Newcomer Academy Library Annual Report 2021-2022

Newcomer Academy Library 2021-2022Empowering ELLs to enjoy reading, find information and take action.

Backpack of Success Skills

Successful completion of all 8th grade and A2G Backpack Defenses. Action plans created for students not ready to transition.

Library Stats

Collection Management

Ongoing Services

Updates to Library Space

Instructional Support

Custom Resource Curation

Professional Development

Ideas for 2022-2023

Reading Initiatives

Hundreds of new titles added this year that meet students' interests and reading levels. 1,247 novels and 157 biographies were removed from the collection (biographies and novels). These books were outdated or too long for our students and have had zero circulation. This makes the collection more attractive and accessible and allows space for the addition of hi-lo books.

NCA Libguide (Website) 11,878 Total Views GALE Database Usage 2364 (exceeded target of 1836) Newcomer Academy Library Twitter 250 Followers (gained 100 followers in the last year) Online Catalog Searches: 343 (an increase from 171 in 2020-21) Circulation: 6,820 books (rank 10 0f 26 middle schools) Average Age of Collection: 2013 (rec. age is at least 2012)

• New collaborative tables throughout library space.
• New chairs throughout library space.
• Cafe table and chairs coming in September.

Successful completion of backpack defense presentations for all 8th grade and A2G students. Action plans created for students not ready to transition.

6th Grade: Water Resources and Distribution in Louisville (Louisville Water Company/ Ohio River) 8th Grade: Global Warming and Climate Change Careers Class: Digital and print resources on careers HS 6-9: Various digital resources for ELA and Science class STEAM and Global Homecoming: Creation of a countries resource list for quick research on many countries through JCPS Databases

Instructional Support

• Assistance to ESL teachers in supplemental guided reading texts
• Recorded weekly read alouds of guided reading texts for ESL team
• Active member of Instructional Leadership Team
• Standards Based Grading support and strategies for teachers
• PBL support (PD, digital tools, planning, feedback)
• Curation of digital and printed materials upon teacher request

American Association of School Librarians National Conference I conducted a 1-hour presentation at this year's AASL National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah (October 21-23, 2021). My session was entitled Empowering ELLs for Self-Sufficiency in the School Library. The session helped school librarians recognize and reach their ELL patrons and offered tools, tips and strategies for having those patrons self-navigate library books and resources as well as ensuring that the library has a collection that mirrors ELL student lived experiences. The presentation was well attended and I had many participants request materials, advice, and send follow-up questions. I think that this session led to my obtaining a greater number of Twitter followers. Kentucky Society for Technology in Education (KYSTE) With co-presenters Hicham Roida and Michele Shory, I presented a session at the KYSTE Spring Conference at the Galt House in Louisville, KY on March 10, 2022. Our session was entitled Digital Scaffolds for Multilingual Learners. My part of the presentation focused on diverse literature, online bilingual dictionaries, and free online ebook resources for emergent ELLs.

Ongoing Services to Administration and Staff

• School Blog (Compass) Renovation (8/20) and Maintenance
• Navigator Awards
• Poster Making/Printing
• Staff Photo Montages
• Animoto Films
• Google Support
• Database Support/ Tutorials
• Ebooks Support/Tutorials/ Link Curation
• Recorded RAZ books Weekly for ESL Team
• Access/Information Louisville Free Public Library (Summer Reading Information)
• Creation of ACHIEVE Scholarship
• Sadiya Dhaquane Fashion Show

• School-wide Read 5 genres reading initiative. Students read 5 books from 5 genres and receive a book vending machine token. Middle School was especially enthusiastic about the program with 8th grade reading the most books.
• Several staff members participated in the Read Woke challenge and won gift cards in a monthly drawing.

Backpack of Skills

• The overwhelming number of defenses that must be completed and presented in the last few months of school means that many literacy initiatives in the library are neglected. Earlier backpack preparation, devoted time for preparation each week, and presentation practice during class time, as well as a return to multiple defense locations occurring simultaneously as we did before COVID may allow the librarian to be able to continue strong literacy programming through the end of the year.
• Earlier backpack defenses would also allow the librarian time to begin work earlier on getting back books at the end of the school year.

• Light weeding of the picture books and non-fiction would be the final piece in ensuring that the collection stays up to date and that the shelves remain attractive to students by not containing an overwhelming number of books, especially those that may be uninteresting and too long for Newcomer students.
• Further book acquisition should focus on hi-lo literature, Manga, current biographies, and current, low-level non-fiction.
• I would also encourage the next librarian to consider dynamic shelving which means rearranging the collection similar to the way that books are found in a bookstore. This is often called cafe style or genre-fying the library and would allow students to find books quickly that are similar to ones they already like. Dynamic shelving can also mean having many more books facing forward so that students can quickly see if a book is one they wish to open and consider.