Media Specialist
Ashley Espey, Library Media Specialist
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ACMS Library Media Program
The school library media program is a fundamental part of the total educational experience at Athens City Middle School. The primary purpose of the media center is to provide supportive resources and instruction as well as materials for pleasure reading while maintaining an accurate circulation system and media center accessibility.
The media center is located in the center of the school. It is open from 7:13 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. each school day, which allows students and staff to use the library before and during normal school hours. More than 11,000 books (including an extensive reference collection), 36 periodicals, two newspapers, a large collection of audiovisual resources and a variety of services are provided to meet the needs of the students and staff. The media center has an automated circulation system and is part of a network that allows students and staff access to the school network including the Accelerated Reader reading comprehension program, OPAC (online public access catalog) and the Internet. Through the Internet, students can access the Tennessee Electronic Library.
The library is staffed by a full-time media specialist, a part-time assistant and student assistants.
The media specialist, with assistance from the classroom teacher, supports the curriculum by teaching library skills during regularly scheduled classes. Utilization of meaningful, relevant, and challenging materials and activities correlate with the curriculum. Teachers frequently schedule their classes to conduct research, check out books, use the Internet, etc., in the media center.
Some of the successful programs that originate in the media center at ACMS are Accelerated Reader, Newspapers in Education and the library Book Fair.
The school media program reflects the cooperative efforts of the faculty, students, administration and staff to provide resources and instruction that enable students to reach their learning potential. The program also aims to provide students with the skills necessary for lifelong information retrieval and motivation to pursue reading as an important part of their world.