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Running head: Library Media Literacy 1

Library Media Literacy

Name

Institution

Library Media Literacy 2

Strategies and Tools for Information Literacy

Library Media Centres are hubs of information to readers who are majorly students.

Through electronic, print and other forms of media, the library media specialists avail to the

students all the resources they need to make them better consumers of information, better

users and ultimately successful creators of this information. From the research conducted by

the KRC, two major observations were made - that many students and their parents feel that

the library media programs fit the elementary learners who upon getting older are in no need

of guidance of computer use and that the library media specialists are not trained and learned

professionals. (Baker, 2016). This disparaging perception is heart breaking and for this

reason, the American Library Association and American Association of School Librarians

have established a campaign countrywide to help the library media specialists in better

delivery of services. The public is emancipated of the value of these specialists and the career

opportunity in school librarianship.

The first strategy used is the social marketing. Just as it used in the rest of the world to

promote goods and service produced in a market, when used for libraries, it realizes social

benefits. The target groups of people change their attitudes and opinions on how things are

done for the betterment, and reinforcing current positive practices. Interest in the students is

sparked to make them see that they will surely benefit from the library programs. This results

the interested parties of students, teachers and parties developing a sense of ownership by

bursting any stereotype and know that the library welcomes all with a professional staff to

guide them in their areas of need. Different brands of the services provide are made known

unto all people concerning the print and non-print media and the internet services.

(Garoufallou, Siatri, Zafeiriou, & Balampanidou, 2013).

Library Media Literacy 3

Another strategy that is used is the media relations with the public. Students, parents,

teachers and administrators are reached with a number of media like newsletters and

newspapers, all forms of publications, TV stations and radio stations too which close to every

school owns. In these, important communications and announcements are made like rallying

to the students when the media centres shall be re-opened, an awareness of special grants or

even awards to be offered, among others. This tool and strategy to boost information literacy

has scored fairly in the past and should be used the more.

Reaching out also is another strategy and tool used. Faculty and administrators,

students, parents, caregivers and the community at large is reached out unto. Ways on how

library information literacy are developed. For example, on the students’ side, they are taught

to take part in the marketing promotions, they are welcomed to share their success stories and

inviting other students to showcase their collections and projects done. This will inspire those

who have not tried yet. The students with disabilities are also reached with relevant

technologies. It is highly encouraged that the language to be used is very sensitive. The staff

is also taught on how to communicate with them in a friendly manner. (AlKindi, & Al-Suqri,

2013).

The final strategy to cover in this piece is collaboration. Collaboration is done with

good communication. Some of the collaboration tools include pre-service toolkit for teachers,

collaborative lesson plan, k-6 library skills guidance and many others. Teachers when

working together with the librarian, they can design co-teach units of instruction, schedule

and plan units for library research, provide as many opportunities of accessing the library and

its resources as possible. Since the librarian and other specialists have an upper hand

expertise, they are entrusted to come up with reading initiatives to be used school-wide.

Library Media Literacy 4

With the tools and strategies employed in Libra Media Centres, the Commission of

Higher Education working hand-in-hand with the ALA sets standards expects in information

literate students: they must know the scope of the information they need, the access of this

information must be efficient and effective, the tasks given must be accomplished whether

done individually or group-wise, the information being searched for be filtered critically and

finally the student must express a thorough knowledge socio-economic and legal issues and

know how to use collected information legally and very ethically.

Fieldwork Site Observations and Interview

Amid all these campaigns raised due to a misunderstanding of the value of our

librarians and specialists in this field, I managed to conduct an interview with one of the

specialists in my former high school, Jane, and she revealed a lot that will prove very useful

to every student and parent.

Me: do we really need a physical library in this era with the advent of the computer and

internet?

Jane: the internet is, without contradiction useful but the libraries are not all about books.

The specialist team is placed in the library to help both students and teachers in achieving the

goals. All needs students may be having cannot be fully addressed by the internet. For

teachers, they get a chance of develop some engaging projects to shape critical skills needed

of students in this 21

century.

Me: In the place of media specialists, can we have people volunteering to offer the very

services you do offer?

Library Media Literacy 5

Jane: Many people fail to appreciate the work we do as a profession. So little people have the

required expertise to handle the influx witnessed in our library. The young and old need

someone who understands what they need. So volunteers may not really help.

Me: Can you advice any youngster to opt to be a librarian?

Jane: absolutely yes. Besides the financial side, one gets a lot of satisfaction by leading the

young into discovering their future. Changing the lives of people is a service satisfying the

soul. We are paid equal amount with classroom teachers, so it’s not derogatory to tell

someone to take this job.

Me: how can you define ‘information literacy’?

Jane: it simply means that ability to locate what you want from the vast ocean of resources.

The guiding questions are very important and the internet here dismally fails in providing

complete answers with information to the questions raised.

Me: Why is there a sharp decline in the number of students visiting the library?

Jane: On the contrary, more students are flocking the library day by day. The school website

heavily receives traffic of students performing their research projects and homework. More

students should join these ones for their own benefit.

I experienced the reality of the success stories of the usefulness of the Library Media

Centre. From a few interactions I had with some students, they acceded that just like model

students in the success stories, they have tremendously improved in their knowledge on how

to use the library resources. One confessed that previously she was a culprit of plagiarizing

from the internet in her social studies but currently she can handle projects and assignments

not fully internet-dependent. Courtesy of the library specialist, she has garnered research

skills in line with the information literacy program of the library.

Library Media Literacy 6

From the interview, I realized that despite the thorough campaigns made by the ALA

and AASL, much needs to be done to change the face of our libraries on how the services are

conducted out so that the young generation can achieve the most and make full use of the

available resources to shape their future.

Application of Theory to Fieldwork

The main aim of information literacy is to impart into the learners the necessary

learning skills, how to use the information abundantly available in the libraries with the

available resources. Having obtained this information, the students are to evaluate it, critique

it and use it to evaluate some results in a very responsible and ethical manner. Virtual

Learning Environment (VLE) is the best example of literacy skills applied to students for

information mining without necessarily replacing the classroom environment. Their role has

been complementary to want the classrooms provide. Books, journals, reports, research

papers, tutorials and many other documentations are uploaded for a good number of persons

to access. It makes it a library cum classroom because it is possible to have online discussions

on these forums. In addition to the afore mentioned resources, web applications can now be

integrated into the systems like blogs, wikis and other web 2.0 versions of applications. They

are very user friendly for learning. (Gikas, 2013, p.20)

There is undeniable evidence of how many kinds of students of different levels of

learning have benefits from this program that has been adopted practically under the literacy

skills in the 21

century skills. All disciples- engineering, nursing, law, humanities and social

sciences, psychologists, lawyers, economists at under-graduate, masters and PhD levels have

used the platform for advanced research, confidence building and anti-plagiarism writing,

projects and postgraduate software trainings. Therefore, the often taught skills in Library

Library Media Literacy 7

Media Centres is not an act of futility, many people have benefited from the program under

the model of the VLEs.

Library Media Literacy 8

References

AlKindi, S. S., & Al-Suqri, M. N. (2013). Social networking sites as marketing and outreach

tools of library and information services. Global Journal of Human-Social Science

Research.

Baker, F. W. (2016). Media literacy in the K-12 classroom. ISTE.

Garoufallou, E., Siatri, R., Zafeiriou, G., & Balampanidou, E. (2013). The use of marketing

concepts in library services: a literature review. Library Review, 62(4/5), 312-334.

Gikas, J., & Grant, M. M. (2013). Mobile computing devices in higher education: Student

perspectives on learning with cellphones, smartphones & social media. The Internet

and Higher Education, 19, 18-26.

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