Assignment+2-Analysis

= = =Assignment 2: Community Analysis and Report=



====According to Bishop (2007), "Effective collection development must be based on reliable knowledge about the collection's users" (p. 19). She goes on to state that the "gathering" (p. 19) of this type of information is called "community analysis" (p. 19). Greer and Hale (1982) emphasize that the community analysis process must be a systematic one. They state: "Community analysis is a systematic process of collecting, organizing and analyzing data about the library and its environment".====

In an effort to follow Greer and Hale's lead, I would like to first describe the community which is served by Ecole Davis Road Elementary.
====Ecole Davis Road Elementary is located in Ladysmith, which is situated on the southern end of Vancouver Island, about 88 kilometers north of B.C.'s capital of Victoria. Finding reliable information about Ladysmith is a fairly simple task as the Town has a comprehensive, attractive website, which can be found at []====

=Our community:=



====Ladysmith's motto, "Heritage By the Sea", reflects both its coal mining tradition, which dates back to the late 1800's, and its beautiful location on the Strait of Georgia. James Dunsmuir named the town in 1904 to honour the lifting of the siege of Ladysmith, South Africa, during the Boer War. Ladysmith began as a company town for the families of a growing number of miners who worked at Dunsmuir's colliery at Extension, 12 miles north. Due to a strong demand for coal, the community grew quickly, reaching a population of 3,300 people by 1911.====

====For many years, Ladysmith did not stray far from its industrial roots. When coal mining operations ended in 1931, logging and milling lumber became the primary vehicles for economic development in the area. While Ladysmith's resource-based economy has had its ups and downs, the Town has continued to grow and, according to most recent statistics, had a population of 7538 people in 2006.====

====A primary key to the Town's relative prosperity has been its drive to diversify, combined with an exceptional community spirit.The town sites a thriving Oyster Fishery, along with pleasure boating, and tourism as examples of inroads made in the diversification arena. Service clubs and community groups have a very strong presence in Ladysmith and these volunteers have spearheaded countless initiatives. Annual celebrations, such as the [|Festival of Lights]in late November and Ladysmith Days in August have become quite legendary and are very widely attended. Just for fun, I've included a slide show of our Ladysmith Days celebration which took place this August:====

media type="custom" key="10590478" align="center"

====Projects such as downtown revitalization began in the 1980s and the installation of heritage artifacts have greatly enhanced the town's appeal. So much so, in fact, that the sight of film crews has become quite common place. The Town also supports many "green" initiatives such as community composting and the establishment of a community garden to support our local food bank. Ladysmith continues to have "big plans" according to its website, which asserts the following: "Completion of the Town's plans for future development of the old industrial waterfront area will further strengthen this spirit. The Town of Ladysmith has also been forward-looking in developing relationships with the Chemainus First Nation and the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group. This cooperation will bring even more opportunities to ensure the continued prosperity and well being of all people living in this region" ([]).====

====At the beginning of Chapter 3, Bishop (2007) enumerates many types of information that she believes are helpful for the analysis of community. The Town of Ladysmith includes a detailed Community Profile on its website, which incorporates many of Bishops suggestions. I am including Ladysmith's 2011 Community Profile document in its entirety for your perusal.====

Town of Ladysmith 2011 Community Profile:


====Greer and Hale (1982) suggest that part of my task must be to analyze the data about environment. While all information included in the above document is reflective of the community, I would like to pull out several key pieces, which I feel to be of particular significance to Ecole Davis Road Elementary.====

Population:
====Ladysmith's population continues to grow at a moderate pace. It does so, however, mostly as a result of relocation. Many of those relocating are of retirement age and are drawn from other parts of British Columbia by Ladysmith's idyllic location, pleasant climate and strong sense of community. For this reason, while we are growing, this growth is not being manifested in our local schools. Even 2006 data supports this reality by indicating that 83% of the Town's population is over 15 years old. In fact, Ecole Davis Road Elementary is the only local school that is growing. This is due, in large part, to the fact that offering French Immersion has made it somewhat of a "destination school". In general, declining enrollment has become a catchword in both our town and in our district and has serious implications for the level of service we can offer our students. I will speak to this more when I address the Davis Road school community.====

Diversity:
====The Town likes to boast that it has a diverse population, with 940 immigrant residents and 955 first generation Canadians. As these residents represent just over 13% of the total population, I would say it is somewhat ambitious to call ourselves "diverse" according to these criteria. Ladysmith has very few residents in the "visible minority" groups that you would typically find in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. In fact, it's a bit of a joke in Ladysmith that you're only a "true resident' if you have a Ladysmith street named after your family! Perhaps greater diversity might be found by looking "within". Our local Coast Salish community, with 1300 members, has a very strong presence in Ladysmith. This sometimes unappreciated reality offers considerable opportunity for rich cultural exchange and mutual growth. While you will also find reference to their website in Assignment 1, in the context of cultural diversity I feel it important to include the link again here: []====

Income:
====Ladysmith is not a particularly wealthy town. While our median individual annual income is just over the provincial average at $25,498, our median household income is under provincial norms by $2656. As recognized in the Community Profile, the Town's financial position is not advanced by the fact that "Ladysmith's economy has always depended heavily on natural resources" (p. 23). Traditionally, a large number of our residents relied on logging and lumber mills to provide a primary income and these industries have been in serious decline for years. In fact, as of 2006, only 3.7% of our labour force (p. 24) was employed in primary industry jobs. The Town is putting considerable effort into developing new opportunities for financial growth, and sites "service industry, marine-related manufacturing, green business, and tourism" (p. 23) as their "key economic pillars" (p. 23) for the future.====

Workforce Education:
====According to the 2011 Community Profile, "Ladysmith boasts a significant number of educated and skilled individuals, many of whom have sought further education and training geared towards local work opportunities" (p. 21). Based on 2006 data, "over 60% of the population aged 25 to 64 have obtained a post-secondary diploma, certificate or degree" (p. 21). I believe a closer look at the Ladysmith Education Attainment data is warranted as it paints an interesting and, I believe, accurate picture of the community. For this reason I would like to highlight it here:====



====While the town can certainly be proud of the fact that over 60% of the target population has obtained some form of post-secondary training, it is very instructive to note how many Ladysmith residents have no certificate, diploma or degree. At 38%, we find ourselves almost 10% over the provincial average. Conversely, in the area of attainment of university degrees, we find ourselves almost 10% under BC norms at 14%. This being said, it seems many of our residents have chosen to focus on college or on the trades and in both these areas we exceed provincial norms. While these numbers should not be surprising considering our "resource roots" and current local work opportunities, they are significant when gathering information about the population our schools and libraries serve.====

=Ecole Davis Road Elementary: The School Context=



====I must admit that obtaining information about Davis Road was considerably more difficult than researching the town itself. In fact, our school doesn't even have its own website! I will attempt to be as specific as possible however in order to "paint a clear picture" of our school community. As Bishop (2007) says, "It is extremely important to have knowledge about the students, teachers, and administrators who utilize the media center (p. 21).====

About our Students:
==== Ecole Davis Road is an elementary school (Kindergarten to Grade 7) and is currently home to 253 students. It has grown steadily since becoming a dual track English and French Immersion school eight years ago. For the 2011/12 school year, we have a total of 141 French Immersion students and 112 English stream students. With the move to full-day Kindergarten this year, we now have 11 divisions; 6 divisions for French Immersion students and 5 serving the English stream. ====

==== One of my biggest frustrations in completing this assignment is that I was unable to attain specific information about our school's catchment population. I must say I made a noble effort in this regard by playing "telephone tag" with various members of the school district staff, only to come up empty-handed. Apparently such area-specific information is not available due to the town's small population. This said, I'm quite confident the demographic and situational information provided in my general community analysis also quite accurately reflects the circumstances of the Davis Road students and their parents. ====

==== Ecole Davis Road is home to 12 students with "designated" special needs. While most of these students have issues in the realm of "behaviour", we have two students who are severely autistic and one Kindergarten child with a hearing disability. In fact, he is the first student in our district to have two cochlear implants. ====

====Considering the size of the First Nation population in our area, we have very few Coast Salish students at Ecole Davis Road. This is due, in part, to the fact that the Stz’uminus First Nation has a primary school on reserve. While their intermediate students do attend school off reserve, we have several district facilities that are in closer proximity and to which bus transportation is provided. This said, we do have 27 students with First Nation status in our school community.====

====As indicated in my community analysis, many of our school's parents live on incomes below the Provincial norms and we have a number of families who really struggle financially. For this reason, we do offer a free lunch program at Ecole Davis Road. Because distribution is done somewhat casually, with a bowl placed outside the office containing sandwiches and fruit, it is difficult to determine precisely how many students use this service regularly. On a weekly basis, we provide approximately 15 free sandwiches to the students in our school.====

====The level of ethnic diversity at Ecole Davis Road Elementary closely parallels the general demographic of Ladysmith's community. For this reason, we have only a handful of students from visible minority groups and even fewer for whom English is a second language. While we offer no specific ESL support at our school, our student support services teacher provides assistance to individuals as necessary.====

About our Staff:
====Bishop (2007) suggests that analysis of the school community should also involve obtaining information about the "background of facility members" (p. 21). While I will be providing more detailed information about the teachers who make direct use of the Grade 4 Social Studies collection, I include here general information about our staff and its culture.====

About our principal:
====Ecole Davis Road Elementary is very fortunate to have an involved, friendly and supportive administrator. Doug English came to our school in September 2009 as a first time principal and has contributed significantly to our community ever since. Because he is a non-French speaker, Doug relies heavily on his French Immersion staff to make recommendations regarding resource purchasing and French Immersion program development**.** While Doug has many strengths, he has a particular passion for sports. Doug draws upon this area of expertise frequently and to the great benefit of our school.====

I'm proud to state that Ecole Davis Road Elementary has a wonderful group of dedicated professionals (16 teachers and 8 support staff), who provide exceptional service to our student population.
====Because our school district includes the communities of Nanaimo and Ladysmith, many of our teaching and support staff do not live in the Ladysmith, but rather commute the approximately 23 km from Nanaimo. This is particularly true of our French Immersion staff, who, with the exception of two, all live in Nanaimo. In the past, this reality has made continuity of staffing from one year to another quite problematic. In the "French Immersion world" on Vancouver Island, there are very few teachers qualified to fill French Immersion positions. What tends to happen at Davis Road is French Immersion teachers with little district seniority accept positions in Ladysmith when no options are available in Nanaimo. By the next year, however, jobs become available in Nanaimo and teachers make the decision to change schools in order to be closer to home. This is less the case with English stream teachers as the competition for available jobs is more intense and usually having a continuing contract at a desired grade level takes precedence over location. This said, Davis Road School continues to build its reputation as a high quality, progressive dual track school. My hope is that teachers will eventually chose to stay for these reasons and perhaps even make the decision to relocate to our lovely little town. Despite the fact that most teachers commute, their level of professional and personal commitment remains high. Several of our teachers are working on master's degrees and there is great enthusiasm for out-of-the-box practice and progressive methodologies. Last year, a number of our staff formed a Professional Learning Community and many creative ideas have been implemented as a result. A core group of teachers, both French Immersion and English, also participates in Project Student Success at the district level, an initiative that greatly benefits our student population. There is also considerable commitment to extracurricular activities at Ecole Davis Road.====

=Potential Partners and Community Resources:=

====As previously mentioned in the context of community, Ladysmith is a town where volunteerism is encouraged and community spirit abounds. For this reason, it is a fairly easy task to consider possible local collaborations that might facilitate the development of my collection. Also, because Ecole Davis Road is connected with a large school district, encompassing both the Ladysmith and Nanaimo areas, some interesting possibilities present themselves in this arena as well. Lastly, the Town is making considerable effort to improve its relationship with our Coast Salish neighbours in hopes that this will "ensure the continued prosperity and well being of all people living in this region" ([]). I believe that collaboration with the Stz'minus community would provide exciting and authentic opportunities in the area of collection development and could have broader social and educational benefits for all.====

Ladysmith Public Library:


====We have a small but dynamic public library ([]) in Ladysmith, which is a branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library system. Its staff are longstanding members of the community and I have known most of them for years. Our relationship began when I started taking my own children to the public library for story time. Since then, I have frequented the facility often and for a variety of reasons. They have always been very helpful procuring resources for me, whether for personal or professional use. While the Ladysmith branch does not have a huge collection housed in its space, they have quick, dependable access to all resources within the Vancouver Island Regional Library system. I have quite often borrowed resources for a particular theme in my own classroom. Just last year, the library manager donated a virtually unused set of French Language encyclopedias to Ecole Davis Road. Due to the already well-established relationship between the Ladysmith Public Library and our schools, I feel additional collaborations would be quite easily initiated.====

====My first move in this direction would be to meet with the branch manager and staff to brainstorm to possibilities. We have never, to my knowledge, had public library staff in our school to do book talks for example. I know they have access to a huge inventory of resources on First Nations and Explorer themes. Perhaps one of their staff could come and present some of their collection to our students. This could be mutually beneficial as it would enhance their visibility with our students and hopefully increase public library readership. I'm also hoping they might be able to "put me on to" local authors with whom they may already have a relationship. Resource sharing may even be an option but I'm not sure what that would look like at this point. At the very least, we could discuss our curriculum and give staff and idea of popular themes for which our students might be requiring additional resources. Because our own library resources are so week in certain non-fiction areas, students often have to use the public library to access titles for school use.====

====In the spring I hope to do a whole-school event in association with Family Literacy Day. One idea is to promote a read-a-thon. I'm wondering if the Public Library might not be able to get involved with this event in some fashion. For example, I was planning to have a culminating activity in the gym where all students attend (possibly in PJs, with stuffed animals and blankets) and various members of the community would do read-aloud sessions. The involvement of several public librarians would be very welcome and, once again, would add to their visibility in our school community.====

====We have a wonderful book store in Ladysmith called Salamander Books. Again, the folks at Salamander are very implicated in the community and I am frequently there purchasing books for personal use. This said, I have never spoken to them about my role as Teacher-Librarian at Davis Road and the various ways we might be able to work together. I know from one of my T-L colleagues that they offer a discount to librarians purchasing for school libraries. I'm wondering if they might be able to get involved in our Family Literacy Day activities in some fashion. Perhaps they might be able to donate books that could be used as incentives for our read-a-thon for example. It would also be great to have Salamander staff be part of our whole-school activity in the gym. They may also have connections to authors in the First Nations and local communities that could be shared.====

Ladysmith Historical Society:
===="To Research, Record and Preserve" ([]) is the motto of the Ladysmith Historical Society. The Society was incorporated in 1999 and has the following as its mission statement: "Our mission is to promote awareness of Ladysmith's history and to help preserve its heritage" ([]). This society is run by committed volunteers who are passionate about Ladysmith and its local history. What an incredible contribution they could make to our school's social studies instruction! I'm guessing they would have some interesting perspectives on "first contact" between the Coast Salish community and early settlers to this region. It would be fantastic if they could visit our library and share some of their considerable knowledge and enthusiasm about Ladysmith history with our students. They are also opening a new museum sometime in the fall. I'm sure they will be looking to promote this facility within the local community. Perhaps they could visit the library, bring a number of artifacts to peak student interest, and promote the museum. A field trip to their newly opened facility would be an excellent educational experience in the context of Grade 4 Social Studies but I'm sure it would also enrich the teaching of social studies curriculum at many other grade levels. To date, I have had no discussions with the Ladysmith Historical Society but think this would be a very exciting and fruitful relationship to pursue.====

Other Teacher-Librarians:
====The Ecole Davis Road Library has benefited considerably from the strong relationship that exists between teacher-librarians in our district and from the huge support we receive from our District Resources Centre and its dedicated staff. This said, I'm sure there is even more that can be done to promote greater collaboration that will work to the benefit of the students and staff of our school.====

====On of my first steps upon becoming a teacher-librarian in September 2010 was to join the district teacher-librarian listserv. and to begin actively participating in discussions and information exchange with other teacher-librarians. There is a long-standing tradition in District #68 that libraries share resources. This has been hugely beneficial as our library is so poorly resourced in many key areas of the curriculum, particularly when it comes to French Language Resources. The three other French Immersion school libraries have been extremely generous in providing me with high quality resources and, even more importantly in sharing their considerable expertise. Teacher-librarians in our district meet regularly to discuss all kinds of media centre related topics and to discuss various ways in which we might advocate for libraries and their importance in the support of learning and literacy. I don't know what I would have done last year without the support of my teacher-librarian colleagues! This said, resource sharing does have its limitations in our district. While we have an excellent mechanism for requesting books on behalf of teachers, we are not permitted to sharing resources from other libraries with students. It would be interesting to discuss with my T-L colleagues how we might be able to get additional resources directly into the hands of our students. Because our teacher-librarian group meets on a bi-monthly basis, these types of issues can be quite easily pursued.====

District Resource Centre:
====The District Resource Centre (DRC) is also been a huge support for me since I became a teacher-librarian last year. They have their own resource collection and an excellent mechanism for getting these resources into the school for the support of teachers and students. They support our libraries administratively by providing Library Clerks, bar coding services, and by having considerable expertise on-hand should any administrative issues arise. They have developed and excellent wiki ([]) which pretty much became my "bible" last year as I muddled though the many tasks required to keep a library operating smoothly. This wiki is also accessible to students and parents and provides excellent connections to individual school libraries, to the DRC collection, and to multiple databases that are purchased by the School District. The DRC is continually running a vast array of programs and opportunities for collaboration. This year is a particularly exciting one at the DRC as they are facilitating a variety of new Project Success work sessions. These workshops involve different "strands" of exploration and there is a specific library strand this year! According to Shelley Beleznay, our Coordinator of Literacy, Learning and Instructional Support, the teacher-librarian strand will address the following question: "Will learning together to support collaboration, inquiry and technology enhance the success of school projects?" I believe such an exploration will provide tremendous support to me as I learn to effectively manage my collection.====

====Even with all the exciting happenings going on at the DRC, it has traditionally been a somewhat under-utilized facility. This year, I want to focus on making myself more familiar with the range of resources available through the DRC, particularly those involving First Nation and Explorer themes. The DRC is holding an Open House next week, which I will be attending. I made note at last year's Open House that they have a vast collection of print resources on First Nation/Explorer topics but I would be interested in speaking first-hand to the DRC staff to explore what kinds of non-print, digital, and human resources they might suggest.====

Stz'minus First Nation:
====Over the past years, considerable progress has been made within our local schools and the greater community to forge new relationships and positive cultural exchange with the Stz'minus First Nation. I am so excited about the rich learning which could result from the forging of partnerships with this community. Tapping into this great wealth of Coast Salish culture would be of particular support to our Grade 4 Social Studies curriculum but its benefit would reach far beyond the confines of a particular grade level or subject area. Off the top of my head, I'm envisioning First Nation author readings, visits with elders, sessions with Stz'minus artists and artisans, an orientation to the Hul'qumi'num language..the possibilities are huge! What is even more exciting is that my imaginings could actually come to fruition due to the fact that we have a "connection" to the Stz'munus community on our staff. Our Grade 4/5 teacher is married to a Coast Salish man and they live together with their two children on reserve. While it may take a number of years to really get things rolling, I believe such opportunities for learning would have immeasurable value for both the students and staff of Ecole Davis Road Elementary.====

=Grade 4 Social Studies: The Context=

====As mentioned in Assignment 1, Ecole Davis Road Elementary has 253 students. 141 of these students participate in French Immersion and 112 are in the English stream. The specific breakdown of our classes is as follows: ====


 * = ===Grade Level=== ||= ===Language of===

Instruction
||= ====**Number of**====

**Students**
||
 * = ====Kindergarten==== ||= ====English==== ||= 16 ||
 * = ====Kindergarten==== ||= ====French==== ||= 22 ||
 * = ====Grade 1/2==== ||= ====English==== ||= 18 ||
 * = ====Grade 1==== ||= ====French==== ||= 22 ||
 * = ====Grade 2/3==== ||= ====English==== ||= 20 ||
 * = ====Grade 2/3==== ||= ====French==== ||= 24 ||
 * = ====Grade 3/4==== ||= ====French==== ||= 24 ||
 * = ====Grade 4/5==== ||= ====English==== ||= 30 ||
 * = ====Grade 4/5==== ||= ====French==== ||= 26 ||
 * = ====Grade 6/7==== ||= ====English==== ||= 28 ||
 * = ====Grade 6/7==== ||= ====French==== ||= 23 ||

I chose this Grade Level and Curricular focus for several reasons:

 * 1) ====In my teacher surveys, a significant number of teachers requested additional First Nations resources. This is the case even for those who do not have specific reference to First Nation themes in their Social Studies curriculum.====
 * 2) ====Both our English and French resources on the topic of First Nations/Canadian Explorers are very minimal and outdated.====
 * 3) ====Due to Davis Road's class organization, these resources directly support the Social Studies curriculum in three of our classes. In other words, 80 students make direct use of this collection.====

====In a broader sense, I believe many more students will benefit indirectly from increases and improvements in the Grade 4 Social Studies collection, particularly with respect to First Nation themes. Even a quick browse through the Social Studies curricula of the various grades generates all kinds of ideas on the ways in which First Nation themes can be linked to Social Studies concepts. I have included the Social Studies K-7 Topics Overview here for your perusal:====


 * 1) ====I can imagine using one of the many beautifully illustrated First Nation themed picture books to generate a Kindergarten discussion around "similarities and differences among families", which comes directly from the Identity, Culture and Society Prescribed Learning Outcomes (PLOs).====
 * 2) ====In Grade One, Economy and Technology PLOs could be addressed using traditional First Nation examples. This would be a great opportunity to illustrate how "basic needs are met", "types of work in the community", and "ways technology is used"====
 * 3) ====Grade Three Identity, Culture and Society PLOs can be discussed using First Nation examples around the topics of "importance of communities", "cultural similarities and differences", and "characteristics of Canadian society".====

====I believe the fact that First Nation themes have such global application leads many staff members to request additional resources on the topic. Also, I think many teachers acknowledge the importance of raising student awareness and respect for Canadian Aboriginal peoples and they would like more resources with which to do so.====

====Let's return focus now to my "core clientele", the 80 students and three teachers who will be making direct use of this collection to explore Grade 4 Social Studies themes. Of these students, 50 are French Immersion students and 30 are in the English stream. This fact will, of course, weigh heavily as I begin to make decisions about specific resources. As I have already provided general information about the Davis Road student and staff communities, I would now like to address the varying backgrounds of the three teachers who will make use of the Grade 4 Social Studies collection.====

Grade 2/3 Teacher: Monsieur Kevin
====M. Kevin is a dynamic and committed novice teacher who graduated from Vancouver Island University in September 2010. I actually knew M. Kevin before he started at Ecole Davis Road as he did his practicum at Ecole Hammond Bay two years ago. This was my previous "home" before becoming teacher-librarian at Davis Road. M. Kevin is a francophone who moved from Quebec to complete his teaching degree at VIU. He now lives in Nanaimo and commutes to Davis Road once a week to teach our Grade 2/3 French Immersion students. He teaches Grade 6/7 four days per week at Ecole Hammond Bay and finds the "mental leap' between Grades 2/3 and 6/7 somewhat difficult to negotiate at times. He is a very active man who enjoys all sports but particularly hockey. Even though he is only at Davis Road once per week, he is popular with students and very implicated in our school culture. His appeal stems, in part, from the fact that M. Kevin organizes a Pokemon club on Wednesdays at lunch. This club is extremely popular with many of our students and has definitely increased readership of the library's Pokemon collection.====

Grade 4/5 Teacher: Mme Sigal
====Mme Sigal is another young member of Davis Road's enthusiastic and devoted French Immersion staff. She has been teaching for four years and is originally from Campbell River, British Columbia. She is of Jewish decent and is very proud of her connections to the Jewish community both locally and in Israel. She just recently bought a house in Nanaimo and commutes each day with her new puppy Digit in tow. In her short career, Mme Sigal has worn many different hats, but she is particularly excited this year to be involved in providing learning assistance to our intermediate French Immersion students. While she has taught almost all grades in her short career, she particularly loves teaching at the Grade 4/5 level. When not working, she loves to hike, ski, read, and generally enjoy the outdoors with her new pup.====

Grade 4/5 Teacher: Mrs. Harris
====Mrs. Harris, who was born and raised in the Nanaimo area, has been teaching for 15 years, 5 of which have been at Ecole Davis Road Elementary. She and I have a cultural connection as we are both Canadian born but of Italian decent. While Mrs. Harris has "landed" quite close to home, she has had an interesting and varied career. One of her first postings as a new teacher sent her to Kitkatla. The Kitkatla reserve is located on a tiny island off the coast of Prince Rupert, British Columbia and is only accessible by boat or float plane. She worked in Kitkatla for two years in a reserve school that serviced students from Kindergarten to Grade 10. It is perhaps partially as a result of these experiences that she developed an interest in teaching Special Education and Aboriginal culture. She also has an even closer connection to the First Nations community. In 2008, Mrs. Harris married her husband Doug, who is of Coast Salish decent. They have lived on the Stu'minus reserve since 2003 and are raising their three children there. "To keep her sanity", Mrs. Harris likes card making and spending time outdoors with her young family.====

Our library program:
====I don't feel I can speak about Davis Road's library program without first making mention of our facilities, which are, quite frankly, the school's "Achilles Heel". Ecole Davis Road Elementary was built in 1963. While a small gym has been added, along with a few modest renovations, the building has changed little in the last 48 years. It would be a glaring understatement to express that Davis Road's physical space is inadequate to the needs of its school community. There has been "lots of talk but no action" over the years and heated discussion continues over the facilities future. Of the 11 divisions at Davis Road, five are currently housed in portables. We have no multipurpose room, our computer lab is under-sized, our library is housed in an old classroom, and our gym is far too small to meet the needs of its many users. Due to the overall "declining enrollment" discussed earlier, our school finds itself caught between a proverbial "rock and a hard place". Although our school population has grown considerably over the last years, the School District is unable-or some would argue //unwilling//-to consider building a new school or even renovating our current facility. This reticence may come from the fact that a district rural school, located about 15 minutes away, services only 97 students, which is far below its optimal capacity. The "facilities limbo" in which we find ourselves becomes very problematic as we attempt to provide high quality educational experiences for our students. ====

About our library:
====Ecole Davis Road library is open two days per week and operates on a fixed schedule. While I fully acknowledge the many disadvantages of fixed scheduling, as enumerated by Bishop (2007) in Chapter 4 (p. 26), I have been unable to come up with a workable alternative, while still providing library media centre access to all classes. With my .4 FTE, I provide book exchange for all divisions and offer 190 minutes of teacher preparation time coverage for 6 staff members. For 3 days a week the library is closed to students but may be used by teachers and support staff as an alternative work space or meeting room. While this situation is far from ideal, it is a considerable improvement over the circumstances of past years, where often no teacher-librarian was employed at all. When I began at Davis Road in 2010, my FTE was .26, which allowed for one book exchange session per class and a bit of management time each week. We are moving in the right direction!====

====To my knowledge, this is the first time that teacher preparation time has been covered by providing classes with library media centre services. In past years, all preparation time had been covered by our Fine Arts specialist, Mrs. Saunders. Due to the school's rising population, however, Mrs. Saunders can no longer handle all classes. I am very encouraged by the fact that teachers have chosen to have "left over" preparation time covered by the teacher-librarian. It is exciting to consider how I might provide high quality information literacy experiences for our students. Logistically, however, we have a number of obstacles to overcome. Firstly, the division of preparation time has left me with the following scenario:====


 * ====Grade 2/3 English==== || ====22 minutes==== ||
 * ====Grade 3/4 French Immersion==== || ====22 minutes==== ||
 * ====Grade 4/5 French Immersion==== || ====36 minutes==== ||
 * ====Grade 4/5 English==== || ====36 minutes==== ||
 * ====Grade 6/7 French Immersion==== || ====37 minutes==== ||
 * ====Grade 6/7 English==== || ====37 minutes==== ||

====Because these blocks must also incorporate time for book exchange, I have virtually no additional time for meaningful instruction, particularly with the two youngest classes. Once I remove the 20 minutes required for book exchange, I am left with 16 minutes and 17 minutes respectively for the Grade 4/5s and the Grade 6/7s. While some time is better than no time at all, I must deal with the additional challenge of what to do with up to 30 big bodies in my tiny library space. Because the facility is so small, we cannot accommodate tables or chairs. Any non-book-exchange-activity must take place with students sitting on the carpet. While this works fairly well with primary classes, it becomes much more of a classroom management issue with older students. Luckily, I was able to secure the computer lab, which is located just down the hall, for my preparation coverage sessions. While I think this will afford some exciting options, we must contend with the fact that we only have 20 computers. For our largest class, this leaves us 10 computers short. Despite the obstacles, I'm excited to begin considering ways in which I might creatively provide information literacy services to students. I hope that some of these out-of-the-box ideas will come from our course readings and through the rich peer discussions that will take place in the context of LIBE 463.====

Our special programs:
====On a final note, Bishop (2007) discusses Special Services in Chapter 4 (p. 28) and I felt these deserved short mention here. While Davis Road is not involved with any Accelerated Reader-type programs, we have, for the past number of years, been focusing on Adrienne Gear’s Reading Power, Non-Fiction Reading Power and, more recently, Writing Power programs. The fact that Ms. Gear includes French Language titles in Lecteurs Engages Cerveaux Branches makes her resources particularly useful to our situation. Teacher use of this program greatly impacts my purchasing decisions as I must be sure to set aside a portion of my library budget each year for Adrienne Gear titles. The addition of Writing Power resources to my collection will be a priority for 2011-12 development.====