Assignment2LIBE463

to aid in Collection Development for ** South Meridian **** Elementary Library **
 * Community Analysis **

South Meridian Elementary is located at 16244-13 Avenue which is on the White Rock/South Surrey border. The White Rock / South Surrey area is located in the most southern point of the lower mainland. It is banked by the Pacific Ocean, agricultural reserve land and the US border. Consequently, the area is somewhat isolated from the majority of the City of Surrey. The area is known for its access to the water and beaches. It is primarily considered an affluent area.
 * School and Community **

This is my fourth year working as the teacher-librarian at this school. The school was built in 1990 and the enrollment has declined over the years as the demographic of the neighborhood has changed. The homes in the area are expensive and seem to be too costly for many young families.

**Community profile information** for the White Rock/South Surrey area has been drawn from a report produced by the Fraser Health Authority which is the agency that works to provide health care services to the people of the Lower Mainland. They work in conjunction with other health authorities in the province under the general guidelines of the provincial Ministry of Health. The information will help to provide an understanding of the community context which the school is working in.

· 2009 – 83,800 people · Average age of the residents is 45.4 yrs. · Only 13.5% - 11,320 residents are under the age of 15 yrs. This is lower than other regions · Population under 19 continues to decline
 * Population Statistics ** 1

At present there are several large community facilities to service the younger population. However, over time this may decline as the younger demographic declines. More services may be required at the school level to compensate for the lack of service at the community level.

· 1,185 – only 1.6% of the population
 * Aboriginal population ** 2

** Children at Risk ** 3 · Lowest percentage in the region of Gr.4 & 7 students who could not read at appropriate level · Third lowest rate in the region of children in daycare situation and well below the provincial average.

=Early Childhood Development 4 = · Fraser Health Profile draws from data derived from the EDI Early Development Instrument developed by the University of British Columbia. The EDI rates the vulnerability of young children based on 5 point scale.

· 17% of children under 5 were vulnerable on at least one of the five scales. This proportion is much lower than the provincial average of 28.3%.

** Language spoken ** 5 · Fraser Health Profile draws from data derived from the 2006 Census · 82% English speaking, higher than the provincial average of 83% · 17% non-official language speaking

** Income level ** 6 · Fraser Health Profile draws from data derived from the 2006 Census · Average household income - $86,824 ; provincial average $67,675 · Prevalence of low income – 10.4% ; provincial average %17.3%

These general statistics help to paint an overall picture of the community at large. The income level of the population has facilitated a limited number of children in daycare settings. Additionally, there is a can be a direct correlation between income level and overall success of children at school. Consequently, the overall well being of the children in the community is relatively high. There is a direct relationship between the community and our small school community.

At present our school does not have a current school plan and is in the process of collecting data. The plan is being re-written. The data provided has been taken from the BCeSIS program, which is the new province wide data base for all BC schools. ** Total enrollment – ** 254 ** Division breakdown – ** 11 Divisions Div. 1 & 2 – Gr.6/7 Div. 3 – Gr. 5/6 Div. 4 - Gr. 4/5 Div. 5 – Gr. 4 Div. 6 – Gr. 3/4 Div. 7 – Gr. 3 Div. 8 - Gr. 2 Div. 9 – Gr. 1 /2 Div.10 – Gr. K-1 Div.11 – K ** Aboriginal population ﻿ ﻿7 ** · 2 students out of 254

· 25 students out of 254 English not spoken at home.
 * Language spoken ﻿8 **

** Support programs ** · the school does not have designated meal program · the school activity participates in the district challenge program to provided enriched activities for students · the school participates in all major district sports seasons including basketball, volleyball, cross-country, track & field, badminton · Grade seven students participate in the National Gauss Mathematics competition

Overall the students of the school come from a positive and nurturing home environment. The parent involvement in school activities is high and there is a high expectation by the parents on the staff for high academic achievement from our students.

The majority of the students have adequate access to leisure reading material. The school library supplements what the children have access to in their homes and classroom libraries. Consequently, a good portion of the budget can be spent on strengthening our non-fiction collection to facilitate the academic goals in the classrooms.

** Potential Partners and/or Community Resources **

As the school is located in a busy dynamic community accessible resources are plentiful. Additionally, the Surrey School District is vast, consequently there are a great number of internal resources to access. Following is a list of both community and district resources which will work to support the chosen curriculum area as well as the school collection as a whole.

· There are two public libraries within close proximity to the school. As the school is close to two municipalities the students and the school benefit from the services offered by both of them. The municipality of White Rock is home to the White Rock Library which is part of the Fraser Valley Regional Library System. Additionally, there is the Semiamoo Library which is one of the South Surrey branches of the Surrey Public Library. Both of these public libraries systems offer services to the Surrey schools. The Surrey Public library has recently issued school library cards to all schools in our district. These cards provide access to all the databases the public library subscribes to.

· The community of White Rock is home to it own museum. The museum is located in what was formerly the White Rock Train Station. It offers information about the history of rail transportation in the community. Transportation is one of the topics of study in the Grade five curriculum.

· The Surrey Museum is located approximately 30 min. from the school in the Cloverdale area of Surrey. The museum offers many school programs. There are three or four programs pertaining to the Grade five curriculum. = · The Semiahmoo First Nation reserve is located within walking distance of the school. The district offers aboriginal educational opportunities to the school by district Aboriginal workers. The Aboriginal department operates a lending library of resources and materials that can be used by teachers in their classrooms. =

· Information about services offered by the City of White Rock which could support other aspects of the Grade 5 curriculum can be located through the Culture and History branch of Tourism BC. []

= · Historic Stewart Farm House is located about 20 minutes away from the school at 13723 Crescent Road. The farm house offers school programs including one specific to the Grade 5 curriculum addressing immigrant issues. = = Immigrant Traditions & Culture (Gr 5–6) Explore the daily life and work of Scottish and Chinese settlers on a farm at the beginning of the 20th century. Through role play and Teaching Collection objects, students experience the cultural traditions of immigrants, and discover how economy and technology influenced farm life in early Canadian society. = = [] = = = = District support and partnerships: =

· The Surrey School district is the second largest district in the province of BC. Consequently, there are many services within the district to support the school. Previously mentioned, was the Aboriginal Education Department, however in addition to that there are resource teacher in the various curriculum areas including Social Studies and Information Technology. These resource teachers provide ongoing support to the classroom teachers as requested.

· Each teacher and student in the Surrey School District has school and home access to all school library catalogues. Although there is not an official inter-library loan system in place, teacher-librarians have an informal system whereby resources can be shared between schools and shipped via the school courier system. The catalogs are web based and students and staff are encouraged to check them. **Surrey School Catalogues** are located on the webpage [|library.sd36.bc.ca]

· The school district uses a communication program called First Class to host district email accounts as well as professional information exchanges called conferences. The teacher-librarians have one of the most active information exchange conferences. Through this tremendous conference a teacher-librarian is able to learn about resources and opportunities available for individual schools.

** Grade 5 Social Studies Collection Development: **

There are two classes of grade 5 students, approximately 25 students. Both classes of students are in split classes. These students were divided to facilitate better classroom management as there are a number of students requiring special considerations in this one particular grade. Consequently, careful attention will need to be given to the selection of the resources to ensure they meet student need.

The two teachers are both experienced teachers. They both make extensive use of technology within their classrooms. Additionally, they both use a wide variety of ways that students can show there learning. In both classes drama is used extensively.

At present the library collection is used minimally as the resources are insufficient. I support the classrooms as they use the technology by providing extra co-operative time in the rooms. Additionally, during library classes I integrated information literacy instruction into the student lessons.

The library schedule is considered a fixed schedule as I am in the school on specific days and I provide primary prep. coverage in the way of library classes for the primary teachers. Woven into the schedule is time for co-operative teaching. These times are flexible and available to all teachers as required.

** Concluding comments: **

Closely analyzing the school community that I am servicing has been extremely beneficial. It affirmed information I already believed to be true. However, I believe I only had a good understanding of the community because I have worked within it for four years. I believe learning the process was quite beneficial as in the future I will be able to apply the process when assigned to a new site.

Bishop mentions making use of surveys for both staff and students as a way to obtain community information. I concur with Bishop. I survey my staff and students at the beginning of each year. I issue written surveys to staff and older students and conduct simple verbal surveys with younger students. I find the surveys extremely helpful in keeping up with what are the current reading ‘hot ticket’ items. For example, it was through my reading survey I learned how popular Suzanne Collins had become over the summer.

As Bishop mentions it is through an understanding of the community one is able to make positive collection development decisions.

Bibliography __ Community Profile 2010. South Surrey/White Rock Local Health Area. __ Fraser Health Authority. Prepared by Decision Support Services. March, 2010. Retrieved from [] January 29, 2011.

South Meridian Elementary School. BCeSIS Data Report as of January 25, 2010.

1 Community Profile 2010. South Surrey/White Rock Local Health Area. Fraser Health Authority. Prepared by Decision Support Services. March 2010. p. 8. 2 Community Profile 2010. p.9 3 Community Profile 2010. p.10 4 Community Profile 2010. p.11 5 Community Profile 2010. p.16 6 Community Profile 2010. p.15 7 BCeSIS Report Data South Meridian as of January 25, 2011. 8 BCeSIS Report Data South Meridian as of January 25, 2011