Microsoft Word - EducationLibrariesWinter2008DOC.doc Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 19 Information & Media Literacy .Transforming a Curriculum Center for the 21st Century at Eastern Washington University Libraries By Julie Miller and Nadean Meyer Abstract: Teacher education is a vital component of Eastern Washington University’s (EWU) mission and history. In 2006, after several years of decline in collections and usage of its curriculum center, EWU Libraries made a commitment to transform it into a center for twenty-first century educators. The center has changed greatly in a short time with five conditions facilitating the center’s rapid transformation from an outdated, infrequently used corner of the library to a vibrant and busy hub. These conditions for change include: a librarian who acts as catalyst; a visioning process; essential structures upon which to build; the ability to reallocate resources, and the underlying element in this transformation: organizational leadership. Next steps in the transformation will include systematic assessment of resources and services, increased access to instructional technologies, and development of collaboration spaces. Introduction At Eastern Washington University (EWU), teacher education has always been a discipline of distinction. A regional comprehensive university with approximately 10,000 students, EWU began as a traditional school in 1882 for educating young women to become teachers in the rural communities of the inland Northwest. Through institutional name changes and shifts in administrative policy, teacher preparation has remained an important part of the university’s mission. Resource allocation has not always kept pace with institutional goals however, and for several years, EWU Libraries did not have a library faculty position dedicated to support the library’s curriculum center. Other library faculty did their best to select current materials for the curriculum center, particularly in the children’s literature collection. But without a subject specialist to maintain contact with faculty in the Education program, the center’s relevance to the curriculum, and therefore its quality, was eroding. Meanwhile, Washington State public schools had been undergoing significant reform with the Improvement of Student Achievement Act passed by the Washington State Legislature in 1993, which provided the authority to implement an accountability system dedicated to addressing the needs of all students by developing curriculum standards, grade-level expectations, and assessment tests (i.e., the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL). The state standardized learning outcomes for students in all primary and secondary grades and provided measurable benchmarks for Washington public education. The emphasis on successful mastery of learning outcomes by all students represented a major shift in the state's school reform. On the national level, the federal government and professional organizations were also setting policies based on student learning outcomes. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law in 2002 to reauthorize and revise the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. According to the U.S. Department of Education, NCLB was built on four principles: accountability based on student achievement, more choices for parents, greater local control and flexibility, and research-based evidence for education reform (2008). More recently, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the professional teacher preparation accrediting body, revised its standards to emphasize knowledge and ability to select and use best teaching strategies; to assess student learning; and to adapt teaching strategies based on individual learning differences (2008). In the context of these changes in the educational environment, EWU Dean of Libraries Patricia Kelley made it a priority in 2006 to start the Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 20 process to develop a curriculum center for the 21st century. Since then, EWU Libraries have made great strides in transforming the Curriculum Center to meet the needs of current and future educators. Five conditions have made rapid change possible: the presence of a catalyst librarian, the use of a visioning process, the existence of fundamental structures, the ability to reallocate resources, and organizational leadership. A Catalyst Librarian The first condition for successfully transforming the Curriculum Center at EWU was to hire a librarian who would be a catalyst in the transformation. In Fall, 2006, EWU Libraries hired Nadean Meyer as learning resources librarian. In A Guide to the Management of Curriculum Centers for the 21st Century, Scott Walter identifies six core competencies for directing a curriculum center, and Meyer demonstrates these core competencies: 1. Knowledge of the education environment 2. Ability to apply principles of librarianship to handling education information resources 3. Ability to meet the instructional needs of user groups 4. Expertise in managing collections of curricular resources 5. Expertise with relevant systems and instructional technologies 6. Participant in scholarly and professional communication. (2001, pp. 13-15) Meyer is very familiar with the education environment in Washington state, as well as active in regional library and media center associations, including serving as webmaster for the Washington Library Media Association (WLMA). She worked for many years in the K-12 public school systems in both elementary and secondary schools in the region, managing collections in three difference school districts. Her extensive experience in school libraries has enabled Meyer to apply principles of librarianship to the broader range of educational resources available in the academic environment. In this time of education reform, Meyer saw joining the faculty of EWU Libraries as an opportunity to have an impact on education in the region through interaction with faculty and students in the EWU education program. Meyer’s effectiveness as a catalyst has been enhanced by her experience as a part- time instructor in EWU’s Education Department. Meyer has existing relationships with several of the faculty, and has leveraged these relationships through her participation in Education Department meetings. Through these meetings, she has strengthened connections with faculty and observed their instructional needs. The meetings have also provided an opportunity for Meyer to present focused (10 minute or less) demonstrations of library resources. Meyer has also maximized access to education students through access to “gateway” courses, such as the beginning education course and the course prerequisite for student teaching. In these presentations, she has promoted student success by matching key library resources to the department’s student learning outcomes. Through experimentation (such as the use of student response systems to find out what students need), observation of student projects, and increased familiarity with faculty expectations, Meyer has been able to tailor library instruction to meet student needs. Consequently, the number of requests for library instruction by education faculty has increased dramatically, from one in the Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 21 year prior to Meyer's arrival to sixteen requests during her first year at EWU Libraries. Outreach is a significant part of Meyer’s responsibility as learning resource librarian. As liaison to the education program and related endorsement programs, Meyer spends considerable time outside the library, visiting faculty in their offices. This method has been productive for learning about new programs and classes, for sharing common concerns, and for changing perceptions of the Curriculum Center and its services. As one faculty said in an introduction to another member of her department, "This is Nadean Meyer, a librarian who comes to my office." A Visioning Process Prior to 2006, the Curriculum Center at EWU Libraries did not have a mission statement or defined goals. A critical step in transforming the Curriculum Center was to articulate a vision, values, mission, and guiding principles for the center, in the context of the both the university’s mission and the curricular changes for K-12 public schools in Washington. As context for the visioning process, Meyer conducted an environmental scan for the Curriculum Center, including a review of the library literature. A key document in the transformation process has been The Guidelines for Curriculum Materials Centers, published by the Association of College and Research Libraries (2003). The guidelines recommend best practices for the administration, services, and collections of curriculum material centers. Meyer joined the electronic discussion list (EBSS- L@listserv.ncce.edu) of the association’s Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS) as a source of current information about curriculum centers. Meyer also visited nine area curriculum centers and education libraries, and she took a virtual tour of at least ten more curriculum centers. In Fall 2006, Meyer met individually with key stakeholders (including EWU faculty and students in the Department of Education, faculty who support education across the disciplines, library faculty and administrators, and staff of the EWU Teaching and Learning Center) to identify essential elements for the vision and mission statements. She learned that Dean Patricia Kelley envisioned the center as a resource not only for education majors, but also for EWU faculty across the curriculum and for practicing educators. Meyer also learned that EWU had recently begun interdisciplinary programs in early childhood education. These factors suggested a broader scope for the center to provide learning resources and services to support education from pre- kindergarten through graduate programs (not K- 12, but P-20). Throughout Fall 2006, Meyer met with Associate Dean of Libraries Julie Miller to draft the vision, mission, and values statement for the Curriculum Center. Recognizing the importance of this foundational document, Meyer and Miller used an iterative process that took several months and at least eight drafts. The resulting vision and values statements capture a long-range view of the curriculum center; they state where the center is going and suggest how it will get there: Vision: The Curriculum Center is a physical and virtual library where the EWU community explores quality teaching resources. The center supports creative and knowledgeable teacher preparation. The center is an active learning place where users easily find resources. The center promotes multiple approaches of teaching diverse learning styles and abilities. Values: The services and resources of the center demonstrate the value of collaboration, diversity, and accessibility. The center promotes methods based on learners’ needs and technologies that enhance learning. (See Appendix A) As one faculty said in an introduction to another member of her department, "This is Nadean Meyer, a librarian who comes to my office." Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 22 These statements address areas of growth and change critical to developing a curriculum center for the twenty-first century. The Curriculum Center had a traditional, print-based collection built primarily with donated materials and organized using multiple classification systems (some of which were developed in-house). The challenge was to implement the vision promoting a dynamic, evolving center accessible to a diverse community of users. Articulating a clear, concise, and memorable statement of purpose is more difficult than it sounds. Using Libraries, Mission & Marketing: Writing Mission Statements That Work as a guide (Wallace, 2004), Meyer and Miller worked on several versions of a mission statement for the Curriculum Center. Early drafts of the statement reflect the recurring questions or themes in redefining the Curriculum Center: the primary stakeholders, the scope of its collections and services, the need to be dynamic and proactive, and an emphasis on high quality resources. After several drafts, Miller and Meyer arrived at this statement: The Curriculum Center promotes excellence in teaching through the use of quality resources. The final mission statement is broad, in that it does not specify stakeholders or scope of collections and services, as some of the earlier drafts do, but it meets the criteria of being clear, concise, and memorable. (See Appendix B for a discussion of the process of refining the mission statement.) A breakthrough in the visioning process was the articulation of guiding principles. The guiding principles articulate the library’s fundamental assumptions about a curriculum center for the twenty-first century. These principles evolved through discussions with stakeholders and then were refined in the context of the vision, values, and mission statements. In January, 2007, Meyer and Miller presented the Curriculum Center’s foundational document (including vision, values, and mission statements and guiding principles) to the EWU Libraries’ Dean’s Council for approval, where it was adopted. (See Appendix A for the full text of the document.) This foundation document has guided the decisions that have followed in transforming the Curriculum Center. Existence of Essential Structures The third condition for transformation of EWU Libraries’ Curriculum Center has been the existence of “good bones,” those essential structures upon which to build. The center’s physical facility is one essential structure. When the JFK Library was remodeled in 1998, the renovation provided an attractive and adequate space for the Curriculum Center (4344 square feet on the ground floor of the library). The center included two study rooms separated by an accordion-like room divider that could be pushed back to make a larger room. An open area with study tables was located next to large, north-facing windows; fabric-covered bulletin boards along one wall were designed for displays. Many of these features, however, were hidden behind tall shelving. The center lacked technology; wireless connections were accessible, but electrical outlets and network ports were limited to two areas. Blank walls, empty shelves, and old materials contributed to a feeling of neglect. The library has made several improvements to make the Curriculum Center more inviting. A new display area lines the path from the Lower Level Service Desk to the entrance of the Curriculum Center. Staff removed four sections of empty shelving, creating an Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 23 open seating area center with comfortable chairs at the entrance of the center. These changes have increased student use of the area. Collections are another essential structure. According to the new mission statement, the center “promotes excellence in teaching through the use of quality resources.” In terms of curricular materials, “quality resources” implies materials that are currently used in K-12 schools in the state (where most of EWU’s education graduates are employed). “Quality” in a curriculum center’s collection of children’s literature includes: a range of titles reflecting current trends (e.g., contemporary subjects and genres as well as best-selling titles); award winners; and innovative titles that challenge thinking about children’s literature. In EWU Libraries’ Curriculum Center, Meyer found some quality core materials from which to build the collection. Meyer performed a collection analysis that took advantage of her experience in various schools, making special use of the book: Collection Management for Youth: Responding to the Needs of Learners a valuable resource for developing a learner-based collection (Hughes-Hassell & Mancall, 2005). She found a collection that has evolved over the years, with a median materials’ publication date of approximately 1980. Several characteristics made the collection seem outdated and therefore not quality teaching resources: • The materials looked unappealing, even the new children's literature books, because of the practice removing book covers and replacing colorful packaging with archival opaque boxes. • The majority (60%) of the collection were donations, most of which had been used in classrooms twenty years ago. • Classics like Where the Wild Things Are, Cat in the Hat, and Where the Sidewalk Ends were in shabby condition. Other classics were missing. The “good bones” of the center’s collection was in children's literature since funds had been expended specifically on children’s literature for several years. Meyer began an intensive weeding project almost immediately. She retained the quality resources and deselected the others, sending historically interesting children's literature to the regional collection at the University of Washington. She began to order pre-bound books to bring the collection up to date and to fill in gaps; all book covers were saved until a new policy of retaining children's literature book covers was adopted. In general, curriculum centers need a collection that changes more rapidly than other areas of an academic library and thus should have processes for routine collection analysis and management processes in place (Osa, 2003). EWU Libraries have always had complete cataloging of Curriculum Center materials, an essential structure for access. The library has been able to build on this asset by enhancing catalog records. For example, classification tags that indicate age levels and genre are now routinely added to records. This enhancement has also improved access to the collections by providing links between databases and the library catalog. These links now appear in Children's Literature Comprehensive Database, Novelist, and Novelist K-8, so students can click through to find the location and availability of the resources in EWU Libraries’ collections and also to search the virtual catalog of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, the consortium of academic libraries in Washington and Oregon. Resource (Re)Allocation The ability to allocate resources in alignment with the Curriculum Center’s purpose and user needs has been vital in the center’s transformation. Resource allocation now depends upon the In general, curriculum centers need a collection that changes more rapidly than other areas of an academic library and thus should have processes for routine collection analysis and management processes in place Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 24 Curriculum Center’s vision, mission, values, and guiding principles. Library faculty and administrators have reprioritized existing budgets, and they are developing strategies to obtain the resources that will have the greatest impact on EWU Libraries, including the center’s transformation. As part of the Information Services division of EWU Libraries, the Curriculum Center has not had a separate budget for operations. Under the library acquisition budget, the center has been allocated approximately $5,000 annually for collection development. In the past, this amount was supplemented by library funds for acquisitions by Education Department faculty. Most of these funds were used to maintain currency of the children’s fiction collection. The library relied on donations for the rest of the collection. As learning resources librarian, Meyer has prioritized use of these funds based on gaps in the collection, such as a lack of early reading materials to support EWU’s growing interdisciplinary program in early childhood development. Meyer has also targeted supplemental internal funding sources, such as the dean’s fund for collection development. She received a one-time allocation of $21,000 from this fund in Spring, 2007 to update standard textbooks and supplemental materials with particular emphasis on mathematics and reading. Additional smaller amounts have been received from the general library budget for replacements and end-of-year requests. A mini-grant from the EWU Foundation was received in Fall, 2006 to purchase multicultural children’s literature loaded on iPod Shuffle mp3 players. Although the Curriculum Center’s collection development budget does not meet its goals, the changes in resource allocation and the addition of supplemental funding have been essential in demonstrating the library is committed to obtaining the resources that students and faculty need. Tangible changes in the Curriculum Center’s collections have encouraged three faculty groups (math, special education, and children’s literature) to open their closets and give the Curriculum Center materials that are current and useful. Meyer and other library faculty are developing strategies to provide quality teaching resources that use technology. For example, they are replacing some print resources with electronic resources where appropriate. The center had painstakingly acquired print curriculum guides from local, state, and national schools covering most subject areas. Because the guides were dated and inaccurate in the context of school reform, Meyer has withdrawn the print collection. Instead, the database Kraus Curriculum Development Library provides students with current, full-text curriculum guides. The library is currently seeking supplemental funding for instructional equipment through a proposal to the EWU Student Technology Fee Committee, which funds technology projects that deliver services directly to students. Organizational Leadership The final condition vital for transformation is organizational leadership. This condition underlies the other four conditions and enables them to be effective. The phrase “organizational leadership” refers not just to library administrators or managers, but also to staff at all levels of the organization. In The Power of Personal Persuasion: Advancing the Academic Library Agenda from the Front Lines, Julie Todaro discusses the decentralized nature of leadership in academic libraries (2006). To transform the Curriculum Center at EWU, organizational leadership has meant setting high expectations, removing barriers to communication, and encouraging flexibility across the organization. The 2006 position description for the learning resources librarian was explicit about the library’s high expectations for this position. This excerpt from the description details the expectations: Responsibilities: Transform a traditional materials collection into a K-20 teaching and learning resources center that emphasizes effective use of technology. The center will support the College of Education and Human Development’s K-12 teacher preparation Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 25 program and the Teaching and Learning Center’s faculty development programs and will serve as a regional education resource. It will provide “collections,” services to students and faculty, and programs appropriate to identified goals. Key words and phrases from this description (such as “transform,” “K-20,” “teaching and learning,” and “effective use of technology”) and the emphasis on partnership clarified expectations. The new job title, “learning resources librarian,” indicated responsibilities beyond maintaining a collection. The search committee and library administrators who interviewed candidates reinforced these expectations during the interview process, and each finalist was asked to present her ideal model of the twenty-first century curriculum center to library staff. The responsibilities detailed in Meyer’s faculty activity plan and annual letter of assignment also differed from those of the other reference and instruction librarians. Time on the reference desk was greatly reduced (4% of her time), while liaison and outreach responsibilities were increased (18%). She also was assigned greater responsibility in collection development than most of the other EWU reference and instruction librarians. This shift in emphasis set the expectation to try new ideas, such as moving “beyond the reference desk” to meet library staff and others (Stoddart, Bryant, Baker, Lee, & Spencer, 2006). She discovered allies for particular types of change, and she learned long- standing concerns about the Curriculum Center. Learning about the history of the center helped to strengthen Meyer’s eventual proposals for change and moved them more quickly towards approval. Frequent communication with library leadership helped Meyer to refine and focus her ideas for transforming the center. In her first quarter at EWU, Meyer met weekly with Julie Miller, the associate dean and acting division head to whom Meyer reported, at a campus coffee shop. They discussed and drafted the mission and vision statements during these meetings. Miller’s experience with strategic planning helped with the visioning process. They also had open conversation about education, the library, and future plans that prompted ideas. These discussions helped Meyer to define her role within EWU libraries; they also helped Miller to understand and explain changes in the Curriculum Center to others in the organization. Meyer also had frequent communication with Carolynne Myall, head of Collection Services and current faculty chair. Myall has a personal interest in children’s literature, and she has been the primary selector for children’s literature for the Curriculum Center for several years. Myall’s knowledge of the center’s collection and its history was invaluable to Meyer. Meyer understood that many of her proposals would require changes in policy, procedures, and workload. Through a shared commitment to service for students, Meyer and Myall worked through these thorny issues. Their open communication facilitated many of the rapid changes in the center’s materials collections. Within the first academic year, Collections Services staff provided support for weeding the Curriculum Center’s collection by one third, implemented a new process for retaining juvenile book covers, began a reclassification of all items, and consolidated and reorganized the physical space. It was a busy time! This level of change, particularly in an academic setting, requires flexibility, something which can be difficult in a standards-based environment such as a library. The guiding principles from the vision document helped library faculty and staff become more flexible during this time of change. The principles gave direction and focus. Meyer and Miller did not heedlessly throw out standards or make change for the sake of change. Rather, they made recommendations for change based on the guiding principles. The reclassification project implemented in 2007 demonstrates how the guiding principles facilitated flexibility. To transform the Curriculum Center at EWU, organizational leadership has meant setting high expectations, removing barriers to communication, and encouraging flexibility across the organization. Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 26 Meyer developed a reclassification proposal in cooperation with the head of Collection Services. This proposal was supported by the guiding principles, especially the following principle: Information and ideas are readily accessible and freely exchanged. Research ideas, national standards, state guidelines, the best of practitioners’ skills, and the changing educational environment are valued. (See Appendix B) At the time, the center’s collections used multiple classifications, some developed locally. Library users often had difficulty finding the materials they needed. Meyer researched the library literature and found Acquiring and Organizing Curriculum Materials : A Guide and Directory of Resources (Lare, 2004) particularly helpful in developing a standards-based plan to make the center’s materials more accessible. She also researched practices among consortial partners in the region. With input from Carolynne Myall, the head of Collection Services, Meyer proposed to adopt a modified Dewey Decimal System for juvenile materials and to use the Library of Congress (LC) classification for the remaining instructional materials and textbooks. The proposal was approved by the Dean’s Council, the library’s management team comprised of the dean, associate dean, division heads, and collection management librarian. Though approved by library administrators, it was cataloging staff who had to implement the proposal. The staff were asked to develop new processes to undo the work they had done over years. The proposal included dividing the center’s fiction collection into three age-related categories: EZ for picture books, JUV for children's, and YA for young adult or adolescent literature, with all three areas then shelved by the author's last name. Non-fiction children’s literature was also converted to Dewey Decimal. Instructional materials and textbooks were assigned LC numbers based on subject content (i.e., Q for sciences) in all formats. During the reclassification process, everyone compromised to some extent in adjusting workflow, priorities, and policies. Cataloging staff adapted to the changes in processing materials for the Curriculum Center, and the project was completed in one year. In addition to thanking staff during the reclassification project, Meyer honored them with a celebratory lunch near the end of the project. Flexibility is a skill that should be recognized, and expressing gratitude for a job well done is an important characteristic of leadership. Next Steps in the Transformation The transformation of the Curriculum Center is not complete; the center will continue to evolve. In the context of EWU Libraries’ strategic plan, Meyer has identified three priorities in making the vision of a center for the twenty-first century a reality: developing and implementing an assessment plan for the center’s resources and services, incorporating more educational technologies, and developing collaboration spaces. An assessment plan will include systematic evaluation of the center’s resources and services. Anecdotally, Meyer has identified several impacts from the transformation. Students now use the center as a place to meet and to study, and use of education databases has increased. Faculty requests for library instruction have increased, and faculty members seem more open to share resources and to collaborate. Library staff take pride in the new environment. However, the change is very new, and Meyer does not have enough qualitative or quantitative data to demonstrate the full impact of the transformation. Informal discussion about the role of the Curriculum Center needs to be more formalized through focus groups and online surveys. A key performance indicator will be evidence of integration of the center’s resources into the Education Department’s curriculum. She is gathering usage statistics of the center’s materials and databases for regular analysis. The incorporation of educational technology is a major shift that has occurred in K-12 schools, and students need to be skilled in evaluating and incorporating technological resources. The Curriculum Center is one of several places for students to develop these skills. The learning Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 27 resources librarian is forming partnerships with other technology centers on campus, including: the Education Department’s computer lab; the campus-wide student technology labs, including the Multimedia Activities Resource Service (MARS) lab; and the Teaching & Learning Center. Departmental resources, such as the software acquired by the Mathematics Department for math education and software used by the art education program, are two areas to explore. Open-source web resources that support the goals of the Education Department are being added to the library catalog, but students also need access to the proprietary resources used in area schools. As a start the library has recently added a video and image database, unitedstreaming by Discovery Schools, that is used by educators in the Spokane Public School system. While the Curriculum Center at EWU Libraries has never had a strong production unit, resources for collaboration and group work is vital to teacher education. One priority for the Curriculum Center is to develop spaces that offer technology for collaborative presentations, writing, and other group interaction. Easy access to learning materials from the center, digital library resources, and instructional technologies, in an environment designed for collaboration, will make the Curriculum Center a natural place for group activity. Conditions for Success at Your Institution Academic libraries have experienced many changes in the last twenty years, some driven by institutional policy and others by technology. Concurrently, education reform at the national, state, and local levels has made sweeping change in teacher preparation programs. If curriculum centers do not keep pace with the needs of future educators, they will become irrelevant to education students and practitioners alike. The ideal curriculum center for the twenty-first century varies by institution based on organizational mission and vision. At EWU Libraries five conditions have made it possible to transform an outmoded curriculum center into a curriculum center for the twenty-first century. These conditions probably exist to some degree at your institution. To determine whether the time is right for successful change, ask the following questions: 1. Who is the catalyst with the qualities to make change happen? 2. By what process will we envision the curriculum center of the future? 3. What are the essential structures, the “good bones,” upon which we will build the center? 4. How will we (re)allocate resources to support the transformation? 5. Do we have the organizational leadership to create a curriculum center for the twenty-first century? The answers to these questions will identify the gaps that must be addressed and the conditions strengthened to develop successfully a vital resource for educators today and in the future. Appendix A Vision, Mission, Values, and Guiding Principles for the Curriculum Center at EWU Libraries Vision Statement: The Curriculum Center is a physical and virtual library where the EWU community explores quality teaching resources. The Center supports creative and knowledgeable teacher preparation. The Center is an active learning place where users easily find resources. The Center promotes multiple approaches of teaching diverse learning styles and abilities. Mission Statement: The Curriculum Center promotes excellence in teaching through the use of quality resources. . If curriculum centers do not keep pace with the needs of future educators, they will become irrelevant to education students and practitioners alike. Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 28 Values: The services and resources of the Center demonstrate the value of collaboration, diversity, and accessibility. The Center promotes methods based on learners’ needs and technologies that enhance learning. Guiding Principles: • Developing the Curriculum Center requires new ideas and methods to achieve the mission. • Information and ideas are readily accessible and freely exchanged. Research ideas, national standards, state guidelines, the best of practitioners’ skills, and the changing educational environment are valued. • Collaboration with faculty and other users is fundamental for developing critical thinking and information literacy skills in future teachers. • The Center’s services enable users to access and use information and technology effectively for practical teaching strategies. • The Center’s collections reflect diverse teaching resources, including diversity in accessibility, culture, and learning styles and abilities. • The EWU community’s understanding about teaching and learning from preschool through graduate school is enhanced by strategic partnerships. • Teaching methods and resources (primarily electronic) that expand post-secondary learning are developed collaboratively within the EWU community. • While providing specific practical materials for teachers and prospective teachers in the EWU community, the Center is an integral part of EWU Libraries’ services and collections. • As a special collection, the Curriculum Center includes resources that are used for teaching while EWU Libraries’ main collections contain a range of materials about teaching and education. Appendix B Evolution of the Mission Statement for the Curriculum Center The following draft mission statements illustrate its evolution to a clear and concise statement of purpose for the EWU Libraries’ Curriculum Center. Each draft was reviewed by several stakeholders and revised in the context of their feedback. Early drafts: The Learning Center, preK through 20, offers the best teaching and learning resources as they evolve. The EWU community is the partner of the center. The Center library is a collection of materials and services that support the teaching and learning of K20 students at EWU, particularly in the field of education. It is a learner-centered area responding to changes in teaching-learning methods through research and technology. The children’s and young adult literature collection provides access to teaching and learning topics and styles with a current, age-spanning collection. Middle drafts: The Instructional Resources Center provides the EWU community the best in preK-20 teaching and learning resources as they evolve. The Instruction Resources Center promotes quality teaching resources for teacher preparation and growth. The Curriculum Center promotes quality teaching resources for teacher preparation and development. Final draft: The Curriculum Center promotes excellence in teaching through the use of quality resources. Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 29 Internet References This mega-list has been lots of assistance and I am still using it for ideas http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/education/contribute/ educationlibraries.html American University: Has a live Webcam of one area of the center http://www.library.american.edu/about/cmc/index.html References Association of College & Research Libraries. (2003). Guidelines for Curriculum Materials Centers. College & Research Libraries News, 64, 469-474. Hughes-Hassell, S., & Mancall, J. C. (2005). Collection Management for Youth : Responding to the Needs of Learners. Chicago: American Library Association. Lare, G. A. (2004). Acquiring and Organizing Curriculum Materials : A Guide and Directory of Resources. Lantham, MD: Scarecrow Press. National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. (2008) Standards Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.ncate.org/institutions/standards.asp Osa, J. O. (2003). Curriculum Development: Curriculum Materials Center. In Mack, D.C., (Ed.), Collection Development Policies: New Directions for Changing Collections (pp. 131-153). Binghamton, NY: Haworth Information Press. Stoddart, R.A., Bryant, T. W., Baker, A. L., Lee, A. & Spencer, B. (2006). Perspectives on ...going boldly beyond the reference desk: Practical advice and learning plans for the new reference librarian performing liaison work. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 32(4) 419-427. Todaro, J. (2006). Power of persuasion: advancing the academic library agenda from the front lines. Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/marketingyou rlib/advocacy_toolkit.pdf U. S. Dept. of Education. (2002). No Child Left Behind Act. Retrieved July 1, 2008 from http://www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/edpicks.jhtml?src=ln Wallace, L. K. (2004). Libraries, Mission & Marketing: Writing Mission Statements That Work. Chicago: American Library Association. Walter, S. (2001). Professional education. In Carr, J. A., (Ed.), A Guide to the Management of Curriculum Materials Centers for the twenty-first Century : The Promise and the Challenge (pp. 1-24). Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries. Nadean Meyer is the Learning Resources Librarian at Eastern Washington University Libraries in Cheney, Washington, overseeing the Curriculum Center and providing instruction and liaison work with several departments. This is her third academic year in the position after being a teacher librarian for twenty years in elementary schools and a high school. Nadean has taught part-time at the university level in the areas of children and adolescent literature, censorship, storytelling, puppetry, and librarianship for school librarians. She has been involved in youth librarianship most of her career for over thirty years. Her special interests are intellectual freedom, multimedia technology, fantasy literature, and multicultural books and teaching techniques. Her professional activities have been in Washington Library Media Association as webmaster, officer, regional chair, and currently as co-chair of a task force on Social Studies Classroom Based Assessments using the research process. She led a group of high school readers in the first YA Galley project by YALSA of ALA. The SLA Ed division provides a specialized view of the field and information for a youth librarian moving in the academic setting as a special liaison to faculty and students in education. She enjoys the Northwest with her family, particularly whitewater rafting, lake time, and seeing the sights in nature. Education Libraries, Volume 31, No. 2, Winter 2008 30 Nadean Meyer Learning Resources Librarian at Eastern Washington University 9002 Sherman Rd. Spokane, WA 509-443-8866-home, 509-359-4262-work billandnadean@earthlink.net nmeyer@ewu.edu Julie Miller is Associate Dean of Libraries at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington. She has a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature and taught college English for several years. Since completing her library science degree at Kent State University in 1994, she has worked in public, special, and academic libraries. She currently serves on the Standards and Accreditation Committee of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Her professional interests include leadership and student engagement. Her passions include contemporary poetry and the American West. She is a member of Women Writing the West and has served as a judge in the annual WILLA award for literary works by women about the West. Julie Miller, PhD, Associate Dean of EWU Libraries at Eastern Washington University. Julie.miller@ewu.edu Information Literacy Resources National Forum on Information Literacy The National Forum on Information Literacy was created in 1989 as a response to the recommendations of the American Library Association's Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. These education, library, and business leaders stated that no other change in American society has offered greater challenges than the emergence of the Information Age. http://www.infolit.org/ Information Literacy meets Library 2.0 This is the extensive and well organized blog of Peter Godwin and Jo Parker, authors of the book Information Literacy meets Library 2.0. They also have a location in Second Life. http://infolitlib20.blogspot.com/ Pageflakes on Information Literacy This page has feeds from blogs on information literacy and related subjects, plus feeds from a few journals and discussion lists. It is maintained by Sheila Webber, University of Sheffield, s.webber@sheffield.ac.uk http://www.pageflakes.com/informationliteracy/ University of Idaho Information Literacy Online Course Information literacy is critically important because we are surrounded by a growing ocean of information in all formats. Not all information is created equal: some is authoritative, current, reliable, but some is biased, out of date, misleading, false. The amount of information available is going to keep increasing. http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/info_literacy/ Texas Interactive Library Tutorial: Information Literacy Information is available from many sources and in many formats, such as printed text, television, videos, library databases, web sites, and more. To be "information literate" you need to know why, when, and how to use all of these tools and think critically about the information they provide. Visitors can take this tutorial as a Guest. http://tilt.lib.utsystem.edu/