Philosophy

Given today's rapidly expanding base of information, it is important that each student develop essential library media skills which will enable one to function effectively in the 21st Century.

The Library Media Skills curriculum focuses upon strategies which allow each student to retrieve, interpret, utilize, and evaluate information as it is presented in both print and non-print formats.

While the curriculum responds to the future, it also reflects upon the past. Each student will be introduced to the rich cultural heritage of many nations, as it is viewed in various forms of literature.

Open access to materials must be provided to ensure that students are effective users of ideas and information. The Library Media Skills program will foster competence and stimulate interest in reading, viewing, and using information and ideas. A cooperative effort with other educators will be emphasized to develop learning strategies to meet the needs of individual students.

It is the goal of the Library Media Skills curriculum that each student will become an independent, effective, life-long user of library resources.

Goals

• Demonstrate proper care of books and materials and follow proper circulation procedures.


• Identify and interpret catalog card components in order to locate and retrieve materials.


• Distinguish between fiction and nonfiction.


• Locate, gather, and interpret information from various reference sources, such as encyclopedias and dictionaries.


• Demonstrate the ability to use periodicals to obtain up-to-date information for reports or recreational reading.


• Use the Dewey Decimal System to locate materials.


• Locate information about a person through use of biographical sources.


• Identify the parts of a book.


• Identify and appreciate different kinds of literature.


• Demonstrate the use of computer software and the operation of hardware.