School Library Media Update
May 13, 2004

• The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) will work this summer to update and revise the Maryland School Library Media Learning Outcomes. The intention is to align the outcomes with the new Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum (VSC), converting them into Library Media Content Standards, using the same language and format as the VSC.
• The School Library Media Fact Book, 2002 - 2003 was distributed to local school systems at the last School Library Media Administrators' Briefing on March 30, 2004. The new Annual Report was completed online by the 24 school systems from April 1 to May 11, 2004. Information is collected from all 24 local school systems at the central office level and from every eligible school within each system. The data will now be analyzed for the 2003-2004 publication.
• As part of the federal Enhancing Education through Technology Program (Title II, Part D), local school systems were able to apply for multi-year competitive grants by forming partnerships to address several priority areas, one of which was digital content. Twenty-three of the twenty-four school systems in Maryland partnered in 2002-2003 on a grant (MDK-12 Digital Library) to provide digital resources to schools and to create a purchasing consortium for school systems. Contracts were awarded to World Book and Sirs, Inc. to provide content beginning July 1, 2003. This grant was funded again for 2003-2004 and Baltimore City has joined the partnership. All 24 local school systems in Maryland are now partnering on this grant. Because of increased costs by the vendors and greater participation by nonpublic schools, the grant will only be able to fund SIRS resources for Year Three, if funded again; however, local school systems will be able to purchase from several other vendors at pricing negotiated by the consortium.

  A new Ed Tech grant funded during 2003-2004, Technology Literacy by 8th Grade (TL8), is addressing the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate that all students will be technologically literate by 8th grade. Educators from all 24 local school systems are working together in this grant partnership as well. As the School Library Media Learning Outcomes are being revised, the work group will collaborate with the TL8 group to align efforts.

  Other Ed Tech grant of particular interest to the school library community in Maryland is the Maryland Online Technology Profiles for Teachers and Administrators. This grant is addressing the NCLB mandate of technology integration and improvement of teacher technology skills.

• A new Microsoft Content Server is now available at MSDE and the Office of Instructional Technology and School Library Media (ITSLM) is in the planning stage of revising its web pages and creating a web presence for school library media.
• Specialist in School Library Media, Michelle Landen, left the office on May 11, 2004 to begin a new position as Coordinator of School Libraries for the Charles H. Hickey School, Jr. School, a detention facility for juveniles in Maryland. The Hickey School plans to hire 3 library media specialists and 3 library media assistants for the facility. Michelle will oversee the school library media program.

For information on the Instructional Technology and School Library Media Program, contact:

Jayne Moore, Director
Phone: (410) 767-0382
Email: [email protected]
Fax: (410) 333-2128