Creating Culturally Responsive Public School Library Media Centers
Library Budget Project
Proposed Budget for the Enid Public Library 2020-2021
LIS 5033 Information and Society
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Goal
Learn about the history of the library and suggest ways to advance librarianship in public-school library media centers and public libraries.
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Objective
Gain a greater understanding of various ways to create culturally responsive libraries.
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Reflection
In researching and writing Creating the Culturally Responsive Public School Library Media Centers I was able to meet my goal of learning how to create an inclusive environment as described by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL); demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to inclusivity and diversity in the learning community by gaining a greater understanding of putting theory into practice. This corresponds to the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) goal of cultural competency and responsiveness; promoting respect for cultural diversity and creating an inclusive, welcoming, and respectful library atmosphere that embraces diversity.
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The Creating Culturally Responsive Public Library Media Centers project has given me a greater understanding of ways to promote and celebrating diversity. I now pay special attention to adding materials written by and appropriately representing diverse populations. Additionally, I talk about authentic voice and appropriate representation while promoting books and other materials. I am currently trying to create programs and other opportunities for my patrons that encourage bringing personal artifacts into the library. One example is our Seeing Our Veterans display. We are currently displaying pictures and other artifacts related to veterans loaned to the library by community members. I also created a Wall of Fame where pictures of our teens will be displayed after completing reading challenges or participating in other events.
LIS 5023 Management in Information Organizations
Goal
Learn about the responsibilities of library managers.
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Objective
Gain a greater understanding of how libraries are maintained and managed by library managers and directors.
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Reflection
Management in Information Organizations enabled me to meet my goal of learning about how libraries are run specifically as it relates to budgets and allocations of funds by practicing designing a budget for a public library. In my proposed budget, I included additional funds for more diverse books demonstrating the inclusion and diversity proficiencies prescribed by both the Young Adult Library Services Association and The American Association of School Librarians.
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After completing the budget project I am better prepared to make decisions about spending funds allocated to a number of budgets including the books and materials budget, the programming budget, and the conference/seminar/training budget. An example of this is my decision to purchase audiobooks for the Sequoyah list via Overdrive instead of physical copies of audio recordings. We have a finite budget for audiobooks. Circulation records indicate that audiobooks available via digital lending are borrowed at significantly higher rates and thus are a more appropriate use of budget funds.
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Another consideration is that many of my student patrons access the library through Digital Access library cards. The Digital Access cards are distributed to all students and do not require an adult to apply for the library card. Because there's no adult connected to the cards, the cards do not grant access to physical items but rather grant access to digital lending. The decision to use funds to increase digital access shows my understanding of the library principles of providing access to information.
LIS 5043 Organization of Information
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Goal
Learn about the ways information is organized
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Objective
Gain a greater understanding of information organization from the perspective of the information seeker.
Reflection
​This course enabled me to meet my goal of understanding how cataloging works and prepared me to understand the information contained in library catalogs by investigating organization systems from the point of view of the end-user. By looking at the online public access catalog (OPAC) of different public libraries from the point of view of the information seeker I was able to gain a greater understanding of how the information contained in the library catalog facilitates more effective searches for the patron.
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Having a better understanding of how information is organized and how that organization affects the efficiency with which information seekers are able to execute their information searches helps me to better understand which data tags to include in the Enid Public Library catalog. For example, it is important to have LGBTQ tags in the directory because these works are not separated into a special section. To protect the confidentiality of our patrons, books of interest to the LGBTQ community are shelved in the main collection without identifying tags. Thus, having LGBTQ as a searchable field within the catalog means patrons are able to search for books with LGBTQ representation.
Making sure that members of the LGBTQ community can access information that is important to them in a way to protect their confidentiality not only demonstrates knowledge of library principles of confidentiality but also correlates directly to social work theories of confidentiality. Additionally, doing so supports the mental health of this community by providing affirming representation while acknowledging the patron's right to self-determination. Use of the library and library materials is not infringing on the patron's right to decide when and with whom to discuss their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Comparison of Public Library OPACs
Missoula Public Library & Enid Public Library