Meagan Oakley

Folkston Elementary School

Survey Stakeholders: Teachers and Administration
Teacher/Librarian Collaboration Survey Questions and Responses
Questions
Question 1: I can help determine what
activities, policies and materials are a
part of the library media program.

Question 2: The resources in the media

center are up-to-date, easy to locate,
well-maintained, and readily available.

Question 3: The media center is

adequately available for my use: whole
class use, small group use or student use.

Responses (out of 25 participants)

Strongly Agree: 1/25
Agree: 16/25
Disagree: 8/25
Strongly Disagree: 0/25

Strongly Agree: 6/25

Agree: 16/25
Disagree: 3/25
Strongly Disagree: 0/25

Strongly Agree: 2/25

Agree: 10/25
Disagree: 9/25
Strongly Disagree: 4/25

Resources: story rug, SMARTboard, up-to-date technology (2), adequate book resources
including a variety of subjects and levels for students and teachers (9), teacher resource
room, DVDs related to curriculum standards

Question 4: List the best

characteristics of your school's library
media program.

Facility: organization (5), cleanliness (2), book levels are clearly labeled, shelf height is
appropriate for all students
Services: technology support, the librarian helps locate materials for lessons taught in class
(2), the librarian helps students find books on their AR level, the librarian listens to teacher
suggestions about resources needed in the library (3), teachers can give grade level standards
to the librarian to help reinforce these skills in a library setting
Other: easy book borrowing system for teachers and students, students enjoy visiting the
library (2), children are encouraged to use the electronic checkout system

Resources: inadequate e-readers for students with disabilities, our library needs a full time
support staff employee
Facilities: the whole group instructional area and story time area are too close and not
conducive to being utilized at the same time

Question 5: List the worst

characteristics of your school's library
media program.

Services: the librarian doesn't have the time to have the students come in for read aloud,
media lessons, etc., the library is not accessible to kindergarten except for twice each week
for 20 minutes - stories are only read to children in the library every third Friday during
extended planning for teachers (2), the librarian has too much responsibility serving as
librarian and the county technology director to adequately fulfill her librarian responsibilities
(3), no lessons on resource standards are conducted by the librarian, students are only
allowed to check out and return books no other programs are offered
Other: friendliness and attitude of the librarian fear of asking questions, students do not
receive sufficient library time (8), unwelcoming atmosphere (3), students are rushed to select
books by the librarian, Pre-K students are not allowed to visit the library, n/a (3)

Question 6: In your opinion, what could

the Media Center do to increase the
use of technology in your school?

Resources: update and include more resources on the media center website, the library needs
a bigger budget to increase technology resources (2), acquire grants to obtain more and
updated technology for the library and classrooms, provide better classroom computers (2),
more e-readers and online books, more computers and iPads (3), offer a COWS program
(Computers On WheelS) with enough laptops available for class checkout, increase
computer/iPad resources in the library and allow students to read and take AR tests in the
library
Services: make teachers more aware of the technology resources in the library and on the
library website, professional development to help teachers utilize new and changing
technology (4), provide classes with opportunities for students to learn about the different
types of technology they have access to as well as how to use them (4), teacher/librarian
collaborative lessons that integrate technology skills, since our county does not allow field
trips our library could provide virtual field trips in the library for each class

Other: the librarian already helps with computers and SMARTboards all the time, the
librarian does a great job, none, I do not know

Question 7: Have you worked with the

Media Center/Media Specialist this
year to co-plan or co-teach a project?
If so, how many times? If not, why?

YES: 7 out of 25 teachers responded yes to collaboration with the librarian. Here are the
reasons why: once - to share technology resources with faculty/staff, she has selected books
to help me teach a lesson in my classroom (2), I provided the media specialist with an outline
of our standards for the year to use during the lessons she teaches to third grade students,
I {3rd grade teacher} have given standards several times that we are working on to use in the
library. We give her standards as a grade level team which means I may not be the one giving
her standards each time, the media specialist and I plan at least two or three times a week third grade has so many standards, so she is a good resource to help our kids, the Media
Specialist asks for input on what lessons she is teaching to my 3rd grade class that day
NO: 18 out of 25 teachers responded no to collaborating with the librarian. Here are the
reasons why: time (5), collaboration is not offered by our librarian (2), no but she has
offered, no - but we have one planned for later this school year, there are not enough
technology resources for all of my students to use them at one time, my class is not allowed
to visit the library because I teach Pre-K, I have only collaborated with my grade level, the
media specialist spends so much time working as technology director that there is no time to
co-teach, not yet but we may schedule a time later this year when we begin working on
research, I do not want to work with her, response of No with no explanation of why (3)

Story time lessons that incorporate teaching of story elements: 18/25

Question 8: In your opinion, what type

of collaboration with the school
librarian would your students benefit
most from? Choose all that apply.

Direct instruction to improve reading skills: 8/25

Content lessons that incorporate the exploration of digital tools: 14/25
Instruction about research skills: 17/25
Other Responses: research, Science and Social Studies topics, the librarian would need to
adjust her attitude before collaboration would be possible

Lack of support staff in the library: 13/25

Question 9: In your opinion, what most

restricts teacher/librarian
collaboration? Choose all that apply.

Lack of appropriate resources needed for collaboration: 6/25

Lack of administrative support for flexible scheduling in the library: 4/25
Lack of common planning time: 12/25
Other Responses: time limitations, busy schedules, not enough time or help, the need for
better scheduling (2), I do not need to collaborate

A calendar for teachers to sign up for collaborative lesson time in the library: 15/25

Question 10: In your opinion, which of

the following would make collaboration
more effective at our school? Choose
all that apply.

A list of pre-designed collaborative lessons for teachers to choose from or get ideas from:
15/25
A collaborative planning lesson outline organizer that includes content and technology
standards, assessment of student learning, activities, resources, and evaluation of the
learning plan: 11/25
Other Responses: no other responses were given for this survey question

Please click the link below to access the survey titled Teacher/Librarian Collaboration:
https://docs.google.com/a/charlton.k12.ga.us/forms/d/1fsCjrVyMt97Yg_3wbUGfDfOaL9bkR0Rtz2EH3YkEvqc/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link

Participation
The Teacher/Librarian Collaboration Survey was sent to the 32 certified teachers and 3 administrators at Folkston
Elementary School. Of the 35 recipients of the survey, 25 teachers participated. The results below show how many
teachers in each grade level/department participated.
Pre-K Teachers: 3/3 teachers participated = 100%
Kindergarten Teachers: 6/6 teachers participated = 100%
First Grade Teachers: 5/7 teachers participated = 71%
Second Grade Teachers: 5/5 teachers participated = 100%
Third Grade Teachers: 4/5 teachers participated = 80%
Special Education Teachers: 1/4 teachers participated = 25%
Specials Teachers (Physical Education and Music): 1/2 teachers participated = 50%
Administration: 0/3 administrators participated = 0%
*Special Notes about participants: the Special Education teacher that participated in the survey teaches a Severe and Profound
Self-Contained Special Education Class and the Specials teacher that participated in the survey is a Music teacher

Analysis & Interpretation of Survey Results

At the beginning of my survey regarding teacher and librarian collaboration at Folkston Elementary School, participants were
asked to consider the activities, policies, resources, and availability of the media center. Most teachers agreed that they were
able to determine the activities and policies of the library. Additionally, most teachers agreed that the resources in the media
center are up-to-date, easy to locate, well-maintained, and readily available. In comparison, when considering availability of the
media center teachers were divided on this decision. Further along in the survey, teachers were asked to list the best and
worst characteristics of the school library media program. Among positive characteristics, many teachers agreed that the
library contains adequate book resources for students and teachers which include a variety of subjects and levels. In addition,
many teachers feel that the library is organized and clean. Another positive trait mentioned is the fact that the librarian
listens to teacher suggestions about resources that are wanted and needed in the media center. Conversely, teachers feel that
the librarian serving as the county technology director is a negative characteristic because her increased duty limits the time
she is able to effectively fulfill her role as a librarian. Because of this, teachers mentioned lack of read-aloud and

technology/media lessons as a negative trait as well. Several teachers listed insufficient library time for students as one of
the worst characteristics of the school library media program. This is interesting because 10 out of 25 teachers selected
agree and 2 out of 25 teachers selected strongly agree as their response to the following statement regarding availability of
the media center, The media center is adequately available for my use: whole class use, small group use or student use.
Teachers were also asked to make suggestions concerning what the media center could do to increase the use of technology in
the school. Many teachers suggested increasing or improving the technology resources that are available in the library and in
classrooms. However, as stated above, most teachers agreed that resources in the media center are up-to-date (this was part
of survey question 2). I think this suggests that participants of the survey might be confusing the roles of our
librarian/technology director. It is true that the computers in our classrooms at FES are in need of updating; however this job
is fulfilled by our librarian as part of her technology director duties. Furthermore, she has informed our school community that
this is a priority to her and she has begun to replace outdated classroom computers over the last couple of years. Another
suggestion to improve the use of technology in our school is to provide professional development in order to help teachers with
new and changing technology. Finding time for professional development is a difficult task for our librarian because she has so
many duties, however one way this could be remedied is by training a few technology experts in the school to re-deliver
information to grade level teams. Our school already has a technology team which our librarian is a member of. If she were to
educate and train grade-level members of the technology team regarding new/changing technology, then these members could
instruct fellow teachers, therefore ensuring the increase of technology usage at FES.
The next portion of the survey allowed teachers to comment on their experience collaborating with the librarian. Sadly, there
were only 7 teachers that responded yes to having collaborated with the librarian. Of these teachers, 4 are third grade
teachers. They collaborate by providing a list of standards they are teaching or an outline of what to teach to the librarian.
Besides this collaboration mentioned by third grade teachers, there were 2 teachers that said they collaborated with the
librarian to find resources to use for a lesson in the classroom and 1 teacher collaborated with the librarian to share technology
resources with the faculty and staff. On the other hand, 18 teachers have not collaborated with the librarian at FES. Most of
these teachers listed time as the reason they have not collaborated. Other reasons for not collaborating included not being
allowed to visit the media center (Pre-K), not wanting to collaborate with the librarian, and 2 teachers think that collaboration
is not offered by the librarian at our school. In addition, 2 teachers mentioned collaboration as a possibility later in the school
year. The data collected from this portion of the survey indicates a need for change concerning teacher/librarian collaboration
at FES.
The final three questions in the survey ask participants to reflect on what they want in terms of collaboration with the media

center and librarian. Survey participants selected types of collaboration that they feel students would benefit most from,
restrictions for collaboration, as well as resources needed to improve collaboration. This data could be used to make a change in
order to make collaboration more prevalent and successful at FES. Most teachers at FES feel that story time lessons that
incorporate teaching of story elements as well as instruction about research skills are valuable collaborative efforts that would benefit
students. In addition, many teachers believe that content lessons incorporating the exploration of digital tools would be advantageous for
students. Furthermore, most teachers feel that lack of support staff and lack of common planning time are factors that restrict
collaboration the most. Finally, the following bulleted list shows teacher selections for making collaboration more effective at FES:
Choice 1: A calendar for teachers to sign up for collaborative lesson time in the library (selected by 5 teachers)
Choice 2: A list of pre-designed collaborative lessons for teachers to choose from or get ideas from (selected by 5 teachers)
Choice 3: A collaborative planning lesson outline organizer that includes content and technology standards, assessment of student
learning, activities, resources, and evaluation of the learning plan (selected by 4 teachers)
Choice 1 and 2 (selected by 4 teachers)
Choice 2 and 3 (selected by 1 teacher)
Choice 1, 2 and 3 (selected by 6 teachers)

I found it interesting that no administrators completed this survey. I think it would have been valuable to have their input on
teacher/librarian collaboration. Specifically, I would have been interested to see their results for question 9 of the survey. This question,
which asks participants to consider what restricts teacher/librarian collaboration the most, offers administrative support of a flexible
schedule as an option for restriction. Though there were not many teachers that listed this as interference for collaboration at our
school, it would have been beneficial to get the perspective of administrators on this survey element. In addition, participation from more
of the teachers in the Special Education department would have been worthwhile in determining what they need/want in terms of
collaboration.
In conclusion, I feel that the results of this survey are beneficial and can be utilized to increase usage of the media center as well as
teacher/librarian collaboration. Upon reviewing these results, I think it would be favorable to begin improving collaboration by employing a
flexible schedule in the media center and creating a few documents to encourage/increase collaboration. It seems that teachers do not
collaborate because they have not had enough leadership about what this entails. It is evident that teachers need to know what type of
collaboration is offered as well as the steps to take in order to participate in collaboration with the librarian. By using this data, changes
to the media center and services provided by the librarian could be made to better meet the needs of the school community.