Neal-Schuman Publishers

NEW BOOK AND CD-ROM – WITH EIGHTY POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND FORMS – MAKES IT EASIER TO CREATE A CURRENT AND EFFECTIVE SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER MANUAL

September 23, 2009 (New York, NY) – Improving student learning, teaching information literacy skills, serving as copyright specialist, managing technology, overseeing media center operations are a few of the diverse roles that school library media specialists can fill more effectively with a well-thought-out policy and procedure manual. The School Library Media Specialist’s Policy and Procedure Writer, to be published by Neal-Schuman on November 20, 2009, is a highly practical book and CD-ROM package to guide busy professionals through the ambitious, time-consuming, and often daunting task of creating and updating a comprehensive policy manual.

Author Elizabeth Downs brings together in both print and electronic formats over eighty carefully selected policies, procedures, and forms that cover all aspects of school library administration and can be easily adapted for all local or district priorities and needs. Each of the book’s six chapters includes an overview of the topic and a checklist of key policy components culled from over forty-five exemplary school library media centers across the country. The accompanying CD-ROM contains fully editable versions of all eighty policies, procedures, and forms to save school library media specialists from time-consuming research and reproduction work.

Downs begins with an introduction to the overarching goals and objectives for a school library program, including several sample missions statements, and explains how policies and procedures differ between school districts. The next chapter addresses administration, with sample policies for budgets, receipt of money, inventory, and annual reports, and is followed by a chapter that deals with developing policies for staff, teachers, students, and other individuals in the school library. Here, Downs provides policy examples for facilities use, scheduling, safety, disaster management, personnel management, and confidentiality of library records. The next chapter covers collection development and maintenance policies, including circulation, collection development, selection, reconsideration of challenged materials, weeding, and copyright. Shifting her focus to technology, Downs outlines “best practices” and crucial policies for Internet and acceptable use, Web publishing, and technology ethics. She specifically emphasizes the pressing need to integrate new policies that will address prominent emerging technologies such as social networks, Web 2.0 tools, and virtual libraries. The book concludes with an examination of acceptable use and accessibility, and covers policies for classroom use of video and music, equipment utilization and maintenance, production of materials, reading incentive programs, interlibrary loan, periodical storage and maintenance, and accessibility for students with special needs.

The School Library Media Specialist’s Policy and Procedure Writer offers a practical, efficient, and time-saving path to developing a complete and effective policy manual for every aspect of school library operation and management.

The School Library Media Specialist’s Policy and Procedure Writer
ISBN: 978-1-55570-621-0.
2009. 8.5×11. 350pp. $75.00.

About the Author
Elizabeth Downs holds a BS in Elementary Education from Florida State University and a PhD in Educational Technology and MEd in Educational Psychology from The University of Florida. Dr. Downs spent eight years as an elementary teacher in Palm Beach County, Florida, and is currently a professor in the Instructional Technology Program at Georgia Southern University, where she has taught since 1990.

About Neal-Schuman Publishers
Neal-Schuman Publishers is a leading publisher of professional books for librarians, archivists and knowledge managers. Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is based in New York City, with offices in London, UK.

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