So far, half of the above funds have been spent, and I am currently working with teachers to select more books to meet student and teacher needs. As the books become available for circulation, the library publishes lists of the new books. As new books replace outdated ones it is exciting to see our library collection become more current and relevant to today's curriculum, and to your students' needs and interests. In addition,, there is NewsBank Data Bank, our on-line subscription, which was also funded by AB862 funds. For those who are not familiar with it, NewsBank is a web-based information resource for teachers and students.
Many students find it helpful in doing their homework assignments.
It includes full-text magazine, newspaper, journal articles, maps, and Spanish Language sources. This service is available wherever there is access to the web, throughout the school as well as on home computers. Another portion of the funds will purchase 4 to 6 computers which will give students, teachers, and classes using the library additional workstations and greater access to information. These new computers added to our existing 8 workstations will give library users a total of 12 to 16 workstations. This increased number will also enable the librarian to teach information retrieval skills to larger groups of students.