I picked the school library where I work. Yorktown High School is located in Arlington, Virginia. Using Dr. Kimmel’s prompts, I saw the library with a fresh set of eyes. Yorktown is the smallest of the three comprehensive high schools in Arlington County, serving 9th-12th grade students. The library serves 2,515 students and 270 staff members (Virginia Department of Education, n.d.). 

Space and Physical Access

The library is on the school’s first floor in a central location, accessible to students and staff. There is one book drop outside the library and a large book display of discarded books for patrons to keep and take home. The discarded collection is bustling during our weeding season. There are two glass doors to enter the library and two to exit. As soon as you enter the library, two laptops are set up for students to sign in for attendance purposes. Students must sign in whenever they visit the library unless accompanied by a teacher. The sizeable L-shaped service desk is behind the sign-in laptops where our student aids sit to assist with clerical tasks, checking in books, shelving, and renewing materials. Yorktown library offers self-checkout for patrons using a touchscreen monitor, a numerical keypad to type in their student ID, and a scanner to scan materials. Our student aids, myself, and librarians are always available to help patrons should they need assistance. 

One teaching space is equipped with a Smartboard, DVD player, and whiteboard. The collaborative work area includes several tables and chairs, and the reading den provides comfortable seating. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we offered a small makerspace with games, coloring books, and a make-your-own bookmark station (Arlington Public Schools, 2022). We hope to bring back our makerspace soon and expand it. According to Rubin and Rubin (2020), “Makerspaces allow students to explore, share, create, and solve problems together” (p. 124). In previous years our Makerspace was one of the busiest areas in the library. Students looked forward to creating and socializing with their peers over shared interests. 

There is one printer free of charge and six iPad catalog stations at varying heights throughout the library. Students can also access our catalog via their devices. There are no computers available for patrons, but students are issued MacBooks when they enter 9th grade and usually have them on hand when they visit the library. However, it would be helpful to have a few laptops available to students. One resource closet houses the DVDs, yearbooks, the College and Career section, and the Professional collection. This closet is typically locked. If patrons need materials from these collections, they must ask for assistance. Rubin and Rubin assert that access to the collection and facilities should be free and open, and creating closed or restricted shelving should be resisted” (p. 520). It would be worth having the resource closet available for equal access. 

There is one large library office that the two librarians and myself share. 

The entrance of the library could need some updating. The service desk is dark and large, and the lighting at the door is dim. However, once you walk past the service desk, there’s a wall of windows brightening up the space and skylights above the reading den. In addition, the library walls are covered with diverse posters and displays. 

Services and Intellectual Access

There is a bulletin board at the library entrance to learn about upcoming and current programming. Recent events include TAB (teens talking about books), book clubs, chess club, variety show auditions, information about the spring musical, and heritage month book giveaways. 

The signage for sub-locations is clear; however, the nonfiction and fiction could be improved by making the signage more extensive and more cohesive. The collection is organized by Dewey using the author’s last name. The flow of the nonfiction and fiction sublocations feels disjointed at times and on occasion has been confusing for patrons to locate items. Ranganathan’s fourth law is “save the time of the reader” (Rubin & Rubin, 2020, p. 542). Improving the flow and call number signage, particularly in the nonfiction and fiction areas, would save patrons time locating materials. 

All students and staff are welcome at Yorktown Library. Although most students identify as white, we cater to our minority students, students with disabilities, and students who are LGBTQ+ by offering a diverse collection, displays, posters, and featuring diverse authors. Additionally, the stacks are ADA accessible to accommodate the width of wheelchairs. 

Collections

There are 17,698 items in the catalog featuring print and digital resources (Destiny discover, n.d.). The print collection encompasses 70% of the collection with 12,370 items, and the digital collection includes eBooks and eAudio with 5,328 items. In addition, there are 5,601 print books classified as fiction and 5,725 nonfiction print books (Titlewise Analysis, 2022).

The print collection includes Graphic Novels/Manga, Biographies, Everyone/Picture, Languages, College and Career, Professional, Choose your adventure, Story Collection, Large print, Local History, and Reference. There are also 519 DVDs in fiction, nonfiction, biographies (Titlewise Analysis, 2022), and 25 Storytime kits (Destiny discover, n.d.).

The digital collection offers eBooks and eAudio. 57% of the digital collection consists of fiction titles, while the remaining 36% is nonfiction (Titlewise Analysis, 2022). The average copyright age for the print collection is 2011, and for digital, it is 2016 (Titlewise Analysis, 2022).

Additionally, Yorktown Library offers special collections not cataloged, such as magazines, newspapers, and yearbooks. Other borrowed or accessed items in the library are headphones, batteries, laptop chargers, phone chargers, two charging stations, free book giveaways, and student supplies (Arlington Public Schools, 2022).

APS offers many databases for students and staff, including 

Britannica: Online School Edition and Britannica Escolar.

Gale: Academic OneFile, Biography, Books and Authors, Gale eBooks, Health and Wellness, Elementary, Middle, Directory Library, Literature, Literature Resource Center, Literature Criticism Online, National Geographic Kids, OneFile News, Opposing Viewpoints, Peterson’s Career Prep, Science in Context, U.S. History in Context, and World History in Context. 

Other standalone databases: PebbleGo, Biography for Beginners, World Almanac, JStor, NoodleTools, ProQuest, Teen Health and Wellness, Teaching Books, TumbleBooks, and WorldBook. APS uses two apps to access eBooks and eAudio, Destiny Discover and MackinVia (Arlington Public Schools, n.d.). 

Accessibility issues include the two highest, and lower bookshelves may be challenging for patrons to reach. Additionally, patrons must be logged into the library’s canvas page while not on campus accessing the databases. If a student is not enrolled in the library canvas page, they do not have access to our databases at home.

Digital Access

Yorktown’s library webpage, https://yhs.apsva.us/library/ is straightforward to navigate. The homepage features a revolving banner of photos and links to enroll in the library canvas page and patriot period, similar to a study hall. You can also view recent library Twitter posts. There are several links to navigate the library website. To learn more about the library, one can select the next tab, “About Yorktown Library.” Listed here, you will find library policies. The catalog, Destiny Discover, is also accessible to patrons using the link provided on the website. You can also find information about citations, eBooks and eAudio, a link to the public library, and research databases. We also provide information for teachers such as professional development resources, copyright information, SOL resources, video streaming information, and lesson plans/learning resources. 

None of the staff is on the website. However, once enrolled in the canvas course, patrons can view the librarians’ photos and contact information and the library media assistant’s (me) photo and contact information. According to ALA (2019a) as cited in Rubin and Rubin (2020), “libraries should provide training to improve user access to digital resources” (p. 523). Other features on the library canvas page are library tutorials on navigating the library page, databases, ebooks, and library orientation videos for new users. Students may also request a 1:1 appointment with a librarian, suggest a book purchase, and find information on Arlington’s yearly community read, featuring a minority author. 

Unfortunately, there are no accessible accommodation options for the visually impaired when using the library website, canvas page, or for students who are non-native English speakers.

People – Patrons & Staff

There are two certified school librarians and one library media assistant. The two librarians identify as white females, and I identify as a Latinx female. Yorktown Library serves all students, staff, and neighboring schools by fulfilling interlibrary loan requests. Students use the space in various ways. Like most schools, we have our regular patrons, who come every day to browse the collection and check out. Others come for independent study or to collaborate on projects. Teachers reserve our classroom space by calling or emailing library staff. Many students enjoy the lounge chairs and read during free periods or before and after school. Teachers stop by to ask quick reference questions or schedule an appointment with the librarians to collaborate on future lessons and projects. Students regularly ask research questions to librarians. In addition, students and teachers typically come to me when they want book recommendations and technological assistance. 

I previously mentioned that most of Yorktown’s students identify as White, with students who identify as black as the lowest. However, even fewer students identify as Muslim, and through my conversations with them, they feel unwelcome by their peers and some teachers. Those students have found sanctuary in the library. We converted one of our private study rooms into a prayer room to accommodate students and staff. 

Other

I enjoyed looking through the observation lens of my school library. What surprised me was unclear signage and accessibility issues with the height of the stacks. It prompted me to discuss ways we can improve our space with my librarians at our weekly meeting. Observing how the space is used made me feel proud that all students feel comfortable and welcome and that they see themselves in mirrors through our displays and posters. What I want to learn more about school libraries is how other programs are run and what different creative ways librarians support their student’s needs and accomodations. 

References

Arlington Public Schools. (2022).  About yorktown library. Yorktown. https://yhs.apsva.us/library/about-yorktown-library/ 

Arlington Public Schools. (2022).  Databases. Yorktown.https://www.apsva.us/library-services/databases/

Destiny discover. (n.d.). Yorktown library. https://search.follettsoftware.com/metasearch/ui/2079 

Rubin, R. E. and Rubin, R. G. (2020). Foundations of library and information science (5th ed.). ALA Neal-Schuman.

Titlewise Analysis. (2022). Yorktown high school library collection. Titlewave 

Virginia Department of Education.  (n.d.).  Yorktown high.  Virginia School Quality Profiles. https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/yorktown-high#fndtn-desktopTabs-essa