Media Center Mission 

The mission of the school library media center is to establish the foundation of a lifelong love of reading, and to enhance student learning by equipping students and staff to be effective users of ideas and information technology.

                                                                                                                                    Media Center Vision and Philosophy  

The purpose of the media center is to serve as the hub of the learning community by actively involving all members in learning experiences, including teachers, students, administrators, and members of the larger community.  The media center strives to service patrons according to their educational, personal, and curriculum-based needs by providing open access to information and information technologies.  The media center works to increase learning and information literacy by fostering an environment that cultivates a love of reading and enhances student achievement.   

                                                                                                                                   Media Center Goals

  • Support the mission of the school and reflect the philosophies of Information Power
  • Attend grade level planning meetings to learn how the media center can support the curriculum
  • Collaborate with teachers by planning, teaching, and assessing information skills
  • Promote reading for enjoyment and learning
  • Provide an attractive and inviting learning environment
  • Use current research to guide information literacy skills and research
  • Integrate technology in information literacy lessons and in the classrooms
  •  Provide support to teachers integrating technology in their classrooms
  • Provide differentiated instruction in the media center and encourage it in the classrooms
  • Continue professional development by attending conferences and conferring with others in the profession
  • Provide equal access for all patrons to the media center
  • Model and support ethical practices in regard to copyright, privacy, and intellectual freedom
  • Create a program development and evaluation plan that will move the media center in a forward direction by establishing long-term and short-term goals
  • Maintain and build a collection that supports the curriculum
  • Manage the budget and seek out other sources of funds to build the media center's collection and resources
  • Promote the media center's collection and programs


                                                                                                                                     Program Goals, Achievements, and Preparation

As I look at my goal statement for entering this program, I see that I have accomplished my goals and so much more.   I stated that I wanted to continue using my teaching skills as a media specialist and instill the love of reading in the students I serve.  Additionally, I wanted to provide current, relevant resources and literature that will enhance what the teacher is doing in the classroom.  I feel that I am well prepared to accomplish these goals.                          

I realize that I was missing a very important goal in my original statement: information literacy.  Perhaps this is one of the most important roles of the modern media specialist because of the abundant information available in these times.  I have used many of the information literacy lessons that I developed during my master's program with my fifth grade classes and have found them to be most important in helping them become successful searchers of information.  Using information literacy in conjunction with the standards taught in the classroom makes the task meaningful to the students and carries over into other areas of learning.  I have learned that I may have been doing this all along, but have not put it in the right terms.  

My field experiences and internship during this program have provided me with many interactions with diverse groups of students.  The school where I am now teaching, and where I completed my internship, is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse schools in Fulton County.  Another experience provided me with a differenent type of diversity because it was in a private school in which students were pre-kindergarten through high school.  Additionally, I spent a day in a middle school and they are diverse for the mere fact that they are a special and interesting age of students.

The UGA School Library Media program has prepared me for my future as a school library media specialist in so many ways.  I am most comfortable in my teaching and collaboration (instructional partner) roles as a media specialist because I have many experiences with this as a teacher.  I have learned how to make decisions about program development and collection development, which are areas that I do not have as much experience.  I also have learned how to catalog materials and manage a budget (program administrator).  My internship has given me confidence that I can handle these tasks.  I am sure that my "on the job" experiences will provide me with learning experiences, just as my first few years of teaching did.  I am well prepared, thanks to this program and the professors in the program, to become a media specialist who is in the forefront of providing a media center that advances student achievement by developing a program that encourages students to be lifelong learners and lifelong readers.