are engaged in active teaching roles.

Current Basic Status: The Library Media Specialist makes recommendations to students for class
projects and pleasure reading. The Library Media Specialist provides basic orientation and
instruction on information location skills.
Action Plan: The goal is for the Library Media Specialist and teachers plan and teach
collaboratively so that the library media program is an extension of classroom instruction. In
order to achieve this goal, the media specialist will commit to attending at least one grade level
meeting per month. This will allow the media specialist to be aware of upcoming units and
provide the ability to collaboratively plan with classroom teachers.
6. Student achievement is routinely assessed.
Current Basic Status: The classroom teacher is responsible for assessing student achievement.
Action Plan: The goal is for the Library Media Specialist to collaboratively assess students along
with the classroom teachers. This can be accomplished in tandem with the action plan for item
#3, which will see the media specialist planning with classroom teachers. The media specialist
will assist in developing assessment methods including rubrics, self-evaluations, and student
presentations. The media specialist can be the leader in providing information on using Web 2.0
tools to incorporate as part of assessments.
Category 4- Facilities, Access, and Resources
10. There shall be a plan for flexibly scheduled library media center access for students and
teachers in groups or as individuals simultaneously throughout each instructional day.
Accessibility shall refer to the facility, the staff, and the resources and shall be based on
instructional need.
Current Basic Status: Flexible scheduling makes resources and assistance available at the time of
learning need, but school schedules may override this preferable flexibility. Library media staff is
available to teachers and students for most of the school day.
Action Plan: The goal is to provide additional access to stakeholders. The media center was rated
basic because it is not open either before and/or after school. The action plan calls for opening
the media center before and after school. This would require the media clerk to be pulled from
more duty in the lunchroom and the media specialist to be pulled from dismissal in the hallway.
Providing access to the media center before and after school would allow more interaction with
students and teachers. However, the largest increase would likely be in parent visits to the media
center. With the current hours, parents would have to visit during the school day to be able to
visit the media center. Extended hours will likely increase circulation. Another added bonus with
extended hours may be an increase in parent volunteers as new parents may be able to visit the
media center and find opportunities to become more involved.

15. One of the national education technology golas states: Effective and engaging software and
online resources will be an integral part of every schools curriculum. The GALILEO Virtual
Library provides Georgia students and teachers access to exceptional online resources at no cost
to the local school district.
Current Basic Status: Students will be given instruction in accessing GALILEO. The password
will be provided in a timely manner.
Action Plan: Students and teachers will be provided with instruction on the use and promotion of
GALILEO. For students, this can be accomplished in the beginning of the year library
orientation each class attends. Instruction will be age-appropriate. Additionally, the media
specialist will collaborate with teachers and instruct students on research techniques, including
GALILEO, when appropriate for learning units. As an additional way to promote the use of
GALILEO, the media specialist will employ the use of an online tool to manage research
resources and passwords needed for these. This will allow teachers to access many databases
from one source.
Part 3: Action Plan to Move One Area from Proficient to Exemplary
One area that meets criteria for proficient status was selected for development of an action plan
to move toward exemplary status. The following was selected:
Category 1- Student Achievement and Instruction
4. The library media center resources encourage and support reading, viewing, and listening.
Current Proficient Status: The library media center offers events and activities that appeal to a
wide range of interests. Attendance statistics verify students use.
Action Plan: The media specialist will collaborate with classroom teachers to co-teach reading
and/or language arts lessons. This will be accomplished through author studies that are co-taught
in the classroom and the media center. An additional step to move this area to exemplary will be
for the media specialist to partner with each grade level for a literature study. The media
specialist will meet with each grade level and determine the literature the grade level wants to
read. The media specialist will order a class set of the literature out of her media center budget
and then collaborate with teachers on its study.