Administration and Management

Graduates of the SLIM Master of Library science degree program will be able to:

Aid in effective and appropriate change in library and information services through collaboration, communication, and collegiality

Spending Rationale and Proposed Budget

The public sectors of education and information science are no strangers to budget constraints.  Therefore, it is imperative that as an aspiring high school librarian, I know how to work with a budget.  Effectively managing a school library and promoting positive changes in the school require creating a unified budget for many facets of the school library. The Spending Rationale and Proposed Budget created for the fictional Chameleon High School in the LI851: Managing the School Library Media Center course allowed me to practice working with a budget for both books and materials and for library furniture.  The assignment also consisted of creating a proposal statement for a $2,000 Cohen Foundation Grant. 

My spending rationale/budget is unified in that the books and materials, furniture, and grant request support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-related education.  Specifically, I created the concept of a Video Production Nook that will allow students to work with video editing software (Camtasia Studios), in order to get them interested in one facet of STEM-related occupations.  Through the Nook and their participation in the school’s Video Club, students will get to experience the process of creating and editing movies and working with digital images.  Five Camtasia Studio Software Downloads were purchased with the grant money and were downloaded to five existing library computers that were moved to the Nook.  A corner of the library would house the Nook, so my furniture budget and part of the grant money went toward buying room dividers, stools, dry erase boards and markers to make the Nook attractive and appealing to students.  Many of the books and materials were geared toward various aspects of filmmaking.

Through the Spending Rationale and Proposed Budget assignment, I learned that school librarians must manage their money very wisely.  Budgets are tight, and school librarians must be creative in what they buy and how they allot their resources.  It was eye-opening for me to see how a reasonably-sized budget was stretched because books, other resources, and furniture are very expensive.  I also learned that grant-writing is a necessity for librarians and that the best way to attract the attention of grant boards is to propose an idea for a unified project.  I got to speak with real representatives from the book vendor companies, which was beneficial for me to learn how different companies market and promote themselves in different ways.  Of all my assignments in the Emporia State University SLIM program, this assignment was one of the most practical in getting me prepared for the kinds of duties that I will be performing as a school librarian.