September 2023
Contents:
By now you may be aware of the updated Administrative Rules that are going into effect this school year that impact school libraries. These rules amend the Standards of Accreditation that govern the media programs in school libraries. The rules are available in a PDF on the OSDE Administrative Rules page. I recommend reading the entire PDF, but I will highlight a new expectation in the following paragraph.
In the Collection Requirements section, (10) states: "Within 60 days of the effective date of this rule, and annually every October 1, each School district shall transmit to the State Department of Education a complete listing of all books and other materials available in any School library in that district. An attestation from the Superintendent that a public online School library catalog or catalogs contain a complete and accurate list, along with the website for accessing the relevant School library catalog or catalogs, shall fulfill this requirement."
You will be working with your district's superintendent to fulfill this new requirement. Please reach out to me at Jason.Stephenson@sde.ok.gov with any questions.
 September is Library Card Sign-up Month. Students in your school can probably check out materials from you through the student information system and library database. At my previous school district, students used their student ID cards to check out books. You might also partner with a public library in your city to provide further access to materials. When I was in junior high, our city library was catty-corner from our school building, and one day we marched across the street to sign up for a public library card if we didn't already have one. I already had a public library card, and I was surprised at how many of my classmates needed one. Check out lots of materials for this special month on the Library Card Sign-up Month page.
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The New York Public Library recently published some quotes from various authors about the importance of libraries. Here's one example from author Barbara Kingsolver:
"Books were a revelation to me always. I loved the library. We had a small public library in the town where I grew up….I would just sneak around and sort of hide in the stacks reading things and so this whole feeling of sort of these secret worlds I could enter was quite thrilling."
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 The library of the month is Shawnee Middle School Library. Their library uses Guided Inquiry Design for all grade levels, giving students more autonomy in the research process as they build knowledge of their content.
In 6th grade, the focus is Indian Removal and its long term effects. Students can choose the focus of their projects (a Canva presentation/creation last year) whether it be a tribe they know or the experience of a family member or the history/story that they found and want to share. During this school year, students will have the option to create a graphic novel based on their research. Since students study the 2022 Sequoyah-award-winning book When Stars Are Scattered in 6th grade English language arts, this project is a natural fit.
In 7th grade, students choose any focus as long as it stems from the study of Eastern cultures as part of the 7th geography standards. The cross-curriculum team has all subjects contribute with geography, English, and literature carrying most of the in-depth study. Students choose all types of projects: weather, animals, cultural comparisons to what they know/experience, religion, history, current events, etc.
By 8th grade, students choose their own focus after studying the events that led up to the Holocaust and the Tulsa Race Massacre. This inquiry project was awarded the 2021 Sara Jaffarian School Library Program Award, which recognizes excellence in humanities programming in libraries that serve children in grades K-8. See a presentation about this program and view student blog posts on this page.
According to Shawnee Middle School librarian Carol Jones, a National Book Foundation Teacher Fellow for the 2023-24 school year, "My motivation comes from seeing students find something [in the library] that validates them." Jones creates a space for her students where learning is valued. Students swing by during lunchtime to play with bots, add stickers to a mosaic sticker puzzle on Fridays when they check out books, and come to the library for better focus when taking a quiz. One of her students even got to present the Sequoyah Award to Victoria Jamieson for When Stars Are Scattered.
Would you like to have your library featured in an upcoming newsletter? Or would you like to nominate a colleague's library? Share a success story about programming, circulation numbers, a book display, and more.
Please email me.
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