Action Plan for

Franklin Elementary School

Park Ridge, IL
Lisa Marie Winchell
LIS 773
June 2015

School Background

*Located in Park Ridge, Illinois

*455 students enrolled in kindergarten-5th grade
*23 average class size
*85% ISAT scores
*10% students with disabilities
*8% low-income students
*7% English language learners
*$9,807 instructional spending
*$14,886 operational spending

Library Profile
Andrea Hetzke is the Library Media Specialist at
Franklin Elementary School. Her assistant is Karen
Lennon.
In addition to the book collection, the library
includes a computer lab, iPad carts, and Kindles
(the latter are only for 4-5th grade students to check
out).
Some of the teacher resources include a book
room, Ellison Die machine, laminator, and
collection of academic journals.
The library has not developed mission or vision
statements.

Librarian Profile

Andrea Hetzke has been a School Librarian and LRC Director

since 2005 and has been with Park Ridge School District 64
since 2009.She started her career as a teacher in Chicago,
moved into a librarian position in Chicago and finally
became a school librarian.
Karen Lennon, the library assistant, processes all books,
manages the senior volunteers, and takes care of the
reports and overdues/fines. She also knows her books so
she is good at readers advisory!

Professional
Accomplishments
*Served on the CPS Library Curriculum Development
Team
*Traveled to Kenya and Mongolia for a class on
Scientific Inquiry. While there, she created an inquiry
unit with a leopard gecko.
*Wrote curriculum units for the Brookfield Zoo in
2009.
*Published an article in Faces Magazine in October
2009.
*Won first place in Johnson & Johnsons Good Night
Moon story writing contest in 2007.
*Currently participates in a Book Club Teacher Sponsor

What She Wishes She Knew

Before Becoming a School
Librarian
I am surprised by how everyone thinks
they know how to do your job. One
teacher took my schedule and took
inventory of every free minute I had. She
called my supervisor and principal and
asked to have a meeting about my job
description and what I was doing. I order
books, I have a budget, I do things behind
the scenes. I dont just stand behind the
counter and check out books.

What She Wishes She Knew

(continued)

One thing that was disappointing to find out was

how different budgets work. When I was in the
city, I had no budget. How do you value a library
when you have no funds?
I am saddened at how teachers dont care. They
want you to pull books and thats it. I can be
used for so much more than that.
Im also surprised at how flexible our job can be.
In the city I was able to work with the computer
teacher and mix and match which classes I saw.
It was a lot to see every class, but I could
manipulate the schedule more than classroom
teachers.

A Few Miscellaneous
Facts
When she started in Park Ridge she had two
mentors- a teacher in her school and a
librarian in the district. She may become a
part-time mentor to the new tech coach
position.
50% of her time is spent with kids in the
library, the other half is on parent issues and
behind-the-scenes work.
She is currently involved in the science club,
recycling club during lunch, and Brainspace.
Brainspace will start in the Fall and will be
once a month. She will step back as parent

The Chicago Teacher Library

Association

Andrea is part of the Chicago Teacher Library Association

(CTLA).
o

The membership fee is $10/year

Each month an email is sent from a member - a

teacher or librarian

Meetings are once a month on a Saturday

Food is provided and a presenter speaks. This could be

a publisher or librarians showing off their library. In
November, everyones favorite presenter comesCapstone Publishing. Everyone leaves with a bag of
books. She really likes their books and that you get
reward points for ordering through them. One
presenter in particular (from Capstone) has sent
people high up in the publishing world to Andrea to
talk about what she thinks kids are interested in

Programming
The Series Book Club
How the club works:
Students read 3 different books from the same series
(or 3 nonfiction books on the same subject, 3 books by the
same author, 3 books of general series)
Books must be at their reading level.
Books are recorded on a bookmark which parents or
teachers sign for verification.
When 3 books are finished and recorded on the
bookmark, it is turned in to the teacher.
Students who turn in the bookmark for the first time
will have their picture taken and placed on a bulletin board.
Students will move up one level for each bookmark turned in.

The Series Book Club

(continued)

Students are encouraged to read different

series with this program. Many times students
read only the series that they know and are
hesitant to try new series. This club will help
students branch out and try a variety of
books.
Special levels:
Level 1- Picture Taken
Level 3- Spin the Wheel Level
5- Medal Level 6- Spin the Wheel Level 9- Spin the
Wheel Level 10- Trophy

An Annual Delight!

Read a newspaper article about it here!

The Park Ridge Public

Library
Andreas relationship with the Childrens
Department staff at the Park Ridge Public Library
has grown over the years. The library makes
annual visits to talk to the Kindergarten classes
about getting their first library card. They make
another visit in May to promote their summer
reading club to students in Kindergarten-5th grade.

Circulation Policy
*The circulation policy varies with each
grade level. Kindergarteners can check out
1 book, 1st graders can check out 3 books
(and if all brought back, they get extra
book checkout), and so on.
*Kindles are available (for 4-5th graders),
board games (1 game a month, for 1
week), and Playaways. A permission slip is
needed for the expensive stuff.
*Some classes have project books and they
can keep those for a month.

Weeding
Andrea says,
I started weeding the first year here and
people got MAD. Teachers said we got rid of
stuff they used. Now before I delete anything,
if a teachers name pops up, I email them and
ask if they still need it. I always check. If
youre in a new spot, weed only the minimal
stuff, then ease your way into it. Put stuff on a
cart and if no one touches it for a year, you
can let it go. People are very invested in what
they use and they have a problem with
weeding. It took me the next 2-3 years to
weed since I tried to be more cautious.

Budget
Andreas budget starts first day of
school. The money is divided up by
school enrollment so she get less than
other librarians in the district. She also
receives a state grant to purchase
materials.

Information Access &

Delivery

Destiny is used at Franklin. Andrea

did not select it as it was
implemented before she arrived. She
says it looks like it was built in the
1980s, is very basic, and has
limitations that prevent her from
doing some things. She does not feel
that another system is needed as it
would be a difficult transfer, but she
would like an updated version. She
thinks it would be good for Destiny
to conduct a customer satisfaction

Advice for New School

Librarians
You can work on building relationships with teachers
daily, but most people dont think about the importance
of building relationships with parents. I think that its so
important to have positive relationships with them. Get
to know them by going to PTA. Get involved with
programming. [For example,] get on the committee for
the book fair - put forth time and effort. I started small
with the pumpkin contest and expected 10 entries. I got
the principals approval and brought people into the
library that way. Put yourself out there and bring up
ideas. They want to know what youre doing to improve
their students education. I got Kindles, board games,
and Playaways this way - all through grants. I almost
always get approval. Sometimes Ive done 3 grants a
year. I started with 6 Kindles and they loved it so I went
back and requested more.

Greatest Challenge
*My greatest challenge is the teachers!
Actually, the scheduling too. Both are
challenging for me.
*Teachers dont want a flexible schedule.
They dont want to collaborate. Half of the
teachers leave after they drop off their class
for their library time each week.
*I won a grant and bought materials for a
program called Brain Space. Its a similar
idea to a Makerspace, but involves other
things, including challenges. Theyre not so
much making as inquiring and investigating.

Future Goals
Andreas two future goals are the same she
has every year:
1. For kids to be independent book finders.
Its the easiest, yet hardest goal.
2. Collaboration
Teachers only want me to pull books and I
am constantly trying to share ideas and get
more involved in their classrooms. There
needs to be a huge shift among staff in the
understanding of the role of a school
librarian.

Collaboration Action Plan

After meeting with Andrea and having
time to reflect on all she shared, I formed
an action plan by merging her greatest
challenge with part of her advice for new
librarians. I wanted to help her work on
collaborating with teachers while building
relationships with parents at the same
time. I introduce to you.

The Kindergarten Family Book

Club!

The Details
What: The Kindergarten Family Book Club
Who: The librarians, Kindergarten teachers, and
any interested kindergarten students and
parents
Where: Library Resource Center
When: Twice a month from September-May, for
1 hour after school
Why: To develop collaboration between the
Kindergarten teachers and school librarians. To
increase students love for books. To build
positive relationships between parents and staff.

Action Plan
Step
One:
NETWOR
K

Step
Two:

-Survey of parent interest

-Meet with teachers
-Send information and
vision through social
media, classroom
newsletters, and school
website
-Create schedule
-Purchase books
-Sign ups

-Purchase books that cannot

be collected from the school
and public libraries (PRPL
alone will provide 12 copies)

-Conduct program
-Make adjustments where
needed

-Food and beverages

-Supplies for activities

PREPARE

Step
Three:
EXECUTE

Step
Four:

Budget Items

-Distribute an online
survey to assess parent
and teacher satisfaction

Estimated Budget Breakdown

2015-2016 School Year
*4 classes of 25 kindergarten students
*1 parent per book club child
*Estimated interest: 30 students, 30 parents
*9 months x 2 sessions per month = 18 sessions
Books: $1,800

Refreshments: $1,800

Supplies for activities: $700

(Purchase 10 books per session at $10 each x 18 sessions = $1,800)

($100 on refreshments per session x 18 sessions = $1,800)
($100 on supplies for 1 activity a month x 9 months = $900 )
Total estimated cost: $4,500

Sample Club Meeting

Agenda

Meet and Greet (5 minutes) Students and parents grab

a snack and settle in

Welcome and Introductions (10 minutes) Librarians

will welcome new and old members and introduce school
staff

Opening Discussion (15 minutes) The theme and book

of the session will be presented

Reading and Activity Time (20 minutes) Students and

parents will participate in group read alouds, shared
reading, paired reading, etc.

Closing Discussion and Clean Up (10 minutes) Each

session will end with students and parents coming back to
a whole group for a closing discussion where they can
share their thoughts

Works Cited
Hetzke, A. (8 June 2015). Personal Interview.
http://www.ala.org/aasl/ecollab/changecollaboration
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/a
dmin/admin255.
shtml
http://www.franklinlrc.com/
http://illinoisreportcard.com/School.aspx?s
choolid=
050160640042005