Welcome to the EMES Library

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East Montpelier Elementary School

Telephone 223-7936 (ext. 327)

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2009 - 2010 Library Schedule

Monday- Weiss, Gariboldi, Christiano

Tuesday- Willard, Shedd, Preschool, Giammusso

Wednesday - Barrett, Parker, Pastore

Thursday - Preschool, Quackenbush, Christy

Friday - Gannon, O'Hare

Library Curriculum

Ellen Knoedler

Library Media Specialist

The main goal of the East Montpelier Elementary School Library program is to foster a love of reading. By promoting recreational reading, information literacy, independent learning and social responsibility in our Pre-k – 6 elementary school, the library is an integral part of the literate community at East Montpelier Elementary School in which students talk about books, ideas and writing.

It is also a goal of the library to work closely with the classroom teachers to teach students to access and effectively use information in a variety of forms and from a variety of resources. Such resources include but are not limited to: non-fiction books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference materials, the Internet, Vermont Online Library(VOL), software resources and periodicals. Another goal of the school library is to help create lifelong learners who learn how to access information independently, evaluate it critically and to use it accurately and ethically.

The librarian, Ellen Knoedler, also models a love of literature to students by reading excellent books, both fiction and non-fiction, aloud. We also actively help students to choose books for recreational reading. Book talks encourage library class book discussions as a means to analyze, interpret and compare literature. The librarian also supports individual classroom “read aloud books” through book suggestions and supports the individual classroom curriculum with material suggestions and purchasing new materials to support the classroom curriculum, including the “specials” classes: art, music, physical education, Spanish and guidance.

When possible, the library skills are integrated with the regular classroom curriculum as library skills are best taught if they are not taught in isolation. For example, when a class is working on a research project, such activities as taking notes, book location skills and how to create a bibliography are worked on during library classes. The library program is also integrated into the enrichment activities of the school.

The Library curriculum also includes participation in the two “Vermont only” book award programs. The Red Clover Book award is an illustrator’s award that is given to a book by Vermont children in grades K-4 to one of ten books that is nominated each year. The books are read aloud and discussed during library classes. In April of each year, students vote on their choice. Our votes are then sent in to the Vermont Center for the Book which tallies all the votes in the state to determine the winner. The other Vermont Book Award is the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award. Each year thirty books, a combination of fiction and non-fiction, are nominated. Students in grades 4-8 must read at least five of the thirty books in order to vote for their choice. Students vote in April and their votes are tallied with all the votes in the state to determine a winner.

The library also works closely on integrated projects with individual classrooms. Examples of integrated units include Native Americans (grades 2/3), Vermont History (grade 4) and Fairy Tales (grades preK-1). Some of these integrated units occur on a yearly basis and some occur every other year. Bookmaking is also integrated into all grades as bookmaking integrates math, art and fine motor skills into library classes. Bookmaking activities are simple to complex in nature.

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The American Library Association has outlined standards by which School Libraries serve their students. Our curriculum is based on the ALA Standards and the Vermont Standards.

American Library Association Information Literacy Standards

The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively, evaluates information critically and competently, and uses information accurately and creatively. The student who is an Independent Learner is information literate and pursues information related to personal interests, appreciates literature and other creative expressions of information, and strives for excellence in information seeking and knowledge generation. The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is information literate and recognizes the importance of information to a democratic society, practices ethical behavior in regard to information and information technology, and participates effectively in groups.

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