Lowell library serves two distinct populations, APP and Special Education. The mission is the same for each group: Create effective users of ideas and information. To accomplish this mission I have borrowed these words from Barbara Stripling, President of AASL:

"We teach how to find, evaluate and use information, in order to develop their understanding by using information literacy and technology skills."

In the library students have a chance to use the skills that they will need to be effective users of ideas and information.

Information Skills:

The Big Six, the information strategy developed by Michael Eisenberg in use by all Seattle School Libraries, is the backbone of our curriculum. With the partnership of the UW School of Information and Library Science, I am developing curriculum aligned with The Big Six for our students. Children need to know how to research, how to frame questions and how to evaluate information. They come to the library for resources to help them with their research, questions and interests. Our curriculum will teach them critical thinking and information skills. Research skills include the internet and traditional sources such as almanacs, indexes, dictionaries, atlases, etc.

Technology Skills:

"To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information." M. Eisenberg.

Technology literacy teaches how to locate information and how to present information effectively to others using the full gamut of technology; library databases, internet search engines, fax machines, scanners, word processing and presentation software. The Lowell Library has the resources to teach technology skills.

 

Literacy Skills:

The library provides resources of time, books, teaching skills and information to enrich the curriculum and support the entire classroom curriculum. I have aligned the library curriculum with the district's academic standards. Most of our children in the APP program self-select books to read for enjoyment and recreation. At times they need guidance toward better literature and to understand the features of fiction and non-fiction. The library also meets the needs of the Special Education Students with a wealth of beginning books, board books, and other items needed to start and support children with the task of reading and learning.