Facilities
1. The media center is large open room with high ceilings. It is situated on the side on the building accessible by a side hallway. There is a small computer lab in the rear of the room that is separated by a half wall. Along two walls are high shelves with non-fiction in them. A third wall has half shelves on professional books and reference books. The circulation desk is situated overlooking the entire media center. The fiction section is made up of seven half shelves in a row. There are 7 tables in the center of the room, a small round table in the reference section, an oblong table near the computer lab for classroom use and two lookup stations with desktops.
The sections of the media center are as follows:
· Fiction
· Non-fiction
· Reference
· Popular series
· Manga
· Newberry Award winners
· Corretta Scott King Winners
· Biography
· Professional
The media center is wireless but also has Ethernet drops for desktops. The catalog, using Destiny software is available on the media center website for student and teacher use at home.
There are two work rooms off the media center, on is mainly used as a storage room which is behind the computer lab. The other is behind the circulation desk and is used as the lunch room/laminating room.
The media center is very well lit, it has large windows looking outside and into the hallway. On the other side of the small hallway is a courtyard, so the media center is lit by natural sunlight one three sides. It also is well lit by fluorescent light blubs in the ceiling however only half the lights are usually on as they are glaringly bright. Since the media center is a large room with some of the highest ceilings in the school it is very drafty and cold most of the year. Also because it is situated to the side of the school building as is only accessible by one hallway the media center does not get much foot traffic out side of regular classroom visits.
2. Blue Print on last page.
3. The media center uses Destiny which includes Destiny Quest. Quest is a very interactive and exciting tool that students love to use. The media center website is also very informative and has links to many resources for teachers and students. Filtering is ever- present at this school and constricts students’ access to certain sites however the filtering doesn’t diminish learning in my opinion.
4. This media center is large and can accommodate more than one class at a time which is excellent. It is also well laid out with no places for students to hide. One thing I would add would be a quiet corner for reading with a couch or bean bag, although with the schools population is would be difficult to monitor an area such as that. Also the computer lab is small and does not house enough computers for an entire class. This is restricting student access as teachers choose not to use computers most of the time than have to rotate their students in the lab. Also the lab needs to be enclosed with either a glass block wall or a full wall so that a class won’t be disrupted or be disrupting while in the lab. Another improvement needed is a private bathroom for the media specialist and clerk so that they do not have to leave the media center. The environment is as positive as is can be for this school and there is enough space for multiple small groups and if needed a whole class.