Library Action Plan:
Streamwood High School
By: Barbara Posinger
This presentation reflects an action plan proposal
seeking to improve an aspect of Streamwood High
School’s Library.
Development of Action Plan:
• Streamwood High School: Background Information
• Budgets, Student Base, College Readiness, etc.
• Interview with Streamwood High School’s LibrarianJill Kasper
• Personal background, Work background,
Collaborations, Experiences, etc.
• Action Plan
• Objectives, Tasks, Resources, People, Timeframe,
Obstacles, etc.
Image: http://www1.u-46.org/images/cd/SHS.jpg
Image:
http://meteagirlssoccer.com/graphics/Streamwood_
HS.jpg
Streamwood High School:
General Information
Address:
701 W. Schaumburg Rd.
Streamwood Il, 60107 1262
Principal:
Terri Lozier
District:
U-46
Phone Number:
630-213-5500
District Superintendent:
Dr. Jose Torres
Website:
Streamwood High School
Website
Information received from: Illinois Report Card
Streamwood High School:
Library Mission Statement
Streamwood High School is part of the U-46 District. Understanding the library’s
mission statement will help to ensure the integrity and goals of the action plan.
U-46 Library Mission Statement:
“As an integral part of the educational program of School District U-46, it is the
mission of the library to provide the learning community with a broad range of print and
electronic materials, build information literacy skills, support library and classroom
curriculum, foster a love of reading, and to encourage life-long learning.”
Information received from: U46 School Library System
Streamwood High School:
Course Information
Academic Courses:
18 Advanced Placement
12 Elective Options
12 Fine and Applied Arts
19 Foreign Languages
10 Other
Physical Ed. And Health Courses:
1 Physical Education
2 Health and Nutrition
Athletics and other Activities:
30 Athletic Programs
9 Community Programs and
Partnerships
7 Fine and Applied Arts Programs
32 Academic Enrichment Programs
Career Development Courses:
52 Career and Technical
6 Work Study Programs
3 Other Programs
1 Dual Enrollment
Awards:
5 Faculty and Staff
7 Scholastic
15 Athletic
4 Community
Information received from: Illinois Report Card
Streamwood High School:
Environment
2013 Statistics
• Average Class Size: 21
• Per Student Spending:
• Instructional: $5,732
• Operational: $9,661
• Mobility: 11%
• Student Attendance: 92%
• Total School Days: 173
Information received from: Illinois Report Card
Streamwood High School:
Academic Progress
2013 Statistics
Graduation Rate:
• 4-year: 83%
• 5-year: 92%
Ready for College Course Work: 34%
Chart and Data received from: Illinois Report Card
Streamwood High School:
Student Characteristics
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Low- Income Students: 63.9%
Students with Disabilities: 13.4%
English Learners: 11.1%
Chronically Truant: 22.4%
Chart and Data received from: Illinois Report Card
Streamwood High School:
Adequate Yearly Progress Report (AYP) 2013
Chart and Data received from: Illinois Report Card
Streamwood High School:
Basic Overall Assessment
Due to the data collected about Streamwood High School, it can be assessed
that this is relatively poor school serving a diverse student base whom the
majority come from low-income families.
Unfortunately, the school is in desperate need of aid in order to ensure the
progress of its students that currently, it is not providing.
Regretfully, schools of this stature lack funds to promote sufficient technology,
equipment, and service for student use. The teachers and librarian must find
ways to provide what they can work with the little they have for the students.
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Personal Background
• Streamwood High School Librarian
• Professional librarian  19 years
• Elementary Teaching Certificate from Northern Illinois University
• Information Technology Degree: combination of library and information technology
• Sole Librarian at Streamwood High for last five years.
• Originally two professional librarians and one assistant; jobs cut due to lack of funds
• Greatest professional challenge = Technology.
• “Equipment doesn't always keep up with the demand of the new technology. And learning
the new technology and gaining enough proficiency in using it.”
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Library Policies at SHS
• Circulation Policy:
• 4 week checkout  7-day grace period before fines start
• Minimum fine = 70 cents / Maximum fine = $5.00
• Reference materials can be checked out overnight  no grace period
 fine = 25 cents every day late
• “If students have a fine they need to pay a minimum of a quarter each
time they check out.” - Jill Kasper
• Book challenges: Form for challengers to fill out determining reasons for
the challenge and other information; forms analyzed accordingly
• [Forms tend to deflect challenges]
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Resources at SHS
• Subscription Databases: Databases paid for by the district; cheaper
price
• Only have two databases  Infotrac and SIRS
• Multilingual Resources: Books in English and Spanish. Dictionaries in
multiple languages; though placed in separate section.
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Librarian Resources SHS
Image: http://www.ala.org/Images/blist/booklist_logo.jpg
• Parapros  part-time library aids; can be students or others
Image: http://www.voyamagazine.com/wpcontent/uploads/2010/03/first-voya-229x300.jpg
• Young Adult Resource Aid Databases  Booklist, VOYA
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Resource Management at SHS
No longer buy any new reference; weed fiction every couple of years
Recent population shift in school  earlier years = 10% Hispanic
current
= 50% Hispanic
Must buy new resources that
correlate to community needs
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Student Assessment at SHS
TRAILS = online assessment of information literacy
• Every student gets a username and password
• Program rates class in order to determine areas that need
improvement and areas that are satisfactory
Librarians and teachers collaborate together to pick one area that needs
improvement. Then, they focus on ways to develop skills that students
were lacking.
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Library Budget SHS
“Budget is set by School Department, a group of teacher
representatives from each department and administration
who collaborate.” – Jill Kasper
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Teacher Collaboration at SHS
How do you collaborate with teachers? Will you describe one collaborative
project you developed? What was the result?
“As teachers come to sign up for the library, I will use that time to discuss the project and ways we
can collaborate. Sometimes when I get new ideas after attending a conference I will approach a
teacher who I feel would be interested in it. As an example, when I learned about TRAILS, an
assessment of information literacy skills, I approached a freshman teacher about having her classes
use the online assessment. After the students took the assessment and I got the scores back, we had
an online review of the questions with the students. Then the teacher and I sat down and worked to
develop a three-day research project to specifically address two of their weakest skills. We then reassessed the students. There are five areas with 25 questions. Next time I may decide to focus on
one area instead of all five. (Weakest area was evaluating online sources)”
- Jill Kasper
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Librarian as Teacher at SHS
How do you teach library/information literacy skills?
“Library/information literacy skills are taught within the context of a research unit.” - Jill
Kasper
Example:
- Citations using Easy Bib, databases, and Power Point presentations
What is your relationship with other school librarians in your district?
“ The secondary librarians will meet as often as possible to discuss issues, new books,
etc.. We often use email when we have questions or need ideas for different research
projects.” – Jill Kasper
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Prospective Projects SHS
Project 1
• Keeping various bibliographies of
books and reading lists representing
various topics
Project 2
• Booktalks representing specific
research units  both fiction and
non-fiction
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Library Limitations SHS
• Difficult to develop all areas of librarianship: budgeting, programming, events, collection
development, etc., when there is only one librarian in the school
• Difficult to collaborate with teachers due to lack of time
• Pressure of reviewing and choosing resources alone
• School doesn’t provide much money to the library
• Administration under pressure from district  District heads are business people, not
educators  Money focus as opposed to student focus  leads to lack of library aid
• Personal limitation  increase use of technology in schools makes job difficult due to a lack
of understanding of technology and social media
Interview:
Jill Kasper  Recommendations for Enhancing Library
Programs at SHS
• Accelerated reading marketing
• Author festival program  promotion of various authors through cheap
marketing
• Grace-period for overdue books  less stress for students who check books
out; incentive to visit library more often
Library Action Plan:
Bookclub
The action plan for Streamwood High School’s Library is to initiate
a Bookclub. The creation of a Bookclub would be inexpensive,
constructive, considerable of time constraints, and beneficial to
student learning.
Library Action Plan:
Objectives
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Foster/encourage a love of reading in students
Develop a student’s relationship with books
Expand genres of student reading
Develop relationships among students with common reading interests
Provide a safe environment for students to accentuate and explore reading materials
Get students to become involved in outside reading programs
Show students the benefits reading can have
Prove how books connect across genres
Prove how books connect to outside experiences
Encourage life-long learning
Library Action Plan:
Tasks
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Promote Bookclub through posters, flyers, etc. made by library aids, librarian, and students
Provide information about outside reading programs, bibliographies, other booklists, etc.
Meet on a regular basis with a pre-determined booklist  quality content, award-winners
Provide refreshments for students at every meeting
Develop a questionnaire system to ensure the flow of discussion prior to every meeting
Get more students to participate in reading the minimum number of ABE LINCOLN titles (4) so they can
vote for titles to be implemented in the next year’s program
• Voting occurs annually in February/March
Implement and plan one lunch party for voting event mentioned above
Provide little prizes for students for every book they read; examples: candy, pens, stickers, etc.  works as
incentive to read more
Themed meetings relating to the books students are reading  potluck, small plays, debates, etc.
Explore books in multiple formats to expand/enhance literacy
Library Action Plan:
Resources
Resource: ABE LINCOLN master lists
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Abraham Lincoln Award: Illinois’ Grades 9-10 Reader’s Choice Award
“Adult and Young Adult fiction/non-fiction titles must be nominated by teachers or librarians and
vetted by the nomination committee”
Overall quality of the work considered most important component when determining lists
High school librarians + teachers + public librarians + students = Annual panel that determines final
master list  22 titles
Schools must register to promote master lists
Students who read 4+ titles can vote
“The award is named after former President Abraham Lincoln, an avid reader and noted author, is
sponsored by ISLMA (Illinois School Library Media Association) and administered by the ALHSBA
steering committee.”
Information: ISLMA Lincoln Award
Library Action Plan:
People
The primary people involved in this action plan include the school librarian and
the students interested in and/or are a part of the program. Administrators may
also be involved when librarians need permission for in-school “field trip”
opportunities.
Library Action Plan:
Timeframe and Funding
Timeframe:
• Meetings before or after school
once a month throughout school
year
• Initial meeting  August
• Lunch Party  February
• Last meeting  April
Funding Estimations:
• ABE LINCOLN list  $10/year
• Refreshments  $15/meeting
depending on group size
• Single lunch party event  $50
• Small prizes  $5/meeting
• Can and WILL vary  this is a
purposeful overestimation in hopes to
save money at the end of each year
Library Action Plan:
Timeframe and Funding Graphical Representation
August September October November December January
February
March
April
ABE LINCOLN list
$10
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Refreshments
n/a
$15
$15
$15
$15
$15
n/a
$15
$15
Lunch Party
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
$50
n/a
n/a
Prizes
n/a
$5
$5
$5
$5
$5
$5
$5
$5
$10
$20
$20
$20
$20
$20
$55
$20
$20
MONTHLY TOTAL
Estimated Annual Budget: $205
Library Action Plan:
Ties to Mission Statement
“As an integral part of the educational program of School District U-46, it is the mission of the library to provide the learning
community with a broad range of print and electronic materials, build information literacy skills, support library and classroom
curriculum, foster a love of reading, and to encourage life-long learning.” –U46 Library Mission Statement
• ABE LINCOLN resource Ties:
• “This program is designed to encourage
high school students to read for
pleasure and to become lifelong
readers.” – ismla.org/Lincoln
• Frequent reading  information
literacy skills
• Objective/Task Ties:
• Foster/encourage a love of reading in
students
• Encourage life-long learning
• Explore books in multiple formats to
expand/enhance literacy
Library Action Plan:
Potential Obstacles
• Bus-driven district  difficult to have programs and events after school,
especially when competing with other after-school activities; i.e. sports,
meetings, buses, clubs, etc.
• Lack of money and time to promote and provide extra plans and programs
• Lack of professional aid  too much responsibility for one librarian to
manage for an entire school
• Lack of care from students and administration
Resources
• "The Abraham Lincoln Award: Illinois' Grades 9-12 Readers' Choice Award. "Illinois School Library
Media Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.islma.org/lincoln.htm>.
• Kasper, Jill. "Action Plan: Interview with Jill Kasper." E-mail interview. 19 Apr. 2014.
• Kasper, Jill. "Action Plan: Interview with Jill Kasper." Personal interview. 7 Apr. 2014.
• “Streamwood High School (9-12)." Illinois Report Card. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.illinoisreportcard.com/School.aspx?schoolId=310450460220003>.