Thing 22: Annual Reports- Make Them Matter!

Data, data, data, data. Lately this is the only word that I seem to be hearing. Everyone wants data. They want to know how the students are progressing and what this number and that number is. I have heard the word data in my school in the last year more than I ever have in the past and I have even seen new data teams being set up in all of the buildings in my district. The teams are composed of teachers and staff who are in charge of collecting data from everyone in the school.

When I think of sharing the data from my library it sometimes overwhelms me and I don’t know where to start. One thing that I am always reporting and sharing each year are my circulation statistics, and how many items we have available in the library. Not only does my coordinator want to see this data but my local BOCES does as well. My stats have gone up since I started teaching 5 years ago and that is something that makes me extremely proud to say. I like to c heck these statistics throughout the year as well just to see where I am and am always pushing my students to want to check out more books throughout the year. Doing an annual report is something that terrifies me and I have actually never completed one. I have not been asked to in the past and I was grateful for that. I  never thought of the idea of doing an annual report in the form of a newsletter like Joyce Valenza did but I am loving the idea! Writing a newsletter is something that I am comfortable doing and would be a great way to showcase what is going on and happening in the library. A newsletter is something that I have done in the past and students and parents alike seemed to love the idea!

Another article that I enjoyed reading was “Why you should add Twitter Analytics to your Library Statistical Reports”. Just like the author I have also been making a more conscience effort to be on Twitter. I love how the author discusses how school librarians should consider including any other measurable social media statistics into their reports for administrators. I never even thought to include something like this but it does make sense to include anything that shows evidence of reaching out to tell about library services and stories since it is so powerful. I love how the author also states how it gives stakeholders a return on their investment!