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What
is a School Library System?
The School Library System is "an organization of school districts and nonpublic schools cooperating with a Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) to provide library coordination and/or services to member libraries under a school library system plan of service approved by the commissioner.."
What
does that mean?
The School Library System assists school library media centers to provide information services for their staff and students. These information services may include loan of materials between libraries, training in resource based instruction, online database searching, technology training, planning for and installation of library automation systems, MARC library catalog conversion, etc. The overall focus is to provide support to enable member districts to develop lifelong learning practices in students and to provide free and open access to information for all citizens of New York State.
How
is this accomplished?
The School Library System functions as part of the New York State Library Network and coordinates activities with other types of libraries and regional library systems to secure information for library users in the service area (Cayuga and Onondaga Counties in New York State).
The policy, planning and evaluation body for the System is the School Library System Council.
The representatives between the member districts and the System are the School Library System Liaisons.
The supervising agency and governing board of the System is the
Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES (Board of Cooperative
Educational Services.
The
School Library System will:
- Provide clearly defined services, designed to obtain and manage resources, for use by school library patrons in member districts.
- Assist professionals in member libraries by providing leadership in information access services.
- Provide in-service opportunities for library media specialists.
- Provide participating libraries information on and coordination between local, regional and state educational and technology related initiatives [e.g. the Electronic Doorway Library, New Century Libraries, etc.]
- Prepare Plans of Service, member surveys, and evaluation documents, as required.
- Perform all System functions, services, and activities as identified in the Plan of Service.
- Participate in the statewide network of libraries.
- Comply with appropriate laws and regulations.
