• The School District of Clayton Libraries are an integral part of the District’s total program. They function as the center of information for the schools. The programming encourages patrons to use, produce and evaluate information, to become lifelong learners, and to become responsible citizens in our democracy. The library program provides free and equitable access to information in a variety of formats, promotes literacy and recreational reading, and provides leadership in using resources to access, use and evaluate information for the enhancement of learning.
     
     

    Enduring Understandings

    Below are the Enduring Understandings of the Library curriculum.  These are statements that summarize important ideas and core processes that are central to the discipline and have lasting value beyond the classroom. The School District of Clayton Librarians utilize information from the AASL Toolkit to speak of the skills that are central to our discipline and have lasting value beyond the school library. (Based on www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/tools/toolkits)

     

    Environment

    The school library is the physical and virtual learning commons where inquiry, thinking, imagination, discovery, and creativity are central to students’ information-to-knowledge journey, and to their personal, social and cultural growth (Todd 2009).

    • Libraries are inviting spaces that encourage exploration, experimentation, and acquisition of knowledge and understanding.
    • Libraries are used to find information on a wide variety of topics in many formats.

     

    Access

    Quality school library resources and services are available outside the school and classroom.  Clayton School District librarians are available to all students and use of library resources and services can be accessed at school or from home. Our libraries provide literature that reflects our diverse world and encourages understanding and empathy.

    • Researching is a way to increase understanding and inform decisions.
    • Inquiry nurtures curiosity and frameworks are utilized in and out of school for learning.
    • Reading diverse literature promotes a deeper understanding of others.

     

    Essential Skills

    Librarians promote and teach skills that are crucial for all learners (AASL 2007). School librarians support students in the ethical use of information as well as share strategies for accessing, evaluating, and synthesizing information resources for use in their work.

    • Ethical behavior in the use of information is important.
    • Information literacy embraces multiple literacies, including digital, visual, textual, and technological.
    • Reading is the core of academic and personal competency and inspires new ideas and empathy.