Evaluating Reference Services for Students LSSL 5334 02 Infor Services and Resources I

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I visited Edna Nunez, the librarian for M.B. Lamar Middle School. The school has been around for fifty years. However, in 2003 the campus was rebuilt and acquired a new and larger library. Since the school has been opened for so long I was very surprised to find a good amount of reference materials. The area was labeled throughout identifying the location reference materials. There were numerous dictionaries, thesaurus, encyclopedias, atlases, and almanacs. Since the school has a large population of ELLs the library has tried to provide reference materials for diverse populations. I was amazed to find a rather large area for reference materials since most have been replaced by online material. Mrs. Nunez was sweet enough to sit down and answer a few questions.
When I asked regards to the reference materials Mrs. Nunez said that even though the sources are vast there has not been new material bought. She also went on to address how the last reference material purchased was back in 2012. She explained that the only reason why there are reference sources is due to the school being around for so long. Mrs. Nunez explained that there are still many students that do not have internet access at home for that reason she has kept around much of the material. She also said that she considered the budget and found it best to invest in other areas of the collection. This decision was based on data of students leaning more towards online sources.

When I asked about the digital references available for students Mrs. Nunez addressed many points. She stated that the district was trying to become more innovated and integrate technology. This included keeping the library page up to date with links to student resources included reference material. The school has several subscriptions that students can use such as Encyclopedia Britannica Online, LISD digital textbooks, Kahn Academy, EBSCOhost, and GALE.  We have a link for Learning Alley a website with many audio books and BrainPop as well. Mrs. Nunez also mentioned that there were also digital subscriptions for nonfiction material that can be for younger kids such as Tumble Books and Storyline Online. Mrs. Nunez addressed that due to our district adding an enrichment class purchasing subscriptions that can be used by multiple users at the same time is more convenient and beneficial.


When I asked about the future of reference material she pointed out again how the district was emphasizing technology. Considering how online resources are easily accessed and vast development of technology she foresees that investing on print reference materials is not ideal since there is only a limited amount of monies. Mrs. Nunez mentioned that the library welcomes students at any time during the day with a teachers pass. She also opens the library at 7:00 AM for any students wanting to use the computers for reference materials or just leisure reading. During enrichment class she has purchased class sets of fiction and nonfiction books that can be checked out. Each and every classroom has either a set of iPads or computers that can access the library’s page links for resources and she has provided the username and passwords to the teachers.



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