Library Media Centers
The BH-BL Library Media Centers provide a thriving learning environment for all students, with collections of fiction and informational books, computer labs and work stations, and age-appropriate physical features from story steps to study carrels. Students are encouraged to visit often, to explore, to learn, and to share.
BH-BL Library Media Department
The BH-BL Library Media Department is comprised of five certified school library media specialists, three full-time clerical assistants, and a K-12 administrator. Together they create and present a rigorous program of information skills and literature appreciation. They build and maintain a robust collection of print, multimedia, and digital resources to support the curricula and to offer quality literature for reading.
On a daily basis, our library media specialists are called on to:
- Provide essential instruction in research skills and information literacy,
- Integrate technology in lesson presentation and in student outcomes,
- Model and foster literature appreciation through book talks and reader’s advisory,
- Create lessons with subject area teachers using the tools of the library,
- Develop and maintain the library’s collection of books, eBooks, eReaders, magazines, CDs, DVDs, along with an extensive web presence for access to our catalogs, databases and themed internet links.
Library Media Curriculum
The K-12 library media program is based on highly regarded state and national standards: the Empire State Information Fluency Curriculum (IFC), the NYS Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS), the American Association of School Librarians Standards, and the International Standards for Technology in Education (ISTE).
The Empire State IFC defines the information literacy and inquiry skills that are important for all students to learn. The IFC includes benchmark skills for grades K-12, and is aligned with NYS CCLS.
From the IFC introduction…
“The Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) for literacy establish a framework to ensure that all students graduate college and career ready. The connections between the CCLS and inquiry skills and strategies are multitudinous and strong. It is through the teaching and learning of information fluency skills that our students can meet the Common Core Learning Standards”
Library Media Program
A sequenced program of library media instruction begins by introducing young students to the format of books, the enjoyment of reading, and the development of responsible book-borrowing habits. Informational text is introduced at a young age to encourage curiosity and develop skills of inquiry. Students learn many different sources for reliable information, including books, databases and the Internet, and develop skills in the ethical use of information.
The instructional program builds on these early literacy skills to develop students’ critical thinking. They use the vast resources of their library media center to search, collect and create meaningful content. Their final projects can be written, oral or digital: a research paper, blog, screencast, PowerPoint or Prezi presentation, poster or Glog, scrapbook, colorful brochure, wiki, movie, song, voice recording, or any of many other production media.
The overriding goal of the program is to prepare students for success in school, college and career, and to encourage a lifelong love of reading and a deep understanding of the power of information, both to learn and to convey ideas.