Garland V. Stewart Middle Magnet School, 1125 Spruce Street, Tampa, Florida 33607
http://stewart.mysdhc.org/teacher/0284loper/
Stewart Middle School is a magnet school for grades 6-8 in Hillsborough County. It focuses on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. I have had assignments to cover public school libraries before and have covered elementary and high school. However, I've never observed or interacted with a middle school library. Hence the reason I chose Stewart.
Ms. Diana Loper is the Media Specialist for Stewart. She grew up in Hillsborough County and attended school at the University of South Florida (USF). She earned a Bachelor's in Sociology and went to work for the Hillsborough County Public Library system for 2 years at the Seminole Heights, West Tampa, and Germany branches. She was first a page, then a library assistant, and then a library technology assistant before returning to USF. She was a Graduate Assistant for Drs. Perrault & Slone while there. She earned her MLIS in 2009 and started at Stewart Middle School in March 2010. So she has been a school librarian for a shorter time than I have, though I do not yet have my MLIS. Although she is a degreed and certified librarian, she is being required to take ACP classes (18 hours) with Hillsborough County Schools, which is a part of her continuing education. She is doing this at her own expense. Diana stays current by also educating herself through a subscription to School Library Journal, Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), conferences, county meetings, and professional learning communities (PLCs). She also advocates through HASLMS and "a lot of professional development books."
Diana said she didn't really choose to go into this profession. She just kind of "fell into it" upon her return from Nicaragua. It was at that time that she said she realized she needed a 'real' job. Her former boyfriend's mom was a librarian at the Seminole Heights library branch and needed a page. After her B.A. at first she didn't really want to be a librarian. She waited four months for a full-time position to open up again at the public library. Also, as a GA it helped to pay her college tuition and the public library didn't. She decided to choose a school library because she felt jaded by the public library. It was poorly managed, and after talking to others, she decided a research library also just wasn't for her.
Diana is a member of the Florida Association of Media Educators (FAME), Hillsborough Association of School Library Media Specialists (HASLMS), and the Hillsborough County Classroom Teachers' Association (HCCTA). She attends FAME conferences and some HASLMS meetings. Diana has provided community service by providing a book bus with free books for her students, book fairs, and volunteer projects, such as the recent river cleanup project behind her school.
Diana loves her school. She is fortunate to work with a school whose school policy is that everyone has a book in their possession each day. Stewart is a diverse magnet school, stressing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). They are a NASA Explorer school and have a maritime program. The students come from as close as Davis Islands and as far away as Apollo Beach. The library is not really open to the public, though it remains open to students 7:15a.m. to 2:50p.m. It is open all the time to staff, especially since the copiers are housed here. There are 875 students and 100 staff, all served. A few never come in. Special services that are provided include books in Spanish, audiobooks, ADA accommodations, and Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Diana's county supervisor is Christine VanBrunt, who is over all secondary schools. Her immediate supervisor is her principal.
The library has a webpage, and Ms. Loper keeps a library blog with EduBlogs, but little other social media. This is because the county blocks sites such as Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter. Ms. Loper has applied for a DonorsChoose grant, which has matching funds through the Gates Foundation in cooperation with Hillsborough County. She maintains a Goodreads bookshelf to keep her students up-to-date on what she is reading and to provide ratings and reviews of each book. Her online calendar is tied into Google and provides information such as which volunteer is working and when, and what programs are going on in the library. Horizons is the computer program used here, same as the public library and all other public schools. Other technology includes a library lab of thirty computers and video cameras which are used for making book promotion commercials. Students will begin taking on this responsibility next year.
The library is a small one with no windows. It was relocated from the second floor into the original cafeteria. The structure includes an AV room, copy room, workroom, tech/morning show room, storage room, and a bathroom. Ms. Loper gave up her office to be used as a workroom because she felt she could see students and manage what was going on in the library better by moving her desk out near the circulation desk. The library is carpeted and currently is dressed up by a collection on loan with pictures taken by the Hubble satellite. With a collection of approximately 12,000 books and materials, she is proud to say she has one of the highest circulation rates in the county schools. She has worked hard to get it there by emphasizing the culture of literacy, working on collection development, and maintaining a suggestion box. Multiple copies are offered for high-demand books, along with book fairs, where students are rewarded with the opportunity to pick out new books to add to the library shelves (Kids' Choice). She strongly believes in getting kids' hands on what they like to read, and in this library it means the latest in graphic novels. Her administration is highly supportive and the media center is never closed with the exception of required meetings. She does all of this on her own and is assisted by 15 student assistants. The library secretarial position was lost this past year due to cuts.
When asked why she chose this age level to work with, she laughed and said she felt she related better to young teens. She felt when she substituted for a short while and worked with elementary students she was constantly 'dumbing down' to talk with them. She appreciates the teens more intellectually and feels you can broach topics with them that you can't with younger kids. Social issues come up with teens and they are just beginning to think independently at this fun age. If asked, she'd do it all over again. As well she should. Stewart Middle School and Ms. Loper appear to be the perfect match!
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