May is the time flowers and the End-of-Year (EOY) reports for the school year. This year became the Year of Caring for Each Other. Students, teachers, and staff all needed a little extra support. There were changes in the world, state, school district, and school. I try not to complain in my EOY report, but I will say that the district and the school each had so many systems changes that it was hard to keep up. For example, the way teachers and secretaries signed in their attendance during the school day changed multiple times in this one school year, including after January. Every “system” change created bubbles of chaos and confusion.

Part of the job of the school librarian is to assist with technology. My Library Media Assistant (LMA) and I practiced with the new systems so we could teach others. I applied for multiple donations and won several of them. Most notably, I applied for the Google Teen Mental Health donation on DonorsChoose. I put together various things I thought my students would enjoy. We got whiteboard markers for our whiteboard tables with little holders, colored markers for non-whiteboard tables, and a puzzle table. We’ve always had these available at the circulation desk; the difference was having them at almost every table. Students used those markers constantly. We had to replace them several times, and I’m thrilled. They worked problems, wrote messages to each other, and just doodled pictures. It has been wonderful!

Another big morale boost this year came from DoubleGood Popcorn, which provided a bag of popcorn for every adult in the building for FREE! Every adult received a bag and got to choose their flavor. It was a huge surprise in March and really put smiles on faces!

While the donations greatly boosted morale, the donations alone do not define the year. Writing an EOY report is a process that reviews the entire year, not just the most current data. Before I write an EOY report, I begin with SMART goals. Every year, I write SMART goals that align with the district’s priorities. My LMA and I also align our goals to complement each other. This year, we chose to focus on mental health and technology. But two SMART goals do not come close to covering everything that occurs in a school media center. We are open all day from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. We support all of the programs in the school. We have the Fernbank students who arrive once a week without a class due to the school schedule and become our students. We host a homeroom class. We have dual enrollment students who use the Media Center when they don’t have in-person classes. We support the SPED program by having students clean or learn how to shelve books. Some years, I act as an IB Extended Essay Mentor, and others, I just assist the students with research and citations. I occasionally help our Work-Based program by accepting a student as a volunteer until they can find a paid position. My LMA and I work with other school librarians in the district to help solve issues. It is a lot more than can go in a one-page infographic. This is true of any job. My EOY this year has less numerical data (quantitative) than usual, but more lists (qualitative).

Just to provide one numerical data point, not listed in the report, we held our 6th annual TigerCon, a ComicCon for our high school students in April. 500 students attended in 3.5 hours and were exposed to information on writing, drawing, sewing, costuming, and the local public library’s youth services. Plus, the Guitar Club performed right after school ended to close out our Con. We had a great time!

EOY report for Media Center SY25 is here:

Past years’ EOY reports:

• EOY24 – Year of a Full-Time LMA
• EOY23 – Year of Asking for Help
• EOY22 – Hardest Year Ever
• EOY21 – Strangest Year Ever
• EOY20 – Reporting During COVID-19