Case Study 1: The Hours in the Day

Although this analysis should not take very long to complete, it is important that you place yourself
in the librarians shoes. Consider her situation and not the one you are in currently. You may attach
any supporting documents to your case study, if you have them.

Directions:

Read the Case Study on the following page.

Analyze this case and compare to your practicum library.

o You analysis should include responses to the bulleted questions, but these should be
integrated into a broader discussion of the case. Identify problems that might be
addressed, how they should be solved, and why these solutions are appropriate. Include
any foreseeable hurdles in implementing your recommendations and how they may be
overcome. Suggest longer term positive and negative effects of the solution you propose.

Do not simply answer the bulleted questions.

Post your analysis to the Case Study 1 discussion forum under Week 9.

Attach any supporting materials/samples

 The Hours in the Day: Flexible Scheduling
Iris Barden walked quickly into the teachers room. Her face was flushed with excitement
and she sat down next to two of the teachers who were just finishing their lunch. Iris had
spent the morning talking with the media specialists in the elementary schools in East
Milford, and she had come away with an idea that she wanted share with her colleagues to
the high school.

The concept that thrilled Iris was that of flexible scheduling. She had read about it in
educational media newsletters and had seen it mentioned as important in the Information
Power guidelines, but had always considered it just an intellectual idea, rather than a
realistic option. The librarians at her morning meeting had recently joined together and had
just received approval from the school board for implementation of the concept. They
described to Iris how the schedule would work and emphasized the freedom it would give
the specialists for planning and providing individualized attention to teachers and students.

The high school in East Milford was located in a medium-sized suburban community. The
school served some 800 students and was staffed with approximately fifty faculty and
administrators. The scheduling pattern was rather rigid, with library lessons or research time
for students provided once a week. Teachers did not attend the classes in the library, so
there was little interaction between research skills and instructional skills. The special
teachers (including Iris) served as covering teachers for planning periods.

Most of the staff considers this schedule to be satisfactory, but Iris found it very confining. It
gave her very little time to do anything beyond teaching, disciplining, and basic library
maintenance. She really wanted to be able to integrate the use of library resources into the
needs of the curriculum.

To Iriss surprise, her two colleagues greeted her enthusiastic description with total silence,
followed by cries of protest. They voiced their displeasure with flexibility, stating that it
would cause chaos, and they were also distressed at the thought of losing their planning
time coverage. Iris mentioned that the new schedule would enable her to spend more time
working with students on specific projects and with the teachers on planning lessons and
selecting resources, but that idea fell on deaf ears.

Iris was discouraged but was determined not to give up easily. She sought out two other
teachers who were friends and frequent library users. They thought the idea was an
excellent one and encouraged Iris to work to make it a reality at East Milford High. They
were particularly pleased with the idea of freedom for students to use the library when they
needed to work on a project, either during study periods or occasionally during classtime.

QUESTIONS

Compare Iriss library to your practicum library.

What type of schedule does your practicum library follow?
Is this an effective or efficient schedule? Why or why not?
What type of schedule would your mentor librarian
choose?
What barriers would they face in implementing that type
of schedule?
 How should Iris proceed implementing a flexible schedule?1

1
Adapted from Job, Amy G. and Marykay W. Schnare. The School Library Media Specialist as
Manager: A Book of Case Studies. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1997 (115-117).