HHS Library Quarterly Report
January-March 2013
Life in the Library...
Students read...
The chart below illustrates circulations this quarter as they compare to circulations the previous two quarters of the year as well as third quarter last year. Overall, circulation was down this quarter, although total circulations were still slightly above first quarter this year. The major change from third quarter last year to third quarter this year that contributed to fewer total circulations was much fewer nonfiction books checked out this year than last year at this time. Since few students check out nonfiction books for pleasure reading, there must be some curriculum changes this year from last year. These numbers continue to be discouraging for me, and I am challenged to look for ways to make reading something students want to do.
One note about these statistics: these numbers only count the number of books that were checked out. I wonder how many students at HHS read, but in digital form rather than print. I am continuing to pursue different options for offering digital books to students here.
To continue working towards the goal of helping high school students find good books to read, 26 titles were purchased this quarter. Some of them are pictured below.
As another way of encouraging reading at the high school, we created a unique display during the month of February called "Blind Date with a Book." Books were wrapped in brown covers with a short description of the book on the outside. Students were encouraged to try a book without seeing the cover first! Students could check out a book, read it, and then complete the short review form inside the book to be entered in a drawing for an iTunes gift card. The display generated quite a bit of interest, and while not many people turned in the review forms, quite a few checked out the books. While total circulations were down this February from February last year, there were 169 fiction books checked out last year in February and 303 fiction books checked out this year during the month.
Students research...
This was the quarter for research! At the beginning of the quarter, freshman, sophomore, and junior English classes were all working on research papers. They all came to the library to get a refresher on the EBSCO databases and utilized the HHS library LiveBinder I created for research. I was also able to get a trial to the Opposing Viewpoints database, a valuable resource for students working on persuasive or argument papers. It is my hope that at some point this database will be able to be added to our collection permanently so students have it whenever they are doing research in any class.
What's next?
With some money provided by the district, I am hoping to make some decisions this quarter about ways to refresh the aesthetic environment of the library. I know not everything may happen right away, but I am excited about changing to look to help students get excited about the space.
I also continue to look for ways to collaborate with teachers at the high school. My goal is to help them see the library as a place to work together, using print and technology resources, to help students learn literacy skills they will need as they move on from this place.