Kim Hayward - School Library Media Portfolio Reflection 4:4

4:4 Advocacy
Candidates identify stakeholders within and outside the school community who impact the
school library program. Candidates develop a plan to advocate for school library and
information programs, resources, and services.
Artifacts
ISTC 789 Practicum & Portfolio in School Library Media
An on--line survey was created through Survey Monkey and sent out to the staff at Deerfield
Elementary School. The survey was accompanied with an email explaining that I was looking
for information on how the Edline page for the media center could best serve their needs. They
were to respond to questions on what topics they taught and what information would be most
helpful to them, students, and parents.
ISTC 789 Practicum & Portfolio in School Library Media
The agenda, minutes, and reflection from a social studies department meeting where I invited
Ms. Gorman, the librarian at Edgewood Middle School, to share information is an artifact that I
would like to present. Ms. Gorman was invited to speak about how the library can serve the
teachers and students at Edgewood and to encourage the teachers to take advantage of Ms.
Gorman and the library as valuable resources.
Relevance
The survey and department meeting are examples of advocacy for the library with the
stakeholders within the school community at Deerfield Elementary School and Edgewood
Middle School.
The Survey Monkey aligned with standard 4:4 Advocacy by identifying the teachers, parents,
and students as the stakeholders within the school community of Deerfield Elementary. The
teachers were asked to complete a short survey to identify how the library could better serve
them, the parents, and the students they teach. This in turn, impacts the resources that are
curated for them on the Edline page that I am creating for them. In addition, future book orders
and lessons could be developed around their identified needs.
The social studies department meeting with Ms. Gorman is aligned with standard 4:4 Advocacy
by inviting Ms. Gorman to advocate for the library with stakeholders within the school. I asked
her to speak about the resources that she has in the library as well as how she can be a resource
as a cooperating teacher, lesson planner, and curator.

Analysis
The artifacts chosen are effective examples of advocacy for the school library program. Both
identified stakeholders and sought to provide relevant programs, resources, and services to them
through data gathering and outreach.
The Survey Monkey provided me with some useful data but could have been more useful. I had
only eight respondents and two of the teachers gave me information about their topics that was
too broad to be useful. In the future, I would use Survey Monkey but would send it out with
reminders every few days over a period of time. I had to rely on Ms. Minton to ask the principal
if I could send it and have her email it to the staff for me. She did this for me in a timely manner
but having to go through her limited my ability to ask for more participation. In addition, if I
was conducting this survey in a school where I worked, the staff would be my colleagues and
would be more likely to participate. I also see that although I thought my question about topics
was clear, I would need to be more specific when asking for topics. For instance, the question
What are you studying in science? would eliminate the topic being stated as just science.
The department meeting went well and Ms. Gorman provided the social studies teachers with a
lot of information. Mr. Gorman is new to our school this year and it was helpful for the teachers
to hear from her how she was available to support them. Everyone walked away with data base
usernames and passwords, and examples of how the library could assist them with their lesson
plans and research projects. I would definitely ask to attend department meetings early in the
year when I become a school librarian. It is helpful to establish a relationship with the staff and
to advocate for the importance of the library in student achievement.