Michigan DOE Video Shows Importance of School Libraries
RSSBy SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 01/28/2009
Here’s one more way to help prove the value of your jobs. The Library of Michigan and Michigan Department of Education have unveiled a new video that highlights the need for fully stocked media centers led by qualified librarians.
The “21st Century Media Center” video is geared toward stakeholders who influence school library programs in Michigan schools—people such as superintendents, building-level administrators, school boards, parent groups, community leaders, legislators, and educational associations—and is intended to benefit the educational success of Michigan's K-12 students..
The idea of a video started three years ago with one simple question: “What could we at the Library of Michigan do to best support school library media centers and powerfully tell the story of just how valuable these centers are?" says State Librarian Nancy Robertson.
The Michigan School Library Initiative Group felt a video would be the most powerful and accessible tool with which to educate stakeholders because it would be simple to include a variety of examples about the benefits of school media centers. It would also be easy to make the video accessible to a very wide audience.
So members of the Michigan School Library Initiative Group met twice that first year for preliminary discussions and as more members joined the group, Robertson says, it made sense to divide the focus into two areas: a standards subcommittee, to focus on “Guidelines for Michigan Library Media Programs,” a document crafted in 2003 by the Michigan Association for Media in Education; and a marketing subcommittee geared toward finding the “right product” to best illustrate the value of school library media center standards and programs.
Robertson says a properly staffed media center is the best place to nurture 21 Century skills for today's students. “There is so much information out there and available to kids today, and not all of it good,” she says. “It's not about just clicking the mouse and seeing what answers you can find; it's about learning how to navigate myriad informational resources and developing the 21st-century analytical skills that will help students of any age determine a course of action."
Nancy Larsen, a Clarkston Community Schools media specialist, wrote the script; and video specialist Mike Maison of the St. Clair County Intermediate School District, helped with production.
Robertson applauded the video, which was produced with the help of the Michigan Association for Media in Education, the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning, Wayne State University, and representatives from several intermediate school districts and regional educational media centers.
Others involved in the project included people from the K-12 and university learning communities, “the ones who see firsthand and understand the variety of educational challenges facing today's students.”
"This is a compelling video that clearly tells the story of why school library media centers matter a great deal to the success of Michigan's K-12 students," says State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan. "If Michigan is to turn out highly educated and information-savvy students who can confidently make their way in life, in business or in any setting, then our school media centers must be considered an integral part of the education process.".
