Mirani State High School, Augusta Street, Mirani 4754

SLAQ Region: Mackay
Education Sector: Govt, Secondary
Teacher-Librarian: Kirschty Birt
Date: October 2002

School Profile:

• Population: 760

• Year levels: 8-12
• Co-ed
• Year School and library established: The school was built in the early sixties and the current library was built in 1987. The township of Mirani has a very small population, but this school has 12 feeder schools. Most of the students travel by bus, some over an hour each way each day! I work here full-tme, and previously have been teacher-librarian at a P-12 campus and also a primary school.
• Curriculum description: Our junior curriculum is designed using strands of the KLA’s, and is going to be criteria based for performance tasks. The senior school has a broad mix of academic and vocational courses. Students come to school four days a week, having one day off to allow them to develop themselves in either area.

Library Profile:

Staff

• Professional: One full time teacher-librarian with some IT responsibilities
• Support staff: One full time teacher-aide

Facilities - Spaces

• Total of three bookable teaching areas. One of these is a computer lab. with Internet and network facilities for 26 students. Other teaching spaces will comfortably accommodate classes of 30 or more students.
• We have a pleasant casual reading area with lounge chairs or students can opt to sit in one on the teaching spaces should the areas be free.
• Individual carrels can cater for 10 students. These are set up in a bank through the centre of the library.

Management system software

We use Alice for Windows as our operating system. This school was a pilot school for OASIS many years ago. There are three OPAC machines in the library and every computer in the school that is part of the network can access Alice to search for items. This includes staff room computers. In total there are about 130 computers across the school from which clients can search.

Library Opening Hours

The library opens around 8.10 and closes around 3.30. As most of our students go by bus, few are here outside these hours. The library is also open outside these hours, by prior arrangement.

Facilities - Special features

• We have a fully equipped computer lab. and are totally air conditioned.
• The school boasts quite a considerable collection. Wide reading is encouraged and our senior fiction section of about 800 is enjoyed by students and staff. We have an extensive range of non fiction resources that support our curriculum. This school subscribes to online data bases and periodicals are hardly purchased anymore. Some magazines subscriptions are provided for reading enjoyment. The CD Rom collection is available for students to use to supplement other resources.

Library Programs

Reading for enjoyment is regularly promoted. Between several keen readers on staff we have collectively read the entire senior and most of the junior fiction, so we feel well positioned to assist in this area.

Information literacy is attended to through cooperative planning between the T/L and teachers. Our school is currently developing a student handbook that will ensure requirements are met across the curriculum.

ICT has become an integral part of life for students here at Mirani.

Promotion and public relations activities: The library is promoted through regular columns in the home newsletters and a monthly newsletter to staff. The venue is also used as an area for faculties to hold displays, and meetings. Other cluster PD’s and in-services are periodically held here. During Education Week I conduct parent workshops about helping students get the most from research and the library, this is always well attended by parents. We also have close links with the local shire library.

What is most satisfying about your job?

I look across the library at lunch time and see students playing chess and sharing ‘book gossip’ with each other and generally enjoying the library atmosphere and that helps me forget the drag of chasing overdue library books. I am most satisfied when I am able to assist kids locate and select information that is VITAL to that assignment that’s always due today! When a students says ‘Ohh, Thanks Miss’, it makes my day worthwhile. The biggest challenge faced in this library is trying to get a job completed interruption free.

Last updated October 2002