School library annual report from The Galloway School in Atlanta, Georgia

1. Galloway ML/UL Library
Annual Report June 2013
Prepared by Marcia Kochel, Head Librarian
Annual Report, Page 1

2. Highlights and New Initiatives
Redesigned summer reading for UL and ML. UL students now
participate in self-selected book clubs. All ML students and teachers
are reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio and teachers will be doing
related activities all year.
Collaborated with teachers at all grade levels (5th-12th) on
information literacy skills and research
Developed a research process and corresponding webpage
Began providing digital audiobooks through Catalist
Continued to encourage 8th grade readers by doing booktalks
quarterly for outside reading; also added new 8th grade genre lists
for dystopia, nonfiction, biography, and historical fiction
Three student book clubs had record student participation
Sponsored first-ever ML reading bowl team
Held first annual National Poetry Month Poetry Reading for UL
Good News
Circulation for the library as a whole continues to grow each year in
spite of the increase in digital books. (Stats include EL, ML, and UL.)
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013 23337
19332
17950
13592
Total Library Circulation by Year
Annual Report, Page 2

3. Circulation Stats
Total Print Items: 22,921
Average Age of Collection: 1999
Total Circulation (teachers and students pre-k-12): 23,337
ML Circulation: 3,104 UL Circulation: 851
Digital Reading
Library Kindles: 12
Kindle Circulations: 121
Kindle Books in Collection: 112
Digital Audiobooks on Catalist in
2012-2013: 61
New Audiobooks Added in June: 42
Digital Audiobook Checkouts: 150 since
April 2013
BrainHive eBooks: A digital collection of
over 4,000 eBooks available to Galloway families
Annual Report, Page 3
5th
929
6th
892
7th
642
8th
641
By Grade Level
9th
352
10th
107
11th
310
12th
82
By Grade Level
5th and 6th
graders
circulate the
most, but 7th
and 8th graders
are hanging in
there.
Circulation drops
dramatically in UL and
most of it is for 9th and
11th grade research
projects. I would love to
see more UL students
reading for fun.

4. Highlights of 2012-2013
LibGuides
We use LibGuides as our
platform for creating research
guides for classes at Galloway.
Our guides give students all the
information they need to
successfully complete research
projects, including direct links to
the best databases and web sites.
Most popular LibGuides used by
students for research: 7th grade
geography, 8th grade science:
alternative energy, 5th grade history
research projects, 11th grade American Studies CTR, UL Spanish
resources, 5th grade science: mammals, 10th grade English: Biblical
allusions.
Online Presence
The Galloway Library Student Center website is
updated frequently to reflect what is happening
in the library and in classrooms. It includes the
following
The Galloway Library News blog
Ms. Kochel’s Book Blog
Book Club updates
A photo gallery
Links to our databases, LibGuides, and NoodleTools.
Annual Report, Page 4
Page views this year: 42,642!

5. Curriculum and Instruction
The UL/ML library serves students from 5th through 8th grades. One
of our main goals is to teach research and information literacy skills
in collaboration with teachers of all disciplines.
Some examples of the library instruction that we do
include website evaluation, citing sources in MLA
and APA styles, advanced Google searching, using
the Creative Commons for copyright free media, and
using Google Docs and Noodle Tools for
collaboration. When classes visit the library we
frequently assist them in using the library’s
databases and teach them how to find resources in
print and on the internet.
Some major areas of collaboration this year include the following
5th grade research projects—art history, mammals, Civil War, and
more (Amy Zupancic and I share 6th grade instruction)
6th grade history “Library 101” lessons about copyright, library
searching, and comparing databases
7th grade English/Social Studies research and blogging
8th grade research projects—poets, alternative
energy, the Civil Rights Dinner Party, and more
9th grade science annotated bibliography project—
includes an introduction to scholarly journals via
our science databases and Google Scholar
10th grade English research—Biblical Allusions paper
11th grade American Studies Conceptual Trace Report
12th grade senior comp research—this year focused on periodicals
and scholarly resources
Annual Report, Page 5

6. A Community of Readers
Annual Report, Page 6
Double Dog DEAR
ML Advisors read books chosen
by their advisees
Library Aides
Fabulous UL library aides worked
all year on special projects
WebCasts
Students were invited to
webcasts with JK Rowling and
Taylor Swift
Author Visits
Peter Lerangis spoke to 5th and
6th graders
Author Skypes
ML students skyped with Laura
Rsau, Roland Smith, and Neal
Shusterman
Book Bling
We gave out a lot of beads on
ML Book Bling Day
All Night Read In
47 ML students spent the night
in the library
National Poetry Month
UL students enjoyed a poetry
reading in April
Reading Bowl Team
ML students competed in a
reading bowl for the first time

7. Community Building
Annual Report, Page 7
Love Your Library
We celebrated Valentine’s Day
with free hot chocolate
Summer Checkout
ML and UL students checked
out up to 25 books over the
summer
Spring Break Photos
ML students have fun reading
over spring break
Wonder
First-ever ML All-School Read
kicked off in May
No More Bummer Reading
New UL summer book clubs
make summer reading more
enjoyable
Staff Summer Book Clubs
Faculty and staff get summer
book clubs as well

8. Book Clubs
Annual Report, Page 8
UnboundBookClub
We met every Monday afternoon all year with 36 fifth-
seventh grade students regularly attending (a record-setting
number). We read and discussed lots of books and did many
book-related activities. Sponsors include Dana Eisenman, Jill
Starkman, Amy Zupancic, and Marcia Kochel.
UntitledBookClub
We met monthly all year at lunch/recess in Ms.
Chapman’s room with about 10 seventh and eighth
grade students regularly attending. This group has
strong opinions about books which leads to lively
discussions.
UnnamedBookClub
We gathered monthly beginning in the winter with 9th and10th graders who used to be members of the Untitled
Book Club and wanted to keep talking about books. We
met with Ms. Chapman and had fun discussing our reading
and making plans to expand in UL next year.

9. Leadership
Professional Development and Involvement
Member of Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen
Readers Committee (3-year-term)
Attended Georgia COMO Conference (Council of Media
Organizations) and presented with Georgia Peach Teen
Book Award Committee
Attended American Association of School Librarians
(AASL) Fall Forum on Transliteracy
Kennesaw State’s Children’s and Young Adult Literature Conference
Attended Atlanta Area Technology Educator’s meetings (AATE)
Attended Georgia Independent School Librarians meetings (GISL)
BrainHive eBook beta tester and member of BrainHive advisory board
Contributions at Galloway
Part of Professional Development Committee; designed PD website and
application process
Member of FACT2 Committee and Tech Team
Wrote successful application for Galloway to be on the National Historic
Register
Taught two ML electives: Human Rights and Great Scots Digital
Magazine
Chaperone for UL hiking excursion
6th grade advisor and part of 6th grade team meetings and immersion
Recipient of Harvest Award for work
against human trafficking
New Research Process
Together with Peter Emmons,
developed a research process with
corresponding website based on Barbara
Strip7ling’s Information Literacy model.
Shared with social studies teachers this year, planning to expand its use
next year. http://gallowayschool.libguides.com/researchprocess
Annual Report, Page 9

10. Goals for 2013-2014
Middle Learning
Work more on systematically integrating research skills and the new research
process. Be more proactive about approaching teachers and planning with them.
Continue to work with social studies teachers but expand to harder-to-reach
subjects such as math and science. Build relationships with new English and
social studies teachers.
Upper Learning
Plan with 9th and 10th grade English for setting the stage for high school research
skills. Approach more teachers to get involved with integrating technology and
with copyright issues. Build relationships with new social studies and science
teachers. Encourage UL students to read more for pleasure.
Long Range Planning
Start a formal process to plan for the 21st Century Library (including changes to
ML/UL library space and making EL a more technology-rich, interactive
program).
Annual Report, Page 10