Instant Web Sites! (Just Add Content)

A little over a year ago, my Internet–savvy brother called to say his daughter was having a tough time completing a middle school assignment. He knew that my media center offered online resources, so he checked to see if his daughter's school library offered the same. Instead, he discovered that it didn't have a Web site, and she couldn't take advantage of other local media centers' Web sites because visitors were required to log in with a special password.

That experience got me thinking about my own district's elementary school libraries. At the time, a handful of our 24 media centers had their own sites, but close to 80 percent didn't. And that was a huge problem, especially since nearly three out of four students between the ages of 12 and 17 say they relied on the Internet for their last big school assignment, according to a recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Siteless libraries also send the wrong message to students, parents, and other educators. If we truly want them to think of the media center as the heart of the school, we need to provide our library users with the resources they value—and make it easy to find them. That means there needs to be a link to the library on every school's home page, right alongside the other vital information.

As my school's Webmaster and media specialist, I decided to create a basic Web site template that all of our elementary school librarians could use—one that could be easily adapted to their individual library's needs. So during the 2003 Christmas break, I began to create a template, using Netscape Composer 4.8, a software program that's perfect for designing simple Web pages.

For starters, I wanted to make sure the new site would prominently feature our district's new online catalog and subscription databases, such as the World Book Encyclopedia, Grolier Online, NewsBank KidsPage, and LitFINDER. I also wanted to display, front and center, a collection of links to other top-notch resources, such as Yahooligans!, Awesome Library, KidSpace @ the Internet Public Library, Fact Monster, and the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, many of which were recommended to me by members of LM_NET, an online discussion group for library media specialists.

To give our sites some consistency, I designed the template so that every library could present the same type of information in the exact same place on its Web page. I also wanted to make sure our sites had the same look. That way, when students transfer from one school to another within our district, they'll be familiar with the basic setup of their new library's Web site—and much more likely to use it. (For design tips, see the "If You Build It, Keep in Mind…" sidebar or visit the Manatee Elementary School library's Web site at collier.k12.fl.us/mes/media.html.)

Since I was designing the template on the cheap, I searched for a free photo to use as a unifying background image. The photo I selected—an attractive bookcase—came courtesy of SandDancr Studios (www.sanddancr.com), a Web graphic design firm that provides free images to nonprofit organizations, as long as they promise to link their Web sites to SandDancr's site.

I presented the new template in February 2004 at our district's monthly meeting of library media specialists. I was eager to hear what the 34 librarians in attendance would say, and I planned to tweak the template based on their feedback. But everyone liked the design so much, I didn't have to change a thing!

Soon after the meeting, I sent our elementary school media specialists a set of instructions, detailing what I would need from each of them to create their Web pages. I requested that each librarian submit three or four digital photographs taken inside or outside of their library. I also asked participants to submit the following information that would be posted on their sites: a mission statement, a list of five or six things that made their library special, and contact information (including the librarian's name and a digital photo, the names of any aides, and their school's address, phone and fax) so that it would be easy for parents to reach them. After receiving the librarians' electronic files, I used them to create the individual sites. Then I e-mailed back all of the files with everything they would need to launch their sites and the following step-by-step instructions:

"Congratulations! Your Web site is ready.

On your desktop, right click and create a new folder. Name this file 'lmc.' Copy all of the attached files and paste them into this folder. Then, click on the 'e' index icon in the folder. You should be able to see your complete site. Check through it completely—links, spelling, etc. Let me know if anything needs to be fixed.

Be sure your principal sees the site before uploading it. You will also need written permission to post photos of students on the Internet. Have your Webmaster upload the files to the district's server. If you or your Webmaster need help, contact me or a member of the tech-support team. I do ask that there be a link from your school's home page to the library site. You did a great job!"

Some librarians were able to get their sites up and running within a matter of hours. Others needed a couple of weeks. Only one media specialist had any difficulty launching her site, and I was able to talk her through it on the phone. Nine librarians took part in the project, but their efforts inspired other media specialists to create their own Web sites. Some followed the format that I created; others used their own designs. But every site was linked to our district's online catalog and databases. The bottom line? Twenty of our 24 elementary school libraries soon had their own Web sites.

It was amazing to see how some of our media specialists responded to the challenge and were able to make their own site unique given the limitations of the Web site template. Some of them used students' quotes to describe what made their library special. Other sites featured terrific pictures of bulletin boards, storytime centers, or displays. Many media specialists reported that their principals were very impressed with the sites—and in some cases, librarians were asked to introduce the media center's Web site and resources at parent meetings.

What potential obstacles are you likely to encounter? Some school Web sites may not include a link to the library if there's a separate Webmaster, because that individual often receives strict directives from administrators as to what he or she should put on the site. Also, some media specialists are not especially adept at using technology. If that's the case, you may want to recruit a high school student or a teaching colleague to help. In any event, it's important for media specialists to educate their Webmasters about the importance of the library media center in student learning and to make sure there's a link from the school's home page to the library's site. Webmasters also need to know that the media specialist is the sole person responsible for content on the library site.

We plan to hold training sessions for media specialists who now have their own sites and provide them with basic information on how the site was created and how they can modify or add other pages to it. The sessions will be as simple as possible, so that everyone is comfortable enough to make a few changes to their sites without worrying about making mistakes or feeling intimidated by the technology.

Creating a Web site should be a vital part of every school library's program. Wouldn't it be great if the next time your principal shows off the media center to visitors, he or she says, "And be sure to check out our library's Web site. It's awesome!"