Christian Reynoso

Professor Erin Wyatt

School Libraries
21 April 2014

Action Plan
The following action plan was derived from information gathered from an interview with the
school librarian of Chicago Vocational Career Academy. Prior to discussing the action plan in of
itself, I will discuss a few facts about the school, a brief description of the librarian, the
significant points covered in the interview, and some recommendations for the school media
program.

Brief Facts about the School

According to its school report card, Chicago Vocational Career Academy is a high school that
has roughly 871 students, 94% of which come from low income households. The average class
size is approximately 15. 97% of students are on track to graduate, but only about 3% of the
students are actually ready for college coursework based on PSAE scores.

Librarian Description
Tamela Chambers started her career as a public librarian four years ago. After about a year or so,
she wanted a change in scenery and decided to get her certification in school libraries. She has
been this schools librarian for three years. Ms. Chambers is a caring teacher whose entire day
seems to revolve around the school and its students. Aside from her librarian duties, she also
coaches the track team after school and created a 7:00 AM e-reader and manga club she
supervises before school begins at 8:30 AM. Recently, she has received money to purchase game
making licenses to develop a game creation class. Her day is mainly focused in the library, but
she also teaches a journalism course during first period. The rest of the day is filled with the
typical duties of the school librarian: helping and collaborating with teachers on assignments,
every so often holds classes per teachers requests, prepares materials for teachers and students,
assists the principal, and assists students during their third through six period lunches. She is a
dedicated librarian who likes to stay over a couple of hours and keep the library open for
students recreational and academic needs.

Brief Interview Overview

The interview I had with the Ms. Chambers was conversational in tone. I had my questions
handy, but she was so easy going that much of what I had to ask her was answered by her in
anticipation to any questions.
The student statistics presented above came up in our conversation, during which she mentioned
how she is trying to improve student achievement through reading. Before her tenure at the
school, the school was under a different administration. The library was in shambles, containing
books from the 1970s and 80s. She has weeded out most of the collection and purchased new

books from the budget allocations and grants per the students suggestions: urban lit, popular
fiction, and manga. We discussed how she could use more though.
Afterward, I asked her questions about her rapport with teachers. She appears to be a real team
player. She likes to prepare materials in advance and tries to plan things out with the teachers
before they are scheduled to teach a lesson together. To quote my cousin who spoke highly of
her, the principal loves her because she is always attentive to the needs of students and
teachers.
Next, we went over some of the more technological aspects of the library. She was content with
all her gadgets: 28 brand new Macs, 30 IPads, a smartboard, close to 30 databases, etc... She did
mention she would enjoy seeing one or two more databases like Biography in Context, but her
students are not in real need of another database.
She discussed her need for a computer lab because they didnt have one to host classes. Instead,
she teaches from the main portion of the library. This moved into how she has updated the
existing dcor of the library with some fresh paint and portraits of prominent minorities.

Recommendations for the Program

I cannot take credit for most of the recommendations for this program. Ms. Chambers was well
aware of the flaws in it. My recommendations are based on things we covered in the interview.
She still has to work on updating the book collection. Her students actually prefer physical books
to IPads. While she did weed out and purchase a great deal of books, she requires more to meet
childrens demands. I will provide more information on this below as this is the focus of the plan.
As mentioned above, Ms. Chambers is aware of needing a lab for lessons. There is not enough
room at the moment. There is a closet attached to the library, roughly 20ft long by 10ft wide, she
would like to convert into a lab. This will obviously require about twenty more computers, some
more desks (pending style and size), twenty chairs, demolition and more funding from the school
and donations. The likely hood of this recommendation is miniscule considering that demolition
of classrooms would be needed to do so, classrooms that are in use. It would also be an
extremely expensive.
The libraries aesthetics need improvement, which she is already in the process of doing. She has
applied for a grant for new furniture.
The one original recommendation I would add to the program is a reluctant readers rewards
system. None exist at the moment. I recommend giving gift certificates or snacks for every five
books someone reads. Time is needed to find organizations willing to participate in donating and
rewarding kids with prizes. Some organizations that tend to help students are McDonalds and
Subway. A meeting with them may prove fruitful.

Action Plan

Objective of the Plan

Because the librarys primary need is an updated collection, the objective of this plan is to
develop a modern collection filled with literature that encourages reading based on student,
teacher, and administrative input. Because most of the budget goes into text books, only 500
books will be added to the collection because it is reasonably large addition that is financially
obtainable.
Person Responsible for Accomplishing Objectives
Ms Chambers is solely responsible for all tasks and collections because there is no one else that
works in the library department.
Funding Required to Accomplish Objective
Approximately $5,750 need to be raised through grants from awards, school funding, and
fundraising. The estimate comes from the collection development assignment I completed.
Books purchased for that assignment were based on the books needed for this collection. I
averaged out how much each book cost and multiplied it by 500 to get an idea of how much will
be needed. This number will ultimately change once an approved list of books exists.
Tasks That Need to Be Accomplished to Meet Goal
In order to accomplish the objective, the librarian needs the help of administrators, teachers, and
students. Firstly, the librarian will have to create student/teacher request forms and surveys to
compile a list of books students want.
Then, the Librarian will browse databases like Novelist to find similar titles to the desired ones.
Afterward, the librarian will seek approval of the list from the principal and attempt to coax her
into giving funds for the books.
Next, the librarian will seek as many applicable library grants needed from organizations like
Oppenheimer Family Foundation and ISLMA. This will require that all applications are filled
properly and submitted in a timely manner.
Afterward, fundraising should be done in between months to ensure that some money is being
earned. This will consist of bake sales, book sales (for weeding), and anything else that can be
imagined.
Lastly, the librarian will buy books with any money earned.
Resources Needed to Accomplish Goal
Student and teacher surveys and purchase requests will be used to gather book information. In
order to round off the list of books, a subscription to databases like Novelist and What Should I
Read Next will be needed to find similar novels to the ones selected by staff and students.
Websites like Amazon and Mackin.com will be used to procure the selected items.
Timeframe Needed to Accomplish Objective

A year is needed to accomplish this objective. Because grants like the Oppenheimer TIG or the
Upstart award have different deadlines, any collection planning should be year round and done
before any grant applications are completed. For this library, teacher/student surveys and input
will be gathered, tabulated, and presented to administration during the month of April prior to the
beginning of the next school year to ensure that most grants with deadlines in September or
October of 2014 can be submitted in a timely manner. Fundraising will be done before the arrival
of any grant money to ensure that money is being earned even without grants. Most grant money
is received around April of 2015. When grant money is collected, books will be purchased
immediately.
Potential Problems That May Hinder Objective
The worst case scenario is that neither the principal nor outside organizations will provide money
to the cause, which will put all funding on fundraising.
Shipments of books may be lost and will have to be replaced in an untimely manner by those
responsible.