Creating a Library Annual Report to Share with Stakeholders

School has been out for a month. I have wanted to create an infographic as a snapshot of the library for 2016-17. After a week long vacation and taking some time off to read and read some more and visit with friends, I sat at the computer yesterday to make the infographic you will find at the end of this post. I used Canva to create it. I only wanted a snapshot that touches a bit on what happened in the library this year because if I tried to cover everything, the reader would lose interest fast. If you want to know more about the PFTSTA Library then you would need to read posts from this blog or follow the library accounts on Facebook, or Instagram.

I took information from the report that I had to submit to the district on circulation and number of books. I looked at the stats for our databases and subscriptions and included those. At the end of the year, I sent out a form for students and teachers to give me some feedback about the library. It was mostly very positive. The quotes at the end of the infographic came from that Google Form that I sent out. I also got some nice stats on how the patrons read from the survey. Though those stats didn't fit into the infographic. I thought that I would share them here. I think that the graphics are self-explanatory.

Click the above image to enlarge it


Click the above image to enlarge it

Click the above image to enlarge it
When I asked what books that students had read recently and loved, I got some interesting answers. Many of the students listed books that they were required to read for English class: The Lord of the Flies, The Round House, Fahrenheit 451, and The Wednesday Wars. There were the big name authors like Rick Riordan, James Patterson, and J. K. Rowling. There were also titles that were only mentioned by one student: Heartless by Marissa Meyer (a favorite of mine), Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar, The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz (another favorite of mine). Sci fi and fantasy have been the genres of choice at PFTSTA and continue to be popular among those taking the survey. Most responders still like to read print. When asked what they liked about the book selection at PFTSTA, they said overwhelmingly that the diverse and large collection is so vast that everyone can find something to read. In reality our collection is not that large with only 8000 volumes with just over half of those being fiction, but the library was created in 2006 to fit the needs and interests of the students. So what is on the shelves are books students want to read. 

I did not question the students on the makerspace materials in the library. We do have many types of games, robots, and STEM materials with which the students can experiment. I did not mention much about it in the annual report, but we definitely have a busy makerspace. You can read about it and see a video here.

State of the Library 2016-17 Infographic

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Holidays from BRiMS and Bookmarked

I run two book groups at Patrick Taylor. My high school book group, Bookmarked , was created in the fall of 2007 which was my second year as librarian at the school. The students really wanted a library club, but the square footage of the library was so small that I could not imagine how any students could do any actual library work. Instead I created a book discussion group. Not only did we meet to talk books, but I tapped these students to help me with fundraisers and special programming like Teen Read Week. Helping me with these special activities seemed to appease the members. I waited until February of 2009 to institute a book discussion group for my middle school students called BRiMS, or Books Rule in Middle School . Both of the groups meet during lunch, and this year, the school added a third lunch. Now BRiMS is made up of only 6th and 7th graders. Bookmarked has 8th-12th grade students. This has actually worked well because in 2014 and 2015, Bookmarked lost a lot of members w...
Read more

Banned Book Week: Students Make Comments Pro & Con Censorship

Image
This blog post is being designed as a lesson for the English I students at PFTSTA. The teachers and I have collaborated on an activity to celebrate Banned Book Week (BBW). Many times in the past during BBW, I have invited the 8th graders into the library to discuss the banning and challenging of books in schools and libraries. I usually show some videos and share books owned by our library that have been banned or challenged somewhere in the US. This activity always spurs great discussion among the students and teachers. This year we wanted the students to create a written response to the presentation. We thought there was a real world connection if we had the students post their opinion online as a comment to someone writing about censorship in schools. The teachers and I want the students to learn how to compose a well thought out comment that is supported by evidence and concrete details. How more real world could it be than having the students comment directly on their librar...
Read more

Students Weigh in on Banned Books and the Freedom to Read

Image
Every year, for Banned Book Week, I prepare a lesson for our 8th graders. It was always teacher directed with discussion until last year . The English I teachers and I created a lesson for the students that included research and writing. I pulled the materials that I wanted them to read, and the students would write a very short essay declaring their belief in the need for teens to be able to exercise their freedom to read what they want to or the need for certain books to be taken off the shelves of the library or pulled from the English curriculum.  Above is the slide presentation that I have made for the students. Included in the slides are several videos that I thought would get the students thinking. There are slides with links to specific articles that we want the students to read and use for the concrete evidence to support their stance. A rubric is included at the end so the students know exactly what is expected. The teachers and I want the writing to have a...
Read more