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Our
Highlander Way Library provides students with a vast range of
materials and services to both enrich their classroom learning and
to enable them to pursue individual interests that lie outside the
realm of our curriculum. |
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| Our library facility, built
originally in the early 1970's and renovated in 2003, is quite spacious and versatile and
can stage a variety of activities simultaneously. The library Kiva, the
sunken area in the center of the library, adds greatly to the functionality
of our space and includes a presentation center with full P.A. support,
large-screen projection from videotape, document camera, DVD or a dedicated, net-connected
PC,
and fully dimmable lighting. Many teachers use the
facility for screening films and staging student presentations and we also host many workshops and
meetings in a typical school year.
Working with an interior designer prior to our renovation, we decided to keep some of the "seventies vibe" intact in the facility, creating what we call a Bauhaus-Meets-Brady Bunch feel that features some saucy color combinations and plenty of period art. And, though we haven't verified it, we think we may be the only library in the free world with a lava-lamp on the circulation desk. |
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Kids doing research projects at our Highlander Way Library learn quickly that real, "grown-up" research means a lot more than just doing a search on Google clicking on whatever happens to top the list of results. They discover that the best way to find things out often means consulting a variety of different media and using a number of different approaches. They also learn that electronic resources vary widely in quality and that many sources available for free on the web aren't suitable material on which to base one's research. We help them out by providing PRIVATE DATABASE LIBRARIES, excellent electronic collections that students can use both in our facility and from home to safely and reliably research both academic topics and subjects they're interested in personally. Our parents love them 'cause their kids can work on research projects using their home computers and access a body of information that's not only 100% reliable, but is also 100% free from pop-up-ads and pornography. In the library, kids are taught to use these potent tools as part of their total information toolkit when they do research projects. | |
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A student researching constellations |
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| Private Databases are just one of
the information services our library makes available through its web site--
there are lots of good resources there.
Though what we offer on the web is available from anywhere there's an Internet connection-- which is a good thing-- it's also important that our students visit the library to learn to properly use the resources the site offers. Remember: school libraries are more than just places that make resources available, they're also classrooms--classrooms where kids learn to learn! And school librarians are teachers first and foremost-- that's why the library research projects we do are so important; they're the means by which we begin teaching information literacy. |
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Print resources still play a vital
role in library research and the typical research project in our
library utilizes the best of what's offered, both in print and electronically.
We try very hard to keep our reference collection stocked with the best age-appropriate resources relevant to our curriculum.
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A student researching constellations |
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| Since we can access certain magazine and newspaper articles-- as well as articles
from selected reference works-- electronically, we often give kids the option to
access the same source in different ways...
A magazine article, for example, can be accessed in original print form in the library or from one of our library's periodical databases from anywhere on the 'net. Yep--When it comes to information, there's more access--and more choices to make--than ever before. |
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Original magazine (left) or a reprint from a periodical database? (right) Take your pick! |
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| So, while kids clearly have
more means of access to greater volumes of information than ever
before, kids also need to spend more time learning about all their
information options...How does one sift through all of the information at hand
and recognize and choose the best information sources for one's needs? How
does one incorporate one's research findings into a paper without
plagiarizing? How does one properly cite a source they've used in a
paper or presentation?
These are increasingly complicated matters these days, so we make it our mission to try and help Highlander Way's kids understand their "world of information."
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Providing information--and teaching the skills to use it-- is only a small part of what we do as a school library, though. Much of what we do has nothing to do with information; instead, it's about something much more important--enrichment. We believe that literacy is one of the keys to a quality life, so, to us, providing our students with good fiction is just as important as giving them fresh air to breathe or healthy food to eat. Without literacy, they cannot fully understand their world or realize their potentials. Unfortunately, the sad fact is that while most infants, toddlers and younger children naturally enjoy being read to and learning to read, the middle school years can easily be ones in which, without careful nurturing, healthy reading habits are lost. Research shows that this is especially true with middle school boys. With that in mind, we try to stock a collection of the most compelling reading for our middle-schoolers. Non-fiction that covers topics they're interested in, magazines they enjoy picking up, and top-quality novels that feature characters that they find believable and relevant to their lives. |
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It's not all serious and lofty stuff, though; lots of it is strictly about fun. That's why we stock magazines about skateboarding, celebrities, fashion, gaming and other topics of high interest to middle schoolers. It's also why we offer comics, manga and graphic novels. [book-length comics] Because we believe that when our kids are pleasantly occupied, reading strictly because they want to, we've got a good chance of ensuring that their reading habits will not only survive through their middle years, but will continue to grow. And when reading habits grow, intellect grows, tastes mature, and futures brighten... | |
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So while the boy pictured on the right, for example, may not seem to be doing any "serious reading," as far as we're concerned at the Highlander Way Library, all reading is serious reading.
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How do we know we're making a difference? An independent study recently confirmed the positive impact good school libraries have on student achievement in Michigan, proving that the stronger a school library is in terms of its staffing and collection and the more the library is used, the greater the reading scores will be among the students those libraries serve. As the study confirmed, good school libraries help kids achieve. Please urge your student to visit the library often. | |
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Library Policies and Facts Personnel: Our Loan Terms: Books, 2 weeks, magazines 1 week. Current magazine issues stay in facility to be shared. Infinite renewal available on items checked out. To facilitate sharing, we apply a five cent per item per day fine for overdue materials, up to a maximum fine of one dollar per item. Students should always bring a library card (Student ID) when they visit. Expectations: In order to ensure a pleasant and workable environment, we enforce a hands-off policy prohibiting unwarranted physical contact between students, and ask that students work as quietly as possible given the task-at-hand. Internet access is provided for classes accessing selected resources by teacher arrangement only; no open searching of the web is available. We also offer: Daily newspapers, an in-house media library of video and audio titles, professional collection and research assistance for teachers, a collection of circulating presentation hardware, a variety of online services and more. See Mr. Hastings for passwords to our private on-line services. Hours: 7:25 to 3:00 p.m., school days. |
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| To read about the nationally marketed research-skills game first played here at Highlander Way, click here. |
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To view the Michigan School Libraries Study demonstrating the positive impact of strong school libraries on student achievement, click here. |
