Mrs. Dorsey, Media Specialist
Mrs. Ferguson, Media Aide
Byron Middle School Media Center provides a media program designed to assist learners to grow in their ability to find, generate and apply information that helps them to function effectively as individuals and to participate fully in society. It serves as a resource for teachers to support their classroom instructional objectives.
The Georgia Board of Education Standard I-11 requires that each school media center be accessible for both individual students and groups simultaneously throughout the instructional day during each day of the school year. An accessible media center is one that is available for students and teachers to use according to instructional need rather than according to a predetermined schedule.
The media center is open each school day from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for teacher access and from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for student access.
The Byron Middle School Media Center collection has a good basic foundation of reference sources, nonfiction and fiction books, audio-visual materials, computer software and periodicals.
The reference section has an array of information resources in print and non-print formats: encyclopedias, dictionaries, geographical and biographical sources. The nonfiction and fictions sections are added to regularly to provide more adequate number of titles for our enrollment and curriculum. Using our automated card catalog, students and teachers are able to access bibliographic information on the collection easily and identify if the material is available for check out.
Audio-visuals are organized and located in the conference room of the media center. Our limited use section of videotapes is constantly changing as we utilize the taping options offered by satellite, cable and Channel One.
We subscribe to approximately 20 periodicals – professional and curriculum based. We receive the weekday edition of The Telegraph and the local weekly paper The Leader Tribune.
Our collection of computer programs offers practice, reinforcement, research and enrichment opportunities for the computers in the classroom. The computer workstations in the media center also provide opportunities for research, enrichment, and project production. All workstations can access the card catalog, two encyclopedia sources, Internet, Accelerated Reader, and Microsoft Office programs.
Respectful and responsible behavior is expected of all patrons of the media center.
Media Center hours are 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for student access and 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for teacher access.
Students use a library pass to visit the media center for check out or book return. Student visiting the media center for independent study should present to the media staff a media pass stating the purpose and time allotment for the visit.
Students may check out 2 books. Books are checked out to students for a period of 2 weeks. Students should be allowed to check out and/or return books on a regular basis – individually or as a class.
Board policy states that teachers and students are responsible for materials borrowed from the media center and will be assessed fines for late or lost materials.
BMS Media Center Handbook for Teachers
Not only does Spectrum automation of our collection allow us to check in and out books by laser reading of barcodes on materials, it also provides an automated search of our collection by key word, title, author or subject. Each student computer workstation has access to the BMS card catalog.
