C. Comprehensive and Collaborative Strategic Planning and Assessment
Three years ago, when I assumed responsibility for managing the library at P. S. 160, our school had just received $500,000 of new technology: laptops, printers, SmartBoards and a school-wide wireless system. Now our teachers and students could access the Library of Congress from their classrooms, but not our school library. We were a card catalog library struggling to keep up with maintaining a manual shelf list and day-to-day circulation requirements.
As a member of the School Based Support Team and active participant in the UFT Executive Board, I took every opportunity to bring the need for library automation before our Administration. Finally, in early February of 2008, P. S. 160 purchased Follet's Destiny software.
Our conversion process has begun and will continue throughout the next year. Every book entered into the automated system is one closer to creating a library asset every member of our learning community will use. Our library resources now reach into the classrooms, homes and PDA's of every student and their families, staff members and administrators.